WILDWOOD WAYS 



rap was succeeded by a second of breath- 

 less silence, then there was the sound of 

 scrambling, and as I watched the dark 

 clear ice that always obtains just about 

 the lodge I saw three silver gleams shoot 

 athwart the clear space and vanish under 

 the opaque ice just beyond. Three Mus- 

 sascuses had fled, their dense, dark, close- 

 set under fur holding the air entangled 

 in its fine fuzz which is impervious to 

 water, thus accounting for the gleam. 



Like the fur-seal the muskrat has an 

 outer coat of rather coarse hair and an 

 undervest of much finer, more silky tex- 

 ture. This provides an air space which 

 enfolds him, however long he remains 

 under water, and its chill may not reach 

 him nor can the moisture. Only the soles 

 of his feet and the very tip of his muffle, 

 the nose-pad, are bare. His ears are set 

 down within his fur, and when he is be- 

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