To those who have read the preceding volumes in this series, "The Boy Scouts¹ of Woodcraft Camp," "The Boy Scouts on Swift River," and "The Boy Scouts on Lost Trail," some of the characters in the present volume will be familiar. To me they are old friends in whose struggles and adventures I have taken the keenest personal interest.  
In this, the fourth and concluding volume, I have endeavored to portray² in some small measure the life of the trapper who in solitude³ and loneliness pits his skill against the cunning of the fur-bearers, and his courage and fortitude⁴ against the forces of Nature in her harshest and most relentless⁵ mood; to bring to my young readers a sense of the mystery of the great life eternal that broods over the wilderness⁶ to an even greater degree when its waters are fettered⁷ in ice, and its waste places wrapped in snow than when it rejoices in its summer verdure; to show that the standards a man or a boy sets for himself are as binding⁸ upon him in remote places where none may see as in the midst of his fellow men; and lastly to demonstrate what a powerful factor in the development of character and true manhood are the oath and law of the Boy Scouts of America when subscribed⁹ to in sincerity¹⁰ and conscientiously¹¹ observed.
 
Man or boy is never so true to himself as when in intimate contact with nature. Adventures such as herein described may not fall to your lot, oh, boy reader, but be assured that whenever you heed¹² the call of the Red Gods and hit the long trail you will find adventure of a degree awaiting you, and you will return stronger physically¹³ and mentally for having come in closer contact with the elemental forces which we term nature.
 
The Author.