ronged antlers told that he was one of the great
monarchs of the forest. When they tried to get near enough to stab him,
he suddenly attacked the canoe with such fury that, although Astumastao
succeeded in mortally wounding him, yet he so smashed the canoe that it
was rendered useless, and the girls had to spring out and swim to the
shore, which was a long way off. However, they reached it in safety,
amid the laughter of the people, who had observed their discomfiture.
Nothing daunted, however, the plucky girls quickly secured another canoe
and paddled out and brought in their splendid deer.

When the long, cold winter set in again, Astumastao applied herself very
diligently to the work of trapping and snaring rabbits and some of the
smaller fur-bearing animals. In her hunting excursions she followed her
plans of the preceding winters, and often plunged farther into the dense
forest to set her traps and snares beyond those of any other woman
hunter.

Here, in the solitude of nature, she could sing to her heart's content
while deftly weaving her snares or setting her traps. On one of these
trips she caught a glimpse of a black fox, and suspecting him to be the
thief who had been robbing her snares of some rabbits during the last
few days, she resolved if possible to capture the valuable animal. His
rich and costly fur would buy her and her aunt some valuable blankets
and other things much required for their comfort. Returning quickly
back to her wigwam, she succeeded in borrowing a fox trap from a
friendly hunter, and then making all preparations she started very early
the next morning for the spot where she intended to set her trap. The
distance was so great that she had to tramp along for several hours on
her snow-shoes ere she reached the place. But the air was clear and
bracing, and hoping for success in her undertaking she felt but little
fatigue. Skillfully she set the trap, and then walking backward, and
with a heavy balsam brush carefully brushing out her tracks, she
retraced her steps to the ordinary trail, and began collecting her
rabbits and partridges from the snares. Although the fox had robbed her
of several, yet she was more than ordinarily successful and gathered
sufficient to make a heavy load.

At one place the path led her through a dense, gloomy part of, the
forest, where the great branches of the trees seemed to interlock above
her head, and shut out the greater part of the light and suns