"'In time of peace, prepare for war,' was one of George Washington's maxims," said Tom, "an' never was more sensible advice given for either individual or nation."
Usually Jack and I did most of the hunting and scouting around over the adjacent country, but now and then Tom would strike out for a short trip up or down the creek on his own account.
One day, after being out for a short time, he came hurrying back and began to delve in the mess-chest, inquiring for a fish-hook and line that he had seen there, declaring that he had just found a lot of fresh otter tracks on the bank of the creek.
"Why, Tom," asked Jack innocently, "do they catch otter with fish-hooks?"
"No, you numskull," replied the old man impatiently, "the fish-hook and line is to catch fish to bait traps for the otter.
"Now, then, Jack," continued the old man after finding his fishing-tackle and assuring himself that it was in good condition, "come along with me down to the beaver dam, an' while I catch a fish or two for bait you pull up a couple of your beaver traps an' we'll set for otter."
"Well, I guess I can spare you a couple of traps now," replied Jack. "I ain't catching as many beavers lately as when I first started in. I think I'm getting the herd pretty well thinned out. But I've done pretty well at trapping, for I've took some thirty odd nice beaver skins besides a few muskrats."
A few hours later the two men returned to camp after having caught some fish and baited and set the traps for otter, and next morning, taking Jack with him, Tom found, on visiting his traps and fishing them up out of the water, a fine otter fastened by a leg in each trap and drowned. Later Tom took a number of otter skins, but they were by no means as numerous as the beaver.
Black Prince, after he became accustomed to it, was a much better buffalo horse than either of the mustangs, though, when two mounted hunters went out, the buckskin bronco, Vinegar, did pretty well for that work. The gray mare, Polly, could not be brought near enough to a buffalo to be used as a hunter. Now and then Jack and I went afoot down to the slough to kill some ducks or geese. Our shepherd dog Found was a good retriever, and when we went gunning for water-fowl we generally took him along to bring ashore any birds killed on the water.
"I want to remind you men," said Tom one day, "that this fine weather we've been having can't, in the nature of things, last much longer. We're liable to have a cold rain, turning to a sleet or snow-storm, or maybe a regular old blizzard swooping down on us now soon, an' we must be prepared for it. Our camp's in pretty good shape, but we haven't fitted ourselves out with fur caps an' mittens an' other fixings to enable us to stand the winds of winter. I propose that we put in our spare time for the next few days a-dressing some hides, an' then a-cutting out and making us a good fur cap an' pair of mittens apiece, an' something in the way of buffalo overshoes, too, to slip on over our boots, an' a wolfskin overcoat apiece.