276 Trails to Woods and Waters 



the tops of tall trees for the treasure of the 

 forest. 



The cranberry bog, too, is bright with ber- 

 ries, and here one may not only pick ber- 

 ries, but also watch the muskrats piling up 

 their houses against the winter cold, which 

 will soon be upon them. 



The muskrat is particularly fortunate, for 

 he not only lives in this queer house, but also 

 eats it, for it is partly built of the roots that 

 he best likes. 



On these wonderful autumn nights, when 

 the sky was so studded with stars that there 

 seemed not room for one more, when the air 

 was rich with the smell of the ripe corn, and 

 the perfume of ripe fruit, old Ben and I used 

 to take long night walks, and it was then that 

 we did about the only hunting that we ever 

 permitted ourselves. 



Old Ben's philosophy in regard to the wild 

 life was that each creature, and even the bugs 

 and insects, although many of them seemed 

 worse than useless to us, had their use. That 

 they were put here for some purpose, and that 



