62 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



drift wood logs piled on the shore by the torrents, 

 to a point of vantage where a tangle of these whim 

 sticks extended over where dark waters whirled in 

 a spiral, collecting a lot of suds like foam, and 

 keeping it twisting around in the center of a minia- 

 ture whirlpool. It is in just such places big trout 

 love to lurk and I was intent upon casting my flies 

 over this spot when a low whistle from my wife 

 signaled me. Looking up I saw that she was point- 

 ing to some object under the edge of an overhang- 

 ing bank. Noiselessly clambering back over the 

 smooth logs and cautiously approaching, I peered 

 over the edge of the bank, and with some difficulty 

 discovered the 



TIP OF A TAIL. 



I felt assured that there must be some sort of an 

 animal hitched to the other end of it, and so climb- 

 ing down the bank and cautiously removing drift 

 wood and rubbish, I rolled up my sleeves, got down 

 on my knees and quietly slipped my hand close to 

 the place where the root of the tail should be. I 

 was not at all surprised upon pulling the animal 

 out of its hole to discover that I had 



CAPTURED A MUSKRAT. 



Oh, me, oh, my! what a big one it was! and how 

 vicious! It appeared to be almost as large as a 

 beaver, and was very heavy. It was, in fact, the 

 largest muskrat I had ever seen. I started for 

 camp with Mr. Rat, for the very good reason 



