THE MUSKRAT 



bloom beside it. Then in the golden 

 and scarlet brightness of autumn the de- 

 parting wood drake rests on the roof to 

 preen his plumage, and later the dusky 

 duck swims on its watery lawn. Above 

 it the wild geese harrow the low, cold 

 arch of the sky, the last fleet of sere 

 leaves drifts past it in the bleak wind, 

 and then ice and snow draw the veil of 

 the long winter twilight over the musk- 

 rat's homes and haunts. 



These may be gloomy days he spends 

 groping in the dark chambers of his hut 

 and burrow, or gathering food in the 

 dimly lighted icy water, with never a 

 sight of the upper world nor ever a sun- 

 beam to warm him. 



But there are more woful days when 

 the sun and the sky are again opened to 

 him, and he breathes the warm air of 

 spring, hears the blackbirds sing and the 

 bittern boom. For, amid all the glad- 

 ness of nature's reawakened life, danger 

 lurks in all his paths ; the cruel, hungry 

 trap gapes for him on every jutting log, 

 on every feeding-bed, even in the door- 

 way of his burrow and by the side of his 

 house. 



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