"Muskrats build places pretty much the same, only smaller," said Bob.
"Yes, but martens lives in the deepest parts of the woods, while fishers an' minks hang out along streams an' marshes. I've seen a fisher a-sittin' on a stone, lookin' in the water, an' waitin' fur his dinner ter pass by. All of a sudden, he went ker flump—there was a splash—an' yer can bet he got his fish."
After a short pause, Yardsley continued, "But here we are, cap'n, at another trap."
This proved to be along the bank, and cleverly concealed in the midst of a tangled growth. But although it had been sprung the animal had managed to get away.
The next one, however, held captive a good-sized mink.
"Not so bad, an' we may get some more yet," commented Yardsley. "I'm powerful afear'd we're goin' ter have some pretty tough weather," he added, with a look at the sullen sky.
"I say, John," asked Bob, with a sudden thought, "didn't you put up a sign over by Lake Wolverine?"
Yardsley grinned. "Jokin' is a little failin' I have, as I told you afore," he said. "You'll run acrost several of 'em 'round these parts. I'm powerful glad, cap'n, that you fellers didn't git mad."
"I thought Sladder and Musgrove would be wild when they got dumped into that pit," remarked Bob.
The trapper laughed as he recalled the scene. "If them kids hadn't been so sassy, I wouldn't have done it," he said. "I thought one of 'em needed a lesson, anyway."