came Keeonekh, the first otter that I had ever seen in the
wilderness. Where the sun flickered in through the alder leaves it
glinted brightly on the shiny puter hairs of his rough coat. As he went
his nose worked constantly, going far ahead of his bright little eyes to
tell him what was in the path.

I was sitting very still, some distance to one side, and he did not see
me. Near old Noel's deadfall he paused an instant with raised head, in
the curious snake-like attitude that all the weasels take when watching.
Then he glided round the end of the trap, and disappeared down the
portage.

When he was gone I stole out to examine his tracks. Then I noticed
for the first time that the old path near the deadfall was getting
moss-grown; a faint new path began to show among the alders. Some
warning was there in the trap, and with cunning instinct all the
wood dwellers turned aside, giving a wide berth to what they felt was
dangerous but could not understand. The new path joined the old again,
beyond the brook, and followed it straight to the river.

Again I examined the deadfall carefully, but of course I found nothing.
That is a matter of instinct, not of eyes and ears, and it is past
finding out. Then I went away for good, after driving a ring of stout
stakes all about the trap to keep heedless little feet out of it. But
I left it unsprung, just as it was, a rude tribute of remembrance to
Keeonekh and the lost Indian.

KEEONEKH THE FISHERMAN

Wherever you find Keeonekh the otter you find three other things:
wildness, beauty, and running water that no winter can freeze. There is
also good fishing, but that will profit you little; for after Keeonekh
has harried a pool it is useless to cast your fly or minnow there. The
largest fish has disappeared--you will find his bones and a fin or two
on the ice or the nearest bank--and the little fish are still in hiding
after their fright.

Conversely, wherever you find the three elements mentioned you will also
find Keeonekh, if your eyes know how to read the signs aright. Even in
places near the towns, where no otter has been seen for generations,
they are still to be found leading their shy wild life, so familiar with
every sight and sound of danger that no eye of the many that pass by
ever sees them. No animal has been more persistently trapped and hunted
for the valuable fur that he bears; but Keeonekh is hard to catch and
quick to learn. When a family have all been ca