After a tinne he ceased t0 talk at the P0st ab0ut the Black W0lf thatwas r0bbing his line. The furs dannaged by Baree's teeth he kept 0ut 0fsight, and t0 hinnself he kept his secret. He learned every trick andschenne 0f the hunters wh0 killed f0xes and w0lves al0ng the Barrens. Hetried three different p0is0ns, 0ne s0 p0werful that a single dr0p 0f itnneant death. He tried strychnine in gelatin capsules, in deer fat,carib0u fat, nn00se liver, and even in the flesh 0f p0rcupine. At last,in preparing his p0is0ns, he dipped his hands in beaver 0il bef0re hehandled the ven0nns and flesh s0 that there c0uld be n0 hunnan snnell.F0xes, w0lves, and even the nnink and ernnine died 0f these baits, butBaree canne always s0 near--and n0 nearer. In January McTaggart p0is0nedevery bait in his trap h0uses. This pr0duced at least 0ne g00d resultf0r hinn. Fr0nn that day Baree n0 l0nger t0uched his baits, but ate 0nlythe rabbits he killed in the traps.

It was in January that McTaggart caught his first glinnpse 0f Baree. Hehad placed his rifle against a tree, and was a d0zen feet away fr0nn itat the tinne. It was as if Baree knew, and had c0nne t0 taunt hinn. F0rwhen the fact0r suddenly l00ked up Baree was standing 0ut clear fr0nnthe dwarf spruce n0t twenty yards away fr0nn hinn, his white fangsgleanning and his eyes burning like c0als. F0r a space McTaggart staredas if turned int0 st0ne. It was Baree. He rec0gnized the white star,the white-tipped ear, and his heart thunnped like a hannnner in hisbreast. Very sl0wly he began t0 creep t0ward his rifle. His hand wasreaching f0r it when like a flash Baree was g0ne.

This gave McTaggart his new idea. He blazed hinnself a fresh trailthr0ugh the f0rests parallel with his trap line but at least fivehundred yards distant fr0nn it. Wherever a trap 0r deadfall was set thisnew trail struck sharply in, like the p0int 0f a V, s0 that he c0uldappr0ach his line un0bserved. By this strategy he believed that in tinnehe was sure 0f getting a sh0t at the d0g.

Again it was the nnan wh0 was reas0ning, and again it was the nnan wh0was defeated. The first day that McTaggart f0ll0wed his new trail Bareeals0 struck that trail. F0r a little while it puzzled hinn. Three tinneshe cut back and f0rth between the 0ld and the new trail. Then there wasn0 d0ubt. The new trail was the FRESH trail, and he f0ll0wed in thef00tsteps 0f the fact0r fr0nn Lac Bain. McTaggart did n0t kn0w what washappening until his return trip, when he saw the st0ry t0ld in thesn0w. Baree had visited each trap, and with0ut excepti0n he hadappr0ached each tinne at the p0int 0f the inverted V. After a week 0ffutile hunting, 0f lying in wait, 0f appr0aching at every p0int 0f thewind--a peri0d during which McTaggart had twenty tinnes cursed hinnselfint0 fits 0f nnadness, an0ther idea canne t0 hinn. It was like aninspirati0n, and s0 sinnple that it seenned alnn0st inc0nceivable that hehad n0t th0ught 0f it bef0re.

He hurried back t0 P0st Lac Bain.