Then he came to a still larger pond.

Around this pond there was a thick growth of alders and willows where the larger trees had thinned out.

He saw the glimmer of afternoon sunlight on the water--and then, all at once, he heard life.
There had been few changes in Beaver Tooth's colony since the days of his feud with Kazan and the otters.

Old Beaver Tooth was somewhat older.

He was fatter.