Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-01-18
Copyright. N1ef4, the
Bobs-Merrlli COMPANY

kazan rrazan was pulled completely
iron. nrho water rushed into his mouth,
rnaer aves and nose. He was blinded,
hls es;.' s;s senses we're a roaring tumult.
sna ,.,,.od Of struggling to free him
Buy hoid his breath and buried his
ftf ..anor no They touched the soft
TEEN md for a moment foundered In
to'IoI, Then Kazan loosened his hold.
~ Zee fRhting for his own nie now
he o, FOR Broken Tooth's. with all OF
~ ~ strength of his powerful nmps ne
.sase,ecled .ae to break loose.to rise 10 tne
sarlas. s.s,s shut, knowing that to breathe
m ls"S Ale On land he could have freed
Was.,, from Brol,en Tooth's hold with
mmse. affort. But under water the old
Guy 49,, orip was more deadly than
pea,s boya been the fangr of n lynx
vua vealu There was q sudden swirl OF
ssso ne n second beaver circled close
ss'v lsavt ,he struggling pair. Had he closed
\ rIth Broken Tooth, kazan's struggles
rould quickly have ceased.
p,, nature had not foreseen the day
- broken Tooth would be hghting
v.s,h fang. The OIL patriarch had no par
,,.nlar reason now for holdlng hazan
down. He was not vengeful. he dld not
ay- MA Tor blood or death. Finding that
~ =. ,sss free. and that this strange enemy
NJ mad twice leaped upon him could
- Mn, no harm. he loosed his hold. IL
w w. not a moment too soon for Kazan.
" was struggling weakly when he rose
=. =. tba surface of the water. Three
srortars drowned, he succeeded In rails
~ his forepaws over n slender branch
~. projected from the dam. This gave
Mn, time to fill his lungs with air, and
a cough forth the water that had almost
W ,,aip hn
s,rng 10 the branch before he dared at
,smpt. the short swim ashore. When he
,.ached the bank he dragged himself up
vsakly. All the strength was gone from
tIs body. His limbs shook. His jaws
hung loose. He was beaten-completely
Ssasen. And q creature without a fang
ssd worsted him. He felt the abasement
a Il. Drenched and sinking, he went
u the windfall, lay down in the sun, and
waited for Gray Wolf.
pays followed in which Kazan's desire
IA destroy his beaver enemies became the
consuming passion of his life. Each day
ne dam became more formidable. Cement
work in the water was carried on by the
beavers swiftly and safely.
The water in the pond rose higher
zach "a hours, and the pond grew steadily
vlder. The water had now been turned
Wndfall, and in another week or two. If
NE beavers continued their work,
Kazans and Gray VOLTS home would
te nothing more than small island in
the centre of wide area of submerged
swamp.
Kazan hunted only for food now, and
not for pleasure. Ceaselessly he
watched his opportunity to leap upon
ncautious members of Broken Tooth's
tribe The third day after the struggle
under the water he killed n big beaver
that approached too close to the willow
thicket. The fifth day two of the young
beavers wandered into the flooded de-
preston back of the windfall and Kazan
caught them in shallow water and tore
them into pieces. After these success
tnl assaults the beavers began to work
mostly at nights This was to Kazan's
advantage for he was "A night hunter
On each - two consecutive nights he
klled beaver. Counting the young, he
had killed seven when the otter came.
Never had Broken Tooth been placed
ltlEeen two deadlier or more ferocious
entailes than the two that now assailed
bin. On shore Kazan was his master
htause Of his swiftness. keener scent
and lighting trickery. In the water the
otter was a still greater menace. He was
sylfter than the Hsh that he caught for
f1od. His teeth were like steel needles.
he was so sleek and slippery that 1t
would have been impossible for them to
hold him with their chisel-like teeth could
hey have caught him. The otter, like
ine beaver, possessed no hunger for
nlood. Yet in all the Northlsnd he was
me greatest destroyer of their kind-an
even greater destroyer than man. He
eAme and passed like a plague, and 1t
vas In the coldest days of winter that
kfeatest destruction came with him. In
nose days he did not assault the beavers
IN their snug houses. He did what man
epuld DO only with dynamite-made an
snorasure through their dam. Swiftly
te water would fall. the surface Ice
WOULD crash down and the beaver houses
would be left out of water. Then fol-
owed death for the beavers-starvation
sna cold. With the protecting water
sone from about their houses. the drained
poha chaotic mass OF broken ice. and
ene temperature 40 or 80 degrees below
'eio' lhey would die within a few hours
for the beaver, with his thick coat of
wi can stand less cold than man.
lnrough all the long winter the water
.oout his home is as necessary to him as
. hre to a child.
.oo'h and his colony had no very great
var OF the otter. 1t would cost them
III ssis lapor to repair the damage he did,
~ mere was plenty of food and IL was
uh' For two days the otter frisked
-sos' tne dam and the deep water OF the
sspa' kazan took him for a beaver and
~'sa yalnly to stalk him. The otter re-
ss.usa hazan suspiclousIy and kept well
s,S.s y ms way Neither knew that the
s'-ss s,-. was an ally. Meanwhile the beavers
,n''Heed ~ their work with greater eau
~, Ihe water in the pond had now
-n 10 point where the engineers had
sssln the construction OF three lodges.
~ me third day the destructive instinct
ne otter began it's work. He began
fs,,ne ssSIlne the dam, close down to the
ssaeioh. IL was not long before he
AN : weak spot to begin work on, and,
NJ ms sharp teeth and small bullet
sl,, aeau, ne commenced his drilling oper-
Nsa. inch by inch he worked his way
inr ssh the dam, burroWing and gnaw-
vfer and under the timbers, and al
AZ through the cement. The round
M, AS made was fully inches in diam
tks ss ~ SIX hours he had cut Il through
r'oot base Of the dam.
tbs e .orrent OF water began to rush from
nsme ui as II forced out by a hydraulic
iae H. ~ anu bIay WOlI were hlu-
a. me willows on the south side Of
kes,ip p'na when this happened. They
A. 'he roar Of the stream tearing
IN ah ~. the embrasure and Kazan saw
~ Wy. ~. crawl up to the top OF the dam
HEh,a h,Axe himself like a huge water rat.
~ a ~ ~ minutes the 'Vater In the pond
t6s .s,len pereeptibly, and the force of
eons,aa. nasr pouring through the hole was
5lAes increasing the outlet. In an
skrsa aait hour the foundations of the
zso'', i,eoases, which had been laid In
Aot ~, inches OF water. stood on mud.
IA ,ssa saM Broken Tooth discovered that