it leaped aside without warning into a dense 

 thicket of low firs. There it ended, as if the 

 ground had opened to swallow Pequam ; but 

 just beyond a long mound showed where a 

 fallen log lay buried under the snow, and we 

 knew we should find him there fast asleep. 



Unslipping the light ax, I moved cau- 

 tiously to the smaller end of the log, while 

 Newell crouched at the butt and began to 

 shovel aside the snow with a snow-shoe. My 

 end of the log was solid ; in the whole shell 

 after I had laid it bare of snow I found only 

 a single hole, and that hardly big enough 

 to admit a squirrel. Meanwhile Newell had 

 pushed a pole into the hollow butt till it 

 was seized savagely and almost jerked out 

 of his hand. A fierce snarl and a muf- 

 fled scratching told us plainly that we had 

 reached at last the end of the trail. 



Very deliberately the old Indian cut a 

 dozen more poles, while I stood guard, and 

 wedged them tightly in the hol- 

 low butt. Next he enlarged the 

 squirrel hole, and I had a glimpse 

 of glossy fur as Pequam rushed 



239 



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