TWENTY YEARS IN THE ROCKIES. 59 



with delight even the youngest beavers coming with long 

 willow twigs in their mouths to lay beside the masters. 

 These in turn took them, cut them in pieces and stuck them 

 down by rearing upon their hind feet, holding the twigs 

 fast in their teeth while pushing them firmly into the dam. 

 As soon as the mortar was taken from the hod-carriers, it 

 was stamped solidly into position by the tails of the workers. 



Such precision and orderly work I have never seen car- 

 ried out except by bees and the red ants of the plains. I 

 noticed two or three times that the youngsters had a dispo- 

 sition to play between loads. The masters would then thrust 

 out their necks and show their teeth ; this never failed to 

 cause a scamper back to work. In my delight and curiosity, 

 I pressed far out on a small limb and suddenly it broke, let- 

 ting me down noisily. The superintendent beaver, upon 

 hearing the first sound, jumped into the water and gave one 

 stroke of his tail which sounded all over the series of dams. 

 Instantly every beaver had disappeared and dead silence 

 reigned. My horse was still cutting the grass without fear 

 or excitement, so I slid to the ground, took my belt knife, 

 cut a stout stick, sharpened it and began to tear out the fresh 

 work which was almost completed. 



It was almost impossible to move any part of the ma- 

 sonry which was secured so firmly. But, after a hard strug- 

 gle, I got the water started, and went back to my tree to 

 await results. I was sure the beavers had not smelled me, 

 and, such being the case, I was confident they would soon 

 return to their work. Shortly I saw the old boss stick his 

 nose out of the water and swim over to the dam, carefully 

 scanning every object, and raising on his hind feet and snif- 

 fing all around. After satisfying his curiosity, he gave two 

 terrible blows with his tail, then ran to where the water 

 was pouring over the dam. He went through all manner 

 of antics and was soon joined by the entire force. 



