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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5110-0.txt b/5110-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..22758fa --- /dev/null +++ b/5110-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2118 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat, 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 Jerry Muskrat + +Author: Thornton W. Burgess + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5110] +Posting Date: April 13, 2009 +Last Updated: October 18, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY MUSKRAT *** + + + + +Produced by Kent Fielden + + + + + + +THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY MUSKRAT + +By Thornton W. Burgess + + + + +CHAPTER I: Jerry Muskrat Has A Fright + +What was it Mother Muskrat had said about Farmer Brown's boy and his +traps? Jerry Muskrat sat on the edge of the Big Rock and kicked his +heels while he tried to remember. The fact is, Jerry had not half +heeded. He had been thinking of other things. Besides, it seemed to him +that Mother Muskrat was altogether foolish about a great many things. + +“Pooh!” said Jerry, throwing out his chest, “I guess I can take care of +myself without being tied to my mother's apron strings! What if Farmer +Brown's boy is setting traps around the Smiling Pool? I guess he can't +fool your Uncle Jerry. He isn't so smart as he thinks he is; I can fool +him any day.” Jerry chuckled. He was thinking of how he had once fooled +Farmer Brown's boy into thinking a big trout was on his hook. + +Slowly Jerry slid into the Smiling Pool and swam over towards his +favorite log. Peter Rabbit stuck his head over the edge of the bank. +“Hi, Jerry,” he shouted, “last night I saw Farmer Brown's boy coming +over this way with a lot of traps. Better watch out!” + +“Go chase yourself, Peter Rabbit. I guess I can look out for myself,” + replied Jerry, just a little crossly. + +Peter made a wry face and started for the sweet clover patch. Hardly was +he out of sight when Billy Mink and Bobby Coon came down the Laughing +Brook together. They seemed very much excited. When they saw Jerry +Muskrat, they beckoned for him to come over where they were, and when he +got there, they both talked at once, and it was all about Farmer Brown's +boy and his traps. + +“You'd better watch out, Jerry,” warned Billy Mink, who is a great +traveler and has had wide experience. + +“Oh, I guess I'm able to take care of myself,” said Jerry airily, and +once more started for his favorite log. And what do you suppose he was +thinking about as he swam along? He was wishing that he knew what a trap +looked like, for despite his boasting he didn't even know what he was +to look out for. As he drew near his favorite log, something tickled his +nose. He stopped swimming to sniff and sniff. My, how good it did smell! +And it seemed to come right straight from the old log. Jerry began to +swim as fast as he could. In a few minutes he scrambled out on the +old log. Then Jerry rubbed his eyes three times to be sure that he saw +aright. There were luscious pieces of carrot lying right in front of +him. + +Now there is nothing that Jerry Muskrat likes better than carrot. So +he didn't stop to wonder how it got there. He just reached out for the +nearest piece and ate it. Then he reached for the next piece and ate it. +Then he did a funny little dance just for joy. When he was quite out of +breath, he sat down to rest. Snap! Something had Jerry Muskrat by the +tail! Jerry squealed with fright and pain. Oh, how it did hurt! He +twisted and turned, but he was held fast and could not see what had him. +Then he pulled and pulled, until it seemed as if his tail would pull +off. But it didn't. So he kept pulling, and pretty soon the thing let go +so suddenly that Jerry tumbled head first into the water. + +When he reached home, Mother Muskrat did his sore tail up for him. “What +did I tell you about traps?” she asked severely. + +Jerry stopped crying. “Was that a trap?” he asked. Then he remembered +that in his fright he didn't even see it. “Oh, dear,” he moaned, “I +wouldn't know one to-day if I met it.” + + + +CHAPTER II: The Convention At The Big Rock + +Jolly round, red Mr. Sun looked down on the Smiling Pool. He almost +forgot to keep on