136 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 



had closed only on one front foot, and that was 

 all Joe found in the trap when he came the 

 following morning. The beaver had escaped, 

 crippled and frightened, and Joe knew that further 

 efforts to capture him would be useless, so in utter 

 disgust he left the pond which had promised so 

 much and given so little. 



The three-footed beaver remained in his lonely 

 home throughout the winter, leaving it as soon as 

 the ice melted. What became of him after that 

 is not known, but if we believe the stories of 

 Indians and others whose lives are spent in the 

 wilds he remained a lonely widower for the rest 

 of his life, wandering about and living in burrows 

 without sufficient ambition to build another lodge. 

 This is a pretty fancy which, though not absolutely 

 proven, has much to warrant its truth, and it 

 shows the humble beaver in a delightful way, 

 constant to but one wife whose memory is held 

 sacred, if such a word may be allowed when 

 speaking of animals. Everything in the beaver's 

 life points to a fine moral nature. Their code of 

 living seems high, and they live up to it in most 

 cases. Some people deny to animals the know- 

 ledge of right and wrong, and by so doing prove 

 how little they know of the subject. From the 

 smallest bird to the highest form of mammal the 

 sense of right and wrong is distinctly evident. 

 How far it is developed we can only surmise. For 

 almost the only opportunity we have of studying 



