away from it, but he chose to swim 

 slowly and allow the canoe to approach 

 until the girls might have touched him 

 with a paddle, when he would hump 

 himself, slap the water with his tail, 

 *thus throwing showers of spray over 

 the girls, while he dived under the canoe 

 and presently came to the surface in 

 some new and unexpected position. The 

 girls, of course, with screams and excited 

 shouts frantically swung the canoe into 

 position and started the chase over 

 again; while the beaver loafed along 

 until they caught up. This game of tag, 

 played by the girls and the beaver I 

 watched for twenty minutes or more 

 and each time the girls came near enough 

 to the animal he managed to throw 

 water on them. I feel certain that he 

 enjoyed the game quite as much as the 

 two girls, and while I did not hear the 

 beaver laugh, I thought I saw a grin 

 on his face. 



The cottage where our family live 

 during the summer, stands on a bank 

 60 



