148 DAYS OUT OF DOORS. 



before the construction of the pond which was eighty- 

 five years ago and was not at all decayed. Here the 

 musk-rats had already found a convenient resting-place, 

 and even thus early had left traces of their feasts. The 

 broken shells of crayfish were very abundant. 



These ever-abundant crustaceans had resented the 

 sudden outgoing of the waters, and seeking refuge in 

 every nook had withstood the current, and were now 

 crowded into the shallow brook and the little shallows 

 that dimpled the wide expanse of mud. Their efforts to 

 escape were wildly frantic as I drew near, but I could 

 not induce them ever to leave the water. This surprised 

 me, as the pools were but an inch or two in depth, so I 

 tried to force them out upon the mud by placing my cane 

 before me and slowly advancing. Back they darted, and 

 then again and again receded, until they were half out 

 upon the mud ; but no further would they retreat. Many 

 burrowed until nearly out of sight, and all might have done 

 so had the mud been less compact, and a few gave a for- 

 ward leap over my cane and sought refuge in the water 

 behind me. I say a " forward leap," for so it seemed, but 

 the movement was too rapid for me to be positive. This 

 matters little, for I had gained my point ; even the cray- 

 fish has a modicum of cunning, or, more properly, com- 

 mon sense. 



As the child casts away one toy for another, so I 

 turned from the crayfish at last, and they, like the musk- 

 rats, were quickly forgotten. From point to point I 

 wandered, and at last, finding no novelty, wondered at the 

 absence of birds. Here, certainly, was a generous feed- 

 ing-ground, and yet I neither saw nor heard any, save 

 the chirping sparrows of the thickets. I forgot that in 

 so exposed a position I was acting the part of a scare- 

 crow and kept away the very creatures that I wished to 

 see. Remembering this, I withdrew to a shady nook, 



