“Somethin’ like, but not altogether. You can’t light a fire with an axe—but sometimes you can make an axe do instead of a gun.”
“Yes, that’s so. You are Pete Sledge, aren’t you?”
“That’s me. How did you know?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Vane replied, “Jard Hassock spoke of you as the smartest hunter and trapper in these parts. I put two and two together.”
The other nodded, evidently quite satisfied,
“I suppose you know all this country for miles around as well as you know this village,” added Vane.
Again Sledge nodded. “Like that,” he said, extending his left hand and opening it palm upward.
“I’m interested in the country,” said Vane. “I wish you would take me out sometimes. I can travel on snowshoes.”
“Any night you say, stranger. But no shootin’, mind you! It’s close season.”
“I don’t want to shoot anything. But why night?”