Edison Marshall

“ Only the mighty powers of nature were in dominion here: the lashing snows of winter, the bitter cold, the wind that wept by unheard by human ears. Ned was closer to the heart of nature, and thus to the heart of life, than he had ever been before. ”

“ They tramped on, and Doomsdorf pointed out where a wolverine had come down the glade and crossed the creek. “You'll curse at the very name of wolverine before the season's done,” Doomsdorf told him, as Ned paused to study the imprint. “He's the demon of the snow so far as the trapper is concerned. Nevertheless, you'll want to take a skin for your own use. It's the one fur for the hood of a parka—you can wear it over your mouth in fifty below and it doesn't get covered with ice from your breath. But you'll have to be a smarter man than I think you are to catch him.” ”

“ You know these little streams rise and fall like the tides. They've learned, in a few hundred thousand years of their development, that it doesn't pay to build a nice house and then have the creek come up and wash it away and drown them out. When they put down their winter food, they want to be sure it's going to be there when they want it—neither washed away nor high and dry out of water. The solution was—to build a dam. Now I'll show you how to catch a beaver.”
It seemed to Ned that the logical place to lay the trap was on the beaver house itself—a great pile of sticks and mud. ”

“ The instant the trap was sprung, the animal's instinct was to dive into deep water. Of course he dragged the heavy sack with him and was unable to rise again. The beaver, contrary to expectations, cannot live in water indefinitely. An air-breathing mammal, he drowns almost as quickly as a human being would under the same circumstances.
They placed a second trap on the dam itself, then encircling the meadow, continued on up the stream. From time to time they made their sets, as this was a favorable region for mink and otter, two of the most beautiful and valuable furs. ”

“ Seemingly every kind of northern animal of which Ned had ever heard had immediately preceded them through the glade.
“Where there's timber, there's marten,” Doomsdorf explained. “Marten, I suppose you know, are the most valuable furs we take, outside of silver and blue fox—and one of the easiest taken. The marten's such a ruthless hunter that he doesn't look what he's running into. You won't find them far on the open barrens, but they are in hundreds in the long, narrow timber belt between Twelve-Mile cabin, to-night's stop, and Forks cabin that you'll hit to-morrow night. ”

“ There was not, at first, a blaze on a tree, the least sign that human beings had ever passed that way before. It was the land-that-used-to-be, unchanged seemingly since the dim beginnings of the world. ”

“ Tired out, weakened, aching in every muscle and not far from the absolute limit of exhaustion, Ned staggered to the cabin door at last. He had put out all the traps he had brought from the home cabin: thence his course lay along a blazed trail that skirted the edge of the narrow timber belt, over the ridge to the Forks cabin. Doomsdorf entered, then in the half-light stood regarding the younger man who had followed him in.
Ned tried to stand erect. He must not yield yet to the almost irresistible impulse to throw himself down on the floor and rest. He dared not risk Doomsdorf's anger ”

“ And when he stood erect again, he found Doomsdorf watching him with keenest interest.
“I didn't think you were man enough to do it,” he commented. “You'll say that's quite a trap, won't you?”
“It's quite a trap,” Ned agreed shortly. “What kind of an elephant do you take in it?”
“No kind of an elephant, but one of the grandest mammals that ever lived, at that. I don't trap them much, because I hardly get enough for their skins to pay for handling them—you can guess they're immensely bulky. There's a fair price for their skulls, too, but the skull alone is a fair load for a weak back. ”

“ Even the dam is built in an arch—the strongest formation known to man—to withstand the waters. Sometime I'll tell you how they do it—there isn't as much premeditated cunning in it as you think. Do you know what a beaver looks like?”
“Got big teeth——”
“Correct. It has to have 'em to cut all this wood. Likely enough the little devils go considerable distances up and down this creek to get their materials. Sometimes they'll dig great canals for floating the sticks they use in their dams.
“A big beaver weighs about fifty pounds—and he's about the handiest boy to trap there is. ”

“ But Ned wasn't aware of Doomsdorf's plans. The great blond man stretched his arms, yawning, buttoned his coat tighter about him, and turned to go. “I'll see you in about five days,” he remarked laconically.
Ned wakened abruptly from his revery. “You mean—you aren't going to show me anything more?”
“There's nothing more you can't learn by yourself—by hard experience. I've given you your map and your directions for the trap line. A baby couldn't miss it. There's traps on the wall—scatter 'em along between here and the Forks cabin. ”