climbing up in the blue sky, he was so interested in +what he saw there. What do you think it was? Why, it was a convention at +the Big Rock, the queerest convention he ever had seen. Your papa would +say that it was a mass-meeting of angry citizens. Maybe it was, but that +is a pretty long term. Anyway, Mother Muskrat said it was a convention, +and she ought to know, for she is the one who had called it. + +Of course Jerry Muskrat was there, and his uncles and aunts and all +his cousins. Billy Mink was there, and all his relations, even old +Grandfather Mink, who has lost most of his teeth and is a little hard of +hearing. + +Little Joe Otter was there, with his father and mother and all his +relations even to his third cousins. Bobby Coon was there, and he had +brought with him every Coon of his acquaintance who ever fished in the +Smiling Pool or along the Laughing Brook. And everybody was looking very +solemn, very solemn indeed. + +When the last one had arrived, Mother Muskrat climbed up on the Big Rock +and called Jerry Muskrat up beside her, where all could see him. Then +she made a speech. “Friends of the Smiling Pool and Laughing Brook,” + began Mrs. Muskrat, “I have called you together to show you what has +happened to my son Jerry and to ask your advice.” She stopped and +pointed to Jerry's sore tail. “What do you think did that?” she +demanded. + +“Probably Jerry's been in a fight and got whipped,” said Bobby Coon to +his neighbor, for Bobby Coon is a graceless young scamp and does not +always show proper respect to his neighbors. + +Mrs. Muskrat glared at him, for she had overheard the remark. Then she +held up one hand to command silence. “Friends, it was a trap--a trap +set by Farmer Brown's boy! a trap to catch you and me and our children!” + said she solemnly. “It is no longer safe for our little folks to play +around the Smiling Pool or along the Laughing Brook. What are we going +to do about it?” + +Everybody looked at everybody else in dismay. Then everybody began to +talk at once, and if Farmer Brown's boy could have heard all the things +said about him, his cheeks certainly would have burned. Indeed, I am +afraid that they would have blistered. Such excitement! Everybody had +a different idea, and nobody would listen to anybody else. Old Mr. Mink +lost his temper and called Grandpa Otter a meddlesome know-nothing. It +looked very much as if the convention was going to break up in a sad +quarrel. Then Mr. Coon climbed up on the Big Rock and with a stick +pounded for silence. + +“I move,” said he, “that in as much as we cannot agree, we tell +Great-Grandfather Frog all about the danger and ask his advice, for he +is very old and very wise and remembers when the world was young. All in +favor please raise their right hands.” + +At once the air was full of hands, and everybody was good-natured once +more. So it was agreed to call in Great-Grandfather Frog. + + + +CHAPTER III: The Oracle Of The Smiling Pool + +Grandfather Frog sat on his big green lily-pad with his eyes half +closed, for all the world as if he knew nothing about the meeting at the +Big Rock. Of course he did know, for there isn't much going on around +the Smiling Pool which he doesn't see or at least hear all about. The +Merry Little Breezes, who are here, there, and everywhere, told him +all that was going on, so that when he saw Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe +Otter swimming towards him, he knew what they were coming for. But he +pretended to be very much surprised when Jerry Muskrat very politely +said: “Good morning, Grandfather Frog.” + +“Good morning, Jerry Muskrat. You're out early this morning,” replied +Grandfather Frog. + +“If you please, you are wanted over at the Big Rock,” said Jerry. + +Grandfather Frog's eyes twinkled, but he made his voice very deep and +gruff as he replied: “Chugarum! You're a scamp, Jerry Muskrat, and +Little Joe Otter is another. What trick are you trying to play on me +now?” + +Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter looked a wee bit sheepish, for it was +true that they were forever trying to play tricks on Grandfather Frog. +“Really and truly, Grandfather Frog, there isn't any trick this time,” + said Jerry. “There is a meeting at the Big Rock to try to decide what to +do to keep Farmer