SWIMMERS CONCLUDED 



to such places the muskrats resort with their 

 roots and clams, to enjoy them in the open air. 

 Sometimes when the snow is unusually deep in 

 the early spring, and it is difficult even to guess 

 at the whereabouts of well-known streams, the 

 warmth of the earth, prevented from radiating 

 by the thick blanket of snow, raises the tempera- 

 ture of the water so that the ice is melted from 

 beneath. And at such, times I have known 

 whole reaches of a stream a rod or more in width 

 to open unexpectedly, showing black smooth water 

 between white banks, accomplishing in a few hours 

 what I had supposed would require weeks at 

 least. As a general thing, the muskrats content 

 themselves with merely climbing to the edge, or 

 occasionally striking off across the snow to the 

 nearest open water or spring hole. But some- 

 times when there is an inch or less of snow on 

 the ice, they seem to be simultaneously possessed 

 with a desire to run about on its surface ; and in 

 a single night the snow will be covered with 

 12 177 



