s tail was about six inches long. Its head
was about as big as a half-peck measure. Its ears were pointed, with
little black tassels at the ends. It had whiskers on its cheeks and
smellers like a cat. The fur was gray, except that on the belly, which
was white.

Hector was looking at its claws, which were nearly two inches long.

"McKinstry, what do these animals eat?"

"Well, if you were alone here in the woods, I think likely they'd eat a
Scotchman."

"I was a thinking that same thing myself."

We skinned the bob-cat, and cut off some of his flesh with which to bait
the trap, and then we carried the trap back, and set and baited it
again.

We found nothing in our other traps till we came to the spot where the
seventh one had been, and that had disappeared.

We followed the trail, and finally saw the cat on a stump among some
bushes. McKinstry shot it. It jumped at us, but fell dead.

It was like the other, and weighed something over thirty pounds, though
it looked much heavier on account of its long fur.

We skinned it, and set and baited the trap again. The last trap had not
been touched.

As we were going back, Amos said: "What a p-pity Davy Fiske c-couldn't
have been with us. He'd have talked of this all his life."

"Well, the only difference is, that Amos Locke will, instead."

Just before we left the pond, we saw that an animal had turned in on
our tracks, and had followed them up toward the camp.

[Sidenote: A FISHER]

"That's a black cat or fisher," said Martin. "His tracks look like a
little child's. I'd like to get him, for a black cat's fur is worth
something."

The tracks kept along with ours, and when we got to the camp, we found
that he had eaten up one of three partridges we had left there.

"I'll fix him," said McKinstry, and the next day he brought up a trap
and set it near the hut, and baited it with partridge. The following
day, while we were away, the black cat came again, passed by our trap
and bait, and though there was a fire burning, went to the hut and ate
some baked beans which were there. He made two more calls on us, but
scorned the trap.

On the second day out, Martin shot a deer, so that we had plenty of
fresh meat; and we cut holes in the ice on the pond and caught pickerel.

When the week was up, we had eight bob-cats and an otter. We packed our
traps and skins on the sled, started back, and reached Fort Edward in
the evening.

Edmund had been unable to go with u