nose at the passing swimmer. It felt good to 
O-Go to be well again, to be a strong, healthy 
young beaver, living on so fine a pond as 
Patou. So O-Go’s tiny, black, shoe-button eyes 
were fairly shining, as with powerful strokes 
of his webbed hind feet he made his way 
through the canal toward the forest. 
The lodge, in which O-Go, Ilg, and Ela 
had been born, was an island one, its base 
being a small hummock that barely projected 
above the constant level of the water of the 
pond. Such a lodge is the most desirable, for 
it cannot be approached except by water, and 
most enemies of the beaver are unable to at¬ 
tack them except when they are on land. 
However, all the hummocks of sufficient size 
to be used as foundations were already occu¬ 
pied. Therefore the beavers of Patou planned 
to build a bank lodge for the new members 
of the colony. The site chosen for this lodge 
was in the canal, and was located at the widest 
point, where it entered the pond. It was a 
very convenient place for such a building, since 
the canal made easy the bringing of food, and 
the nearness of the pond offered safety, in 
case flight became necessary. 
Four of the beavers had remained at the 
lodge site, when the others made their way 
into the woods, and these four at once went 
to work to prepare a foundation. This was no 
64 
