every summer ; but in the autumn nights you 

 cannot hide about their houses and fail to see 

 them. In October they are building their win- 

 ter lodges, and the clumsiest watcher may spy 



"In October they are building their winter lodges." 



them glistening in the moonlight as they climb 

 with loads of sedge and mud to the roofs of their 

 sugar-loaf houses. They are readily seen, too, 

 making short excursions into the meadows ; and 

 occasionally the desire to rove and see the world 

 will take such hold upon one as to drive him a 

 mile from water, and he will slink along in the 

 shadow of the fences and explore your dooryard 

 [199] 



