Oscar, who stood there leaning on his rifle, and watching him as he moved rapidly on his snow-shoes over the tops of the drifts, little dreamed how hard it was for the hunter to set out on his lonely tramp that morning. He cared nothing at all for the journey, for he had often made longer and more difficult ones; but, somehow, his heart had grown very tender toward the boy of late, and he could not bear to part from him. The guide never stopped to look back. Oscar kept his eyes fastened upon him as long as he remained in sight, and when at last he disappeared around a bend in the gorge the young hunter shouldered his rifle and turned his face toward the brook. “He’ll certainly succeed this time,” said he to himself; “and when he comes back I shall have letters from home. In the meantime I shall learn how it seems to be alone in the hills. Thompson needn’t be at all afraid that I shall go out of the valley. I have no desire to meet Old Ephraim’s brother, and if I should happen to fall over a cliff and hurt myself I should be in a fix indeed. I never thought of that.” The guide’s traps and deadfalls, which were all set in the lower end of the valley, were better than his own, or else that wolverine never visited them, for in every one that was sprung that morning the boy found something to take home with him. They were all carefully reset, fresh bait was supplied for those that needed it, and Oscar spent so much time at this work that he did not reach the cabin until near the middle of the afternoon. The remaining hours of daylight were spent in replenishing the pile of wood at the door, and as soon as it began to grow dark the pony and mule were driven into their quarters for the night. This done, Oscar shut himself in the cabin, and after eating a hearty supper went to work to remove and stretch the skins of the animals he had taken from the guide’s traps. The cabin, which had always appeared so cheerful and inviting to him, was very gloomy now, and Oscar never before felt so lonely and down-hearted. He had a good many days of this sort of life before him, for he knew that the guide could not make the journey in less than three weeks, and it was quite possible that four might elapse before they would again take each other by the hand. A great many things might happen in that time, Oscar told himself; and, sure enough, some things _did_ happen to him that would certainly have been averted if Big Thompson had been there. Oscar slept but little that night, and was glad when daylight came. While he was busy he did not have time to think how lonely he was, and before he left his blanket he made the mental resolution that every one of his waking hours should be devoted to some kind of work. This particular day he intended to spend in visiting his own traps, and he began his round as soon as he had eaten his breakfast, released the mule and pony from their shelter, and cut down a cottonwood or two for them to browse upon.