her,
and was lengthened to the buttress-tree on one side, and for a distance
of two or three rods on the other, so as to keep the water from flowing
around the ends. As the water-level rose it became necessary to build up
the floor of the lodge in order to keep it from being flooded; and that,
in turn, necessitated raising the roof by the simple process of
hollowing it out from within and adding more material on the outside. In
the same way the lodge was made both longer and broader, to accommodate
the growing family and the still further increase that was to be
expected the following spring. More burrows were dug in the shore of
the pond--you can't have too many of them--and a much larger stock of
food wood was gathered, for there were six mouths, instead of two, to be
fed through the coming winter. The father and mother worked very hard,
and even the babies helped with the lighter tasks, such as carrying home
small branches, and mending little leaks in the dam. The second pair of
beavers was also busy with lodge and burrow and storehouse, and so the
days slipped by very rapidly.

Only once that year did a man come to town, and then he did not do
anything very dreadful. He was not a trapper, he was only an amateur
naturalist who wanted to see the beavers at their work, and who thought
he was smart enough to catch them at it. His plan was simple enough; he
made a breach in the dam one night, and then climbed a tree and waited
for them to come and mend it. It was bright moonlight, and he thought he
would see the whole thing and learn some wonderful secrets.

The Beaver was at work in the woods not very far away, and presently he
came down to the edge of the pond, rolling a heavy birch cutting before
him. He noticed at once that the water was falling, and he started
straight for the dam to see what was the matter. The amateur naturalist
saw him coming, a dark speck moving swiftly down the pond, with a long
V-shaped ripple spreading out behind him like the flanks of a flock of
wild geese. But the beaver was doing some thinking while he swam. He had
never before known the water to fall so suddenly and rapidly; there must
be a very bad break in the dam. How could it have happened? It looked
suspicious. It looked very suspicious indeed; and just before he reached
the dam he stopped to reconnoitre, and at once caught sight of the
naturalist up in the tree. His tail rose in the air and came down with
the loudest whack that had