ly, for
himself, he had run up a very low tree, where Cudjo was able to reach
him with his long spear; and when the rest of us got forward to the
spot, we found that Cudjo had finished him, and was holding him up by
the tail, quite dead.

"We now went back to our fishing; and although we caught no more of the
turtles, we succeeded in taking as many fish as we wanted; and returning
to the house, Mary cooked for us a most excellent fish dinner, which we
all ate with a keen appetite."

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.

LITTLE MARY AND THE BEE.

"During the winter we saw very little of our beavers. Through the cold
season they lay snug in their houses--although not in a state of
torpidity, as the beaver does not become torpid in winter. He only
keeps within doors, and spends most of his time in eating and sleeping;
but he goes out of his house at intervals to wash and clean himself, for
the beaver is an animal of very precise habits. He is not compelled,
however, to go abroad in search of food. As we have seen, he lays up a
stock which serves him throughout the cold season.

"For several weeks in mid-winter, the dam was frozen over with ice
strong enough to bear our weight; and we visited the houses of the
beavers that stood up like so many hay-stacks. We found them so hard
and firm, that we could climb upon them, and pounce down upon their
tops, without the least danger of breaking them in. In fact, it would
have been anything but an easy task to have opened one of them from
above; and no animal--not even the wolverene with his crooked claws,--
could have done it. We observed that in every case the doors were far
below the ice, so that the entrance still remained open to the animals
within; and, moreover, when any one stamped heavily upon the roof,
through the clear ice we could see the frightened creatures making their
escape by darting off into the water. Sometimes we remained to see if
they would return, but in no instance did they come back. At the time
we wondered at this--as we knew they could not possibly live under the
ice, where there was no air. We soon found, however, that these cunning
creatures knew what they were about; and that they had already provided
means to escape from the danger of being drowned.

"Along one side of the dam there was a bank, that rose considerably
above the water; and into this bank they had made large holes, or as
they are termed `washes.' These were so constructed that the