THE LIFE OF A BEAVER COLONY 85 



caution to the winds and travelled by day, 

 frequently finding fresher and fresher mud pats, 

 until at last he overtook the maker of them. They 

 met at night and beyond rubbing noses there was 

 no formal introduction. They were both lonely 

 and what more natural than that they should join 

 forces to start out in life and travel together ? The 

 sealing of the life compact, which is seldom if ever 

 broken by the beavers, was done without fuss or 

 ceremony and was witnessed only by the moonlit 

 trees. 



The next question was where they should go ? 

 Not back to the deserted pond, for even though it 

 would have meant a great saving of work, the fact 

 that it was known to men made it a dangerous 

 place to live. Far better would it be to find some 

 quiet stream which was free from all taint of their 

 persistent enemy. The whole of Northern Canada 

 lay before them, but they were slow travellers, 

 their short legs prevented long marches. They 

 dared not go far by land, it would be too dangerous, 

 as they had no means of defence, and could not 

 escape by running away from even the slowest of 

 their enemies. In the water alone had they any 

 chance of safety. There they were in their element, 

 and nothing could touch them save the " fire stick " 

 which belched forth its tiny, deadly missiles, and 

 killed at such great distances. And so they 

 followed the stream until it brought them to a large 

 lake. For some weeks they stayed there, roaming 



