84 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 



burrow entrances, that the pond was going down, 

 she still stayed at home, going out only under 

 water to the wood pile and quickly returning to 

 the lodge with a small twig for her meal. 



So she continued to live throughout the winter, 

 escaping immediately the ice melted, and making 

 her way among the patches of snow through the 

 woods, but always following the course of the 

 stream on which the pond had been made. She 

 travelled slowly, sleeping during the day in holes in 

 the banks. On her way she left signs here and there 

 on conspicuous points of land. Small pieces of mud 

 patted down and scented slightly with castoreum. 

 Who shall explain her reason for doing this ? 

 Presumably it was meant as a means of communi- 

 cation with any other of her kind. If so it served 

 its purpose, for the young male on finding the pond 

 unoccupied, felt instinctively that there must be 

 good reason for keeping clear of such an ill-omened 

 place, and he slowly proceeded on his journey 

 along the stream. For several days he continued 

 on his leisurely way. At first there was no reason 

 to hurry, but finally he came to one of the scented 

 mud pats and became intensely interested. From 

 it he learned that he was not alone. What more 

 information he gathered from the inconspicuous 

 pile of mud no one knows. But he too collected a 

 small lump of mud and deposited it on the one he 

 had found. Things looked different now. No 

 longer did he dawdle along. He even threw 



