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+Project Gutenberg's The Adventures of Paddy Beaver, by Thornton W. Burgess
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Adventures of Paddy Beaver
+
+Author: Thornton W. Burgess
+
+Illustrator: Harrison  Cody
+
+Release Date: August 21, 2006 [EBook #19092]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF PADDY BEAVER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sigal Alon, Jacqueline Jeremy, La Monte H.P.
+Yarroll, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Paddy pretended to be terribly frightened. _Page 80_.]
+
+
+THE
+ADVENTURES OF
+
+Paddy
+BEAVER
+
+THORNTON W. BURGESS
+
+
+
+LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY
+BOSTON            TORONTO
+
+
+Copyright 1917 by Thornton W. Burgess
+
+_Illustrations by Harrison Cody_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+     I  PADDY THE BEAVER BEGINS WORK
+
+    II  PADDY PLANS A POND
+
+   III  PADDY HAS MANY VISITORS
+
+    IV  SAMMY JAY SPEAKS HIS MIND
+
+     V  PADDY KEEPS HIS PROMISE
+
+    VI  FARMER BROWN'S BOY GROWS
+        CURIOUS
+
+   VII  FARMER BROWN'S BOY GETS ANOTHER
+        SURPRISE
+
+  VIII  PETER RABBIT GETS A DUCKING
+
+    IX  PADDY PLANS A HOUSE
+
+     X  PADDY STARTS HIS HOUSE
+
+    XI  PETER RABBIT AND JERRY MUSKRAT
+        ARE PUZZLED
+
+   XII  JERRY MUSKRAT LEARNS SOMETHING
+
+  XIII  THE QUEER STOREHOUSE
+
+   XIV  A FOOTPRINT IN THE MUD
+
+    XV  SAMMY JAY MAKES PADDY A CALL
+
+   XVI  OLD MAN COYOTE IS VERY CRAFTY
+
+  XVII  OLD MAN COYOTE IS DISAPPOINTED
+
+ XVIII  OLD MAN COYOTE TRIES ANOTHER
+        PLAN
+
+   XIX  PADDY AND SAMMY JAY BECOME
+        FRIENDS
+
+    XX  SAMMY JAY OFFERS TO HELP PADDY
+
+   XXI  PADDY AND SAMMY JAY WORK TOGETHER
+
+  XXII  PADDY FINISHES HIS HARVEST
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE ADVENTURES OF PADDY THE BEAVER
+
+I
+
+PADDY THE BEAVER BEGINS WORK
+
+  Work, work all the night
+  While the stars are shining bright;
+  Work, work all the day;
+  I have got no time to play.
+
+
+This little rhyme Paddy the Beaver made up as he toiled at building the
+dam which was to make the pond he so much desired deep in the Green
+Forest. Of course it wasn't quite true, that about working all night and
+all day. Nobody could do that, you know, and keep it up. Everybody has
+to rest and sleep. Yes, and everybody has to play a little to be at
+their best. So it wasn't quite true that Paddy worked all day after
+working all night. But it was true that Paddy had no time to play. He
+had too much to do. He had had his playtime during the long summer, and
+now he had to get ready for the long cold winter.
+
+Now of all the little workers in the Green Forest, on the Green Meadows,
+and in the Smiling Pool, none can compare with Paddy the Beaver, not
+even his cousin, Jerry Muskrat. Happy Jack Squirrel and Striped Chipmunk
+store up food for the long cold months when rough Brother North Wind and
+Jack Frost rule, and Jerry Muskrat builds a fine house wherein to keep
+warm and comfortable, but all this is as nothing to the work of Paddy
+the Beaver.
+
+As I said before, Paddy had had a long playtime through the summer. He
+had wandered up and down the Laughing Brook. He had followed it way up
+to the place where it started. And all the time he had been studying and
+studying to make sure that he wanted to stay in the Green Forest. In the
+first place, he had to be sure that there was plenty of the kind of food
+that he likes. Then he had to be equally sure that he could make a pond
+near where this particular food grew. Last of all, he had to satisfy
+himself that if he did make a pond and build a home, he would be
+reasonably safe in it. And all these things he had done in his playtime.
+Now he was ready to go to work, and when Paddy begins work, he sticks to
+it until it is finished. He says that is the only way to succeed, and
+you know and I know that he is right.
+
+Now Paddy the Beaver can see at night just as Reddy Fox and Peter
+Rabbit and Bobby Coon can, and he likes the night best, because he feels
+safest then. But he can see in the daytime too, and when he feels that
+he is perfectly safe and no one is watching, he works then too. Of
+course the first thing to do was to build a dam across the Laughing
+Brook to make the pond he so much needed. He chose a low open place deep
+in the Green Forest, around the edge of which grew many young
+aspen-trees, the bark of which is his favorite food. Through the middle
+of this open place flowed the Laughing Brook. At the lower edge was just
+the place for a dam. It would not have to be very long, and when it was
+finished and the water was stopped in the Laughing Brook, it would just
+have to flow over the low open place and make a pond there. Paddy's eyes
+twinkled when he first saw it. It was right then that he made up his
+mind to stay in the Green Forest.
+
+So now that he was ready to begin his dam he went up the Laughing
+Brook to a place where alders and willows grew, and there he began
+work; that work was the cutting of a great number of trees by means
+of his big front teeth which were given him for just this purpose.
+And as he worked, Paddy was happy, for one can never be truly happy
+who does no work.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+PADDY PLANS A POND
+
+
+Paddy the Beaver was busy cutting down trees for the dam he had planned
+to build. Up in the woods of the North from which he had come to the
+Green Forest he had learned all about tree-cutting and dam-building and
+canal-digging and house-building. Paddy's father and mother had been
+very wise in the ways of the Beaver world, and Paddy had been quick to
+learn. So now he knew just what to do and the best way of doing it. You
+know a great many people waste time and labor doing things the wrong
+way, so that they have to be done over again. They forget to be sure
+they are right, and so they go ahead until they find they are wrong,
+and all their work goes for nothing.
+
+But Paddy the Beaver isn't this kind. Paddy would never have leaped
+into the spring with the steep sides without looking, as Grandfather
+Frog did. So now he carefully picked out the trees to cut. He could
+not afford to waste time cutting down a tree that wasn't going to be
+just what he wanted when it was down. When he was sure that the tree
+was right, he looked up at the top to find out whether, when he had
+cut it, it would fall clear of other trees. He had learned to do that
+when he was quite young and heedless. He remembered just how he had
+felt when after working hard, oh, so hard, to cut a big tree, he had
+warned all his friends to get out of the way so that they would not be
+hurt when it fell, and then it hadn't fallen at all because the top had
+caught in another tree. He was so mortified that he didn't get over it
+for a long time.
+
+So now he made sure that a tree was going to fall clear and just where
+he wanted it. Then he sat up on his hind legs, and with his great broad
+tail for a brace, began to make the chips fly. You know Paddy has the
+most wonderful teeth for cutting. They are long and broad and sharp.
+He would begin by making a deep bite, and then another just a little
+way below. Then he would pry out the little piece of wood between.
+When he had cut very deep on one side so that the tree would fall that
+way, he would work around to the other side. Just as soon as the tree
+began to lean and he was sure that it was going to fall, he would
+scamper away so as to be out of danger. He loved to see those tall
+trees lean forward slowly, then faster and faster, till they struck
+the ground with a crash.
+
+Just as soon as they were down, he would trim off the branches until
+the trees were just long poles. This was easy work, for he could take
+off a good-sized branch with one bite. On many he left their bushy
+tops. When he had trimmed them to suit him and had cut them into the
+right lengths, he would tug and pull them down to the place where he
+meant to build his dam.
+
+There he placed the poles side by side, not across the Laughing Brook
+like a bridge, but with the big ends pointing up the Laughing Brook,
+which was quite broad but shallow right there. To keep them from
+floating away, he rolled stones and piled mud on the bushy ends. Clear
+across on both sides he laid those poles until the land began to rise.
+Then he dragged more poles and piled on top of these and wedged short
+sticks crosswise between them.
+
+And all the time the Laughing Brook was having harder and harder work
+to run. Its merry laugh grew less merry and finally almost stopped,
+because, you see, the water could not get through between all those
+poles and sticks fast enough. It was just about that time that the
+little people of the Smiling Pool decided that it was time to see just
+what Paddy was doing, and they started up the Laughing Brook, leaving
+only Grandfather Frog and the tadpoles in the Smiling Pool, which for a
+little while would smile no more.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+PADDY HAS MANY VISITORS
+
+
+Paddy the Beaver knew perfectly well that he would have visitors just
+as soon as he began to build his dam. He expected a lot of them. You
+see, he knew that none of them ever had seen a Beaver at work unless
+perhaps it was Prickly Porky the Porcupine, who also had come down
+from the North. So as he worked he kept his ears open, and he smiled
+to himself as he heard a little rustle here and then a little rustle
+there. He knew just what those little rustles meant. Each one meant
+another visitor. Yes, Sir, each rustle meant another visitor, and yet
+not one had shown himself.
+
+Paddy chuckled. "Seems to me that you are dreadfully afraid to show
+yourselves," said he in a loud voice, just as if he were talking to
+nobody in particular. Everything was still. There wasn't so much as a
+rustle after Paddy spoke. He chuckled again. He could just _feel_ ever
+so many eyes watching him, though he didn't see a single pair. And he
+knew that the reason his visitors were hiding so carefully was because
+they were afraid of him. You see, Paddy was much bigger than most of the
+little meadow and forest people, and they didn't know what kind of a
+temper he might have. It is always safest to be very distrustful of
+strangers. That is one of the very first things taught all little meadow
+and forest children.
+
+Of course, Paddy knew all about this. He had been brought up that way.
