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

two st its best citizens-the very two
whom 1t could least afford TO lose. ~
they had been spared they might, per-
haps have known enough to scent the
coming danger, and to lead their families
and .nelghbols away from the doomed
town, deeper into the heart of the WI der
ness AS 1T was the trapper had Things
all his own way, and by working care
fully ana cautiously; he added SKIN aI yer
skin to his store Of beaver pelts
ono night the beaver himself came
s1vimmnc down tho pond. homewnrd
hound and as he dlved and approached
the submarine entrance of the lodge he
noticed some stakes driven into the mud
stakes that lie had never seen there
before. They seemed to form two rows,
one on each side of his, course put as
there was room enough for him TO- pass
between them he swan straight ahead
without stopping. His hands had no
webs between the fingers. and were OF
little use in swimming SO he had folded
| them back against his body; but his big
/ feet were working like the wheels OF a
| twin screw steamer. and he was forging
| along at a great rate suddenly, hali
way down the lines of stakes his breast
! touched the pan of n steel trap. and the
laws flew Up quick as a wink and strong
AZ n vice. Fortunately there was moth
| ing that they could take hold off, They
/ struck him so hard that they lifted nm
bodily upward, but they caught only
| few hairs Is
\ A week later he was really caught by
4 his right hand, and met with one OF the
most thrilling adventures of his life: oh,
but that was glorious night! Dark as
a pocket, no wind. thick black clouds
overhead and the rain coming down Il,
! n steady, steady drizzle-just the kind
of night that the beavers love, when
~ IL -t,, Enfr Ia
| city IN from the rest Of the world. and
when they feel safe and secure Then,
Ihow the long yellow teeth gouge and
/, tear at the tough wood how the trees
| come tumbling down, and how the
branches and the logs come hurrying in
| TO augment the winter food-ple! Often
| OF late the beaver had noticed an un-
\ pleasant odor along the shores, an odor
! that frightened him and made him very
I uneasy, but tonight the rain had washed
/ it all away, and the woods smelled as
1 sweet and clean as II God had Just made
! them over new. And on this night. of
/ all others the beaver put his hand
I squarely into a steel trap
/ He was in, a shallow portion of tho
ipond, and tho chain was too short for
\ him to reach water deep enough to
drown him; but now a new danger APP
4. peared, for there on the low messy bank
4 was an otter. glaring at him through tho
| darkness. Beaver meat makes a very
acceptable meal for an otter, and the
/ beaver knew It. And he knew, also, how
| utterly helpless he was, either to fly or
| to resist. With that heavy strap on his
arm, and its chain binding him to the
| stake, His heart sank like lead, and he
| trembled from his nose to the end of his
| tail, and whimpered. and cried like n
I baby. But, strange to say. It was the
trapper who saved him, though. Of
course, 1t was done quite unntentionally.
4 AS the otter advanced to the attack there
came a sudden sharp click and In another
second he too was struggling for dear
life. Two traps had been set in the shall
! low water The beaver had found one
| and tho otter the other.
The full story OF that night. with all
its details OF fear and suffering and pain.
/ will never be written; and probably 1t
is we'll that 1t should not he But can
give you a few of the facts, If you care
to hear them The beaver soon found
| that he was out Of the otters reach, and
/ with his fears relieved on that point he
| set to work to free himself from tho
/ trap. Round and round he twisted till
| there came q little snap and the bono Of
his arm broke short off in the steel Jaws.
| Then for a long, long time he pulled and
/ pulled With all his might and at last
! Tho tough skin was rent apart, and the
/ muscles and sinews We're torn out by the
! roots. His right hand WAS gone, and he
was so weak and faint that it seemed
as II all the strength and life OF his
whole body had gone withrit. No matter.
lie was free, and he swan away to the
nearest burroW and lay down to rest
The otter tried to do the same but he
was caught by the thick of his thigh
and his case waH a hopeless one, Next
day the trapper found him alive, but
very meek and quiet, worn out with feal
and useless struggles, In the other tral
were beavers hand and some Ions
shreds OF flesh and sinew that must onc'
4 have reached well UP into the shoulder.
BY the time tho beavers wound wa
n healed--Nature. was too good 10 him
and tho skin soon grew over the tori
X stump-thc pond was covered with Ice
The beavers. only half as numerous az
they had beon a few weeks before. KEEP
close in their lodges and burrows, ant
for q time they lived In peace and quiet
a and their numbers suffered no further
| dininution Then the trapper took II
setting his traps through the Ice, ant
before long matters were worse thar
n ever, by spring the few beavers tha1
remained were so thoroughly frightened
that the ancient town WAS again aban
dpned-- this time forever. The lodges fel
10 ruins, the burrows caved in. the dan
+, gave way. the ponds and canals were
h drained, ard that was the end fof tht
city. The beaver go, married about tlt
time he loft Ills oIa-hpme, ami thIs5shA
The way, is a very good thing 10 do wher
/ YOU want 10 start a new toNn, Excep'
for his missing hand his Wife was So
like him that.it would have puzzled vol
: to tell which was which. They measured
about three feet six inches from Tip oi
nose 10 lip Of tail, and they weighed per
haps thirty pounds apiece Their bodies
we.s heavy and clumsy. ana we're COW