is lodge a little nearer, for,
a few days afterward, he made his appearance with the Strawberry and
John, all three loaded with his household utensils, and in a very short
time he had erected another wigwam within sight of the house at the
western end of Mr. Campbell's prairie. This gave great satisfaction to
Mrs. Campbell, because John was now always near them; indeed, he no
longer slept in the lodge, but at the house, in the room with his
brothers. The major part of the day he passed at the lodge, or in
company with the old hunter; but, by this new arrangement, they
gradually became, as it were, one family; not a day passed that the
Strawberry did not come to their house and make herself useful,
assisting in every thing that she could, and rapidly learning what she
did not know.

One or two evenings after the message from the fort, Mrs. Campbell asked
Malachi some questions relative to the habits of the beaver, as she had
heard much of the sagacity of that animal.

"Well, ma'am," said Malachi, "it's a most reasonable animal, certainly,
and I will say, I never was tired with watching them; I've even forgot,
in the summer-time, what I came out for, from having fallen in with them
at work."

"And so have I," said Martin. "I once was lying down under a bush by the
side of a stream, and I saw a whole council of them meet together, and
they talked after their own fashion so earnestly, and I really think
they have a language as good as our own. It's always the old ones who
talk, and the young ones who listen."

"That's true," replied Malachi. "I once myself saw them hold a council,
and then they all separated to go to work, for they were about to dam up
a stream and build their lodges."

"And what did they do, Malachi?" said Mrs. Campbell.

"Why, ma'am, they did all the same as Christians would have done. The
Injuns say that beavers have souls as well as themselves, and certainly,
if sense gave souls, the Injuns would be in the right. The first thing
that they did was to appoint their sentinels to give notice of danger;
for the moment any one comes near them, these sentinels give the signal
and away they all dive, and disappear till the danger is over."

"There are many beasts as well as birds that do the same," observed Mr.
Campbell; "indeed, most of those which are gregarious and live in
flocks."

"That's true, sir," replied Martin.

"Well, ma'am, the beavers choose a place fit for their work. What they
require