“Now I were thinkin’ that,” said Dan. “We might be settin’ some traps, an’ get our trails begun.”
“All right; that’s bully!” Paul exclaimed enthusiastically. “I never did any trapping, and I’d like to learn how.”
They selected a dozen traps each, and cut some bits of venison to bait them with. Dan carried one of Amesbury’s axes and Paul’s shotgun, explaining: “We might be seein’ some birds, now,” but Paul, with his own light axe and his share of traps, decided his rifle would be too heavy to carry.
Half a mile from the cabin, in a creek valley, Dan stopped, and pointing to tracks in the snow, explained:
“Them’s marten tracks, an’ I’m thinkin’ we’ll set a trap here.”
He accordingly selected a spruce tree about four inches in diameter, cut it off four feet above the snow, and in the top of the stump made a V-shaped notch. He then trimmed all the branches, except the brush at the top, from the tree, and with the brush end lying in the snow, laid the butt end firmly in the notch cut in the top of the stump, with the butt projecting, probably, four feet beyond the stump. With his axe he now split the butt of the tree, and prying it open inserted a piece of the venison they had brought for bait. Just back of the bait, and on top of the tree trunk, he fastened and set a trap.
“There,” remarked Dan, “I finds that a rare easy way t’ set marten traps, an’ a good un, too. Th’ marten walks up th’ tree t’ get th’ bait, an’ right in th’ trap.”
“I can do that all right,” said Paul.
“Oh, yes, you can do un. ’Tis easy, now you knows how. I’m thinkin’ you might be workin’ up this brook, an’ set th’ traps you has, an’ I cuts over t’ th’ west’ard an’ finds another place t’ set mine.”