is so different, so far above all other members of his tribe. He
is very gentle by nature, with no trace of the fisher's ferocity
or the weasel's bloodthirstiness. He tames easily, and makes the
most docile and affectionate pet of all the wood folk. He never
kills for the sake of killing, but lives peaceably, so far as he
can, with all creatures. And he stops fishing when he has caught
his dinner. He is also most cleanly in his habits, with no
suggestion whatever of the evil odors that cling to the mink and
defile the whole neighborhood of a skunk. One cannot help
wondering whether just going fishing has not wrought all this
wonder in Keeonekh's disposition. If so, 't is a pity that all
his tribe do not turn fishermen.

His one enemy among the wood folk, so far as I have observed, is
the beaver. As the latter is also a peaceable animal, it is
difficult to account for the hostility. I have heard or read
somewhere that Keeonekh is fond of young beaver and hunts them
occasionally to vary his diet of fish; but I have never found any
evidence in the wilderness to show this. Instead, I think it is
simply a matter of the beaver's dam and pond that causes the
trouble.

When the dam is built the beavers often dig a channel around
either end to carry off the surplus water, and so prevent their
handiwork being washed away in a freshet. Then the beavers guard
their preserve jealously, driving away the wood folk that dare to
cross their dam or enter their ponds, especially the musquash,
who is apt to burrow and cause them no end of trouble. But
Keeonekh, secure in his strength, holds straight through the
pond, minding his own business and even taking a fish or two in