In Beaver-Land 155 



would discover the leak and come forth to re- 

 pair the damage. I felt quite mean when I 

 saw the rent that we had made in the struc- 

 ture, and was half inclined to repair the dam- 

 age myself and trust to luck to see the beavers 

 at work, but I was most desirous of seeing the 

 little builders on the spot and so suffered the 

 water to stream through the break. 



We took a commanding position in a tall 

 pine near the dam from which we could see 

 far up the lake and across the low lying valley 

 in every direction. It was rather tedious 

 waiting, holding on to an uncertain perch 

 forty or fifty feet up in the pine. We soon 

 got cramped and stiff, but the game for which 

 we were out was an exciting one, and our an- 

 ticipation helped while away the two solid 

 hours that passed before we saw much that in- 

 terested us. 



How still it was between the night cries 

 that came to our ears from the distant forest. 

 There was always the low gurgling glee of the 

 water as it slipped through the hole that we 

 had made in the dam, but when the hooting 



