Meanwhile I was busily preparing my breakfast, for I was very hungry, having quite forgotten to eat during my fright the day before. I was half through my meal when a new idea came to me.
I had found this very cabin deserted. Was it not probable that its occupants had also been afflicted with smallpox? For an instant I was quite overcome with the thought that I might have been dwelling for many weeks where people had suffered or died with the contagious disease, but the next moment I burst into a hearty laugh, for I realized that if, as I suspected, there _had_ been smallpox in the cabin, the fact that I had not contracted it was proof that I had little need to fear. Thus reassured and casting all worry aside, I gathered up my weapons and went forth to search for game.
This morning I decided to take a new route and to cross the lake, which, I felt sure, was frozen hard enough to bear my weight in safety, for I still had a lingering feeling that the way to the settlements lay across the lake, and I was anxious to explore the farther side.
Traveling upon the smooth, unobstructed surface of the lake was easy, and I soon reached the opposite shores. I found the forest far heavier here, while rocky ledges, cliffs, and ravines made travel very difficult. In fact, I found it impossible to penetrate far into the woods, and in the hopes of finding some trail, pass, or opening I skirted the shore of the lake from one end to the other. But everywhere I found the same wild, impassable country, and, becoming firmly convinced that the settlements did not lie in this direction, I headed around the upper end of the lake toward home.
I had seen no game during my tramp, although tracks of foxes, hares, and other creatures were numerous, and, reaching my own side of the lake, I entered the forest and proceeded to seek carefully for game. I had walked for some distance and was well within the woods when I again felt the sensation of being followed and watched which I had experienced when dragging home the deer. At first I thought this was pure imagination, for I had seen no signs of lynx tracks in the vicinity, but nevertheless, I could not resist the desire to glance furtively about from time to time. Finally the feeling became so strong that it got upon my nerves and almost unconsciously I began to swing around on my tracks toward my cabin. Presently I came upon my own trail, and then I knew for a certainty that instinct had not played me false, for beside the broad, oval marks of my snow-shoes were the unmistakable tracks of the lynx. The beast was trailing me! At first I felt fear, but this quickly gave way to anger at the lynx for daring to track me, and I became possessed with the determination to slay him and be rid of his presence once and for all.