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"Our fur, which is used in making hats, is highly esteemed," said the Lady Ondatra stiffly, "and our flesh, though musky, of such excellent flavour that the natives prefer us to Wild Duck." Phil guessed that she was hurt, and did his best to soothe her by admiring her babies. No mother could have resisted this.
Urson was as pleased with his admiration of her offspring as the Lady Ondatra had been. His father, however, was inclined to be testy. "He's just an ordinary young Porcupine," he said; "no more, no less. Don't put nonsense into his head, please his mother is ready enough to do that." Feeling rather uncomfortable on her account, Phil turned to Mrs.
Phil found that it was exactly as the Beaver had told him, and that he could follow the Lady Ondatra quite easily through the winding tunnels, or branched canals, which had their entrances under the water. The one through which the Ondatra led him sloped upward gradually for quite a long distance; it ended in a wide chamber in which there were three other openings.
Voyaging along the margin of a lake, we may see on the shores numbers of little flattened oval nests composed of reeds and sedges, while numerous holes in the bank, with quantities of shells, chiefly of the fresh-water mussel, scattered round, show the entrance to the habitations of the musquash, or ondatra, called also the musk-rat.
"I think it would be very nice to be a Musk Rat," said Phil aloud, moving a little nearer the bank. In a second the creek was empty not a single Ondatra was to be seen. Phil felt so disappointed that he was almost inclined to cry. The water still rippled in the moonlight; all was still. Presently a small brown head peeped out of a hole in the bank.
"Tell me all about the hunters that is, if you don't mind," he said with diffidence, when they had quite made friends. The Lady Ondatra did not mind. She seemed to take a fearful joy in describing the perils she had escaped, though she knew quite well that when the summer was over she might have to go through them all again.
When the ice freezes over them we make breathing holes in it, and protect these from the frost by a covering of mud. If the frost is so hard that our holes cannot be kept open, we die from suffocation." "But you are safe from the hunters in your winter houses?" The slender tail of the Lady Ondatra quivered as she drew closer to her babies.
Phil did not stir; he was afraid to breathe lest he might frighten the little thing away. "Who is it?" cried a timid voice. "A friend!" said Phil. And more small heads peeped at him questioningly. "I am the Lady Ondatra," she cried, "and you are indeed most welcome. Will you join in our sports? The water is very smooth to-night, and as warm as milk." Phil was nothing both.
The hours flew by and the moonlight faded; the tips of the far off mountains were tinged with pink, and a Bird in the distance raised his morning song. "It is time to go!" cried the Lady Ondatra to Phil; "come with me; I will show you my nest."
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