The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-06-19

.--- ...---r.9a BROAD. flat tail came dow,
n on the water with whack
n that sent the echoes lying
ksss:.s;ssssSd back and forth across the
lS5sESa5I pend, and It's owner duckedt Y
Ifis head, archel his back and dived 70
Inc bottom In moment his little
brown head reappeared. and he and ms
brothers and sisters went o CHASING e 1lll
p other round and round the pond, duck
INC and diving and splashns. raising
s,,ch n conlmotion that they sent the
III rinnles washing all along the grassy
shores. and having the iolliest kind OF
time. a.
The city in which the tail first made
its appearance was q very anc a,l oi..,
X Z IA nav have been the oldest town on
fhe North American continent. Genera
& lion after generation of beavers ilaa
IN worried on that dam, building
little higher and q little higher,
4 little longer and q little longer,
year after wear: and raising their
lodges as the pond rose around them.
Theirs was maritime city, for most OF
its streets were of water, Ike those OF
Venice: rich cargoes of food Suits came
ftoatinr to its very doors and they them
+ selves we're navigators from their ear
Hest youth. They We're lumberrien too,
end when the timber was all cut from
along the shores of the pond, they ang
canals across the low level, Harshy
Ground. hack to the higher land where
"a the birch and the poplar still grew, ana
e. loatea the branches and the smaller
,8Slors down the artificial waterways. a no
there were land roads as we'll as canals
for here and there narrow trails crossed
the swamp showing where generations
of busy workers had passed back and
forth between the felled tree and the
waters edge. Streets, canals, public
works dwellings, commerce. numbering,
rich stores laid UP for the wtnter-what
more do you want to constitute city.
even II the houses are few in number
and the population somewhat smaller
than that of London or New York?
And so 1t was when our Beaver came
into the world.
The first year Of his life was an easy
one. especially the winter. when there
was little for anyone to do except to
eat. to sleep and now and then to fish
for the roots of the yellow water lily In
the soft mud at the bottom of the pond
During that season he probably accom-
plished more than his parents did. for if
he could not toll he could at least grow
But one black November night our
hero's father, tho wisest old beaver In all
the town, went out TO his work and
never came home again. \ trapper had
found the city--a scientific trapper who
had studied his profession for years, and
who knew Just how to go to work. He
kept away from .hile lodges as long as he
could so as not tr;.fslghten any one: and
before he SGT q single trap he looked the
ground over very carefully. located the
different trails that ran back from the
waters edge toward the timber visited
the stumns of the felled trees, and paid
particular attention to the toothmark's
on the chips. No two beavers leave
marks that are exactly alike The teeth
of one are fatter or rounded than those
40 I. t,.l.N los
small hicks in the edges of his yellow
chisels and each tooth leaves its own
peculiar signature behind II. BY noting
all these things the trapper concluded
that particular runway In the wet.
grassy margin of the pond was the one
by which a certain old beaver always
left the water IN going to his nights
labor. That beaver. no decided, would
best be tho first one taken, for he was
probably the head Of II family, and an
elderly person of much wisdom and ex-
perience; and &c ono OF his children
should be caught first he might become
alarmed and take the lead In n general
exodus,
So the trapper set heavy double
spring trap I'm the edge Of the water at
the foot of the runway, and covered il
with a thin sheet Of moss And that
night as the old beaver came swimming
up the shore he put lis foot down where
T.
and clasped him around the thigh He
had felt that grip before Was not halt
Of his right hand gbne and three toes
from his left hind foot? But this wa!
far mare serious matter than eitter o.
those adventures. IT was not hanc
that was caught this time, nor yet toe
or toes. 1t was his right hind leg vel
up toward his body, and the stronges
beaver that eyer lived could not have
pulled himself free, Now, when a bea'
yer is frightened he OF course, makes
for deep water. There, he thinks nc
enemy can follow him. and, what Is
more, II is the highway TO his lodge and
TO the burrow that he has followed IN
the bank for a refuge in case his house
should be attacked So this beaver turn
ed and jumped back Into Tho water thf
way he had par1e; hut, algR, lac took
his enemy with him The heavy trar
dragged him 10 tile bottom like stone
and the short chain fastened 10 a stake
kept him from going very far towart
home. For a few minutes he struggled
with all his might, and the soft blacl
mud rose about him in irky clouds. rhcr
he quietcd down and lay very istil; anf
The next day the irapper came along am
pulled him ont by the chain,
Something else happeFed Tho sam'
+ night tADother wise old beaver. tha heaC
man Of another lotgc was liilled by 4
falling tree I suppose tlarh had fell
"a hundredg of trees and bushes, biz
aud little, IN The course Of his llfe, mff
Z IN had never YET met with an accident
hui this t;p1n he thought he would tali
one moro bite after The tree he'd reall'
begun 10 fall He tried 70 draw back
hijf u vas TOO laiei HIS skHll crashed IN
ana his llfa went out like a candle.
And 80. In al fsw h9ufs. the city las