Then the guide led the boys to the dam. They walked along the top, where the sticks were all pointed lengthwise of the stream. There was more beaver talk from Ben, who surprised the boys by telling them that the beaver’s tail, properly prepared, made delicious soup.
Anxious to get a glimpse of the clever creatures, Ben decided to wait close to the dam. However, he was not hopeful, for, he said, the beavers usually worked after dark, or between daylight and sunrise; but, he added, they were occasionally seen abroad in the daytime, and on the chance the boys were eager to wait.
They returned to the canoe, and presently there was a crackling fire, and appetizing smells soon drifted off through the woods. When they had finished eating they went into hiding behind some willows at the edge of the pond, and Ben told them that when an old bachelor beaver became quarrelsome the beavers drove him from the village and compelled him to live alone; also, when the beavers were obliged to go some distance into the forest for the trees they required, they sometimes dug regular little canals down which they floated the sticks and logs to their pond.
Suddenly a loud whack came from the water, and, cautioning his companions to keep still, the guide peeped between the branches. Quietly he pointed toward the lodge, and the boys saw a dark-brown animal swimming leisurely along near the foot of the dam. Ben whispered that the noise had been made by the beaver striking the water with its tail.
The animal soon reached the base of the dam and crawled from the water. It walked carefully along the whole length of the dam, apparently on a tour of inspection. At one place a stick had become dislodged, and the beaver skilfully put it back.
Then it entered the pond and, to their delight, started directly toward their place of concealment. Ben warned them to remain absolutely motionless, and Ed stealthily placed his camera within reach, in the hope of getting a snap-shot.
The beaver swam to a log within fifteen feet of them, and there emerged and sat up in plain view. Ed hastily focused the camera and pressed the bulb, with an involuntary exclamation of delight. At the sound the beaver dove beneath the water.
“Well, my boy, you’re certainly in luck,” laughed Ben, as Ed wound off the film. “I guess he just came over to have his picture taken.”
“That will make a fine enlargement!” cried George.
“It’s better than shooting him,” Ben declared. “Anybody can wait around and get a pot-shot, but it’s not every one that can get close enough to take a good picture. Of course, he helped considerable by saving us the trouble of sneaking up on him; but nobody knows that,” he added, mischievously.