+"Be sure, and then you'll never be sorry" had been one of his mother's
+favorite sayings, and he had always remembered it. Indeed, it had saved
+him a great deal of trouble. So now he was perfectly willing to go right
+on working and let his hidden visitors watch him until they were sure
+that he meant them no harm. You see, he himself felt quite sure that
+none of them was big enough to do him any harm. Little Joe Otter was
+the only one he had any doubts about, and he felt quite sure that Little
+Joe wouldn't try to pick a quarrel. So he kept right on cutting trees,
+trimming off the branches, and hauling the trunks down to the dam he
+was building. Some of them he floated down the Laughing Brook. This
+was easier.
+
+Now when the little people of the Smiling Pool, who were the first to
+find out that Paddy the Beaver had come to the Green Forest, had started
+up the Laughing Brook to see what he was doing, they had told the Merry
+Little Breezes where they were going. The Merry Little Breezes had been
+greatly excited. They couldn't understand how a stranger could have been
+living in the Green Forest without their knowledge. You see, they quite
+forgot that they very seldom wandered to the deepest part of the Green
+Forest. Of course they started at once as fast as they could go to tell
+all the other little people who live on or around the Green Meadows, all
+but Old Man Coyote. For some reason they thought it best not to tell
+him. They were a little doubtful about Old Man Coyote. He was so big and
+strong and so sly and smart that all his neighbors were afraid of him.
+Perhaps the Merry Little Breezes had this fact in mind, and knew that
+none would dare go to call on the stranger if they knew that Old Man
+Coyote was going too. Anyway, they simply passed the time of day with
+Old Man Coyote and hurried on to tell every one else, and the very last
+one they met was Sammy Jay.
+
+Sammy was terribly put out to think that anything should be going on
+that he didn't know about first. You know he is very fond of prying into
+the affairs of other people, and he loves dearly to boast that there is
+nothing going on in the Green Forest or on the Green Meadows that he
+doesn't know about. So now his pride was hurt, and he was in a terrible
+rage as he started after the Merry Little Breezes for the place deep in
+the Green Forest where they said Paddy the Beaver was at work. He didn't
+believe a word of it, but he would see for himself.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+SAMMY JAY SPEAKS HIS MIND
+
+
+When Sammy Jay reached the place deep in the Green Forest where Paddy
+the Beaver was so hard at work, he didn't hide as had the little
+four-footed people. You see, of course, he had no reason to hide,
+because he felt perfectly safe. Paddy had just cut a big tree, and it
+fell with a crash as Sammy came hurrying up. Sammy was so surprised
+that for a minute he couldn't find his tongue. He had not supposed
+that anybody but Farmer Brown or Farmer Brown's boy could cut down so
+large a tree as that, and it quite took his breath away. But he got it
+again in a minute. He was boiling with anger, anyway, to think that he
+should have been the last to learn that Paddy had come down from the
+North to make his home in the Green Forest, and here was a chance to
+speak his mind.
+
+"Thief! thief! thief!" he screamed in his harshest voice.
+
+Paddy the Beaver looked up with a twinkle in his eyes. "Hello, Mr. Jay!
+I see you haven't any better manners than your cousin who lives up where
+I came from," said he.
+
+"Thief! thief! thief!" screamed Sammy, hopping up and down, he was
+so angry.
+
+"Meaning yourself, I suppose," said Paddy. "I never did see an honest
+Jay, and I don't suppose I ever will."
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Peter Rabbit, who had quite forgotten that he
+was hiding.
+
+"Oh, how do you do, Mr. Rabbit? I'm very glad you have called on me this
+morning," said Paddy, just as if he hadn't known all the time just where
+Peter was. "Mr. Jay seems to have gotten out of the wrong side of his
+bed this morning."
+
+Peter laughed again. "He always does," said he. "If he didn't, he
+wouldn't be happy. You wouldn't think it to look at him, but he is happy
+right now. He doesn't know it, but he is. He always is happy when he can
+show what a bad temper he has."
+
+Sammy Jay glared down at Peter. Then he glared at Paddy. And all the
+time he still shrieked "Thief!" as hard as ever he could. Paddy kept
+right on working, paying no attention to Sammy. This made Sammy more
+angry than ever. He kept coming nearer and nearer until at last he
+was in the very tree that Paddy happened to be cutting. Paddy's
+eyes twinkled.
+
+"I'm no thief!" he exclaimed suddenly.
+
+"You are! You are! Thief! Thief!" shrieked Sammy. "You're stealing
+our trees!"
+
+"They're not your trees," retorted Paddy. "They belong to the Green
+Forest, and the Green Forest belongs to all who love it, and we all have
+a perfect right to take what we need from it. I need these trees, and
+I've just as much right to take them as you have to take the fat acorns
+that drop in the fall."
+
+"No such thing!" screamed Sammy. You know he can't talk without
+screaming, and the more excited he gets, the louder he screams. "No such
+thing! Acorns are food. They are meant to eat. I have to have them to
+live. But you are cutting down whole trees. You are spoiling the Green
+Forest. You don't belong here. Nobody invited you, and nobody wants you.
+You're a thief!"
+
+Then up spoke Jerry Muskrat, who, you know, is cousin to Paddy
+the Beaver.
+
+"Don't you mind him," said he, pointing at Sammy Jay. "Nobody does.
+He's the greatest trouble-maker in the Green Forest or on the Green
+Meadows. He would steal from his own relatives. Don't mind what he
+says, Cousin Paddy."
+
+Now all this time Paddy had been working away just as if no one was
+around. Just as Jerry stopped speaking, Paddy thumped the ground with
+his tail, which is his way of warning people to watch out, and suddenly
+scurried away as fast as he could run. Sammy Jay was so surprised that
+he couldn't find his tongue for a minute, and he didn't notice anything
+peculiar about that tree. Then suddenly he felt himself falling. With a
+frightened scream, he spread his wings to fly, but branches of the tree
+swept him down with them right into the Laughing Brook.
+
+You see while Sammy had been speaking his mind, Paddy the Beaver had cut
+down the very tree in which he was sitting.
+
+Sammy wasn't hurt, but he was wet and muddy and terribly
+frightened,--the most miserable looking Jay that ever was seen.
+It was too much for all the little people who were hiding. They
+just had to laugh. Then they all came out to pay their respects
+to Paddy the Beaver.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+PADDY KEEPS HIS PROMISE
+
+
+Paddy the Beaver kept right on working just as if he hadn't any
+visitors. You see, it is a big undertaking to build a dam. And when that
+was done there was a house to build and a supply of food for the winter
+to cut and store. Oh, Paddy the Beaver had no time for idle gossip, you
+may be sure! So he kept right on building his dam. It didn't look much
+like a dam at first, and some of Paddy's visitors turned up their noses
+when they first saw it. They had heard stories of what a wonderful
+dam-builder Paddy was, and they had expected to see something like the
+smooth, grass-covered bank with which Farmer Brown kept the Big River
+from running back on his low lands. Instead, all they saw was a great
+pile of poles and sticks which looked like anything but a dam.
+
+"Pooh!" exclaimed Billy Mink, "I guess we needn't worry about the
+Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool, if that is the best Paddy can do.
+Why, the water of the Laughing Brook will work through that in no time."
+
+Of course Paddy heard him, but he said nothing, just kept right
+on working.
+
+"Just look at the way he has laid those sticks!" continued Billy Mink.
+"Seems as if any one would know enough to lay them _across_ the Laughing
+Brook instead of just the other way. I could build a better dam
+than that."
+
+Paddy said nothing; he just kept right on working.
+
+"Yes, Sir," Billy boasted. "I could build a better dam than that. Why,
+that pile of sticks will never stop the water."
+
+"Is something the matter with your eyesight, Billy Mink?" inquired
+Jerry Muskrat.
+
+"Of course not!" retorted Billy indignantly. "Why?"
+
+"Oh, nothing much, only you don't seem to notice that already the
+Laughing Brook is over its banks above Paddy's dam," replied Jerry,
+who had been studying the dam with a great deal of interest.
+
+Billy looked a wee bit foolish, for sure enough there was a little pool
+just above the dam, and it was growing bigger.
+
+Paddy still kept at work, saying nothing. He was digging in front of
+the dam now, and the mud and grass he dug up he stuffed in between the
+ends of the sticks and patted down with his hands. He did this all along
+the front of the dam and on top of it too, wherever he thought it was
+needed. Of course this made it harder for the water to work through, and
+the little pond above the dam began to grow faster. It wasn't a great
+while before it was nearly to the top of the dam, which at first was
+very low. Then Paddy brought more sticks. This was easier now, because
+he could float them down from where he was cutting. He would put them in
+place on the top of the dam, then hurry for more. Wherever it was
+needed, he would put in mud. He even rolled a few stones in to help hold
+the mass.
+
+So the dam grew and grew, and so did the pond above the dam. Of course,
+it took a good many days to build so big a dam, and a lot of hard work!
+Every morning the little people of the Green Forest and the Green
+Meadows would visit it, and every morning they would find that it
+had grown a great deal in the night, for that is when Paddy likes
+best to work.
+
+By this time, the Laughing Brook had stopped laughing, and down in the
+Smiling Pool there was hardly water enough for the minnows to feel safe
+a minute. Billy Mink had stopped making fun of the dam, and all the
+little people who live in the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool were
+terribly worried.
+
+To be sure Paddy had warned them of what he was going to do, and had
+promised that just as soon as his pond was big enough, the water would
+once more run in the Laughing Brook. They tried to believe him, but they
+couldn't help having just a wee bit of fear that he might not be wholly
+honest. You see, they didn't know him, for he was a stranger. Jerry
+Muskrat was the only one who seemed absolutely sure that everything
+would be all right. Perhaps that was because Paddy is his cousin, and
+Jerry couldn't help but feel proud of such a big cousin and one who was
+so smart.
