On Tue LIne or TRAPS. 22 
slow walking steps, he approached the trap, walking around 
the house in which it was set, and reaching in, seized hold of 
the bait, in doing which he put his forefoot upon the pan of 
the sable trap and was caughi by two toes only. As the trap 
sprung, he made a wild and high jump upward, falling and 
rolling over as he struck the snow, breaking the chair, which 
was a light one and full of frost, leaving the ring and one 
link as hitched to a light sapling. Then he tried jumping 
with the trap, heading eastward across the road, when find- 
ing the jaws of the trap pinching his toes, he slowed down 
for a fight with it. Here he gave a lively leaping and 
tumbling performance, whirling around and biting the jaws 
of the trap, leaving the marks of his teeth in the iron as he 
crushed it down in the snow. Again he started to jump away 
for a distant swamp to the eastward, when finding he fell 
sprawling so often, he now tried walking carefully. In this 
he did nicely, dragging along the trap beside him, soon turn- 
ing in a broad circle and heading for his track where he 
first came upon the trail. Here passing through the small 
growth he became hung up with the trap, when after backing 
around to all points of the compass, he, with his own forefoot 
dug down in the crust a chance to almost conceal himself ; 
and here we soon found him with just his nose, the impris- 
ioned foot and the trap in sight. As we drew near, his eyes 
gave us a strong hint of what he would like to do to us, yet 
he never made a sound. He was a beautiful specimen of the 
Pekan, so large and well furred out, with a tail to be proud 
of, considerable gray around his head, and his cheeks well 
filled with the ends of the porcupine quills. A small beech 
was cut off with the proper fork left at its end, and while 
doing this his eye was constantly following us, as he would 
