of O-Go, had it not been that his flight led 
him to the shelter of an underwater brush-pile. 
There he turned sharply and shot to the sur¬ 
face, while his pursuer, deceived for the mo¬ 
ment, broke water as far from his prey as when 
their grim race had started. 
O-Go dived again, this time swimming di¬ 
rectly for his home tunnel, now less than fifty 
feet away and in somewhat shallower water. 
The otter dived, too, but this time his pursuit 
of O-Go was a short one; for Father Beaver, 
Uncle Castor and old Shovel-tail had come to 
the rescue. Without the slightest hesitation, all 
three attacked the enemy at once, a thing which 
only the grimmest necessity could have led 
them to do, for beavers are the most peaceable 
of animals. 
That fierce, meat-eating beast, the otter, 
would have very quickly disposed of any one 
of his attackers; and, even with three to fight, 
put up a tremendous battle, slashing each of 
them time and again. But they kept constantly 
at him, forcing the fight below the surface as 
much as possible, and seeing to it that only one 
of their number at a time came up for air. 
Even so, the otter was twice able to break 
away from them, and assume the offensive, 
and it was only the arrival of two more grown 
beavers that decided the affair. Then, and then 
only, the otter gave up the struggle and fled. 
98 
