noon
Numerous new snares were set , the old ones adjusted , and the rabbits taken from the tossing poles of the lucky ones . One snare was missing altogether , and ` Merican Joe pointed to the tracks of a large wolf . `` He run ` long an ' git de foot or de nose in de snare , but she ain ' strong ` nough to hold um , '' he explained . At noon they camped at the place where ` Merican Joe had skinned the rabbits on the first trip . They had twelve rabbits in the packs and these they _ cached _ to pick up on the return . It was not long after they resumed operations on the snare line that Connie , with a whoop of delight , dashed toward the spot where the first lynx snare had been set . The sparse underbrush had been broken down , and for a considerable space the snow had been torn up and trampled in a manner that told of a furious struggle .