lazily across the little pool, he paused under the shade
of a mass of overhanging roots where it was safe to thrust out his nose
for a breath of air. Though the air of the wilderness was warm and
oppressive, the water of the stream was pleasantly cooled by a number of
springs. The sun shining down upon it served only to intensify the green
of overhanging grass and leaves, so that the muskrat seemed to be
basking in a dim green world. Gnats hovered in a thick swarm in the
sunlight close above the calm surface, and a group of birches, leaning
over to look at their reflection, trailed their tender green branches
in the clear mirror. Occasional flecks of foam from the falls above
drifted by, or a leaf fell softly, floating like a fairy boat on a sea
of glass.

Lured by the peacefulness of the scene the muskrat ventured forth into
the sunlight to comb his fur, about which he was extremely fastidious.
He had just begun his toilet when a shadow drifted between him and the
sun. Without looking upward, he plunged back into the pool, carrying
with him a number of tiny bubbles of air which gleamed like silver amid
his thick fur. Under the shadow of the root he lay quiet for some time,
having no means of knowing that the shadow had been but that of a summer
cloud drifting by overhead.

As the muskrat lay quiet, something dropped with a light plash upon the
surface of the pool and, looking up, he beheld the flutter of bright
wings as a butterfly struggled with the strange element into which it
had so suddenly dropped. The next moment there was a swirl of water as a
vigorous young trout rose to the surface, and the butterfly disappeared.

The pool was now quiet and, as a muskrat's memory is short, he once more
decided to take an airing. At a place where a little sandy beach sloped
to the water he climbed out and, seating himself, began a leisurely
toilet. With his claws he combed out his fur until it was dry and fluffy
and shone with a silky luster where the warm sun touched it. Then he
began on his face and ears, rubbing them with both paws in a comical
manner. Suddenly, however, his toilet was interrupted in a way which all
but put a period to the muskrat's story.

[Illustration: The hawk dropped like a thunderbolt and caught him in
its talons.]

He had just finished washing his face when, without warning, there came
a sweep of great wings just over his head. The muskrat dodged and
turned to the pool, but he was too late. The