"I see you're on to wolf habits, all right and good," chuckled Tom. "Well, a bunch of 'em did hold over, to have a sort of wake with the remains; but I guess the rest of the lot felt that it wouldn't go around. They kept after me, that's all I know. P'raps they had their minds set on a nice tender juicy Tucker for supper; but if they'd known how tough he was, they might have hauled off sooner, and two of the bunch would be alive yet," and he glanced at the skins he had stretched on the big frames meant for such purpose.
"And next winter perhaps those same hides will be keeping some chauffeur warm, as he guides his car along Fifth Avenue in New York," said Felix, humorously.
"That's putting 'em to good uses, anyway," remarked the wolf-killer, calmly.
Only the next day Felix had a chance to see for himself what a great advantage those same snow shoes gave a hunter over his quarry. The snow was deep enough to come to his knees on the level, and besides, in many places it had drifted considerably. Then there had come a slight thaw, that caused the surface to become coated with ice. Through this the small hoofs of a deer would break with every jump; while the boys could glide along on the broad netting of their snow shoes without disturbing the crust.
Thinking he would take a little turn around, Felix started out while Tom was off looking after his traps again. He did not intend going any great distance from the shack, and hardly expected finding game; but then there was never any telling when one might run across a deer, for they were fairly plentiful.
And hearing a floundering noise some distance ahead, he suddenly discovered a full grown young buck making off at full speed.
Under ordinary conditions it would have been the utmost folly for Felix to even dream of overtaking that alarmed deer; but he wished to test the speeding qualities of his snow shoes.
The tables were turned by the presence of the deep snow, since the deer could not run as fast as ordinary, while the powers of locomotion on the part of the boy had been trebled, at least.
And so he had by degrees gradually come up on the fleeing buck. The animal was snorting, and plunging desperately in the endeavor to get away; just as though he realized that the mortal enemy of his race was close behind. Breathing so rapidly that it looked like clouds of steam arising from his nostrils, he kept on in his wild run.
When Felix had gained a position where he could see the exposed flank of the deer he came to a sudden halt. And no sooner had his rifle spoken than there was an end to the chase, for the buck was floundering on the snow.