"It's only a beaver striking the water with his tail," laughed Cyrus.
"He has been swimming about somewhere up-stream, and has scented us, and
dived. I have heard one do that a dozen times in the night, if he
detected the presence of man; but it's very unusual in the daytime, for
they rarely venture out in broad light. In diving, if suddenly alarmed,
they strike the surface of the water a tremendous whack with their
tails, as a signal of alarm, making this report, which in still weather
resounds for a great distance.
"I'm very glad you heard it, boys; for your chances of seeing the master
beaver or any of his colony are mighty slim. But we'll probably come on
their lodge a little higher up."
Above the shallow water where the dam was built, the stream widened into
a broad, deep pool. About fifty yards ahead, in the centre of this, was
a tiny island. On its extreme edge Joe pointed out the beaver lodge. It
was shaped something like a huge beehive, being about a dozen feet in
diameter and five feet high. The outside seemed to be entirely covered
with mud and fibrous roots, through which the sticks which formed its
framework poked out here and there.
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