NOTES BY THE WAY. 147 



peared to have just got tidings of what was coming, 

 If I had taken the hint so palpably given, my celery 

 would not have been frozen up in the ground, and 

 my apples caught in unprotected places. When the 

 cold wave struck us, about November 20th, my four- 

 legged " I-told-you-so's " had nearly completed their 

 dwelling ; it lacked only the ridge-board, so to speak ; 

 it needed a little " topping out," to give it a finished 

 look. But this it never got. The winter had come 

 to stay, and it waxed more and more severe, till the 

 unprecedented cold of the last days of December must 

 have astonished even the wise muskrats in their snug 

 retreat. I approached their nest at this time, a white 

 mound upon the white, deeply frozen surface of the 

 pond, and wondered if there was any life in that ap- 

 parent sepulchre. I thrust my walking-stick sharply 

 into it, when there was a rustle and a splash into the 

 water, as the occupant made his escape. What a 

 damp basement that house has, I thought, and what 

 a pity to rout a peaceful neighbor out of his bed in 

 this weather, and into such a state of things as this ! 

 But water does not wet the muskrat ; his fur is 

 charmed, and not a drop penetrates it. 



Where the ground is favorable, the muskrats do 

 not build these mound-like nests, but burrow into the 

 bank a long distance, and establish their winter quar- 

 ters there. 



Shall we not say, then, in view of the above facts, 

 that this little creature is weather-wise ? The hitting 

 of the mark twice might be mere good luck; but 



