GARRETT VAN HOESEN. 133 



"Tell me all about it, and I'll do it. It must be heaps 

 o' fun. Come on." 



We crossed over to the rye field a field as well 

 known to every boy as the ball ground, where no one 

 drove us off, but which had been a pasture since my 

 recollection and carried the traps into the woods. 

 Garry had got some sweet apples, and we set a trap here 

 and there where rabbit signs were thickest. 



"When you come to a trap in the morning," said he, 

 "if it is still set you want to see that the bait is there and 

 the cord or the spindle is not frozen so that it can't work. 

 If it has been sprung you want to go slow and find out 

 what's in it. If it's a skunk he'll let you know when you 

 touch it with your boot, and then you want to tie a long 

 string to the cover and let him walk out. If it's a rabbit, 

 put in your hand and take it out." 



"Won't it bite?" 



"No, they never bite. The best way to kill them is 

 to hold their hindlegs in your left hand, and hit 'em with 

 a stick in the back of the neck." 



"I don't believe I could do it. I can shoot one, but I 

 know I could never do that." 



"Yes, you could; it's easy enough. But if you are 

 afraid to do it that way, take a bag, put the mouth of it 

 over the trap, dump them into it, and bring them down to 

 me." 



That seemed the best way. I was not afraid to kill 

 a rabbit by shooting it Garry did not understand me 

 but the bag scheme let me out and it was settled in that 

 way. We went back to the mill pond, gathered our 

 basket of eels and went home. I promised to let Garry 

 know how many rabbits I had and to let him do the 

 killing. 



Next morning I was up very early. There had been 



