The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-06-02

dows. There was no chimney. And the
door was under water.
This house had very wet cellar,-in
fact, it was full of water.
The ducks often swan close to. the
house, plunging their broad bills in the
mud, and sometimes diving out OF sight;
but they never tried to enter. The frogs
sat on the large lily leaves near by, and
croaked long and loud; but not one went
in. The turtles sometimes climbed to
the roof to sun themselves, but they new
or went inside. The mes iow-mice had
little houses of their own, and laid no
claim to this. None Of these pond peo-
| pie claimed it. Who, then, was the own
er? Who built the house?
One day, one of the boys discovered
the house. At first, he thought it was an
old bushel basket upside down; but, as
he looked more carefully, he saw that
somebody or something must have built
it right where it was. He wondered when
it was done and who did it. He lived
close to the pond, and could see the
whole of it from his chamber window;
yet he had never seen this building be-
fore. Almost every day, after school, he
played in the field near the pond; but he
had never noticed the builder. He made
up his mind to examine it carefully, and,
If possible, solve the mystery that sur
rounded it.
The mud and water were so deep that
he dared not wade out, and he had no
boat. How should he reach the little
mud island on the edge Of which it stood?
After thinking some time, he went to the
lumber pile, and took several boards and
brought them to the shore. These he
laid across the tussocks of pond-grass till
he had bridge leading right up to the
curious building. 1t was very narrow
and exceedingly shaky bridge. 1t bent
and tipped, as the boy stepped upon it.
In his hand he held a long stick, which
he thrust into the mud to steady himself.
In this way he sided along, carefully
balancing, step by step, till be was almost
there. Once, he stuck the stick go far
down that he had to give quite hard
pull in drawing it out; and, when it did
come, he almost fell over backward.
Step by step he moved slowly on, and
at last reached the house. Once there,
he examined it with great deal OF won
der. 1t was SO soundly made, so nicely
matched, SO perfectly rounded! With
his stick, he raped gently on the roof
There was rustic, plunge, aud some
thing darted through the water and was
gone. So quick and unexpected were the
motions that the boy could not decide
whether it was fish or an animal. As
he examined the dwelling, he saw lead
ing from the underwater door a path
way in the soft mud on the bottom of the
pond. Following it with his eyes, he no.
ticed that it led far out into the deep
water. He resolved to watch the path,
hoping to have longer look at the
stranger.
For several days he watched, but saw
nothing unusual. At last, one evening,
just at twilight, he saw, swimming slowly
up the pathway, it's nose barely showing
above the water, a brown animal. Hardly
daring to move for fear of frightening it,
he stole forward to get good long look.
Nearer and nearer swan the animal to
the water cottage, till, diving through the
doorway, it disappeared.
This, then, was the owner, the builder,
of this queer little house, with its roof of
rushes and it's cellar full of water. So it
was not the ducks, the mice, the turtles,
nor the frogs that built the house, but
the big brown muskrat.-Pacifc.