Brown's boy from setting traps around the Smiling Pool +and along the Laughing Brook, and everybody wants your advice, because +you are so old and so wise. Please come.” + +Grandfather Frog smoothed down his white and yellow waistcoat and +pretended to think the matter over very seriously, while Jerry and +Little Joe fidgeted impatiently. Finally he spoke. + +“I am very old, as you have said, Jerry Muskrat, and it is a long way +over to the Big Rock.” + +“Get right on my back and I'll take you over there,” said Jerry eagerly. + +“I'm afraid that you'll spill me off,” replied Grandfather Frog. + +“No, I won't; just try me and see,” begged Jerry. + +So Grandfather Frog climbed on Jerry Muskrat's back, and Jerry started +for the Big Rock as fast as he could go. When all the Minks and the +Otters and the Coons and the Muskrats saw them coming, they gave a +great shout, for Grandfather Frog is sometimes called the oracle of the +Smiling Pool. You know an oracle is one who is very wise. + +Bobby Coon helped Grandfather Frog up on the Big Rock, and when he had +made himself comfortable, Mrs. Muskrat told him all about Farmer Brown's +boy and his traps, and how Jerry had been caught in one by the tail, and +she ended by asking for his advice, because they all knew that he was so +wise. + +When she said this, Grandfather Frog puffed himself up until it seemed +as if his white and yellow waistcoat would surely burst. He sat very +still for a while and gazed straight at jolly, round, red Mr. Sun +without blinking once. Then he spoke in a very deep voice. + +“To-morrow morning at sunrise I will tell you what to do,” said he. And +not another word could they get out of him. + + + +CHAPTER IV: Grandfather Frog's Plan + +Just as Old Mother West Wind and her Merry Little Breezes came down from +the Purple Hills, and jolly, round, red Mr. Sun threw his nightcap off +and began his daily climb up in the blue sky, Great-Grandfather Frog +climbed up on the Big Rock in the Smiling Pool. Early as he was, all the +little people who live along the Laughing Brook and around the Smiling +Pool were waiting for him. Bobby Coon had found two traps set by Farmer +Brown's boy, and Billy Mink had almost stepped in a third. No one felt +safe any more, yet no one knew what to do. So they all waited for the +advice of Great-Grandfather Frog, who, you know, is accounted very, very +wise. + +Grandfather Frog cleared his throat. “Chugarum!” said he. “You must find +all the traps that Farmer Brown's boy has set.” + +“How are we going to do it?” asked Bobby Coon. + +“By looking for them,” replied Grandfather Frog tartly. + +Bobby Coon looked foolish and slipped out of sight behind his mother. + +“All the Coons and all the Minks must search along the banks of the +Laughing Brook, and all the Muskrats and all the Otters must search +along the banks of the Smiling Pool. You must use your eyes and your +noses. When you find things good to eat where you have never found them +before, watch out! When you get the first whiff of the man-smell, watch +out! Billy Mink, you are small and quick, and your eyes are sharp. You +sit here on the Big Rock until you see Farmer Brown's boy coming. Then +go hide in the bulrushes where you can watch him, but where he cannot +see you. Follow him everywhere he goes around the Smiling Pool or along +the Laughing Brook. Without knowing it, he will show you where every +trap is hidden. + +“When all the traps have been found, drop a stick or a stone in each. +That will spring them, and then they will be harmless. Then you can +bury them deep in the mud. But don't eat any of the food until you have +sprung all of the traps, for just as likely as not you will get caught. +When all the traps have been sprung, why not bring all the good things +to eat which you find around them to the Big Rock and have a grand +feast?” + +“Hurrah for Grandfather Frog! That's a great idea!” shouted Little Joe +Otter, turning a somersault in the water. + +Every one agreed with Little Joe Otter, and immediately they began to +plan a grand hunt for the traps of Farmer Brown's boy. The Muskrats +and the Otters started to search the banks of the Smiling Pool, and +the Coons and the Minks, all but Billy, started for the Laughing Brook. +Billy climbed up on the Big Rock to watch, and Grandfather