228 MUSKRATS 



behind two long, trailing ripples that steadily widen 

 and recede, shedding gleams of silver where the 

 water had been invisible in the shadows* 



On he comes steadily, his head strained rigidly 

 forward and barely above the surface* Now he is so 

 close that his little, beady eyes can be seen in the 

 moonlight* Splash ! The round of his back and his 

 snake-like tail appear for a moment above the surface 

 as he disappears, leaving the quivering ripples to seek 

 the black distance in widening and widening circles* 



Another appears swimming steadily and smoothly 

 toward the irregular house that has just been erected 

 on the opposite shore. He seems to revel in the 

 stillness and the joy of being alive* On the shore his 

 saturated fur glistens in the moonlight* He mounts 

 the house, quietly enjoying a feeling of proprietorship. 

 A feast of clams has tempted him, for the sound of 

 the cracking shells comes across the lagoon* Mirrored 

 in the water and catching the faint light of the 

 sinking moon, what more ecstatic situation could any 

 creature discover or devise t It makes one long for 

 the fulfilment of the oriental faith in the transmigra- 

 tion of a spirit to taste the joy of the silent moonlight 

 on the glassy surface of the lagoon* 



The Muskrat houses are a relief in the frozen 

 desolation of the marshes in winter* Rising from the 

 ice, rough, irregular piles of frozen weeds, catching 

 little drifts of light snow that fill up the open masses 



