The Water Weasel saw his enemy but made no attempt to escape from her.  He stood with forepaws on his victim and snarling a warning and defiance to the Cat.  Pussy, after glaring for a few seconds, leaped lightly to the high bank, passed above the Mink, then farther on leaped down, and resumed her journey up the shore.

Why should the Mink fear the Cat the first time, and the Cat the Mink the second?  Yan believed that ordinarily the Cat could “lick,” but that now the Mink had right on his side; he was defending his property, and the Cat, knowing that, avoided a quarrel; whereas the same Cat would have faced a thousand Mink in defense of her Kittens.

These two scenes did not happen the same day, but are told together because Yan always told them together afterward to show that the animals understand something of right and wrong.

But later Yan had another experience with the Muskrats.  He and Sam were smoothing out the lower album for the night, when a long stream of water came briskly down the middle of the creek bed, which had been dry for more than a week.

“Hallo,” said Woodpecker, “where’s that from?”

“A leak in the dam,” said Little Beaver, with fear in his voice.

The boys ran up to the dam and learned that the guess was right.  The water had found an escape round the end of the dam, and a close examination showed that it had been made by a burrowing Muskrat.

It was no little job to get it tightly closed up.  But the spade was handy, and a close-driven row of stakes with plenty of stiff clay packed behind not only stopped the leak but gave a guarantee that in future that corner at least would be safe.

When Caleb heard of the Muskrat mischief he said: 

“Now ye know why the Beavers are always so dead sore on the Muskrats.  They know the Rats are liable to spoil their dams any time, so they kill them whenever they get the chance.”

Little Beaver rarely watched an hour without seeing something of interest in the swamp.  The other warriors had not the patience to wait so long and they were not able to make a pastime of sketching.

Yan made several hiding-places where he found that living things were most likely to be seen.  Just below the dam was a little pool where various Crawfish and thread-like Eels abounding proved very attractive to Kingfisher and Crow, while little Tip-ups or Teetering Snipe would wiggle their latter end on the level dam, or late in the day the never-failing Muskrat would crawl out on a flat stone and sit like a fur cap.  The canon part of the creek was another successful hiding-place, but the very best was at the upper end of the pond, for the simple reason that it gave a view of more different kinds of land.  First the water with Muskrats and occasionally a Mink, next the little marsh, always there, but greatly increased now by the back-up of the water.  Here one or two Field-mice and a pair of Sora Rails were at home.  Close at hand was the thick woods, where Partridges and Black Squirrels were sometimes seen.