44 BEAVERS—THEIR WAYS. 
his daily allowance of feed being brought from a nearby 
grove. He ate two meals each day and a late luncheon 
at night. Sometimes he would talk to himself as he 
maunched his provender, but at most of his meals noth- 
ing but the swish of brush and the grinding of teeth 
could be heard as he worked industriously to stay his 
hunger. He was playful at times but in a general way 
his moods were diversified. In this way he passed the 
second winter of his short but eventful life. 
In the early spring he was given the freedom of a 
pond—and although chaperoned to and from his ebul- 
itions—enjoyed his outings immensely. Indeed, so 
happy was he in his spurts of freedom that repressive 
measures had to be frequently used to induce his return 
to the gloomy celler. 
Sometime in May a change of quarters was made for 
Nibs as more convenient for his caretakers though a less 
comfortable one for the captive beaver. This was an 
old root celler with hard gravel sides. Here it was he 
was snugly domiciled when the Canadian visitor came 
to Washburn, an account of which is given in a pre- 
ceeding chapter. Sometime after the passing of the 
aforementioned visitor, I came to the celler to find that 
the tub was empty of water, buta mixed lot of peeled 
sticks, mud andrefuse in the bottom of the tub. The 
beaver, meantime was found quietly crouched in his 
corner and acted as though he did not want to be dis- 
turbed. It is a gentle hint—I thought—that he want’s 
a clean tub and a fresh supply of water. His wishes 
were acseded to, and a cleaned-out tub filled to the brim 
with clear sparkling water. But to my astonishment on 
going to his quarters next morning, I found matters 
