44 THE MINDS AND MANNERS 



"No; we would rather have you build over the plank.'' 



The next night more mud and sticks piled against the fence 

 said to us, 



"We really insist upon building it here!" 



We made a second clearance of their materials, saying in 

 effect: 



"You shall not build against the fence! You must build 

 where we tell you!" 



Thereupon, the beavers began to build over the plank, 

 saying, 



"Oh, well, if you are going to make a fuss about it, we will 

 let you have your way." 



So they built a beautiful water-tight dam precisely where 

 we suggested it to them, and after that our only trouble was 

 to keep them from overdoing the matter, and flooding the 

 whole valley. 



I am not going to dwell upon the mind and manners of 

 the beaver. The animal is well known. Three excellent books 

 have been written and pictured about him, in the language 

 that the General Reader understands. They are as follows: 

 "The American Beaver and His Works," Lewis H. Morgan 

 (1868); "The Romance of the Beaver," A. R. Dugmore (no 

 date); "History and Traditions of the Canada Beaver," H. 

 T. Martin (1892). 



"Clever Hans," the "Thinking Horse." From 1906 

 to 19 10 the world read much about a wonderful educated horse 

 owned and educated by Herr von Osten, in Germany. The 

 German scientists who first came in touch with "Hans" were 

 quite bowled over by the discovery that that one horse could 

 "think." The Review of Reviews said, in 1910: 



"It may be recalled that Clever Hans knew figures and 

 letters, colors and tones, the calendar and the dial, that he 

 could count and read, deal with decimals and fractions, spell 

 out answers to questions with his right hoof, and recognize 

 people from having seen their photographs. In every case 



