32(5 



RECREATION 



fall of its own weight. In every case the 

 tree had fallen toward, and not away, 

 from the river, their only means of 

 transport to the scene of the operations. 



But the dam itself ! It is not easy to 

 do justice to the cleverness of the little 

 builders. With the center curving so as 

 to offer the greatest resistance to the 

 swiftest part of the current, the beavers 

 had built their fortification in a graceful 

 sweep across a narrow part of the river, 

 in a secluded spot where there was least 

 likelihood of discovery and interference. 

 The result was a great pond in which a 

 hundred beavers could disport them- 

 selves without crowding. 



With stones, mud and sticks judi- 

 ciously mixed, the beavers had built a 

 solid wall, strong enough to resist al- 

 most any current. In one of the photo- 

 graphs a section can be seen, held by the 

 guide. All the building material used 

 was cut into regular lengths of the kind 

 seen in the photograph. 



We saw no beavers. Somewhere be- 

 neath the banks of the frozen river, or 

 in holes adjoining the dam, furred 

 forms were in hiding, and doubtless 

 bright eyes were keeping watch on the 



movements of these invaders of the col- 

 ony's property. We searched high and 

 low for signs of life, but found none. 

 Even my enthusiasm was not equal to 

 lying out in the open in that desolatt 

 place, and in such weather, in hopes 

 of getting a sight of and possibly 

 a flash-light shot at the builders of the 

 dam. 



I made up my mind to go again in 

 the summer and try to photograph the 

 colony at work. But such an unusual 

 thing as beavers in Pennsylvania could 

 not long remain a secret. The dam was 

 found by others, and some fool actually 

 applied for permission of the owner of 

 the land to go gunning for them. There 

 was a tremendous outcry against this, 

 and the beavers probably heard about it, 

 for they deserted their dam in the 

 spring and traces of them we*e next 

 found many miles away. They disap- 

 peared again and have not since been 

 found. When next they are heard of ?t 

 least one camera will be hastily trans- 

 ported to the scene of their labors with 

 a view to enriching natural history with 

 pictures from life of the busy beaver re- 

 visiting old haunts. 



THE RETURN 



By STACY E. BAKER 



I knew him then — when soft winds lulled the leas, 

 And Pan piped all his sweetest symphonies, 

 We strolled the wooded ways together ; there, 

 Breathing the summer fragrance in the air, 

 And wandering 'neath blossom-studded trees. 



I knew him, when, with hair flung to the breeze, 

 And hats beside, we rested, all at ease 



Beneath a noon-day sun's consuming glare — 

 I knew him then. 



Shrunken and gaunt, and weakened with disease, 

 ('Though weighted with wisest of degrees) 

 My friend returned, cough-ridden, to prepare 

 For death, one day ; and I — I led him where, 



Of old, we sat at Mother Nature's knees — 

 I knew him then. 



