214 THe Aroostook Woops. 
around the edge of a meadow or barren, and as he was 
passing through a piece of young and mixed second growth 
growing beside the meadow, came upon the works of beaver, 
showing fresh cuttings, then after tracing a short way he 
found very recent signs of them. <A poplar tree had been cut 
down which was some three or four inches in diameter, and 
a piece taken from it, and apparently but just dragged away ; 
following the trail a piece, he soon found their road running 
around and beneath the downfalls, between the old bleached 
stumps and their bare roots, beside the clumps of bushes, all 
with the view to the easiest road toward the stream and to be 
as much hidden as possible on the way; then nearly straight 
across the open meadow to the water. Knowing the beaver 
though a swifter in his element, the water, when on the land 
as a racer, not a success, he determined to le in wait and kill 
one if possible, though having nothing but his axe for a 
weapon. Finding a good hiding place on the meadow, he 
waited long for his return for another log, feeling confident 
of success, as he watched through the low growing bushes. 
After waiting until near night in a drizzly rain, he raised 
up, about to continue on his way, giving up the watching, 
when he discovered the beaver coming toward him, but not 
from the water as he was expecting and had been watching, 
as the beaver had taken some other route to his wood lot and 
was now coming toward the water and directly to the trapper. 
The beaver was slowly toiling around a rise in the meadow 
that was covered with bushes, one paw and forearm over the 
log, with a firm hold by his teeth of the end, thus lifting and 
drawing it along. As the knowing beaver approached to 
within a few feet of the man’s hiding place, the air, though 
thick with fog and mist, gave upon it a strange taint, and 
