00-KOO-HOO'S EL DORADO 105 



Nothing would now do but that the old man must seek his 

 revenge at the earliest possible moment, so when dawn broke 

 he was already following the trail of the malicious raider. All 

 day he trailed it through the snow, and just before dusk the 

 tracks told him that he was very near his quarry; but rather 

 than run the risk of firing in a poor light, he decided not to 

 despatch the brute until daylight came. 



According to the northern custom, when he camped that 

 night, he stood his gun and snowshoes in the snow far enough 

 away to prevent their being affected by the heat of the fire. 

 In the morning his snowshoes were gone. Tracks, however, 

 showed that the wolverine had taken them. Again the old man 

 trailed the thief; but without snowshoes, the going was extra 

 hard, and it was afternoon before he stumbled upon one of his 

 snowshoes lying in the snow, and quite near his former camp, 

 as the "Great Mischief Maker" had simply made a big circuit 

 and come back again. But of what use was one snowshoe? So 

 the old hunter continued his search, and late that day found the 

 other — damaged beyond repair. 



That night, filled with rage and despondency, he returned to 

 his old camp, and as usual placed his gun upright in the snow 

 away from the heat of the fire. In the morning it was gone. 

 New tracks marked the snow and showed where the carcajou 

 had dragged it away. Several hours later the old man found 

 it with its case torn to ribbons, the butt gnawed, and the 

 trigger broken. 



Tired, hungry, dejected, and enraged, old Meguir sought his 

 last night's camp to make a fire and to rest awhile; but when he 

 got there he found he had lost his fire bag containing his flint 

 and steel — his wherewithal for making fire. Again he went in 

 search, but fresh-falling snow had so obliterated the trail and 

 so hindered his progress, that it was late before he recovered his 

 treasure, and regained his dead fireplace. Yet still the wolver- 

 ine was at large. 



