hole in the snow.
Tisn't so bad when you're used to it. Have to get up a few times in the
night to put wood on the fire, but that ain't nothin', is it, Pat?"

"Tis no more than a reminder av how good it is to shlape," returned
Pat.

"When a man's prospectin' for fur he not only looks for signs of the
beasties but he looks the lay of the land over and gets the landmarks
fixed in his mind," continued Alec. "He picks out a place for his main
camp, locating it where he can get his supplies and stuff in and his
furs out at the end o' the season without too much difficulty. If it is
in lumbered country he picks out a place that can be reached by some old
trail with a little clearing out so that a team can get in. More often,
though, he locates on a river where he can get his stuff in by canoe,
and can get out again the same way in the spring.

"At the same time he tries to choose a location that will be to his best
advantage in working his trap lines. If he's got a long line laid out he
also picks out likely places for temporary camps, places handy to
springs and fire-wood. Early in the fall he gets his stuff together and
goes in to build his camps. Trappers mostly work in pairs, but sometimes
one goes it alone like my friend up in Brunswick. He took his traps an'
stuff in in September, so's to get his camps built and be ready for
bus'ness as soon as fur got prime."

"Can one man build a log cabin without any help?" asked Walter.

"Sure," replied Pat, "if he's reasonably husky, and most woodsmen are. A
smart axeman can roll one up in four days, but of course it's easier and
quicker if there are two."

"The main camp is made stout and comfortable as possible, same as 'tis
here, only usually 'tis no so big." Alec resumed the thread of his
story. "The other camps are just big enough for a bunk an' to cache some
supplies, and are one to two days' journey apart, accordin' to the
country. In good weather a feller disna mind sleeping oot one night
between camps if he must, though he disna aim to if he can help it. A
few supplies are left in each camp, and fire-wood cut and left handy.
When this work is done it's usually 'bout time to be gettin' after the
critters.

"A long line is usually planned on a sort of loop when the country will
permit, so that the trapper may go out one way and return another. When
two are trapping together, pardners like Pat and me, one works the line
one way and one the other. Of course two can wo