Chapter 7

EARLY SPRING

Two trappers out to run their lines
And take note of beaver signs
Peered through some brush not seen before
And saw a cabin, with open door.

"Ha! Jack look, mon ami
A cabin over here, you see?
Perhaps some one with which to trade
Now that winter starts to fade."

The two trappers made their way
To the cabin, then to say
"Look what's left of men, my friend.
They surely found a painful end."

"And here, this one by the door
With rifle and, look what's more.
Much gold held in his left hand
As if to pay some high demand."

"And here, a cougar slashed his coat,
Its claws of iron have cut his throat.
But why, suppose the door is wide
And what made him at last decide

To challenge such a cat as that?
He could have stayed where he was at.
Why open wide to such a beast
And thereby join his friends deceased?

Why indeed is the question
That could take some self-reflection.
I tell you Jack, there's more right here
Than meets the eye, I truly fear.

Perhaps it's as the Indians say,
No one can truly run away."
In each of us we hold the seed
Of human frailties... like greed,"

~Robert E Browne~