They were both so completely engrossed—Lish in raining his blows upon his helpless victim, and Tom in trying to ward them off—and the hubbub they occasioned was so great, that they did not hear the sonorous bray which awoke the echoes of the hills, nor the noise made by rapidly advancing hoofs. Just as Tom was about to give up in despair, and allow the wolfer to beat him to death—if he had made up his mind to do so—a large mouse-colored mule, without saddle or bridle, but carrying a rider on his back, suddenly appeared upon the scene. The mule was coming at a furious pace directly toward the lean-to, and for a moment it looked as though he was going to run right through it; but he stopped when he reached the side of the pony, and his rider swung himself to the ground. No sooner was he fairly landed on his feet than he dashed forward with an angry exclamation, and planted his fist so squarely and forcibly against the wolfer’s neck that he doubled him up like a piece of wet cloth, and brought the fracas to a close in an instant. CHAPTER XXXV. WHAT OSCAR’S VISITOR DID. Lish the Wolfer had not passed many days in his new camp before he began to see very plainly that he had not bettered his prospects by coming there. For reasons we have already given, game was not as abundant as it was in that other hunting ground, and something must be done about it, or the furs he would carry back to the settlements in the spring would not sell for any great sum. There was only one thing he could do, and that was to carry out a plan that had long ago suggested itself to him. Lish knew that a man of Big Thompson’s active habits would not be content to pass more than half his time in camp doing nothing, but that he would devote all his spare hours to trapping. He was as successful in this line as he was in causing the arrest of those who violated the law by selling arms and ammunition to hostile Indians, and if Lish could only find out where his traps were set, and visit them occasionally while the lawful owner was absent, he might make something handsome by it. The only objection to this plan was that there was a spice of danger in it; but this Lish hoped to avoid by the celerity and secrecy of his movements. Having pondered the matter for almost a month, the wolfer set out for the valley from which he had so hastily retreated, intending to give it a good looking over, and to be governed in his future movements by what he saw there. He took Tom’s last blanket from his shoulders while the latter was asleep, and left him without a stick of wood with which to replenish the fire when he awoke.