+
+So day by day the dam grew, and the pond grew, and then one morning
+Grandfather Frog, down in what had once been the Smiling Pool, heard a
+sound that made his heart jump for joy. It was a murmur that kept
+growing and growing, until at last it was the merry laugh of the
+Laughing Brook. Then he knew that Paddy had kept his word and water
+would once more fill the Smiling Pool.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+FARMER BROWN'S BOY GROWS CURIOUS
+
+
+Now it happened that the very day before Paddy the Beaver decided that
+his pond was big enough, and so allowed the water to run in the Laughing
+Brook once more, Farmer Brown's boy took it into his head to go fishing
+in the Smiling Pool. Just as usual he went whistling down across the
+Green Meadows. Somehow, when he goes fishing, he always feels like
+whistling. Grandfather Frog heard him coming and dived into the little
+bit of water remaining in the Smiling Pool and stirred up the mud at the
+bottom so that Farmer Brown's boy shouldn't see him.
+
+Nearer and nearer drew the whistle. Suddenly it stopped right short off.
+Farmer Brown's boy had come in sight of the Smiling Pool or rather, it
+was what used to be the Smiling Pool. Now there wasn't any Smiling Pool,
+for the very little pool left was too small and sickly-looking to smile.
+There were great banks of mud, out of which grew the bulrushes. The
+lily-pads were forlornly stretched out towards the tiny pool of water
+remaining. Where the banks were steep and high, the holes that Jerry
+Muskrat and Billy Mink knew so well were plain to see. Over at one side
+stood Jerry Muskrat's house, wholly out of water.
+
+Somehow, it seemed to Farmer Brown's boy that he must be dreaming. He
+never, never had seen anything like this before, not even in the very
+driest weather of the hottest part of the summer. He looked this way and
+looked that way. The Green Meadows looked just as usual. The Green
+Forest looked just as usual. The Laughing Brook--ha! What was the matter
+with the Laughing Brook? He couldn't hear it and that, you know, was
+very unusual. He dropped his rod and ran over to the Laughing Brook.
+There wasn't any brook. No, sir, there wasn't any brook; just pools of
+water with the tiniest of streams trickling between. Big stones over
+which he had always seen the water running in the prettiest of little
+white falls were bare and dry. In the little pools frightened minnows
+were darting about.
+
+Farmer Brown's boy scratched his head in a puzzled way. "I don't
+understand it," said he. "I don't understand it at all. Something must
+have gone wrong with the springs that supply the water for the Laughing
+Brook. They must have failed. Yes, Sir, that is just what must have
+happened. But I never heard of such a thing happening before, and I
+really don't see how it could happen." He stared up into the Green
+Forest just as if he thought he could see those springs. Of course, he
+didn't think anything of the kind. He was just turning it all over in
+his mind. "I know what I'll do! I'll go up to those springs this
+afternoon and find out what the trouble is," he said out loud. "They are
+way over almost on the other side of the Green Forest, and the easiest
+way to get there will be to start from home and cut across the Old
+Pasture up to the edge of the Mountain behind the Green Forest. If I try
+to follow up the Laughing Brook now, it will take too long, because it
+winds and twists so. Besides, it is too hard work."
+
+With that, Farmer Brown's boy went back and picked up his rod. Then he
+started for home across the Green Meadows, and for once he wasn't
+whistling. You see, he was too busy thinking. In fact, he was so busy
+thinking that he didn't see Jimmy Skunk until he almost stepped on him,
+and then he gave a frightened jump and ran, for without a gun he was
+just as much afraid of Jimmy as Jimmy was of him when he did have a gun.
+
+Jimmy just grinned and went on about his business. It always tickles
+Jimmy to see people run away from him, especially people so much bigger
+than himself; they look so silly.
+
+"I should think that they would have learned by this time that if
+they don't bother me, I won't bother them," he muttered, as he rolled
+over a stone to look for fat beetles. "Somehow, folks never seem to
+understand me."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+FARMER BROWN'S BOY GETS ANOTHER SURPRISE
+
+
+Across the Old Pasture to the foot of the Mountain back of the Green
+Forest tramped Farmer Brown's boy. Ahead of him trotted Bowser the
+Hound, sniffing and snuffing for the tracks of Reddy or Granny Fox. Of
+course he didn't find them, for Reddy and Granny hadn't been up in the
+Old Pasture for a long time. But he did find old Jed Thumper, the big
+gray Rabbit who had made things so uncomfortable for Peter Rabbit once
+upon a time, and gave him such a fright that old Jed didn't look where
+he was going and almost ran headfirst into Farmer Brown's boy.
+
+"Hi, there, you old cottontail!" yelled Farmer Brown's boy, and this
+frightened Old Jed still more, so that he actually ran right past his
+own castle of bullbriars without seeing it.
+
+Farmer Brown's boy kept on his way, laughing at the fright of old Jed
+Thumper. Presently he reached the springs from which came the water that
+made the very beginning of the Laughing Brook. He expected to find them
+dry, for way down on the Green Meadows the Smiling Pool was nearly dry,
+and the Laughing Brook was nearly dry, and he had supposed that of
+course the reason was that the springs where the Laughing Brook started
+were no longer bubbling.
+
+But they were! The clear cold water came bubbling up out of the ground
+just as it always had, and ran off down into the Green Forest in a
+little stream that would grow and grow as it ran and become the Laughing
+Brook. Farmer Brown's boy took off his ragged old straw hat and scowled
+down at the bubbling water just as if he thought it had no business to
+be bubbling there.
+
+Of course, he didn't think just that. The fact is, he didn't know just
+what he did think. Here were the springs bubbling away just as they
+always had. There was the little stream starting off down into the Green
+Forest with a gurgle that by and by would become a laugh, just as it
+always had. And yet down on the Green Meadows on the other side of the
+Green Forest there was no longer a Laughing Brook or a Smiling Pool. He
+felt as if he ought to pinch himself to make sure that he was awake and
+not dreaming.
+
+"I don't know what it means," said he, talking out loud. "No, Sir, I
+don't know what it means at all, but I'm going to find out. There's a
+cause for everything in this world, and when a fellow doesn't know a
+thing, it is his business to find out all about it. I'm going to find
+out what has happened to the Laughing Brook, if it takes me a year!"
+
+With that he started to follow the little stream which ran gurgling
+down into the Green Forest. He had followed that little stream more than
+once, and now he found it just as he remembered it. The farther it ran,
+the larger it grew, until at last it became the Laughing Brook, merrily
+tumbling over rocks and making deep pools in which the trout loved to
+hide. At last he came to the edge of a little open hollow in the very
+heart of the Green Forest. He knew what splendid deep holes there were
+in the Laughing Brook here, and how the big trout loved to lie in them
+because they were deep and cool. He was thinking of these trout now and
+wishing that he had brought along his fishing-rod. He pushed his way
+through a thicket of alders and then--Farmer Brown's boy stopped
+suddenly and fairly gasped! He had to stop because there right in front
+of him was a pond!
+
+He rubbed his eyes and looked again. Then he stooped down and put his
+hand in the water to see if it was real. There was no doubt about it. It
+was real water,--a real pond where there never had been a pond before.
+It was very still there in the heart of the Green Forest. It was always
+very still there, but it seemed stiller than usual as he tramped around
+the edge of this strange pond. He felt as if it were all a dream. He
+wondered if pretty soon he wouldn't wake up and find it all untrue. But
+he didn't, and so he kept on tramping until presently he came to a
+dam,--a splendid dam of logs and sticks and mud. Over the top of it the
+water was running, and down in the Green Forest below he could hear the
+Laughing Brook just beginning to laugh once more. Farmer Brown's boy sat
+down with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. He was
+almost too much surprised to even think.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+PETER RABBIT GETS A DUCKING
+
+
+Farmer Brown's boy sat with his chin in his hands staring at the new
+pond in the Green Forest and at the dam which had made it. That dam
+puzzled him. Who could have built it? What did they build it for? Why
+hadn't he heard them chopping? He looked carelessly at the stump of one
+of the trees, and then a still more puzzled look made deep furrows
+between his eyes. It looked--yes, it looked very much as if teeth, and
+not an axe, had cut down that tree. Farmer Brown's boy stared and
+stared, his mouth gaping wide open. He looked so funny that Peter
+Rabbit, who was hiding under an old pile of brush close by, nearly
+laughed right out.
+
+But Peter didn't laugh. No, Sir, Peter didn't laugh, for just that very
+minute something happened. Sniff! Sniff! That was right behind him at
+the very edge of the old brush-pile, and every hair on Peter stood on
+end with fright.
+
+"Bow, wow, wow!" It seemed to Peter that the great voice was right in
+his very ears. It frightened him so that he just _had_ to jump. He
+didn't have time to think. And so he jumped right out from under the
+pile of brush and of course right into plain sight. And the very instant
+he jumped there came another great roar behind him. Of course it was
+from Bowser the Hound. You see, Bowser had been following the trail of
+his master, but as he always stops to sniff at everything he passes, he
+had been some distance behind. When he came to the pile of brush under
+which Peter was hiding he had sniffed at that, and of course he had
+smelled Peter right away.
+
+Now when Peter jumped out so suddenly, he had landed right at one end
+of the dam. The second roar of Bowser's great voice frightened him still
+more, and he jumped right up on the dam. There was nothing for him to do
+now but go across, and it wasn't the best of going. No, indeed, it
+wasn't the best of going. You see, it was mostly a tangle of sticks.
+Happy Jack Squirrel or Chatterer the Red Squirrel or Striped Chipmunk
+would have skipped across it without the least trouble. But Peter Rabbit
+has no sharp little claws with which to cling to logs and sticks, and
+right away he was in a peck of trouble. He slipped down between the
+sticks, scrambled out, slipped again, and then, trying to make a long
+jump, he lost his balance and--tumbled heels over head into the water!
