in the clear, shadow-enameled pond. A lone 

 beaver rose quietly in the scene from the water 

 near the house. Swimming noiselessly, he made 

 a circuit of the pond. Then for a time, and with- 

 out any apparent purpose, he swam back and 

 forth over a short, straight course; he moved 

 leisurely, and occasionally made a shallow, quiet 

 dive. He did not appear to be watching anything 

 in particular or to have anything special on his 

 mind. Yet his eyes may have been scouting for 

 enemies and his mind may have been full of house 

 plans. Finally he dived deeply, and the next I 

 saw of him he was climbing up the side of the 

 house addition with a pawful of mud. 



By this time a number of beavers were swim- 

 ming in the pond after the manner of the first 

 one. Presently all began to work. The addition 

 already stood more than two feet above the water- 

 line. The top of this was crescent-shaped and 

 was about seven feet long and half as wide. It 

 was made mostly of mud, which was plentifully 

 reinforced with willow cuttings and aspen sticks. 

 For a time all the workers busied themselves in 

 carrying mud and roots from the bottom of the 



170 



