FUR FACTS 287 



food supply, we took the shortest route for home, arriving in good 

 time, without any serious difficulties. 



At first we felt inclined to abandon the trap line for the balance 

 of that season, but after a few days of idling around I found myself 

 hungering for the trap line. I found Bud recovered from his fright, 

 and he was willing to engage in another voyage, so we bought a 

 supply of new traps, rigged up another boat and pulled down the 

 Chariton river. We camped in the old familiar woods where I had 

 accompanied my uncle on my first hunting trip. Here we remained 

 about a week, caught one hundred muskrats, 16 coon and 8 mink. 

 Then it turned severely cold and we decided to move down the river 

 a little farther and go into winter quarters. We then sold our furs, 

 and although I have forgotten the amount we received for the coon 

 and mink, I remember distinctly that the one hundred muskrats 

 brought $16.00. Today the same kind of muskrats at Funsten's 

 would bring one hundred and fifty dollars. 



While we didn't make an enormous lot of money, we had some 

 mighty good times attending parties, wood choppings and tobacco 

 stripping parties the chief social functions of that day. Here I met 

 quite a number of young ladies who were charming, in a way, but for 

 some unaccountable reason, they did not influence me in the least 

 beyond the point of calling to mind the little girl who saved me from 

 the vicious dog. In fact, it seemed that the presence of members 

 of the fair sex, stirred up much the same feeling that I had experienced 

 when I was the guest at the girl's house and soon I found myself 

 fighting an intense desire to see her again. This I could not very 

 well do, as I did not wish to leave Bud, and I didn't care to have 

 him know about my attachment for the girl, so I determined to put 

 the matter out of mind. 



The winter passed without any more thrilling escapades, and in 

 March we sold our furs and left for home. Our catch consisted of 

 365 muskrats, 68 coons, 45 mink, 8 red fox and 5 beaver, the whole 

 of which was sold for $150.00. 



CHAPTER III 



The last rays of an October sun were tinging the hilltops of 

 Northern Missouri with gold, which, mingled with the gay hues of 

 Autumn, made a landscape more picturesque than words can fitly 

 describe. 



I scooped the last shovel full of corn into my uncle's crib marking 

 the completion of the summer's work, then I sauntered to the old 



