THE LIFE OF A BEAVER COLONY 87 
canoe so suddenly startled by the noisy alarm 
signal stopped, surprised to hear from the guides 
that the terrific sound was made by beaver. 
The party decided to camp near the place on 
chance of seeing something of the animals about 
which they had frequently heard so many remark- 
able stories. The guides, both of them being 
trappers, made notes for future use. Yes, they 
would come back in the proper season and get a few 
beaver skins from that lake. But the beavers 
thought differently. Their one idea now was to 
escape as rapidly as possible from a place which had 
proved to be known to man, and that night, while 
the camp fires crackled in front of the tents, and the 
sparks drifted lazily upward through the dark tree- 
tops to be lost among the countless stars, the 
beaver left their shelter, and under the cover of the 
kindly starlight made their way to the further end 
of the lake, where the outlet stream ran down 
through the woods. Along this rocky waterway 
they travelled, no word spoken, yet each filled with 
the one idea of putting as great a distance as 
possible between themselves and the human beings. 
For a mile or two they followed this stream without 
finding anything but rocks and steep banks. 
Occasionally they stopped to nibble some particu- 
larly enticing twig, or to listen cautiously for the 
possible approach of an enemy, but the woods were 
wrapped in the stillness of night and almost the 
only sounds were the murmuring of the brook as it 
