The Boy and the Lynx 
skin. First the pelt was wrapped in hard- 
wood ashes for twenty-four hours. This brought 
the hair off. Then the skin was soaked for three 
days in soft soap and worked by hand,as it 
dried, till it came out a white strong leather. 
Thor’s wanderings extended farther in search 
of the things which always came as surprises 
however much he was looking for them. Many 
days were blanks and others would be crowded 
with incidents, for unexpectedness is above 
all the peculiar feature of hunting, and its 
lasting charm. One day he had gone far be- 
yond the ridge in a new direction and passed 
through an open glade where lay the broken 
trunk of a huge basswood. ‘The size impressed 
it on hismemory. He swung past the glade to 
make for the lake, a mile to the west, and twenty 
minutes later he started back as his eye rested 
on a huge black animal in the crotch of a 
hemlock, some thirty feet from the ground. A 
Bear! At last, this was the test of nerve he had 
half expected all summer; had been wondering 
how that mystery “himself” would act under 
this very trial. He stood still; his right hand 
dived into his pocket and, bringing out three or 
182 
