86 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 



about as the fancy seized them. The place offered 

 great attractions to the house-hunting couple, and 

 they were half inclined to settle there. They even 

 went so far as to commence building a lodge on a 

 small wooded point which jutted out into the water. 

 The two outlets to the lake they saw could be easily 

 dammed if necessary, so everything, including 

 an unlimited supply of wood, suggested the 

 advisability of making this their home. But one 

 evening just as they had come out of a burrow near 

 the foundations of their lodge, they were startled by 

 a strange sound, human voices laughing and talking. 

 Soon two queer objects came around the point of 

 land, and the beavers saw two canoes ; the graceful 

 lines of the dark green canvas-covered craft did not 

 appeal to them. What could they be ? No such 

 animals had they seen in all their travels, and so 

 they lay immovable on the surface of the quiet 

 water, and watched the canoes as they glided along. 

 Closer and closer they came, when suddenly the air 

 was tainted with the fearsome scent of man, that 

 which above all things was most to be dreaded. 

 Instinctively both of the silent watchers raised their 

 tails and struck the water with a resounding smack 

 which scattered the water high in the air, so that 

 the countless drops reflecting the glorious colours 

 of the setting sun resembled a golden shower. The 

 beavers vanished beneath the disturbed water and 

 sought safety in the dense tangle of brush with 

 which the shore was lined, while the people in the 



