Seen from the outside, the lodge appeared 
to be much roomier than it actually was. This 
was because the walls were everywhere a full 
three feet in thickness. Therefore the one room 
of the dwelling was only a little over six feet 
across, and its height at the center was just 
a trifle over three and one-half feet. From that 
height, the room, which was dome-shaped, 
curved gently down to meet the floor. Thus 
it was all ceiling. 
The entire structure had been built of 
short, peeled sticks, thoroughly laced together 
and plastered with mud. Over this structure, 
the beavers had, however, thrown a loose 
mass of longer sticks, which still retained their 
bark, and were held in position only by their 
own weight. These were piled on with such 
apparent carelessness that the lodge looked al¬ 
most like a tangled mass of driftwood, instead 
of a well-built building. Further concealment 
was furnished by the many clumps of wil¬ 
lows which grew out of the water all over 
that portion of Patou Pond. 
O-Go, Ilg, and Ela visited the new lodge, as 
did all the other members of the beaver col¬ 
ony. They found the place much to their lik¬ 
ing, for it was almost exactly like their own 
home. Of course, they would not live in the 
new lodge, but it was well for them to be¬ 
come acquainted with the exact location of 
92 
