The creeks rose to an almost unprecedented
height. The sluggish pond became a seething, turbulent watercourse;
gradually the angry element crept up the sides of these lake dwellings,
till, when the rain ceased, about four o'clock they showed above the
flood no larger than a man's hat. During the night the channel shifted
till the main current swept over them, and next day not a vestige of
the nests was to be seen; they had gone down-stream, as had many other
dwellings of a less temporary character. The rats had built wisely,
and would have been perfectly secure against any ordinary high water,
but who can foresee a flood? The oldest traditions of their race did
not run back to the time of such a visitation.
Nearly a week afterward another dwelling was begun, well away from the
treacherous channel, but the architects did not work at it with much
heart; the material was very scarce, the ice hindered, and before the
basement-story was fairly finished, winter had the pond under his lock
and key.
In other localities I noticed that where the nests were placed on the
banks of streams, they were made secure against the floods by being
built amid a small clump of bushes.
Pages:
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279