In spite of the work of providing O-Go 
with food, Wallace would have liked to keep 
him permanently. O-Go himself however 
helped protect the young man from this temp¬ 
tation to break the law. He did this by be¬ 
coming somewhat of a nuisance about the 
place. He became each day more curious about 
his surroundings, and in the course of his in¬ 
vestigations did considerable damage. 
On one occasion, the little beaver knocked 
over the flour canister, and trailed the white 
powder all over the cabin. Another time, he 
sharpened his rapidly-growing, chisel-like teeth 
on the walnut stock of Wallace’s rifle. The 
wood was too hard to suit O-Go, and he did 
not like the flavor of its varnish. Therefore, 
he did not chew at it for a very long time, 
and the gun butt escaped absolute destruction. 
But it would never again be the thing of beauty 
that it had been before O-Go worked on it. 
Wallace gazed ruefully at the damaged gun, 
wondering if O-Go hadn’t a little overstayed 
his welcome. Then he laughed and forgave 
the little fellow, for he realized that O-Go 
had only followed the demands of his nature 
and that there had been no malice in the mis¬ 
chief he had done. The ranger was determined, 
however, that O-Go should have no further 
opportunity to do harm. Accordingly, before 
next leaving the cabin, he carefully placed out 
55 
