The two beavers whom Wallace now ob¬ 
served, were the pair that had recently come 
into the colony. They had heard the little 
cry of distress, given by O-Go as the coyote 
struck him, and had come to see whether there 
was anything that they could do to aid him. 
The presence of Wallace had prevented them 
from landing, but they had remained to watch. 
Now, seeing that they were observed, they at 
once sank beneath the surface, to come up 
many yards away. 
“It’s all right, folks,’’ Wallace cried gaily. 
“I’ll take good care of this young fellow, and 
will bring him home to you as soon as he is 
well enough to travel.” Then, cradling O-Go 
in his arm, he turned away from the shore, 
pleased to pretend that the adult beavers had 
received and understood his message. The way 
back over the windfall was a hard one, for, 
with O-Go to carry, Wallace had the use of 
only one hand in climbing. But the ranger 
met the difficulty without complaint, using 
every effort to avoid hurting the little beaver. 
When he had reached the trail, Wallace was 
confronted with a new problem, for his horse, 
smelling the blood from O-Go’s wound, be¬ 
came alarmed, and at first would not permit 
the ranger to mount. Wallace, therefore, took 
the reins in his free hand, and led the animal 
along the trail for about a half mile, talking 
48 
