Cofong in 



hardship in several colonies near my home. For- 

 tunately the ponds were not deeply frozen, and 

 those colonies which had aspen groves close to 

 the water succeeded in felling and dragging in 

 sufficient food-supplies for the winter. As snow 

 drifted into the groves, many of the trees har- 

 vested were cut from the tops of snowdrifts, and 

 thus left high stumps. The following summer a 

 number of these stood four feet above the earth 

 and presented a striking appearance alongside the 

 sixteen-inch stumps of normal height. 



One of these storm-caught colonies fared badly. 

 The inhabitants were obliged to go a long dis- 

 tance from the water for trees, and their all too 

 scanty harvest was gathered with some loss of 

 life. Apparently both wolves and lions discovered 

 the unfortunate predicament of the harvesters, 

 and lay in wait to catch them as they floundered 

 slowly through the snow. The following winter 

 these colonists tunneled through the bottom 

 perhaps the least frozen part of the dam and 

 came forth for food long before the break-up of 

 the ice. The water drained from the pond, and 

 after the ice had melted, the bottom of the pond 

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