128 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 
but no sooner had they reached the water than:each 
struck it a resounding smack that sent up a shower 
of sun-kissed drops. The command to dive was 
imperative, and every beaver in that pond and the 
upper one vanished instantly, and without a sound, 
to meet later in several of the burrows which had 
been made along the shore. The fisherman was 
much interested in the scene ; but he was after fish, 
not beaver, and he would far rather have seen the 
surface of the pond broken by rising trout. Had 
he but known it, that water contained many fine 
fish that had come down from the upper lake to 
enjoy the rich food in the beaver pond. The trapper 
saw the prospect from an entirely different point of 
view. Here was a thriving colony of beavers that 
represented perhaps a hundred and fifty or two 
hundred dollars to him. He walked round the 
pond, noted the size of the chips which indicated 
well-grown beavers, and, what was of great impor- 
tance, no one had been before him. He would 
keep the news of the lucky find to himself, and as 
soon as the shooting season had passed, he would 
come armed with the deadly trap to destroy the 
colony that was engaged in a great, far-reaching 
work that he did not understand. Comparing the 
beaver and the man, we might well ask which was 
doing the greater good. The one bent only on 
destruction, while the other, though so insignificant, 
was devoting his entire energies to conserving, to 
doing that which, strangely enough, would be of 
