84. ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 
burrow entrances, that the pond was going down, 
she still stayed at home, going out only under 
water to the wood pile and quickly returning to 
the lodge with a small twig for her meal. 
So she continued to live throughout the winter, 
escaping immediately the ice melted, and making 
her way among the patches of snow through the 
woods, but always following the course of the 
stream on which the pond had been made. She 
travelled slowly, sleeping during the day in holes in 
the banks. On her way she left signs here and there 
on conspicuous points ofland. Small pieces of mud 
patted down and scented slightly with castoreum. 
Who shall explain her reason for doing. this? 
Presumably it was meant as a means of communi- 
cation with any other of her kind. If so it served 
its purpose, for the young male on finding the pond 
unoccupied, felt instinctively that there must be 
good reason for keeping clear of such an ill-omened 
place, and he slowly proceeded on his journey 
along the stream. For several days he continued 
on his leisurely way. At first there was no reason 
to hurry, but finally he came to one of the scented 
mud pats and became intensely interested. From 
it he learned that he was not alone. What more 
information he gathered from the inconspicuous 
pile of mud no one knows. But he too collected a 
small lump of mud and deposited it on the one he 
had found. Things looked different now. No 
longer did he dawdle along. He even threw 
