THE LIFE OF A BEAVER COLONY 135 



returns in pelts because he had been certain in his 

 mind that this pond would yield abundant profit 

 for the amount of time and labour. Stump after 

 stump he examined and all told the same story, 

 if teeth marks could be relied upon. Two, 

 probably, three-year-old beaver of medium size 

 and some worthless youngsters. Truly a fine 

 prospect for an experienced trapper ! Strangely 

 enough it had never occurred to him that the 

 beaver might have taken alarm at his summer 

 visit and moved to new quarters. He blamed the 

 Indian and cursed him beneath his breath as an 

 interloper and a thief who had stolen what he con- 

 sidered rightfully belonged to him. His disgust 

 only increased when the following morning on 

 visiting his traps he found two dead beaver kittens 

 whose immature skins were almost worthless. 

 For several nights after that he had no luck at all. 

 In vain did he try his most cherished " medicine " 

 made up of a secret compound of castoreum and 

 other potent ingredients whose name he would not 

 divulge to any living person, as they had been 

 given to him many years ago by a dying com- 

 panion who had been famous for his success in 

 trapping. It was not until more than a week 

 had passed that Joe caught one of the older 

 beavers. Another of the kittens had also fallen 

 a victim to his efforts, so that only one old one 

 remained alive. In the end he too got into one 

 of the carefully set traps, but fortunately the jaws 