+
+Poor Peter Rabbit! He gave himself up for lost this time. He could swim,
+but at best he is a poor swimmer and doesn't like the water. He couldn't
+dive and keep out of sight like Jerry Muskrat or Billy Mink. All he
+could do was to paddle as fast as his legs would go. The water had gone
+up his nose and down his throat so that he choked, and all the time he
+felt sure that Bowser the Hound would plunge in after him and catch him.
+And if he shouldn't, why Farmer Brown's Boy would simply wait for him to
+come ashore and then catch him.
+
+But Farmer Brown's boy didn't do anything of the kind. No, Sir, he
+didn't. Instead he shouted to Bowser and called him away. Bowser didn't
+want to come, but he long ago learned to obey, and very slowly he walked
+over to where his master was sitting.
+
+"You know it wouldn't be fair, old fellow, to try to catch Peter now. It
+wouldn't be fair at all, and we never want to do anything unfair, do
+we?" said he. Perhaps Bowser didn't agree, but he wagged his tail as if
+he did, and sat down beside his master to watch Peter swim.
+
+It seemed to Peter as if he never, never would reach the shore,
+though really it was only a very little distance that he had to
+swim. When he did scramble out, he was a sorry looking Rabbit.
+He didn't waste any time, but started for home as fast as he could
+go, lipperty--lipperty--lip. And Farmer Brown's boy and Bowser the
+Hound just laughed and didn't try to catch him at all.
+
+"Well, I never!" exclaimed Sammy Jay, who had seen it all from the
+top of a pine-tree. "Well, I never! I guess Farmer Brown's boy isn't
+so bad, after all."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+PADDY PLANS A HOUSE
+
+
+Paddy the Beaver sat on his dam, and his eyes shone with happiness as he
+looked out over the shining water of the pond he had made. All around
+the edge of it grew the tall trees of the Green Forest. It was very
+beautiful and very still and very lonesome. That is, it would have
+seemed lonesome to almost any one but Paddy the Beaver. But Paddy never
+is lonesome. You see, he finds company in the trees and flowers and all
+the little plants.
+
+It was still, very, very still. Over on one side was a beautiful rosy
+glow in the water. It was the reflection from jolly, round, red Mr. Sun.
+Paddy couldn't see him because of the tall trees, but he knew exactly
+what Mr. Sun was doing. He was going to bed behind the Purple Hills.
+Pretty soon the little stars would come out and twinkle down at him. He
+loves the little stars and always watches for the first one.
+
+Yes, Paddy the Beaver was very happy. He would have been perfectly
+happy but for one thing: Farmer Brown's boy had found his dam and pond
+that very afternoon, and Paddy wasn't quite sure what Farmer Brown's boy
+might do. He had kept himself snugly hidden while Farmer Brown's boy was
+there, and he felt quite sure that Farmer Brown's boy didn't know who
+had built the dam. But for this very reason he might, he just _might_,
+try to find out all about it, and that would mean that Paddy would have
+to be always on the watch.
+
+"But what's the use of worrying over troubles that haven't come yet, and
+may never come? Time enough to worry when they do come," said Paddy to
+himself, which shows that Paddy has a great deal of wisdom in his little
+brown head. "The thing for me to do now is to get ready for winter, and
+that means a great deal of work," he continued. "Let me see, I've got to
+build a house, a big, stout, warm house, where I will be warm and safe
+when my pond is frozen over. And I've got to lay in a supply of food,
+enough to last me until gentle Sister South Wind comes to prepare the
+way for lovely Mistress Spring. My, my, I can't afford to be sitting
+here dreaming, when there is such a lot to be done!"
+
+With that Paddy slipped into the water and swam all around his new pond
+to make sure of just the best place to build his house. Now placing
+one's house in just the right place is a very important matter. Some
+people are dreadfully careless about this. Jimmy Skunk, for instance,
+often makes the mistake of digging his house (you know Jimmy makes his
+house underground) right where every one who happens along that way will
+see it. Perhaps that is because Jimmy is so independent that he doesn't
+care who knows where he lives.
+
+But Paddy the Beaver never is careless. He always chooses just the very
+best place. He makes sure that it is best before he begins. So now,
+although he was quite positive just where his house should be, he swam
+around the pond to make doubly sure. Then, when he was quite satisfied,
+he swam over to the place he had chosen. It was where the water was
+quite deep.
+
+"There mustn't be the least chance that the ice will ever get thick
+enough to close up my doorway," said he, "and I'm sure it never will
+here. I must make the foundations strong and the walls thick. I must
+have plenty of mud to plaster with, and inside, up above the water, I
+must have the snuggest, warmest room where I can sleep in comfort. This
+is the place to build it, and it is high time I was at work."
+
+With that Paddy swam over to the place where he had cut the trees for
+his dam, and his heart was light, for he had long ago learned that the
+surest way to be happy is to be busy.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+PADDY STARTS HIS HOUSE
+
+
+Jerry Muskrat was very much interested when he found that Paddy the
+Beaver, who, you know, is his cousin, was building a house. Jerry is a
+house-builder himself, and down deep in his heart he very much doubted
+if Paddy could build as good a house as he could. His house was down in
+the Smiling Pool, and Jerry thought it a very wonderful house indeed,
+and was very proud of it. It was built of mud and sod and little alder
+and willow twigs and bulrushes. Jerry had spent one winter in it, and he
+had decided to spend another there after he had fixed it up a little.
+So, as long as he didn't have to build a brand new house, he could
+afford the time to watch his cousin Paddy. Perhaps he hoped that Paddy
+would ask his advice.
+
+But Paddy did nothing of the kind. He had seen Jerry Muskrat's house,
+and he had smiled. But he had taken great pains not to let Jerry see
+that smile. He wouldn't have hurt Jerry's feelings for the world. He is
+too polite and good-natured to do anything like that. So Jerry sat on
+the end of an old log and watched Paddy work. The first thing to build
+was the foundation. This was of mud and grass with sticks worked into it
+to hold it together. Paddy dug the mud from the bottom of his new pond.
+And because the pond was new, there was a great deal of grassy sod
+there, which was just what Paddy needed. It was very convenient.
+
+Jerry watched a little while and then, because Jerry is a worker
+himself, he just had to get busy and help. Rather timidly he told his
+big cousin that he would like to have a share in building the new house.
+
+"All right," replied Paddy, "that will be fine. You can bring mud while
+I am getting the sticks and grass."
+
+So Jerry dived down to the bottom of the pond and dug up mud and piled
+it on the foundation and was happy. The little stars looked down and
+twinkled merrily as they watched the two workers. So the foundation grew
+and grew down under the water. Jerry was very much surprised at the size
+of it. It was ever and ever so much bigger than the foundation for his
+own house. You see, he had forgotten how much bigger Paddy is.
+
+Each night Jerry and Paddy worked, resting during the daytime.
+Occasionally Bobby Coon or Reddy Fox or Unc' Billy Possum or Jimmy Skunk
+would come to the edge of the pond to see what was going on. Peter
+Rabbit came every night. But they couldn't see much because, you know,
+Paddy and Jerry were working under water.
+
+But at last Peter was rewarded. There, just above the water, was a
+splendid platform of mud and grass and sticks. A great many sticks were
+carefully laid as soon as the platform was above the water, for Paddy
+was very particular about this. You see, it was to be the floor for the
+splendid room he was planning to build. When it suited him, he began to
+pile mud in the very middle.
+
+Jerry puzzled and puzzled over this. Where was Paddy's room going to
+be, if he piled up the mud that way? But he didn't like to ask
+questions, so he kept right on helping. Paddy would dive down to the
+bottom and then come up with double handfuls of mud, which he held
+against his chest. He would scramble out onto the platform and waddle
+over to the pile in the middle, where he would put the mud and pat it
+down. Then back to the bottom for more mud.
+
+And so the mud pile grew and grew, until it was quite two feet high.
+"Now," said Paddy, "I'll build the walls, and I guess you can't help me
+much with those. I'm going to begin them to-morrow night. Perhaps you
+will like to see me do it, Cousin Jerry."
+
+"I certainly will," replied Jerry, still puzzling over that pile of mud
+in the middle.
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+PETER RABBIT AND JERRY MUSKRAT ARE PUZZLED
+
+
+Jerry Muskrat was more and more sure that his big cousin, Paddy the
+Beaver, didn't know quite so much as he might about house-building.
+Jerry would have liked to offer some suggestions, but he didn't quite
+dare. You see, he was very anxious not to displease his big cousin. But
+he felt that he simply had got to speak his mind to some one, so he swam
+across to where he had seen Peter Rabbit almost every night since Paddy
+began to build. Sure enough, Peter was there, sitting up very straight
+and staring with big round eyes at the platform of mud and sticks out in
+the water where Paddy the Beaver was at work.
+
+[Illustration: "Why it's a house you stupid. It's Paddy's new house,"
+replied Jerry. _Page 57_.]
+
+"Well, Peter, what do you think of it?" asked Jerry.
+
+"What is it?" asked Peter innocently. "Is it another dam?"
+
+Jerry threw back his head and laughed and laughed.
+
+Peter looked at him suspiciously. "I don't see anything to laugh at,"
+said he.
+
+"Why, it's a house, you stupid. It's Paddy's new house," replied Jerry,
+wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes.
+
+"I'm not stupid!" retorted Peter. "How was I to know that that pile of
+mud and sticks is meant for a house? It certainly doesn't look it. Where
+is the door?"
+
+"To tell you the truth, I don't think it is much of a house myself,"
+replied Jerry. "It has got a door, all right. In fact, it has got three.
