"Go on and tell us about it, please?" asked Owen, always interested.

"I've known farmers' boys to make the same sort of snare to grab rabbits
in the winter time," Bandy-legs went on, being a most accommodating boy,
especially when he had anything to tell about his own doings. "You find
a nice stout hickory sapling of the right kind, and strip it of all the
branches. Then you bend it over, and fasten it to a crotched stick
you've pounded hard in the ground. The end of the sapling has a stout
cord tied to it, and this is made in the shape of a noose. The bait is
put in this, and bunny gets his leg caught in the loop, which tightens,
so he tugs to get away. Then up goes the sapling, when the trigger is
sprung, and the game hangs there, kicking in the air."

"Fine!" remarked Steve, admiringly; "and the chances are just two to
one, old fellow, that if you set a trap like that for a visitor, you'll
be the first to fall into it."

"Oh, say, can't you let a feller get up even a little thing like that
without throwing cold water on him?" complained Bandy-legs, in a grieved
tone. "Max, don't you think it'd work, if I tried it?"

"It might," came the reply; "and perhaps there wouldn't be any harm done
trying. It's a pretty smart scheme, let me tell you, Bandy-legs. And if
we heard a yell, and crawled out to see the thief hanging there, all the
credit would be yours."

That settled it. Words of praise from so good an authority as Max would
brush away all the sarcastic remarks Steve could think up. So
Bandy-legs, with a look of triumph at his opponent, picked up the ax and
sauntered off again. But he was very careful to keep within the magical