lOO Ways of Wood Folk. 



go away. As you find your canoe and paddle back 

 to camp, a ripple made by a beaver's nose follows 

 silently in the shadow of the alders. At the bend 

 of the river where you disappear, the ripple halts a 

 while, like a projecting stub in the current, then turns 

 and goes swiftly back. There is another splash ; the 

 builders come out again ; a dozen ripples are scat- 

 tering star reflections all over the pool ; while the little 

 wood folk pause a moment to look at the new works 

 curiously, then go their ways, shy, silent, industrious, 

 through the wilderness night. 