+You can't see them because they are under water, and there is a passage
+from each right up through that platform of mud and sticks, which is the
+foundation of the house. It really is a very fine foundation, Peter; it
+really is. But what I can't understand is what Paddy is thinking of by
+building that great pile of mud right in the middle. When he gets his
+walls built, where will his bedroom be? There won't be any room at all.
+It won't be a house at all--just a big useless pile of sticks and mud."
+
+Peter scratched his head and then pulled his whiskers thoughtfully as he
+gazed out at the pile in the water where Paddy the Beaver was at work.
+
+"It does look foolish, that's a fact," said he. "Why don't you point
+out to him the mistake he is making, Jerry? You have built such a
+splendid house yourself that you ought to be able to help Paddy and show
+him his mistakes."
+
+Jerry had smiled a very self-satisfied smile when Peter mentioned his
+fine house, but he shook his head at the suggestion that he should give
+Paddy advice.
+
+"I--I don't just like to," he confessed. "You know, he might not like it
+and--and it doesn't seem as if it would be quite polite."
+
+Peter sniffed. "That wouldn't trouble me any if he were my cousin,"
+said he.
+
+Jerry shook his head. "No, I don't believe it would," he replied, "but
+it does trouble me and--and--well, I think I'll wait awhile."
+
+Now all this time Paddy had been hard at work. He was bringing the
+longest branches which he had cut from the trees out of which he had
+built his dam, and a lot of slender willow and alder poles. He pushed
+these ahead of him as he swam. When he reached the foundation of his
+house, he would lean them against the pile of mud in the middle with
+their big ends resting on the foundation. So he worked all the way
+around until by and by the mud pile in the middle couldn't be seen. It
+was completely covered with sticks, and they were cunningly fastened
+together at the tops.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+JERRY MUSKRAT LEARNS SOMETHING
+
+  If you think you know it all
+  You are riding for a fall.
+  Use your ears and use your eyes,
+  But hold your tongue and you'll be wise.
+
+
+Jerry Muskrat will tell you that is as true as true can be.
+
+Jerry knows. He found it out for himself. Now he is very careful what
+he says about other people or what they are doing. But he wasn't so
+careful when his cousin, Paddy the Beaver, was building his house. No,
+Sir, Jerry wasn't so careful then. He thought he knew more about
+building a house than Paddy did. He was sure of it when he watched
+Paddy heap up a great pile of mud right in the middle where his room
+ought to be, and then build a wall of sticks around it. He said as much
+to Peter Rabbit.
+
+Now it is never safe to say anything to Peter Rabbit that you don't
+care to have others know. Peter has a great deal of respect for Jerry
+Muskrat's opinion on house-building. You see, he very much admires
+Jerry's snug house in the Smiling Pool. It really is a very fine house,
+and Jerry may be excused for being proud of it. But that doesn't
+excuse Jerry for thinking that he knows all there is to know about
+house-building. Of course Peter told every one he met that Paddy the
+Beaver was making a foolish mistake in building his house, and that
+Jerry Muskrat, who ought to know, said so.
+
+So whenever they got the chance, the little people of the Green Forest
+and the Green Meadows would steal up to the shore of Paddy's new pond
+and chuckle as they looked out at the great pile of sticks and mud which
+Paddy had built for a house, but in which he had forgotten to make a
+room. At least they supposed that he had forgotten this very important
+thing. He must have, for there wasn't any room. It was a great joke.
+They laughed a lot about it, and they lost a great deal of the respect
+for Paddy which they had had since he built his wonderful dam.
+
+Jerry and Peter sat in the moonlight talking it over. Paddy had stopped
+bringing sticks for his wall. He had dived down out of sight, and he was
+gone a long time. Suddenly Jerry noticed that the water had grown very,
+very muddy all around Paddy's new house. He wrinkled his brows trying to
+think what Paddy could be doing. Presently Paddy came up for air. Then
+he went down again, and the water grew muddier than ever. This went on
+for a long time. Every little while Paddy would come up for air and a
+few minutes of rest. Then down he would go, and the water would grow
+muddier and muddier.
+
+At last Jerry could stand it no longer. He just had to see what was
+going on. He slipped into the water and swam over to where the water was
+muddiest. Just as he got there up came Paddy.
+
+"Hello, Cousin Jerry!" said he. "I was just going to invite you over to
+see what you think of my house inside. Just follow me."
+
+Paddy dived, and Jerry dived after him. He followed Paddy in at one of
+the three doorways under water and up a smooth hall right into the
+biggest, nicest bedroom Jerry had ever seen in all his life. He just
+gasped in sheer surprise. He couldn't do anything else. He couldn't find
+his tongue to say a word. Here he was in this splendid great room up
+above the water, and he had been so sure that there wasn't any room at
+all! He just didn't know what to make of it.
+
+Paddy's eyes twinkled. "Well," said he, "what do you think of it?"
+
+"I--I--think it is splendid, just perfectly splendid! But I don't
+understand it at all, Cousin Paddy. I--I--Where is that great pile of
+mud I helped you build in the middle?" Jerry looked as foolish as he
+felt when he asked this.
+
+"Why, I've dug it all away. That's what made the water so muddy,"
+replied Paddy.
+
+"But what did you build it for in the first place?" Jerry persisted.
+
+"Because I had to have something to rest my sticks against while I was
+building my walls, of course," replied Paddy. "When I got the tops
+fastened together for a roof, they didn't need a support any longer, and
+then I dug it away to make this room. I couldn't have built such a big
+room any other way. I see you don't know very much about house-building,
+Cousin Jerry."
+
+"I--I'm afraid I don't," confessed Jerry sadly.
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+THE QUEER STOREHOUSE
+
+
+Everybody knew that Paddy the Beaver was laying up a supply of food for
+the winter, and everybody thought it was queer food. That is, everybody
+but Prickly Porky the Porcupine thought so. Prickly Porky likes the same
+kind of food, but he never lays up a supply. He just goes out and gets
+it when he wants it, winter or summer. What kind of food was it? Why,
+bark, to be sure. Yes, Sir, it was just bark--the bark of certain kinds
+of trees.
+
+Now Prickly Porky can climb the trees and eat the bark right there, but
+Paddy the Beaver cannot climb, and if he should just eat the bark that
+he can reach from the ground it would take such a lot of trees to keep
+him filled up that he would soon spoil the Green Forest. You know, when
+the bark is taken off a tree all the way around, the tree dies. That is
+because all the things that a tree draws out of the ground to make it
+grow and keep it alive are carried up from the roots in the sap, and the
+sap cannot go up the tree trunks and into the branches when the bark is
+taken off, because it is up the inside of the bark that it travels. So
+when the bark is taken from a tree all the way around the trunk, the
+tree just starves to death.
+
+Now Paddy the Beaver loves the Green Forest as dearly as you and I do,
+and perhaps even a little more dearly. You see, it is his home. Besides,
+Paddy never is wasteful. So he cuts down a tree so that he can get all
+the bark instead of killing a whole lot of trees for a very little bark,
+as he might do if he were lazy. There isn't a lazy bone in him--not one.
+The bark he likes best is from the aspen. When he cannot get that, he
+will eat the bark from the poplar, the alder, the willow, and even the
+birch. But he likes the aspen so much better that he will work very hard
+to get it. Perhaps it tastes better because he does have to work so hard
+for it.
+
+There were some aspen-trees growing right on the edge of the pond Paddy
+had made in the Green Forest. These he cut just as he had cut the trees
+for his dam. As soon as a tree was down, he would cut it into short
+lengths, and with these swim out to where the water was deep, close to
+his new house. He took them one by one and carried the first ones to the
+bottom, where he pushed them into the mud just enough to hold them.
+Then, as fast as he brought more, he piled them on the first ones. And
+so the pile grew and grew.
+
+Jerry Muskrat, Peter Rabbit, Bobby Coon, and the other little people of
+the Green Forest watched him with the greatest interest and curiosity.
+They couldn't quite make out what he was doing. It was almost as if he
+were building the foundation for another house.
+
+"What's he doing, Jerry?" demanded Peter, when he could keep still
+no longer.
+
+"I don't exactly know," replied Jerry. "He said that he was going to
+lay in a supply of food for the winter, just as I told you, and I
+suppose that is what he is doing. But I don't quite understand what he
+is taking it all out into the pond for. I believe I'll go ask him."
+
+"Do, and then come tell us," begged Peter, who was growing so curious
+that he couldn't sit still.
+
+So Jerry swam out to where Paddy was so busy. "Is this your food supply,
+Cousin Paddy?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," replied Paddy, crawling up on the side of his house to rest.
+"Yes, this is my food supply. Isn't it splendid?"
+
+"I guess it is," replied Jerry, trying to be polite, "though I like
+lily-roots and clams better. But what are you going to do with it? Where
+is your storehouse?"
+
+"This pond is my storehouse," replied Paddy. "I will make a great pile
+right here close to my house, and the water will keep it nice and fresh
+all winter. When the pond is frozen over, all I will have to do is to
+slip out of one of my doorways down there on the bottom, swim over here
+and get a stick, and fill my stomach. Isn't it handy?"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+A FOOTPRINT IN THE MUD
+
+
+Very early one morning Paddy the Beaver heard Sammy Jay making a
+terrible fuss over in the aspen-trees on the edge of the pond Paddy
+had made in the Green Forest. Paddy couldn't see because he was inside
+his house, and it has no window, but he could hear. He wrinkled up his
+brows thoughtfully.
+
+"Seems to me that Sammy is very much excited this morning," said he,
+talking to himself, a way he has because he is so much alone. "When he
+screams like that, Sammy is usually trying to do two things at
+once--make trouble for somebody and keep somebody else out of trouble;
+and when you come to think of it, that's rather a funny way of doing. It
+shows that he isn't all bad, and at the same time he is a long way from
+being all good. Now, I should say from the sounds that Sammy has
+discovered Reddy Fox trying to steal up on some one over where my
+aspen-trees are growing. Reddy is afraid of me, but I suspect that he
+knows that Peter Rabbit has been hanging around here a lot lately,
+watching me work, and he thinks perhaps he can catch Peter. I shall have
+to whisper in one of Peter's long ears and tell him to watch out."
