THE LIFE OF A BEAVER COLONY 135 
returns in pelts because he had been certain in his 
mind that this pond would yield abundant profit 
for the amount of time and labour. Stump after 
stump he examined and all told the same story, 
if teeth marks could be relied upon. Two, 
probably, three-year-old beaver of medium size 
and some worthless youngsters. Truly a fine 
prospect for an experienced trapper! Strangely 
enough it had never occurred to him that the 
beaver might have taken alarm at his summer 
visit and moved to new quarters. He blamed the 
Indian and cursed him beneath his breath as an 
interloper and a thief who had stolen what he con- 
sidered rightfully belonged to him. His disgust 
only increased when the following morning on 
visiting his traps he found two dead beaver kittens 
whose immature skins were almost worthless. 
For several nights after that he had no luck at all. 
In vain did he try his most cherished “ medicine” 
made up of a secret compound of castoreum and 
other potent ingredients whose name he would not 
divulge to any living person, as they had been 
given to him many years ago by a dying com- 
panion who had been famous for his success in 
trapping. It was not until more than a week 
had passed that Joe caught one of the older 
beavers. Another of the kittens had also fallen 
a victim to his efforts, so that only one old one 
remained alive. In the end he too got into one 
of the carefully set traps, but fortunately the jaws 
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