THE LIFE OF A BEAVER COLONY 109 



days, the young had grown and thrived on the 

 vast insect Hfe which abounds in those northern 

 woods. The trees had flowered and fruited, that 

 new seeds might be sown and young trees grown 

 to fill the ranks of the old and fallen. Smaller 

 plants had gladdened the woods with their minute 

 spots of colour and furnished fruits and seeds to 

 feed many creatures during the coming winter. 

 The wild meadows were filled with new grasses 

 to feed the deer and others that were dependent 

 on such simple diet, and everything had gone along 

 in its wonderful, orderly way, arranging supply 

 and demand with supernatural accuracy, leaving 

 the annual balance-sheet audited by the unseen 

 power that takes charge of all our accounts, 

 whether it be the tiny and apparently insignificant 

 chickadee whose duty it is to protect the forests 

 against the ravages of certain insects or man whose 

 responsibilities are so far-reaching. 



The young beaver family had thrived and grown, 

 and were ready to assist their parents to the best 

 of their small ability, and even if their help was of 

 little account they could at least learn, by watching, 

 how the various tasks were accomplished. Not 

 intentionally did the parents undertake their 

 education. That only happens in story-books in 

 which the authors try to humanise the animals and 

 make them follow our own further advanced and 

 complicated methods which change as our lives 

 become more and more complex. The animals 



