noon
There was nothing gingerly about the action this time , and the Indian noted that the boy 's jaws worked with evident relish . `` Well , '' answered Connie , when the second morsel had gone the way of the first , `` if the rest of the things you were telling me about are as good as this , all I 've got to say is : Bring 'em along ! '' Daylight found them on the trap line with sleeping bags and provisions in their packs , for it would require at least two days to `` fresh up '' the line . At noon they camped for lunch almost at the end of the line of steel traps . So far they had been unusually lucky . Only two traps had been sprung empty , and eight martens and a mink were in the pack sacks . Only two of the martens , and the mink were alive when found and Connie quickly learned the Indian method of killing a trapped animal -- a method that is far more humane and very much easier when it comes to skinning the animal than the white man 's method of beating him on the head with the ax handle .