"It is," concurred Black King--"they should establish more of them. But where in the world is Chatterbox, the Jay?"
"Gabbler the Fool must have trailed in with a party of Men going down the river," suggested Carcajou. "Nothing but eating would keep him away from a party of talkers."
"Well, Comrades," said Black King, "shall the Boundaries be the same as last year? Are there any changes to be made?"
"I roam everywhere; is that not so, King?" asked Muskwa.
"Yes; but not eat everywhere. There is truce for the young Beaver, because workmen are not free to the Kill."
"I have not eaten of Trowel Tail's Children," declared Muskwa, proudly. "I have kept the Law of the Boundaries."
"And yet he has lost two sons," said Black Fox, looking sternly about.
A tear trickled down the sandy beard of Beaver and glistened on his black nose.
"Two sturdy Sons, Your Majesty, a year old. Next year, or the year after, they would have gone out and built lodges of their own. Such plasterers I never saw in my life. Why, their work was as smooth as the inner bark of the Poplar; and no two Beavers on the whole length of Pelican River could cut down a tree with them."
"Oh, never mind their virtues, Trowel Tail," interrupted Carcajou, heartlessly; "they are dead--that is the main thing; and who killed them, the question. Who broke the Boundary Law is what we want to know."