“We enter and leave our homes from beneath the water, unseen. And when we are attacked by enemies we take to the water to save ourselves.”
“I have been told that your food is chiefly the roots of the common yellow water lily,” said Father Thrift. “What do you do in the winter when the pond is frozen and there are no lily roots to be had?”
“Oh,” said Mr. Beaver, “we eat the bark of trees, too—mostly poplar, birch, and willow. But, as the ice prevents us from getting to the land in winter, we should not have even that to eat if we did not cut a supply of sticks in the summer time.
“These we throw into the water opposite the doors of our houses and leave them there for the winter, for bark is good beaver food.”
Father Thrift nodded. But on his way home he could have been heard to say: “Wise little animals! Always working. Always saving. Always having.”
THE GRAY FOXES AND THE RED FOXES
After Father Thrift came to the forest to live, one night each week (except in bad or very cold weather) had been “story night.”