116 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 
ditch at a higher level. Two more such dams 
were found necessary, each raising the water to the 
proper level. On reaching the foot of the knoll on 
which the aspens grew, the canal was divided into 
two wings, but in these there was a lack of water 
which made them almost useless except during wet 
weather. The father beaver remembered having 
seen a tiny stream which flowed not far from the 
end of the longer wing, and, taking advantage 
of this, he cut a narrow ditch only a few inches 
wide and diverted some of the water from the 
streamlet to the canal, so that it had sufficient for 
its purpose. It was a clever piece of work and 
showed well how highly developed is the engineer- 
ing skill of the beaver. 
The weeks passed with alarming rapidity while 
this great task was being accomplished, and though 
the animals worked literally tooth and nail, they 
had to bestir themselves in order that everything 
might be in order before winter set in. A con- 
siderable amount of work was. necessary on the 
dams, not only in repairing the original structures, 
but in extending them once more so that the size 
of the pond could be slightly increased. Then 
also the lodge needed material enlargement in 
order that the eight beavers might be able to live 
comfortably. It was altogether an extremely busy 
autumn and all hands worked with a will, appa- 
rently without any supervision, each doing what he 
or she considered most necessary. By the time 
