"Go slow, I say, go slow!" cried the Trapper, now thoroughly alarmed
at the reckless precipitancy of his companion; "the pigs, as I can
see, belong to a lively breed, and it is sheer foolishness to risk a
whole winter's choppin'--"

Not another word of warning did the Old Trapper utter, for suddenly
the nails yielded, the board flew upward, and out of the box shot a
pig. It is in the interest of accurate statement and everlasting proof
of Wild Bill's alertness to affirm and record that the flying pig had
taken only two jumps before his owner was atop of him, and both
disappeared over the bank in a whirlwind of flying snow. Nor had the
Trapper been less dexterous, for no sooner had the sandy colored
streak shot through the hole made by the hatchet of the man who had
sledded him forty miles that he might present him to the Trapper as a
contribution to the Christmas dinner, than the old man dropped himself
on to the box, thereby effectually barring the exit of the other
porcine sprinter.

"Get your gun, get your gun, Old Trapper!" yelled Bill from the
whirlwind of snow. "Get your gun, I say, for this infernal pig is
getting the best of me."

"I can't do it, Bill," cried the Trapper; "I can't do it. I am doin'
picket duty on the top of this box, with a big hole under me and
another pig under the hole."

At the same instant the pig and Wild Bill shot up the bank into full
view. Bill had lost his grip on the leg, but had made good his hold on
an ear, and had the Trapper been a betting man, it is doubtful if he
would have placed money on either. Had he done so, the odds would have
been slightly in favor of the pig.

"Hold on to him, Bill!" cried the Trapper, laughing at the spectacle
in front of him till the tears stood in his eyes. "Hold on to him, I
say. Remember, ye have three months of choppin' in yer grip; the pig
under me is gittin' lively, and the profits of the other three months
be onsartin. O Lord!" ejaculated the old man, partially sobered at the
prospect, "here comes the pups and the devil himself will now be to
pay!"

The anxiety and alarming prediction of the Trapper were in the next
instant fully justified, for the two dogs, unaccustomed to the scent
and cries of the animals, but thoroughly aroused at the noise and fury
of the contest, came tearing down the slope through the snow at full
speed. The pig saw them coming and headed for the southern angle of
the cabin, with Bill streaming along at his sid