A little fireplace in the wall served as both furnace and kitchen.

Outside we built a corral for the oxen, which completed our camp.
Our trapping was successful from the start, and we were sure that prosperity was at last in sight.
We set our steel traps along the "runs" used by the animals, taking great care to hide our tracks, and give the game no indication of the presence of an enemy.

The pelts began to pile up in our shack.

Most of the day we were busy at the traps, or skinning and salting the hides, and at night we would sit by our little fire and swap experiences till we fell asleep.

Always there was the wail of the coyotes and the cries of other animals without, but as long as we saw no Indians we were not worried.
One night, just as we were dozing off, we heard a tremendous commotion in the corral.