mor' an' I
t'ink 'bout dem plent' fox tracks on Hill Lak' so me an' Clawhammer we
go dere. We set 'bout twent' traps de firs' day. Never see so many fox
track. We set um by de hill. We git t'rough early an' set up de tent on
de shore of de lak'. She almos' sundown an' I look up de hill an' rat
beside wan leetle rock-ledge, I see wan fine black fox. I grab de gun,
an' tak' de res' on de sled, an' den I hear de yell! It soun' lak' wan
man w'at is los'! But it com' from de fox! I shoot queek, an' de fox
com' roll down de hill! Clawhammer he run an' git um, an' den we see
it--de collar of ermine skin! Den I know dat de _tamahnawus_ fox James
Dean say talk lak' de man, an' I ver' mooch scare. I ain' tell
Clawhammer 'bout James Dean, an' he t'ink som' wan git los' mak' de
yell. He ain' see it com' from de fox. I look on dat leetle fox, an' I
see he ver' dead. But no blood. De fur jes' scratch' cross de back of de
head--but, she ver' dead--I look good.

"Clawhammer he wan' to skin dat fox, but I don' know w'at to do. If de
Injun kill de fox, he mus' got to skin um. Dat bad to waste de fox.
_Sah-ha-lee Tyee_ don' want de Injun to waste de peoples. I got to t'ink
'bout dat an' so I lay de fox behine de tent an' mak' de supper. After
supper I t'ink long tam. _Tamahnawus_, she bad spirit. _Sah-ha-lee
Tyee_, she good spirit. If I skin de fox, _tamahnawus_ git mad on me. If
I ain' skin de fox, _Sah-ha-lee Tyee_ git mad on me. I ain' know w'at to
do. I t'ink som' mor'. By-m-by I t'ink dat bes to skin de fox. I ain'
know where _Sah-ha-lee Tyee_ liv'. If I mak' um mad I ain' kin giv' um
no present. Better I mak' _tamahnawus_ mad cos he liv' rat here, an' if
I mak' um mad I kin give um de present an' mebbe-so he ain' stay mad on
me. So, I go behine de tent to git de fox. But, de fox, she gon'! An' de
track show she gon' back up de hill, an' I ver' mooch scare--cos she was
dead!

"In de morning Clawhammer say he look at de traps to de wes', an' swing
on roun' de hill to fin' de track of de man w'at git los' an' yell. I
ain' say nuttin', an' he start ver' early. I go look at de traps down de
lak', an' w'en de sun com' up, I hear de yell agin! An' I ver' mooch
scare, cos I'm fraid de _tamahnawus_ mad on me for kill de fox w'at yell
lak de man. So I go back, an' I skin two fox w'at I ketch in de trap.
Clawhammer ain' back, so I go an' build de _cache_. An' I put my
blankets an' rifle on it, an' plenty grub, for de present to
_tamahnawus_.