had suddenly rushed to meet his fate. We went back 

 to the spot where the two converging tracks met, and 

 followed them. They ran parallel for a time, and then 

 there were signs in the snow that the heroine had grown 

 less coy, had paused and permitted the approach of her 

 mate. From this point the dual tracks radiated in 

 several directions, showing less signs of haste, came back 

 again, and finally made off zigzagging through the tim- 

 ber, toward a ledge of rocks no doubt suggested by one 

 or the other as a home possibility. The rocks gained, 

 the tracks led straight to a freshly dug hole under a 

 crack in the ledge. There was even fresh earth pawed 

 up on the snow. No tracks led away. It was the night 

 before that the drama had been enacted, and in their 

 newly built home the couple were already established. 

 We left them in peace, with the delicacy due to honey- 

 mooners. 



It is seldom, to be sure, that you will find so perfect a 

 snow record as that of the actions of your night neigh- 

 bours in the woods, yet a little watchfulness on the win- 

 ter walk will disclose much about those wild folk that 

 will give a basis for reconstructing their habits, till your 

 imagination can people the st 11, snowy places, from the 

 mountain-top even to your front door, with mysterious 

 inhabitants of the dark. The pleasure of picking up a 

 trail behind the house and running it back into the 

 woods for two or three miles is not lightly to be dis- 

 missed. Sometimes my visitors from town look with a 



