ANTOINE GARDAPEE. 201 



here," and he tried to tear the skin under its wing with 

 no effect. "I'll tole you; give a-heem to ol' Miss'r 

 Knight; he's tough, too. How much a-mineral Charley 

 an' you clean up dis a- week?" 



"Oh, we had a big week, and cleaned up about fifteen 

 hundred. Why?" 



"Yas, all drif; nex' week you don' get noding, hey?" 



"Perhaps so, but that's miner's luck; we can't expect 

 to get as much every time. It's the biggest week we've 

 had, and only five days at that." 



"You like-a dat work no?" 



"No, I don't like it; but it helps a fellow to live." 



"I tole you. You go 'long o' me dis winta an' trap. 

 You haf good time an' make more dan dig fur de lead. 

 I no dig fur lead." 



And so it happened. He was getting ready to spend 

 the winter in the wilds of the Bad Ax country to trap. 

 After hearing his scheme I agreed to go with him, and 

 we started in to get ready. He had all the steel traps 

 necessary for small animals, and was an expert at making 

 dead-falls for the larger ones. We drifted down to Du- 

 buque, where we put our boat and other things on a 

 steamer for Prairie du Chien. From that place we took 

 a supply of provisions, mainly of flour, coffee and sugar, 

 for Antoine said we would not need pork nor lard be- 

 cause we could get fat from coons, ducks and perhaps 

 other animals. Our outfit was simple, but it loaded our 

 boat, and two heavy tarpaulins protected the provisions. 

 It was a hard pull up the Wisconsin River, some twenty 

 miles, to the mouth of the Bad Ax River, but we took 

 it easy, and the second night we camped a mile or so up 

 the Bad Ax. This camp is memorable because of a 

 storm which wet us to the skin, but the provisions and 

 the ammunition were kept dry. 



