All day long the snow fell, all through that night and until noon of the next day, and when the pale, wintry sun again broke through the clouds its watery rays glittered in dazzling brilliancy from a veritable fairyland. But to my eyes there was little to admire, for the earth was buried deep under many inches of snow, which had made me a helpless prisoner in the depths of the wilderness.
How hopeless it would be to attempt to tramp to the settlements under such conditions was borne upon me as I broke my way through the snow toward the edge of the woods to secure a supply of wood, the next morning; but while I was disgusted at thus being shut off by this first snowfall just as my foot was becoming of use again, I realized that, after all, the snow had helped me.
Everywhere upon the surface of the fresh snow were the footprints of birds and animals. It seemed incredible that there could be so many wild creatures dwelling close at hand, unseen and unsuspected. Here, the well-marked trail of a hare crossed the snow; back and forth across it zigzagged the snake-like track of a marten; to one side, and evidently following the others, were the imprints of a fox’s feet, and I could distinguish the marks left by partridges, squirrels, and many other woodland denizens which I could not identify.
Surely, with these trails to guide me, I could set traps and secure both food and furs, and I grew greatly interested and wandered here and there, striving to read the stories the creatures had written on the snow.
Even close to the hut many creatures had passed and repassed during the night. I noticed where a hare had scampered about the cabin. Some larger animal had dug through the snow before the door to secure some old bones I had dropped, and at least a dozen smaller creatures had made merry about my dwelling while I slept, all unconscious of their presence.
As my foot was now strong enough to enable me to walk upon it with the aid of a cane, I decided to start out after breakfast and set some traps, and so, wrapping the bear-skin about me, armed with my bow and arrows, and using my spear as a staff, I set forth. I must have been a wild and savage figure as I limped through the snow that morning, wrapped in the bear-skin, with my hair falling to my shoulders, and with an unkempt, ragged beard covering my face, and I might well have been mistaken for the original wild man. But no one was there to see me and I gave no thought to my appearance, but trudged away through the snow toward the forest, my eyes fixed upon the trail before me, and well protected from the icy wind by the thick fur bound about my body. The tracks I was following puzzled me, for they looked like those of a miniature bear, but they were easy to trail and led directly to an old hollow stub. As there seemed to be no other trail, I decided that this must be the home of the creature, whatever it was. Curious to know what sort of animal had made the tracks and had visited my cabin, I pounded upon the stub and was rewarded by a slight scratching noise from within, and an instant later a queer, quizzical face peered forth from the opening above me and stared down questioningly at the strange being who had knocked upon its home. The sharp nose and bright eyes were visible only for an instant, but the brief glimpse was enough, and I recognized the owner as a raccoon. Well, raccoons were good to eat and their fur was warm, and I made up my mind to capture the ’coon that night. My first thought was to set a trap beside the tree, but a moment’s reflection changed my plans, for I realized that the ’coon would probably return to the cabin again and that it would be far easier to trap him by my own door than by his.
DEADFALL SET WITH FIGURE-FOUR TRIGGER
There were still plenty of tracks to be followed, and for several hours I busied myself locating the homes of hares and setting twitch-ups to capture them. Then, as my hands were becoming numb and I feared catching cold in my weak ankle, I retraced my steps to the cabin. Late that afternoon I set a deadfall outside the door for the raccoon, building it like the one in which I had caught the beaver, but furnishing it with a figure-four trigger, and baiting it with scraps of meat.
The next morning I hurried to the door as soon as I awoke and, much to my joy, found that a fine, fat raccoon had fallen a victim to my trap.