+
+After a while he heard Sammy Jay's voice growing fainter and fainter in
+the Green Forest. Finally he couldn't hear it at all. "Whoever was there
+has gone away, and Sammy has followed just to torment them," thought
+Paddy. He was very busy making a bed. He is very particular about his
+bed, is Paddy the Beaver. He makes it of fine splinters of wood which he
+splits off with those wonderful great cutting teeth of his. This makes
+the driest kind of a bed. It requires a great deal of patience and work,
+but patience is one of the first things a little Beaver learns, and
+honest work well done is one of the greatest pleasures in the world, as
+Paddy long ago found out for himself. So he kept at work on his bed for
+some time after all was still outside.
+
+At last Paddy decided that he would go over to his aspen-trees and look
+them over to decide which ones he would cut the next night. He slid down
+one of his long halls, out the doorway at the bottom of the pond, and
+then swam up to the surface, where he floated for a few minutes with
+just his head out of water. And all the time his eyes and nose and ears
+were busy looking, smelling, and listening for any sign of danger.
+Everything was still. Sure that he was quite safe, Paddy swam across to
+the place where the aspen-trees grew, and waddled out on the shore.
+
+Paddy looked this way and looked that way. He looked up in the tree
+tops, and he looked off up the hill, but most of all he looked at the
+ground. Yes, Sir, Paddy just studied the ground. You see, he hadn't
+forgotten the fuss Sammy Jay had been making there, and he was trying to
+find out what it was all about. At first he didn't see anything unusual,
+but by and by he happened to notice a little wet place, and right in the
+middle of it was something that made Paddy's eyes open wide. It was a
+footprint! Some one had carelessly stepped in the mud.
+
+"Ha!" exclaimed Paddy, and the hair on his back lifted ever so little,
+and for a minute he had a prickly feeling all over. The footprint was
+very much like that of Reddy Fox, only it was larger.
+
+"Ha!" said Paddy again, "that certainly is the footprint of Old Man
+Coyote! I see I have got to watch out more sharply than I had thought
+for. All right, Mr. Coyote; now that I know you are about, you'll have
+to be smarter than I think you are to catch me. You certainly will be
+back here to-night looking for me, so I think I'll do my cutting right
+now in the daytime."
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+SAMMY JAY MAKES PADDY A CALL
+
+
+Paddy the Beaver was hard at work. He had just cut down a good-sized
+aspen-tree and now he was gnawing it into short lengths to put in his
+food pile in the pond. As he worked, Paddy was doing a lot of thinking
+about the footprint of Old Man Coyote in a little patch of mud, for he
+knew that meant that Old Man Coyote had discovered his pond, and would
+be hanging around, hoping to catch Paddy off his guard. Paddy knew it
+just as well as if Old Man Coyote had told him so. That was why he was
+at work cutting his food supply in the daytime. Usually he works at
+night, and he knew that Old Man Coyote knew it.
+
+"He'll try to catch me then," thought Paddy, "so I'll do my working on
+land now and fool him."
+
+The tree he was cutting began to sway and crack. Paddy cut out one
+more big chip, then hurried away to a safe place while the tree fell
+with a crash.
+
+"Thief! thief! thief!" screamed a voice just back of Paddy.
+
+"Hello, Sammy Jay! I see you don't feel any better than usual this
+morning," said Paddy. "Don't you want to sit up in this tree while I
+cut it down?"
+
+Sammy grew black in the face with anger, for he knew that Paddy was
+laughing at him. You remember how only a few days before he had been so
+intent on calling Paddy bad names that he actually hadn't noticed that
+Paddy was cutting the very tree in which he was sitting, and so when it
+fell he had had a terrible fright.
+
+"You think you are very smart, Mr. Beaver, but you'll think differently
+one of these fine days!" screamed Sammy. "If you knew what I know, you
+wouldn't be so well satisfied with yourself."
+
+"What do you know?" asked Paddy, pretending to be very much alarmed.
+
+"I'm not going to tell you what I know," retorted Sammy Jay. "You'll
+find out soon enough. And when you do find out, you'll never steal
+another tree from our Green Forest. Somebody is going to catch you,
+and it isn't Farmer Brown's boy either!"
+
+Paddy pretended to be terribly frightened. "Oh, who is it? Please tell
+me, Mr. Jay," he begged.
+
+Now to be called Mr. Jay made Sammy feel very important. Nearly
+everybody else called him Sammy. He swelled himself out trying to look
+as important as he felt, and his eyes snapped with pleasure. He was
+actually making Paddy the Beaver afraid. At least he thought he was.
+
+"No, Sir, I won't tell you," he replied. "I wouldn't be you for a great
+deal though! Somebody who is smarter than you are is going to catch you,
+and when he gets through with you, there won't be anything left but a
+few bones. No, Sir, nothing but a few bones!"
+
+"Oh, Mr. Jay, this is terrible news! Whatever am I to do?" cried Paddy,
+all the time keeping right on at work cutting another tree.
+
+"There's nothing you can do," replied Sammy, grinning wickedly at
+Paddy's fright. "There's nothing you can do unless you go right straight
+back to the North where you came from. You think you are very smart
+but--"
+
+Sammy didn't finish. Crack! Over fell the tree Paddy had been cutting
+and the top of it fell straight into the alder in which Sammy was
+sitting. "Oh! Oh! Help!" shrieked Sammy, spreading his wings and flying
+away just in time.
+
+Paddy sat down and laughed until his sides ached. "Come make me another
+call some day, Sammy!" he said. "And when you do, please bring some real
+news. I know all about Old Man Coyote. You can tell him for me that when
+he is planning to catch people he should be careful not to leave
+footprints to give himself away."
+
+Sammy didn't reply. He just sneaked off through the Green Forest,
+looking quite as foolish as he felt.
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+OLD MAN COYOTE IS VERY CRAFTY
+
+  Coyote has a crafty brain;
+  His wits are sharp his ends to gain.
+
+
+There is nothing in the world more true than that. Old Man Coyote has
+the craftiest brain of all the little people of the Green Forest or the
+Green Meadows. Sharp as are the wits of old Granny Fox, they are not
+quite as sharp as the wits of Old Man Coyote. If you want to fool him,
+you will have to get up very early in the morning, and then it is more
+than likely that you will be the one fooled, not he. There is very
+little going on around him that he doesn't know about. But once in a
+while something escapes him. The coming of Paddy the Beaver to the Green
+Forest was one of these things. He didn't know a thing about Paddy until
+Paddy had finished his dam and his house, and was cutting his supply of
+food for the winter.
+
+You see, it was this way: When the Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother
+West Wind first heard what was going on in the Green Forest and hurried
+around over the Green Meadows and through the Green Forest to spread the
+news, as is their way, they took the greatest pains not to even hint it
+to Old Man Coyote because they were afraid that he would make trouble
+and perhaps drive Paddy away. The place that Paddy had chosen to build
+his dam was so deep in the Green Forest that Old Man Coyote seldom went
+that way. So it was that he knew nothing about Paddy, and Paddy knew
+nothing about him for some time.
+
+But after a while Old Man Coyote noticed that the little people of
+the Green Meadows were not about as much as usual. They seemed to have
+a secret of some kind. He mentioned the matter to his friend, Digger
+the Badger.
+
+Digger had been so intent on his own affairs that he hadn't noticed
+anything unusual, but when Old Man Coyote mentioned the matter he
+remembered that Blacky the Crow headed straight for the Green Forest
+every morning. Several times he had seen Sammy Jay flying in the same
+direction as if in a great hurry to get somewhere.
+
+Old Man Coyote grinned. "That's all I need to know, friend Digger,"
+said he. "When Blacky the Crow and Sammy Jay visit a place more than
+once, something interesting is going on there. I think I'll take a
+stroll up through the Green Forest and have a look around."
+
+With that, off Old Man Coyote started. But he was too sly and crafty to
+go straight to the Green Forest. He pretended to hunt around over the
+Green Meadows just as he usually did, all the time working nearer and
+nearer to the Green Forest. When he reached the edge of it, he slipped
+in among the trees, and when he felt sure that no one was likely to see
+him, he began to run this way and that way with his nose to the ground.
+
+"Ha!" he exclaimed presently, "Reddy Fox has been this way lately."
+
+Pretty soon he found another trail. "So," said he, "Peter Rabbit has
+been over here a good deal of late, and his trail goes in the same
+direction as that of Reddy Fox. I guess all I have to do now is to
+follow Peter's trail, and it will lead me to what I want to find out."
+
+So Old Man Coyote followed Peter's trail, and he presently came to the
+pond of Paddy the Beaver. "Ha!" said he, as he looked out and saw
+Paddy's new house. "So there is a newcomer to the Green Forest! I have
+always heard that Beaver is very good eating. My stomach begins to feel
+empty this very minute." His mouth began to water, and a fierce, hungry
+look shone in his yellow eyes.
+
+It was just then that Sammy Jay saw him and began to scream at the top
+of his lungs so that Paddy the Beaver over in his house heard him. Old
+Man Coyote knew that it was of no use to stay longer with Sammy Jay
+about, so he took a hasty look at the pond and found where Paddy came
+ashore to cut his food. Then, shaking his fist at Sammy Jay, he started
+straight back for the Green Meadows. "I'll just pay a visit here in the
+night," said he, "and give Mr. Beaver a surprise while he is at work."
