SWIMMERS CONCLUDED 



was evidently but just made, I followed for 

 several hundred yards, and observed where the 

 animal had climbed the high bank into the woods 

 and dug down into the snow in several places, 

 apparently in search of green stuff, nearly a dozen 

 rods from the water. Then the track turned 

 about and led me back to the stream, appearing 

 again on the opposite bank, and stretching right 

 across the narrow meadow to a little springy 

 bog-hole or quagmire, half-a-dozen rods long 

 and only a few feet wide, and almost free from 

 ice. The muskrat was sitting in the edge of 

 the water here, and we evidently became aware 

 of each other's presence at about the same time. 

 He at once waded out into the water and al- 

 lowed himself to rest on the dead leaves and 

 sediment at the bottom, with just his back and 

 the top of his head above the surface, and his 

 little black eyes fixed intently on me. The 

 motion of his breathing kept the surface of the 

 water trembling all about him ; but he made no 



169 