Frog slowly +swam back to his big green lily-pad to wait for some foolish green flies +for his breakfast. + + + +CHAPTER V: A Busy Day At The Smiling Pool + +Everybody was excited. Yes, Sir, everybody in the Smiling Pool and along +the Laughing Brook was just bubbling over with excitement. Even Spotty +the Turtle, who usually takes everything so calmly that some people +think him stupid, climbed up on the highest point of an old log where he +could see what was going on. Only Grandfather Frog, sitting on his big +green lily-pad and watching for foolish green flies for his breakfast, +appeared not to know that something unusual was going on. Really, he +was just as much excited as the rest, but because he is very old and +accounted very, very wise, it would not do for him to show it. + +What was it all about? Why, all the Minks and the Coons and the Otters +and the Muskrats, who live and play around the Smiling Pool and the +Laughing Brook, were hunting for traps. Yes, Sir, they were hunting for +traps set by Farmer Brown's boy, just as Grandfather Frog had advised +them to. + +Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter were hunting together. They were +swimming along close to shore just where the Laughing Brook leaves the +Smiling Pool, when Jerry wrinkled up his funny little nose and stopped +swimming. Sniff, sniff, sniff, went Jerry Muskrat. Then little cold +shivers ran down his backbone and way out to the tip of his tail. + +“What is it?” asked Little Joe Otter. + +“It's the man-smell,” whispered Jerry. + +Just then Little Joe Otter gave a long sniff. “My, I smell fish!” he +cried, his eyes sparkling, and started in the direction from which the +smell came. He swam faster than Jerry, and in a minute he shouted in +delight. + +“Hi, Jerry! Some one's left a fish on the edge of the bank: What a +feast!” + +Jerry hurried as fast as he could swim, his eyes popping out with +fright, for the nearer he got, the stronger grew that dreadful +man-smell. “Don't touch it,” he panted. “Don't touch it, Joe Otter!” + +Little Joe laughed. “What's the matter, Jerry? 'Fraid I'll eat it all up +before you get here?” he asked, as he reached out for the fish. + +“Stop!” shrieked Jerry, and gave Little Joe a push, just as the latter +touched the fish. + +Snap! A pair of wicked steel jaws flew together and caught Little Joe +Otter by a claw of one toe. If it hadn't been for Jerry's push, he would +have been caught by a foot. + +“Oh! Oh! Oh!” cried Little Joe Otter. + +“Next time I guess you'll remember what Grandfather Frog said about +watching out when you find things to eat where they never were before,” + said Jerry, as he helped Little Joe pull himself free from the trap. But +he left the claw behind and had a dreadfully sore toe as a result. +Then they buried the trap deep down in the mud and started to look for +another. + +All around the Smiling Pool and along the Laughing Brook their cousins +and uncles and aunts and friends were just as busy, and every once in a +while some one would have just as narrow an escape as Little Joe Otter. +And all the time up at the farmhouse Farmer Brown's boy was planning +what he would do with the skins of the little animals he was sure he +would catch in his traps. + + + +CHAPTER VI: Farmer Brown's Boy Is Puzzled + +Farmer Brown's boy was whistling merrily as he tramped down across the +Green Meadows. The Merry Little Breezes saw him coming, and they raced +over to the Smiling Pool to tell Billy Mink. Farmer Brown's boy was +coming to visit his traps. He was very sure that he would find Billy +Mink or Little Joe Otter, or Jerry Muskrat, or perhaps Bobby Coon. + +Billy Mink was sitting on top of the Big Rock. He saw the Merry Little +Breezes racing across the Green Meadows, and behind them he saw Farmer +Brown's boy. Billy Mink dived head first into the Smiling Pool. Then +he swam over to Jerry Muskrat's house and warned Jerry. Together they +hunted up Little Joe Otter, and then the three little scamps in brown +hid in the bulrushes, where they could watch Farmer Brown's boy. + +The first place Farmer Brown's boy visited was Jerry Muskrat's old log. +Very cautiously he peeped over the edge of the bank. The trap was gone! + +“Hurrah!” shouted Farmer Brown's boy. He was very much excited, as he +caught hold of