third crew received them. This third group 
performed the actual work of storage, which 
consisted of sinking the sticks in the deepest 
part of the pond and anchoring them to pre¬ 
vent their returning to the surface. 
The doing of this work was not so difficult, 
since a sap-laden stick is almost as heavy as 
the volume of water which it displaces. There¬ 
fore, all that was needed was for the beaver to 
rest his weight on the stick and to sink with it 
to the bottom of the pond. Then, a few hand¬ 
fuls of mud, raked over one end of the stick, 
sufficed to hold it in position. Later on, other 
sticks could be entangled with those first sunk, 
and as all soon became waterlogged, they would 
remain in place until it was time to use them. 
O-Go was not yet old enough to be trusted 
with the work of putting sticks into storage, 
but he could carry one as well as could any 
beaver; that is, of course, if the stick were not 
too large a one. He could carry the stick in his 
mouth or, if he wished, tuck it under his fore¬ 
paws, while his webbed hind feet attended 
to the swimming. 
One thing which kept O-Go interested was 
the variety of tasks at which he was permitted 
to work. Whenever he tired of carrying sticks 
for the storage crew, he could go back to the 
slashing and help his parents at cutting up 
branches. When that occupation, too, bored 
115 
