Yet it did not venture near the fire.
In the morning the two trappers, after discussing the strange events of the last thirty-six hours, decided that they would shoulder their packs and leave the valley that afternoon.

They were the more ready to do this because in spite of seeing a good deal of game sign they had caught very little fur.

However, it was necessary first to go along the line of their traps and gather them, and this they started out to do.
All the morning they kept together, picking up trap after trap, each one empty.

On first leaving camp they had the disagreeable sensation of being followed.

In the dense spruce thickets they occasionally heard a branch snap after they had passed; and now and then there were slight rustling noises among the small pines to one side of them.
At noon they were back within a couple of miles of camp.