ntre o' the floor which looks somethin' like a
chimney. The top o' this one was about four feet higher than the floor,
and it was a good two feet through. The water round their house came
almost to the top of the door. Mr. Beaver, when he wanted to go into his
house, used to dive and come up through the tube, then he would shake
himself, and slide down to his floor, which was always dry. It was
always warm, too, for even in the coldest weather the water all round
the house kep' it from freezin'. I reckon this particular fam'ly was
pretty well provided for because they were all fat. Leastwise they
looked as if they might have been, though they were dead when I saw
them."

"How was that?" inquired Peleg.

"Why, the otter had gone after them."

"Into their house?"

"No! No! No otter would ever dare do that. In a fight in a place like
that the beaver, which has such strong teeth and is such a strong little
brute anyway, would have the advantage every time. The otter works in
'nother way. The beaver fam'ly had been busy all through the summer
hidin' their strips o' poplar and birch and willows in the bottom o' the
lake which they had made. They intended to have their easy time in the
winter, and they do, too, unless some otters happen along.

"In this case I am tellin' you about, a couple o' otters had tried to
break into the house, but the walls was hard as granite. If the otter
can only get the beaver into the water he can catch him easily, because
the otter is as quick as a fish. So the beaver simply works on the
defensive and builds a house strong enough to keep out any otter that
may happen along. But pretty soon the otters begin to look into the
beavers' dam. By and by, when they find a weak spot, where they can work
a hole straight through, they begin their job. When the weather is not
too cold and the ice not too thick, just as soon as the water in the
lake begins to drop a little, then the beavers begin to hunt for the
leak. But when the water falls fast and there is a covering of ice all
over the lake and sometimes the ice caves in, you see the beavers then
cannot get their provisions, and the inside o' their houses is as cold
as it is outside.

"The otters have a reg'lar course they follow, goin' from one place to
'nother and making their rounds 'bout every ten days to two weeks. I
reckon in the case o' this beaver fam'ly I am tellin' you about that the
otters came back in a fortnight or so and found the be