."

He removed the clamps and then with a long stick touched the pan.
Instantly the jaws flew up and closed with a vicious snap, biting into
the soft wood so that pull as they would the boys were unable to get the
stick out.

"Huh!" exclaimed Hal, "I'd hate to have that thing get me by the leg! I
should think it would break the bone."

"It very likely would unless your leg was pretty well protected. A
bear's bones are not so brittle and do not break easily, but once that
thing has got a grip it's there to stay," said Pat.

"I suppose you cover the trap up so that the bear won't see it,"
ventured Upton.

"Right, son. That is just what we do," replied Pat. "We cover it with
leaves or moss, according to where the set is made."

"Where does the bait go?" inquired Hal. "Do you put it right on the trap
or hang it over it?"

"Neither," laughed Pat. "We build a bait pen of brush or old logs,
roofing it over, and set the trap just at the entrance in such a way
that Mr. Bear must step in it in order to get into the pen or cubby
where the bait is staked at the rear. Sometimes we lay a stick across
the entrance close to the trap and six or eight inches from the ground
so that the bear will try to step over it and in doing so he will be
sure to put one foot in the trap. An old bear who has lost a toe or two
in a trap and so has learned his lesson will sometimes tear the bait pen
down from the rear and so get the bait. A deadfall is about the only way
of catching one of that kind."

"I should think other animals would spring the trap," ventured Hal.

"They do sometimes, especially your friend Prickly Porky the porcupine,"
replied Pat. "But when we are after bear we try to set the trap so that
nothing less than a bear will spring it. Show 'em the trick, Alec."

Good-naturedly Alec once more set the trap. Then he took a small springy
stick and fastened it upright in a crack in the floor. Then he bent it
over until the other end was hooked under the pan of the trap. The
spring of it held the pan in place even when considerable weight was
placed directly on the pan. "That would allow small animals to pass over
it freely, ye see," he explained, "but the weight of a bar would spring
it. We do the same thing with other traps, using smaller sticks
according to what we are after."

At this point Pat went to investigate conditions outside. "Hi, you
fellows!" he called. "Storm's over, and it's time to get busy and dig
out. It's be