THE BEAVER. 215 
caused the beaver to drop his log and look wonderingly 
toward the clump of bushes. As the trapper suddenly half 
raised himself and sprang toward him, with the-axe uplifted 
to drive it through his scull or hurl it with unerring aim 
should the beaver attempt to run, the beaver merely bowed 
down his head, remaining motionless. He saw and knew his 
situation at a glance; cut off from his way to the water and 
no escape. He crawled a step or two toward his would-be 
destroyer, and stopped again with bowed head, like a begging 
spaniel. This was rather too much ¢zstzzct for the trapper, 
who was a human being after all, and proved it when he 
dropped his axe upon his shoulder, turned to one side from 
the beaver and hurried on his way. 
Furthermore, this jolly trapper stated, that once upon a 
time, late in the afternoon of the day, as it was on his way, 
he stopped at a beaver’s wood lot when expecting them to be 
coming and hid to leeward of their path, and where they 
would likely be working if they came, wishing to watch 
them, and that he did not wish to shoot them as they were 
the only pair upon the pond, by which ran his line of traps. 
Seeing a large white birch nearly cut off, he took his position 
where he could watch this, and laid flat upon the ground 
behind a small mound, that he might be the more quiet. Soon 
the pair of beaver came and began their work, each to his 
tree. One he said, was a huge old fellow, though not too 
large to be yet very supple, nor too old to be funny and frisky, 
and this one went at the big white birch partly cut down. 
Before long he caused a trembling among its upper branches 
and just as the tree was tottering upon the small piece left 
uncut, he jumped backward and flapped his broad paddle tail 
out behind him with a whirl and a whack upon the ground. 
