hat spring. But the jackscrew!

"Quonab, help him! For God's sake, come!" cried Rolf in agony,
forgetting their feud and seeing only tortured, dying man.

The Indian gazed a moment, then rose quickly, and put on the jackscrew.
Under his deft fingers the first spring went down, but what about the
other? They had no other screw. The long buckskin line they always
carried was quickly lashed round and round the down spring to hold it.
Then the screw was removed and put on the other spring; it bent, and the
jaws hung loose. The Indian forced them wide open, drew out the mangled
limbs, a the trapper was free, but so near death, it seemed they were
too late.

Rolf spread his coat. The Indian made a fire. In fifteen minutes they
were pouring hot tea between victim's lips. Even as they did, his feeble
throat gave out again the long, low moan.

The weather was mild now. The prisoner was not actually frozen, but
numbed and racked. Heat, hot tea, kindly rubbing, and he revived a
little.

At first they thought him dying, but in an hour recovered enough to
talk. In feeble accents and broken phrases they learned the tale:

"Yest--m-m-m. Yesterday--no; two or three days back--m-m-m-m-m--I dunno;
I was a goin'--roun' me traps--me bear traps. Didn't have no luck m-m-m
(yes, I'd like another sip; ye ain't got no whiskey no?) m-m-m. Nothing
in any trap, and when I come to this un--oh-h--m-m; I seen--the bait
was stole by birds, an' the pan--m-m-m; an' the pan, m-m-m--(yes, that's
better)--an' the pan laid bare. So I starts to cover it with--ce-ce-dar;
the ony thing I c'd get--m-m-m-w---wuz leanin' over--to fix tother
side--me foot slipped on--the--ice--ev'rything was icy--an'--m-m-m-m--I
lost--me balance--me knee the pan--O Lord--how I suffer!--m-m-m it
grabbed me--knee an'--h-h-hand--" His voice died to a whisper and
ceased; he seemed sinking.

Quonab got up to hold him. Then, looking at Rolf, Indian shook his
head as though to say all was over; the poor wretch had a woodman's
constitution, and in spite of a mangled, dying body, he revived again.
They gave him more hot tea, and again he began in a whisper:

"I hed one arm free an'--an'--an'--I might--a--got out--m-m--but I hed
no wrench--I lost it some place--m-m-m-m.

"Then--I yelled--I dun--no--maybe some un might hear--it kin-kin-kinder
eased me--to yell m-m-m.

"Say--make that yer dog keep--away--will yer I dunno--it seems like a
week--must a fainted some M-m-m--I yelled--