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CHAPTER XII. 



hour's walk on their snow-shoes 

 brought the trappers to a little lake, 

 frozen firmly over, and covered with 

 a sheet of purest snow. At the spot 

 where the small stream mentioned in the 

 last chapter fell into the lake, Paul observed 

 Y many oven-shaped excrescences ; these, his 

 companion informed him, were the lodges of the 

 beavers, and within them the animals lay comfort- 

 ably asleep. Under Pierre's direction several small 

 saplings were felled, and by sharpening their ends 

 were fashioned into stout stakes. All was now in 

 readiness, and the Canadian carefully examined 

 the ground and the frozen surface of the lake, to 

 ascertain at what points the beavers communicated 

 with their retreats in the bank. A skilled trapper, 

 he was not long in finding out these weak places ; 

 and cutting away the ice he drove stakes into the 

 passage, so that both entry and exit were effectually 

 cut off. Proceeding to the lodges, a similar method 

 was adopted, the thick ice removed with axe and 