+
+But with all his craft, Old Man Coyote didn't notice that he had left a
+footprint in the mud.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+OLD MAN COYOTE IS DISAPPOINTED
+
+
+Old Man Coyote lay stretched out in his favorite napping place on the
+Green Meadows. He was thinking of what he had found out up in the Green
+Forest that morning--that Paddy the Beaver was living there. Old Man
+Coyote's thoughts seemed very pleasant to himself, though really they
+were very dreadful thoughts. You see, he was thinking how easy it was
+going to be to catch Paddy the Beaver, and what a splendid meal he would
+make. He licked his chops at the thought.
+
+"He doesn't know I know he's here," thought Old Man Coyote. "In fact, I
+don't believe he even knows that I am anywhere around. Of course, he
+won't be watching for me. He cuts his trees at night, so all I will have
+to do is to hide right close by where he is at work, and he'll walk
+right into my mouth. Sammy Jay knows I was up there this morning, but
+Sammy sleeps at night, so he will not give the alarm. My, my, how good
+that Beaver will taste!" He licked his chops once more, then yawned and
+closed his eyes for a nap.
+
+Old Man Coyote waited until jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had gone to bed
+behind the Purple Hills, and the Black Shadows had crept out across the
+Green Meadows. Then, keeping in the blackest of them, and looking very
+much like a shadow himself, he slipped into the Green Forest. It was
+dark in there, and he made straight for Paddy's new pond, trotting along
+swiftly without making a sound. When he was near the aspen-trees which
+he knew Paddy was planning to cut, he crept forward very slowly and
+carefully. Everything was still as still could be.
+
+"Good!" thought Old Man Coyote. "I am here first, and now all I need do
+is to hide and wait for Paddy to come ashore."
+
+So he stretched himself flat behind some brush close beside the little
+path Paddy had made up from the edge of the water and waited. It was
+very still, so still that it seemed almost as if he could hear his heart
+beat. He could see the little stars twinkling in the sky and their own
+reflections twinkling back at them from the water of Paddy's pond. Old
+Man Coyote waited and waited. He is very patient when there is something
+to gain by it. For such a splendid dinner as Paddy the Beaver would make
+he felt that he could well afford to be patient. So he waited and
+waited, and everything was as still as if no living thing but the trees
+were there. Even the trees seemed to be asleep.
+
+At last, after a long, long time, he heard just the faintest splash. He
+pricked up his ears and peeped out on the pond with the hungriest look
+in his yellow eyes. There was a little line of silver coming straight
+towards him. He knew that it was made by Paddy the Beaver swimming.
+Nearer and nearer it drew. Old Man Coyote chuckled way down deep inside,
+without making a sound. He could see Paddy's head now, and Paddy was
+coming straight in, as if he hadn't a fear in the world.
+
+Almost to the edge of the pond swam Paddy. Then he stopped. In a few
+minutes he began to swim again, but this time it was back in the
+direction of his house, and he seemed to be carrying something. It was
+one of the little food logs he had cut that day, and he was taking it
+out to his storehouse. Then back he came for another. And so he kept on,
+never once coming ashore. Old Man Coyote waited until Paddy had carried
+the last log to his storehouse and then, with a loud whack on the water
+with his broad tail, had dived and disappeared in his house.
+
+Then Old Man Coyote arose and started elsewhere to look for his dinner,
+and in his heart was bitter disappointment.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+OLD MAN COYOTE TRIES ANOTHER PLAN
+
+
+For three nights Old Man Coyote had stolen up through the Green Forest
+with the coming of the Black Shadows and had hidden among the
+aspen-trees where Paddy the Beaver cut his food, and for three nights
+Paddy had failed to come ashore. Each night he had seemed to have enough
+food logs in the water to keep him busy without cutting more. Old Man
+Coyote lay there, and the hungry look in his eyes changed to one of
+doubt and then to suspicion. Could it be that Paddy the Beaver was
+smarter than he thought? It began to look very much as if Paddy knew
+perfectly well that he was hiding there each night. Yes, Sir, that's the
+way it looked. For three nights Paddy hadn't cut a single tree, and yet
+each night he had plenty of food logs ready to take to his storehouse in
+the pond.
+
+"That means that he comes ashore in the daytime and cuts his trees,"
+thought Old Man Coyote as, tired and with black anger in his heart, he
+trotted home the third night. "He couldn't have found out about me
+himself; he isn't smart enough. It must be that some one has told him.
+And nobody knows that I have been over there but Sammy Jay. It must be
+he who has been the tattletale. I think I'll visit Paddy by daylight
+to-morrow, and then we'll see!"
+
+Now the trouble with some smart people is that they are never able to
+believe that others may be as smart as they. Old Man Coyote didn't know
+that the first time he had visited Paddy's pond he had left behind him a
+footprint in a little patch of soft mud. If he had known it, he wouldn't
+have believed that Paddy would be smart enough to guess what that
+footprint meant. So Old Man Coyote laid all the blame at the door of
+Sammy Jay, and that very morning, when Sammy came flying over the Green
+Meadows, Old Man Coyote accused him of being a tattletale and threatened
+the most dreadful things to Sammy if ever he caught him.
+
+Now Sammy had flown down to the Green Meadows to tell Old Man Coyote
+how Paddy was doing all his work on land in the daytime. But when Old
+Man Coyote began to call him a tattletale and accuse him of having
+warned Paddy, and to threaten dreadful things, he straightway forgot all
+his anger at Paddy and turned it all on Old Man Coyote. He called him
+everything he could think of, and this was a great deal, for Sammy has a
+wicked tongue. When he hadn't any breath left, he flew over to the Green
+Forest, and there he hid where he could watch all that was going on.
+
+That afternoon Old Man Coyote tried his new plan. He slipped into the
+Green Forest, looking this way and that way to be sure that no one saw
+him. Then very, very softly, he crept up through the Green Forest
+towards the pond of Paddy the Beaver. As he drew near, he heard a crash,
+and it made him smile. He knew what it meant. It meant that Paddy was at
+work cutting down trees. With his stomach almost on the ground, he crept
+forward little by little, little by little, taking the greatest care not
+to rustle so much as a leaf. Presently he reached a place where he could
+see the aspen-trees, and there sure enough was Paddy, sitting up on his
+hind legs and hard at work cutting another tree.
+
+Old Man Coyote lay down for a few minutes to watch. Then he wriggled
+a little nearer. Slowly and carefully he drew his legs under him and
+made ready for a rush. Paddy the Beaver was his at last! At just
+that very minute a harsh scream rang out right over his head "Thief!
+thief! thief!"
+
+It was Sammy Jay, who had silently followed him all the way. Paddy the
+Beaver didn't stop to even look around. He knew what that scream meant,
+and he scrambled down his little path to the water as he never had
+scrambled before. And as he dived with a great splash, Old Man Coyote
+landed with a great jump on the very edge of the pond.
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+PADDY AND SAMMY JAY BECOME FRIENDS
+
+
+Paddy the Beaver floated in his pond and grinned in the most provoking
+way at Old Man Coyote, who had so nearly caught him. Old Man Coyote
+fairly danced with anger on the bank. He had felt so sure of Paddy
+that time that it was hard work to believe that Paddy had really gotten
+away from him. He bared his long cruel teeth, and he looked very fierce
+and ugly.
+
+"Come on in; the water's fine!" called Paddy.
+
+Now, of course, this wasn't a nice thing for Paddy to do, for it only
+made Old Man Coyote all the angrier. You see, Paddy knew perfectly well
+that he was absolutely safe, and he just couldn't resist the temptation
+to say some unkind things. He had had to be on the watch for days lest
+he should be caught, and so he hadn't been able to work quite so well as
+he could have done with nothing to fear, and he still had a lot of
+preparations to make for winter. So he told Old Man Coyote just what he
+thought of him, and that he wasn't as smart as he thought he was or he
+never would have left a footprint in the mud to give him away.
+
+When Sammy Jay, who was listening and chuckling as he listened, heard
+that, he flew down where he would be just out of reach of Old Man
+Coyote, and then he just turned that tongue of his loose, and you know
+that some people say that Sammy's tongue is hung in the middle and wags
+at both ends. Of course, this isn't really so, but when he gets to
+abusing people it seems as if it must be true. He called Old Man Coyote
+every bad name he could think of. He called him a sneak, a thief, a
+coward, a bully, and a lot of other things.
+
+"You said I had warned Paddy that you were trying to catch him and that
+was why you failed to find him at work at night, and all the time you
+had warned him yourself!" screamed Sammy. "I used to think that you were
+smart, but I know better now. Paddy is twice as smart as you are."
+
+  "Mr. Coyote is ever so sly;
+  Mr. Coyote is clever and spry;
+    If you believe all you hear.
+  Mr. Coyote is naught of the kind;
+  Mr. Coyote is stupid and blind;
+    He can't catch a flea on his ear."
+
+Paddy the Beaver laughed till the tears came at Sammy's foolish verse,
+but it made Old Man Coyote angrier than ever. He was angry with Paddy
+for escaping from him, and he was angry with Sammy, terribly angry, and
+the worst of it was he couldn't catch either one, for one was at home in
+the water and the other was at home in the air and he couldn't follow in
+either place. Finally he saw it was of no use to stay there to be
+laughed at, so, muttering and grumbling, he started for the Green
+Meadows.
+
+As soon as he was out of sight Paddy turned to Sammy Jay.
+
+"Mr. Jay," said he, knowing how it pleased Sammy to be called mister,
+"Mr. Jay, you have done me a mighty good turn to-day, and I am not going
+to forget it. You can call me what you please and scream at me all you
+please, but you won't get any satisfaction out of it, because I simply
+won't get angry. I will say to myself, 'Mr. Jay saved my life the other
+day,' and then I won't mind your tongue."
+
+Now this made Sammy feel very proud and very happy. You know it is very
+seldom that he hears anything nice said of him. He flew down on the
+stump of one of the trees Paddy had cut. "Let's be friends," said he.
