The man who held him, however, did not seem to wish to hurt him, and only laughed when Binney kicked and tried to bite. The men went along up the stream, treading quietly and making no noise, till they came within sight of the dam, when they stopped, and set their traps around.
You may guess how Binney felt when he saw his dear old home so near, with all his friends and relations playing about it, and yet could not even warn them of the cruel traps. But there was no help for it.
The men set their traps, as I have said, and then went away through the woods to a place at some distance, where they had a camp, and where some men were sitting around a fire.
"What have you there, Victor?" asked one of them.
"A young beaver, captain," said the man who held Binney. "Just such as the Englishman wants. He is old enough to feed, and not too old to tame."
The captain seemed much pleased, patted Binney's head, and offered him some bread; but the poor little beaver was far too sad and scared to care about eating. Binney was now fastened with a light chain to the stump of a tree, and a box was given him to run under.
For two or three days he would eat nothing; he spent his whole time gnawing at his chain; but he grew tired of that when he found it did no good. And by and by he grew tamer, and began to relish the bits of bread, and twigs, and the lumps of sugar which the men gave him; and would soon have grown fond of his captors if he had not seen them kill so many of his acquaintances. Every day they brought into the camp beavers which they had caught in their traps. Binney soon observed, however, that very few of the inmates of the village were taken in this way. Almost all the bodies were those of the lazy wood-beavers. As soon as they were brought in, the trappers skinned them, and dried the skins. The bodies were then thrown away or buried, for beaver meat is not very good to eat.
After a time the men found they had as many beaver skins as they wanted, so they broke up their camp and went away. Binney travelled many days and nights, now by land, and now by water; sometimes on horseback, or in a wagon; now on the cars, and again in a great ship over the ocean, till at last he arrived at the city of London.
[CHAPTER VI.]
FRIENDS IN LONDON.