164 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 
those which surrounded this beaver, keep him from 
personal intercourse with his fellow men. For ten 
minutes he remained thus, motionless except when, 
as though no longer able to contain his misery, he 
would bite the hard, cold bars of iron, as he had 
bitten them every evening for three, long, weary 
months. Did he imagine that perhaps some day 
he would find the bars had softened and would 
yield to his chisel-edged teeth, teeth that, were the 
animal in his native land, would work their way 
through anything save the stones or the cruel metal 
of the merciless steel traps? These alone would 
defy them. 
Wishing to examine more closely the interesting 
animal I approached quietly, hoping not to disturb 
him, but he felt uncertain of my intentions, and 
before I had lessened the distance between us by 
more than a few steps, he dropped on all fours, and 
after regarding me curiously for a minute or two 
turned and made for the water. Once there he 
felt more secure, for at the slightest sign of danger 
he would, as he had done many times in his far-oft 
Canadian wilds, dive in and loudly slap the water 
with his tail to warn his friends and then 
instantly disappear from view beneath the water 
and make straight for his burrow. His curiosity, 
however, soon got the better of his natural timidity, 
and out he came with the usual quiet splash and 
dive. This time I stood near his regular landing 
place, which was as clearly marked as an otter’s 
