A little suspiciously he crushed it slowly between his jaws.

The fat was sweet.

He was about to gulp it down when he detected another and less pleasant taste, and what remained in his mouth he spat out upon the snow.

But the acrid bite of the poison remained upon his tongue and in his throat.

It crept deeper--and he caught up a mouthful of snow and swallowed it to put out the burning sensation that was crawling nearer to his vitals.
Had he devoured the ball of fat as he had eaten the other baits he would have been dead within a quarter of an hour, and Le Beau would not have gone far to find his body.