of the water and the trees. It was evident that 
no dangerous creature was lurking in the slash¬ 
ing, and O-Go therefore returned to his sap¬ 
ling, and resumed his task of chiseling it down. 
He failed to notice that the big poplar under 
which he sat had settled several inches; and, 
even if he had noticed it, the fact would have 
been of no interest to him, for he was still a 
very young beaver. 
Again, the big tree made that snapping, 
groaning noise, and again O-Go turned to flee. 
In his fright, he travelled directly along the 
line of that great trunk. Had he been one 
second later in starting, O-Go would have been 
hopelessly mangled as though by the blow of 
a giant’s club, for the butt of the tree rolled 
slowly off the stump and came to rest along 
the ground. As it was, O-Go escaped with 
his life, and without any serious injury. But 
he was imprisoned among the lower branches, 
so closely confined that he could move only 
a few inches in any direction. 
For a moment, O-Go was paralyzed by his 
fear. Then, he sought frantically to escape, 
turning now this way, now that, in the effort 
to find some opening large enough to permit 
him to pass. There was none. He must either 
remain a prisoner, or he must gnaw his way 
to safety. 
It is doubtful whether O-Go would have 
89 
