206 MEN I HAVE FISHED WITH. 



salutatory grunt on arriving. Antoine explained that his 

 friend's name was Ah-se-bun, or Raccoon, and that he 

 was a good man to know; I gave him a big plug of to- 

 bacco, and we were friends. 



After getting the cabin well fixed for the winter we 

 started to put out a line of traps up a branch of the little 

 stream, which was to be my line. We were gone three 

 days, and had good dry weather, covered about thirty 

 miles in all fifteen up one stream, then over a divide 

 and down another, which came into the first one near our 

 shanty but we set about forty steel traps of different 

 sizes, for otter near falls and rapids, for mink under tree 

 roots and other covered places, and for "black cat," pine 

 marten and ermine in their haunts. We made many 

 dead-falls for some of these animals where it was possible 

 to drive stakes or arrange them on stumps, and for these 

 we carried bait of venison and fish. This was my first 

 three days on snowshoes, and the weight of them, added 

 to the unusual gait which they require, made some mus- 

 cles that had not been used to a loping gait very sore. 

 But the truth came out when we reached the cabin and 

 hung the snowshoes up, for Antoine asked: "You tired, 

 hey? I t'ink t'ree day' on snowshoe' pooty good fur fust 

 time; he make me sore fust, but, like de skate, you git 

 used to dat kine, an' bime-by you t'ink de snowshoe de 

 best fur de walk. Jess so me w'en I be in de wood all 

 winter. W'at you say, hey? S'pose we res' two, t'ree 

 day' an' fish, den I go put my line o' trap an' you run 

 yours; what you say, hey?" 



"Well, Antoine, I do feel tired in my legs, and if you 

 are tired, too, I'll do just as you say. We'll fish a day or 

 two, and get a change of feed, and then you go and lay 

 out your line and I'll run over mine." 



This put it in such shape that the tired feeling was 



