TRAPPING GNOMES . 
137 
One rectangle is smaller than the other so that 
it just lies within it. The trap is set by raising 
the-rectangles until they make a tent-like frame, 
and then securing them by a catch. The best 
lure for gnomes is whole corn, which is placed 
near the centre of the square of tin in a tiny 
cup suspended by a lever to the catch which 
holds the trap open. The gnome steps softly 
through the wire rectangles and tries to lift the 
grain from the cup. Woe to him if he presses 
ever so lightly upon the side of the cup, for if 
it is depressed, and the other end of the lever 
moved, the catch is cast free and the rectangles 
fall together with such force as to crush any 
small creature which stands below them. 
The nine traps set by the brook were in groups 
of three. As I drew near the first group, I 
looked for broken twigs and a scrap of white 
cotton tied to a branch, my signals to show where 
the traps were placed. Bent twigs with their 
leaves slightly withered and drooping are readily 
seen at a long distance. The first three traps 
were set at a point where the banks of the brook 
were steep, and the level moss near the water 
only a narrow belt. At one place a mossy log 
crossed this level, a mouldering stump crowned 
with ferns flanked it, and a big boulder raised 
a wall of granite parallel with the stream. Just 
across the brook was another long log covered 
