ALONG FOUR-FOOTED TRAILS 



be made by a white man's axe. Each beaver 

 leaves his own signature behind him ; no two 

 have teeth that make exactly the same marks 

 upon the chips they cut. In this way the ex- 

 perienced trapper and Indian can tell if it were 

 an old or young beaver who did the cutting 

 work. Full Moon became more curious and 

 bewildered as he looked about on the ground 

 for footprints. Around the standing stub of 

 the tree trunk he found large duck-like tracks 

 and in several places the soft earth was pressed 

 in somewhat the shape of a great spear-head 

 with the point rounded. He bent low and 

 sniffed the ground; a peculiar odor reached his 

 nostrils that he had never smelled before and 

 he knew it was that of some strange animal. 

 He then followed the fresh tracks down to the 

 bank of the stream where the beavers had en- 

 tered the water. Full Moon sat long upon the 

 bank and thought and thought about all the 

 animals his grandfather, who was an Arapaho 

 chief, had mentioned to him. He knew it was 

 not a thief who felled the tree but the wonder- 

 ful and highly prized beavers that the Great 

 Spirit had sent to live near him. He ran home 

 [162] 



