292 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



Steps homeward ; but the trap and the otter, with the 

 soft and harassing ground he had to traverse, speedily 

 exhausted his feeble strength ; the light faded away, 

 the wind rose, and before he crossed the swamp, and 

 gained the firm but rugged path beside the river, the 

 darkness rendered it almost impossible for even a young 

 person to have proceeded safely. After feeble and 

 slow efforts to get forward, he stumbled over a stone, 

 his energies were totally exhausted by fatigue, and he 

 was unable to rise again. 



His faithful dog couched herself beside her fallen 

 master, and the last sounds that the despairing otter- 

 killer heard were the long and mournful howls with 

 which Venom mourned over his calamity. 



