of hours the boys and Indians watched with great
interest these clever animals, and then there was an abrupt ending. It
was not caused by any of our party, as the Indians, having abundance of
food, had no desire to now kill the beaver. Then, in addition, the
skins, so valuable in winter, were now of but little worth.

As we have stated, the beavers have many enemies. Their flesh is very
much prized as food by all the carnivorous animals of that country. And
so, while our party was watching with such pleasure the varied movements
of the beaver, there were other eyes upon them, full of evil purposes,
and, strange to say, they were not very far away from where our boys and
Indians were hid.

As before mentioned, our party was on the top of a hill that abruptly
rose up from the pond, caused by the backing up of the waters by the
beaver dam. From this point of observation they looked out toward the
west. On the left side were some hills much smaller and less abrupt.
Just about the time they were thinking of retiring, the sharp eyes of
one of the Indians noticed a dark object on the small hill nearest to
them. Giving a whispered word of caution, they all lay as low as
possible and watched. On and on, and at length out from the shadows of
some bushes into the clear moonlight, came the creature, and now the
sharp eyes of the Indians saw that it was a wolverine. The fact of our
party being so high above it was the only reason they had not been
detected.

It was evident from its actions that it was on a beaver hunt. At every
extra noise the busy animals made in the water, as logs were rolled in
or the beavers plunged in with birch or willow saplings in their mouths,
the wolverine stopped and listened. There was but little wind, and so
it was evident that even when the cruel beast had nearly reached the
shore, and there crouched behind a small rock, the beavers were still
unconscious of his presence. There was only a little strip of land
about a yard between this rock and the water; but along this narrow
strip of land the beavers had been coming and going while at their
varied duties. This, in some way or other, the cunning wolverine seemed
to have discovered.

But while the boys and some of the Indians were intently watching his
movements, others of them, as the result of long experience, had
occasionally cast a searching glance in every direction around them.

"Hist!" in a quiet whisper arrested the attention