+
+"With all my heart!" replied Paddy.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+SAMMY JAY OFFERS TO HELP PADDY
+
+
+Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen-trees he would have to cut
+to complete his store of food for the winter. All those near the edge of
+his pond had been cut. The others were scattered about some little
+distance away. "I don't know," said Paddy out loud. "I don't know."
+
+"What don't you know?" asked Sammy Jay, who, now that he and Paddy had
+become friends, was very much interested in what Paddy was doing.
+
+"Why," replied Paddy, "I don't know just how I am going to get those
+trees. Now that Old Man Coyote is watching for me, it isn't safe for
+me to go very far from my pond. I suppose I could dig a canal up to
+some of the nearest trees and then float them down to the pond, but
+it is hard to work and keep sharp watch for enemies at the same time.
+I guess I'll have to be content with some of these alders growing
+close to the water, but the bark of aspens is so much better that
+I--I wish I could get them."
+
+"What's a canal?" asked Sammy abruptly.
+
+"A canal? Why, a canal is a kind of ditch in which water can run,"
+replied Paddy.
+
+Sammy nodded. "I've seen Farmer Brown dig one over on the Green Meadows,
+but it looked like a great deal of work. I didn't suppose that any one
+else could do it. Do you really mean that you can dig a canal, Paddy?"
+
+"Of course I mean it," replied Paddy, in a surprised tone of voice. "I
+have helped dig lots of canals. You ought to see some of them back where
+I came from."
+
+"I'd like to," replied Sammy. "I think it is perfectly wonderful. I
+don't see how you do it."
+
+"It's easy enough when you know how," replied Paddy. "If I dared to, I'd
+show you."
+
+Sammy had a sudden idea. It almost made him gasp. "I tell you what, you
+work and I'll keep watch!" he cried. "You know my eyes are very sharp."
+
+"Will you?" cried Paddy eagerly. "That would be perfectly splendid. You
+have the sharpest eyes of any one whom I know, and I would feel
+perfectly safe with you on watch. But I don't want to put you to all
+that trouble, Mr. Jay."
+
+"Of course I will," replied Sammy, "and it won't be any trouble at all.
+I'll just love to do it." You see, it made Sammy feel very proud to have
+Paddy say that he had such sharp eyes. "When will you begin?"
+
+"Right away, if you will just take a look around and see that it is
+perfectly safe for me to come out on land."
+
+Sammy didn't wait to hear more. He spread his beautiful blue wings and
+started off over the Green Forest straight for the Green Meadows. Paddy
+watched him go with a puzzled and disappointed air. "That's funny,"
+thought he. "I thought he really meant it, and now off he goes without
+even saying good-by."
+
+In a little while back came Sammy, all out of breath. "It's all right,"
+he panted. "You can go to work just as soon as you please."
+
+Paddy looked more puzzled than ever. "How do you know?" he asked. "I
+haven't seen you looking around."
+
+"I did better than that," replied Sammy. "If Old Man Coyote had been
+hiding somewhere in the Green Forest, it might have taken me some time
+to find him. But he isn't. You see, I flew straight over to his home in
+the Green Meadows to see if he is there, and he is. He's taking a
+sun-bath and looking as cross as two sticks. I don't think he'll be back
+here this morning, but I'll keep a sharp watch while you work."
+
+Paddy made Sammy a low bow. "You certainly are smart, Mr. Jay," said
+he. "I wouldn't have thought of going over to Old Man Coyote's home to
+see if he was there. I'll feel perfectly safe with you on guard. Now
+I'll get to work."
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+PADDY AND SAMMY JAY WORK TOGETHER
+
+
+Jerry Muskrat had been home at the Smiling Pool for several days. But
+he couldn't stay there long. Oh, my, no! He just had to get back to see
+what his big cousin, Paddy the Beaver, was doing. So as soon as he was
+sure that everything was all right at the Smiling Pool he hurried back
+up the Laughing Brook to Paddy's pond, deep in the Green Forest. As soon
+as he was in sight of it, he looked eagerly for Paddy. At first he
+didn't see him. Then he stopped and gazed over at the place where Paddy
+had been cutting aspen-trees for food. Something was going on there,
+something queer. He couldn't make it out.
+
+Just then Sammy Jay came flying over.
+
+"What's Paddy doing?" Jerry asked.
+
+Sammy Jay dropped down to the top of an alder-tree and fluffed out all
+his feathers in a very important way. "Oh," said he, "Paddy and I are
+building something!"
+
+"You! Paddy and you! Ha, ha! Paddy and you building something!"
+Jerry laughed.
+
+"Yes, me!" snapped Sammy angrily. "That's what I said; Paddy and I are
+building something."
+
+Jerry had begun to swim across the pond by this time, and Sammy was
+flying across. "Why don't you tell the truth, Sammy, and say that Paddy
+is building something and you are making him all the trouble you can?"
+called Jerry.
+
+Sammy's eyes snapped angrily, and he darted down at Jerry's little brown
+head. "It isn't true!" he shrieked. "You ask Paddy if I'm not helping!"
+
+Jerry ducked under water to escape Sammy's sharp bill. When he came up
+again, Sammy was over in the little grove of aspen-trees where Paddy was
+at work. Then Jerry discovered something. What was it? Why a little
+water-path led right up to the aspen-trees, and there, at the end of the
+little water-path, was Paddy the Beaver hard at work. He was digging and
+piling the earth on one side very neatly. In fact, he was making the
+water-path longer. Jerry swam right up the little water-path to where
+Paddy was working. "Good morning, Cousin Paddy," said he. "What are you
+doing?"
+
+"Oh," replied Paddy, "Sammy Jay and I are building a canal."
+
+Sammy Jay looked down at Jerry in triumph, and Jerry looked at Paddy as
+if he thought that he was joking.
+
+"Sammy Jay? What's Sammy Jay got to do about it?" demanded Jerry.
+
+"A whole lot," replied Paddy. "You see, he keeps watch while I work. If
+he didn't, I couldn't work, and there wouldn't be any canal. Old Man
+Coyote has been trying to catch me, and I wouldn't dare work on shore if
+it wasn't that I am sure that the sharpest eyes in the Green Forest are
+watching for danger."
+
+Sammy Jay looked very much pleased indeed and very proud. "So you see it
+takes both of us to make this canal; I dig while Sammy watches. So we
+are building it together," concluded Paddy with a twinkle in his eyes.
+
+"I see," said Jerry slowly. Then he turned to Sammy Jay. "I beg your
+pardon, Sammy," said he. "I do, indeed."
+
+"That's all right," replied Sammy airily. "What do you think of
+our canal?"
+
+"I think it is wonderful," replied Jerry.
+
+And indeed it was a very fine canal, straight, wide, and deep enough
+for Paddy to swim in and float his logs out to the pond. Yes, indeed, it
+was a very fine canal.
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+PADDY FINISHES HIS HARVEST
+
+  "Sharp his tongue and sharp his eyes--
+  Sammy guards against surprise.
+  If 'twere not for Sammy Jay
+  I could do no work to-day."
+
+
+When Sammy overheard Paddy the Beaver say that to Jerry Muskrat, it
+made him swell up all over with pure pride. You see, Sammy is so used to
+hearing bad things about himself that to hear something nice like that
+pleased him immensely. He straightway forgot all the mean things he had
+said to Paddy when he first saw him--how he had called him a thief
+because he had cut the aspen-trees he needed. He forgot all this. He
+forgot how Paddy had made him the laughing-stock of the Green Forest and
+the Green Meadows by cutting down the very tree in which he had been
+sitting. He forgot everything but that Paddy had trusted him to keep
+watch and now was saying nice things about him. He made up his mind that
+he would deserve all the nice things that Paddy could say, and he
+thought that Paddy was the finest fellow in the world.
+
+Jerry Muskrat looked doubtful. He didn't trust Sammy, and he took
+care not to go far from the water when he heard that Old Man Coyote
+had been hanging around. But Paddy worked away just as if he hadn't
+a fear in the world.
+
+"The way to make people want to be trusted is to trust them," said he
+to himself. "If I show Sammy Jay that I don't really trust him, he will
+think it is of no use to try and will give it up. But if I do trust him,
+and he knows that I do, he'll be the best watchman in the Green Forest."
+
+And this shows that Paddy the Beaver has a great deal of wisdom, for it
+was just as he thought. Sammy was on hand bright and early every
+morning. He made sure that Old Man Coyote was nowhere in the Green
+Forest, and then he settled himself comfortably in the top of a tall
+pine-tree where he could see all that was going on while Paddy the
+Beaver worked.
+
+Paddy had finished his canal, and a beautiful canal it was, leading
+straight from his pond up to the aspen-trees. As soon as he had finished
+it, he began to cut the trees. As soon as one was down he would cut it
+into short lengths and roll them into the canal. Then he would float
+them out to his pond and over to his storehouse. He took the larger
+branches, on which there was sweet, tender bark, in the same way, for
+Paddy is never wasteful.
+
+After a while he went over to his storehouse, which, you know, was
+nothing but a great pile of aspen-logs and branches in his pond close by
+his house. He studied it very carefully. Then he swam back and climbed
+up on the bank of his canal.
+
+"Mr. Jay," said he, "I think our work is about finished."
+
+"What!" cried Sammy, "Aren't you going to cut the rest of those
+aspen-trees?"
+
+"No," replied Paddy. "Enough is always enough, and I've got enough to
+last me all winter. I want those trees for next year. Now I am fixed for
+the winter. I think I'll take it easy for a while."
+
+Sammy looked disappointed. You see he had just begun to learn that the
+greatest pleasure in the world comes from doing things for other people.
+For the first time since he could remember some one wanted him around
+and it gave him such a good feeling down deep inside!
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Paddy Beaver, by 
+Thornton W. Burgess
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