282 THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS 



caused much annoyance, especially among the children. Then, 

 too, at night if the breeze subsided, mosquitoes swarmed from 

 the leeward side of bushes and drove slumber away. 



One afternoon, while resting, we observed signs of beaver and 

 Oo-koo-hoo, being reminded of an incident he once witnessed, 

 related it to me: 



"Once, my son, while paddling alone, I rounded the bend 

 of a river, and hearing a splash just beyond the turn, silently 

 propelled my canoe beneath a screen of overhanging branches. 

 After waiting and watching awhile, I saw an otter fishing in the 

 stream. A moment later I beheld a beaver — evidently a 

 female — swimming just beyond the otter, and pursued by two 

 other beavers — evidently males. The males, perceiving the 

 otter swimming in the direction of the female, probably came 

 to the conclusion that he was about to pay his court to her, 

 for they suddenly swerved from their course and attacked the 

 innocent otter. He dived to escape his assailants, and they 

 dived after him. When he rose for breath, they came up, too, 

 and made after him; so he dived again. Evidently, they were 

 trying to wind their quarry, for whenever he came up for 

 breath they endeavoured to reach him before he got it. In a 

 short time they had so exhausted him that he refused to dive 

 again before he gained his breath. He made for the shore. 

 The beavers rushed after him, overtook him, and just as he 

 gained the bank, ripped his throat open. Then I shot one of the 

 beavers and tossed it into my canoe along with the otter." 



The journey to the Post was a delight all the way — save 

 when the flies were busy. One night those almost invisible 

 little torments, the sand flies, caused us — or rather me — much 

 misery until Granny built such a large fire that it attracted the 

 attention of the little brutes, and into it they all dived, or ap- 

 parently did — just as she said they would — for in less than half 

 an hour not a single sand fly remained. 



On our way to God's Lake we had considerable sport in the 



