well-sheltered, comfortable one for such a place, and as
the storm had completely passed away, the evening, although very cold,
was a fairly enjoyable one. The routine at this camp was similar to the
first. The only excitement the boys had, was when one of the Indians
came in from exploring the beaver house and dam, and told them that a
large wolverine was seen walking on the dam the heavers had made, and
then round and round the beaver house.

"Beaver plenty safe there," he added, in his broken English. "Wall four
feet thick. Frost make all like stone. Only one door, and that under
the thick ice and water. Wolverine no catch beaver in that house."
Then he added: "Beaver there for Injun to take. White boys see how him
do it quick, two days more. Plenty work first, then plenty beaver."

This picturesque talk to the boys was very interesting, and so they were
all eager to see, as Sam said, "the curtain go up and the show begin."

As nothing could be done the next day before daylight, there was no
particular hurry in getting up. After giving orders to the men who were
left in charge at the camp to see that the dogs there remained, and that
everything was kept in the best of order, and dinner ready at a certain
hour, Mr Ross and the boys, like the rest, strapped on their snowshoes
and away they tramped. The Indian hunters had the little dogs with
them. These they carefully carried and kept covered up when not at
work. The boys were first taken to the top of a hill, from which the
whole pond, dam, and beaver house could be distinctly seen. Then Mr
Ross explained that, while the beaver generally dwelt in their house
during the winter, they had in addition what the Indians called
kitchens. These were cunningly hid along the shore at the edge of the
ice. All were now out of sight and under the snow. They were
ingeniously made, in such a way that the beaver by frequently visiting
them and breaking away the ice, as it formed on the inside, could thus
keep them open. They were really breathing places for the beaver in
case they should be attacked in their houses and driven out.

Inexperienced hunters often try to get the beaver by chopping, digging,
or even blasting with gunpowder a hole into the beaver house. If the
pond is well supplied with kitchens, or breathing places, the beavers
need only laugh at such hunters, for just as soon as they become alarmed
by these outside noises they plunge into the water, wh