so he covered it over with earth and allowed it to 

 remain. His work in turn was inspected and ap- 

 parently approved by the beaver. 



How long does a beaver live ? Trappers say 

 from fifteen to fifty years. I had glimpses of 

 Flat-top through eighteen years, and he must 

 have been not less than four years of age when I 

 first met him. This would make his age twenty- 

 two years ; but he may have been six years of 

 age he looked it the morning he first led 

 emigrants into Lily Lake ; and he may have 

 lived a few years after I saw him last. But only 

 the chosen few among the beaver can succeed in 

 living as long as Flat-top. The last time I saw 

 him was the day he dared me and blockaded the 

 drain ditch and stopped the outrushing water. 



Flat-top has vanished, and the kind old home- 

 steader has gone to his last long sleep ; but the 

 lake still remains, and still there stands a beaver 

 house among the pond-lilies. 



