To the satisfaction of the trapper this furnished a victim equal in size
to the first one.

"I didn't know muskrats counted for much, Uncle Jim," remarked Steve, who
saw the sparkle in the old man's eyes as he handled the second prize.

"Oh well, the skins didn't pay for the trouble years ago," he said in
reply, "but of late years good furs are getting so scarce that they are
using heaps of muskrat pelts, generally dyed and sold under another name.
It is a good serviceable fur, and if taken up North answers the purpose
very well."

"Why do you say 'up North'?" asked Owen.

"Max there can tell you, I'm sure," laughed the trapper.

"Oh, well," remarked the one mentioned, "I do happen to know that the
farther north you go the better the fur. And, of course, that means a
higher price in the market, since all pelts are graded according to size
and quality."

"That means, I suppose," said Owen, "that a muskrat skin taken away up in
Northern Michigan or Canada is more valuable than the same sized pelt
that was captured down, say, in Florida."

"Often worth twice or three times as much," remarked the trapper. "Stands
to reason, too, since the little critters don't have much need of thick
hides where the weather is generally warm."