biting the trap savagely, but this only hurt his teeth. Then he resorted to another stratagem. With his free paw he dug a small hole, buried the trap, covering it with dirt, but as soon as he pulled with his captive paw the trap came up with it. Then he tried drowning the trap in the stream, holding it under the water for several minutes, but that also was useless, yet something must be done. The minutes were rapidly passing, so he went all through these manœuvers once again, yet all to no purpose. His thrashing around increased the pain in his paw until finally it was almost unbearable, but after an hour or two the paw became numb and the pain was less noticeable. But he was doing nothing to free himself and the coming of the trapper was drawing nearer and nearer. One, two and three hours went by and the misery of Redcoat grew. His nerves became keyed to the highest pitch. The chirping of a bird in the bushes or a snapping twig would make him jump. The woods seemed filled with fear. Danger lurched in every shadow.
