THE BEAVERS OF NORTH AMERICA 7 



come forth with safety. Three small heads soon 

 appeared on the surface of the water near the 

 house and soon another and larger one. She was 

 the mother of the three, and she was satisfied that 

 her husband had sufficiently well examined the 

 immediate vicinity. So without wasting time she 

 and her youngsters proceeded each to their 

 particular choice of shrub or tree and ate what 

 they wanted. 



It was in the month of October, the busiest 

 month in the beavers' year. The cold nights 

 warned them of the approaching winter. The 

 glistening white frost which covered the grass each 

 night with its myriad crystals and the thin sheets 

 of " window-pane " ice which bordered the pond 

 were the forerunners of the cold that would come 

 later. The terrible, relentless cold which held all 

 that northern country in its icy embrace, which 

 made the ponds resemble solid land and subdued 

 the most turbulent streams by converting them 

 into irregular masses of snow-covered ice ; the cold 

 which so often for months at a time held the 

 beavers prisoners in their houses, free only to roam 

 in the pond beneath the shadow of the impenetrable 

 ice ; the pitiless cold which spreads famine among 

 the dwellers of the northern woods so that hunger- 

 bred courage, and the cunning persistence which 

 comes from necessity, renders the wolves and 

 gluttons a source of danger to all beavers, especially 

 to those who are not well-housed. Therefore, in 



