PEPACTON 



board, so to speak; it needed a little "topping out," 

 to give it a finished look. But this it never got. 

 The winter had come to stay, and it waxed more 

 and more severe, till the unprecedented cold of 

 the last days of December must have astonished 

 even the wise muskrats in their snug retreat. I 

 approached their nest at this time, a white mound 

 upon the white, deeply frozen surface of the pond, 

 and wondered if there was any life in that appar- 

 ent sepulchre. I thrust my walking-stick sharply 

 into it, when there was a rustle and a splash into 

 the water, as the occupant made his escape. What 

 a damp basement that house has, I thought, and 

 what a pity to rout a peaceful neighbor out of his 

 bed in this weather, and into such a state of things 

 as this ! But water does not wet the muskrat ; his 

 fur is charmed, and not a drop penetrates it. 



Where the ground is favorable, the muskrats do 

 not build these mound-like nests, but burrow into 

 the bank a long distance, and establish their winter- 

 quarters there. 



Shall we not say, then, in view of the above facts, 

 that this little creature is weatherwise ? The hitting 

 of the mark twice might be mere good luck; but 

 three bull's-eyes in succession is not a mere coin- 

 cidence; it is a proof of skill. The muskrat is not 

 found in the Old World, which is a little singular, 

 as other rats so abound there, and as those slow- 

 going English streams especially, with their grassy 

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