"Well," said Hugh, "maybe I could; come to think about it; there's a heap o' different kinds o' birds. I never paid much attention to any of 'em, only the kinds that's good to eat; but say, I should think it would be mighty hard work skinning these little birds; their skin must be awful thin, and tear mighty easy."
"Well," said Jack, "that's just what I thought when I started in, but the fact is their skins are pretty tough. Of course you can't pull at them the way you would at a deer skin, but if you know how to do it, you scarcely ever tear a bird skin.
"Uncle Will put me up to this soon after I got home, and he took me down to a bird skinner and hired him to give me lessons. I used to go down there twice a week all through the winter and spring, and I have got so now that I can make a pretty good skin, and work pretty fast, too. I'm going to try to collect a few skins here, sometime when I can. If I come out another summer to stay here, I shall try to make a collection of all the birds that live here in summer."
"Well, I'd like right well to see you doing that work. It seems to me it would be mighty hard, but then there's a whole lot of things that we ain't none of us ever done that looks hard and yet are real easy after we know how to do 'em."
While all this talk was going on, they had been sorting over the material that was strewed on the floor, had picked out four good strong pack saddles, and the greater part of their riggings. Two of the lash cinches were in good order, the other two needed new hooks. Hugh stepped out of doors, and presently returned, bringing with him a small elk horn, from which he sawed off two lengths, each of which bore a prong. These he placed in a vice, shaped with a heavy rasp, and then passed over to Jack to fasten to the cinches. The smooth hook of horn was laced to the end of the cinch so that it hung down three inches below it.
All the straps of the pack saddle were now carefully looked over; any that were worn or in any way weak were renewed; sling ropes of just the right length were cut for each saddle, and new lash ropes took the place of one or two that showed signs of wear; four hackamores were made, one for each pack horse.
This work took up all the morning, and was not entirely finished when the horn blew for dinner.