“How are we going to get the tree to the dam after we gnaw through the trunk?” asked Toto, as he and Sniffy began cutting through the outer bark with their strong, red teeth. “We can’t carry it there.”
“We could if we could bite it into short pieces, as we bite and gnaw into short pieces the logs we gnaw bark from in our house all winter,” said Sniffy.
“We don’t want this tree cut up into little pieces,” said Daddy Beaver. “It must be in one, long length, to go on top of the dam.”
“We never can drag this tree to the dam after we have gnawed it down!” sighed Toto. “It will be too hard work!”
“You won’t have to do that,” said his father with a laugh. “We will make the water float the tree to the dam for us.”
“But there isn’t any water near here,” said Sniffy.
“No, but we can bring the water right here,” went on Mr. Beaver.
“How?” Toto wanted to know, for he and his brother were young beavers.
“We can dig a canal through the ground, and in that the water will come right up to where we want it,” said Mr. Beaver. “We’ll dig out the dirt right from under the tree, after we have cut it down, and bring the canal to it. The canal will fill with water. The tree, being wood, will float in the water, and a lot of us beavers, getting together, can swim along and push and pull the tree through the canal right to the place where we need it for the dam.”