"At last the tree--it was an ash--fell, toppling into the water just
where the beavers wanted it. They pushed and tugged it down-stream for
about ten yards, to the dam, and propped it against the opening which I
had made. I couldn't see the rest of the operations clearly; but I
caught glimpses of them, marching about on their hind-legs, carrying mud
snug up to their chins like this," here Cyrus folded his arms across his
chest. "And before daybreak that dam was perfectly repaired, with never
a leak in it.
"You know they build the dams in very shallow water, only a few inches
deep; and they generally roll in a couple of long logs for a solid
foundation. It was one of these which I had torn out. Now, Neal, what do
you say about the beaver's intelligence?"
"If I didn't know you, Cyrus, I'd say you were making up as you went
along," answered Neal. "It seems one of those things which a fellow can
scarcely believe in. Hulloa! What's that?"
A loud report, like the bang of a gun, made all the boys, who had been
standing very quietly, gazing at the dam, suddenly jump.
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