the end of the chain, which fastened it to the old log. +He was sure that at last he had caught Jerry Muskrat. When he pulled the +trap up, it was empty. Between the jaws were a few hairs and a little +bit of skin, which Jerry Muskrat had left there when he sprung the trap +with his tail. + +Farmer Brown's boy was disappointed. “Well, I'll get him to-morrow, +anyway,” said he to himself. Then he went on to his next trap; it was +nowhere to be seen. When he pulled the chain he was so excited that he +trembled. The trap did not come up at once. He pulled and pulled, and +then suddenly up it came, all covered with mud. In it was one little +claw from Little Joe Otter. Very carefully Farmer Brown's boy set the +trap again. If he could have looked over in the bulrushes and have +seen Little Joe Otter and Billy Mink and Jerry Muskrat watching him and +tickling and laughing, he would not have been so sure that next time he +would catch Little Joe Otter. + +All around the Smiling Pool and then up and down the Laughing Brook +Farmer Brown's boy tramped, and each trap he found sprung and buried in +the mud. He had stopped whistling by this time, and there was a puzzled +frown on his freckled face. What did it mean? Could some other boy have +found all his traps and played a trick by springing all of them? The +more he thought about it, the more puzzled he became. You see, he did +not know anything about the busy day the Minks and the Otters and the +Muskrats and the Coons had spent the day before. + +Old Grandfather Frog, sitting on his big green lily-pad, smoothed down +his white and yellow waistcoat and winked up at jolly, round, red Mr. +Sun as Farmer Brown's boy tramped off across the Green Meadows. + +“Chugarum!” said Grandfather Frog, as he snapped up a foolish green fly. +“Much good it will do you to set those traps again!” + +Then Grandfather Frog called to Billy Mink and sent him to tell all the +other little people of the Smiling Pool and the Laughing Brook that they +must hurry and spring all the traps again as they had before. + +This time it was easy, because they knew just where the traps were, so +all day long they dropped sticks and stones into the traps and once more +sprung them. Then they prepared for a grand feast of the good things to +eat which Farmer Brown's boy had left, scattered around the traps. + + + +CHAPTER VII: Jerry Muskrat Makes A Discovery + +The beautiful springtime had brought a great deal of happiness to the +Smiling Pool, as it had to the Green Meadows and to the Green Forest. +Great-Grandfather Frog, who had slept the long winter away in his own +special bed way down in the mud, had waked up with an appetite so great +that for a while it seemed as if he could think of nothing but his +stomach. Jerry Muskrat had felt the spring fever in his bones and had +gone up and down the Laughing Brook, poking into all kinds of places +just for the fun of seeing new things. Little Joe Otter had been more +full of fun than ever, if that were possible. Mr. and Mrs. Redwing had +come back to the bulrushes from their winter home way down in the warm +Southland. Everybody was happy, just as happy as could be. + +One sunny morning Jerry Muskrat sat on the Big Rock in the middle of the +Smiling Pool, just thinking of how happy everybody was and laughing at +Little Joe Otter, who was cutting up all sorts of capers in the water. +Suddenly Jerry's sharp eyes saw something that made him wrinkle his +forehead in a puzzled frown and look and look at the opposite bank. +Finally he called to Little Joe Otter. + +“Hi, Little Joe! Come over here!” shouted Jerry. + +“What for?” asked Little Joe, turning a somersault in the water. + +“I want you to see if there is anything wrong with my eyes,” replied +Jerry. + +Little Joe Otter stopped swimming and stared up at Jerry Muskrat. “They +look all right to me,” said he, as he started to climb up on the Big +Rock. + +“Of course they look all right,” replied Jerry, “but what I want to know +is if they see all right. Look over at that bank.” + +Little Joe Otter looked over at the bank. He stared and stared, but he +didn't see anything unusual. It looked just as it always did. He told +Jerry Muskrat so. + +“Then it must be my eyes,” sighed Jerry. “It certainly must be my eyes. +It looks to me as if the water does not come as high up on the bank as +it did yesterday.” + +Little Joe Otter looked again and his eyes opened wide. “You are right, +Jerry Muskrat!” he cried. “There's nothing the matter with your eyes. +The water is as low as it ever gets, even in the very middle of summer. +What can it mean?” + +“I don't know,” replied Jerry Muskrat. “It is queer! It certainly is +very queer! Let's go ask Grandfather Frog. You know he is very old and +very wise, so perhaps he can tell us what it means.” + +Splash! Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter dived into the Smiling Pool +and started a race to see who could reach Grandfather Frog first. He +was sitting among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool, for the +lily-pads were not yet big enough for him to sit on comfortably. + +“Oh, Grandfather Frog, what's the matter with the Smiling Pool?” they +shouted, as they came up quite out of breath. + +“Chugarum! There's nothing the matter with the Smiling Pool; it's the +best place in all the world,” replied Grandfather Frog gruffly. + +“But there is something the matter,” insisted Jerry Muskrat, and then he +told what he had discovered. + +“I don't believe it,” said Grandfather Frog. “I never heard of such a +thing in the springtime.” + + + +CHAPTER VIII: Grandfather Frog Watches His Toes + +Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling +Pool. Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst +with the very joy of springtime. + + “Tra-la-la-lee, see me! See me! + Happy am I as I can be! + Happy am I the whole day long + And so I sing my gladsome song.” + +Of course Mr. Redwing was happy. Why shouldn't he be? Here it was the +beautiful springtime, the gladdest time of all the year, the time when +happiness creeps into everybody's heart. Grandfather Frog listened. He +nodded his head. “Chugarum! I'm happy, too,” said Grandfather Frog. But +even as he said it, a little worried look crept into his big goggly eyes +and then down to the corners of his big mouth, which had been stretched +in a smile. Little by little the smile grew smaller and smaller, until +there wasn't any smile. No, Sir, there wasn't any smile. Instead of +looking happy, as he said he felt, Grandfather Frog actually looked +unhappy. + +The fact is he couldn't forget what Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter +had told him--that there was something the matter with the Smiling +Pool. He didn't believe it, not a word of it. At least he tried to make +himself think that he didn't believe it. They had said that the water +in the Smiling Pool was growing lower and lower, just as it did in the +middle of summer, in the very hottest weather. Now Grandfather Frog is +very old and very wise, and he had never heard of such a thing happening +in the springtime. So he wouldn't believe it now. And yet--and yet +Grandfather Frog had an uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong. +Ha! he knew now what it was! He had been sitting up to his middle in +water, and now he was sitting with only his toes in the water, and he +couldn't remember having changed his position! + +“Of course, I moved without thinking what I was doing,” muttered +Grandfather Frog, but still the worried look didn't leave his face. You +see he just couldn't make himself believe what he wanted to believe, try +as he would. + +“Chugarum! I know what I'll do; I'll watch my toes!” exclaimed +Grandfather Frog. + +So Grandfather Frog waded out into the water until it covered his feet, +and then he sat down and began to watch his toes. Mr. Redwing looked +down and saw him, and Grandfather Frog looked so funny gazing at his own +toes that Mr. Redwing stopped singing long enough to ask: “What are you +doing, Grandfather Frog?” + +“Watching my toes,” replied Grandfather Frog gruffly. + +“Watching your toes! Ho, ho, ho! Watching your toes! Who ever heard of +such a thing? Are you afraid that they will run away, Grandfather Frog?” + shouted Mr. Redwing. + +Grandfather Frog didn't answer. He kept right on watching his toes. +Mr. Redwing flew away to tell everybody he met how Grandfather Frog had +become foolish and was watching his toes. The sun shone down warm and +bright, and pretty soon Grandfather Frog's big goggly eyes began to +blink. Then his head began to nod, and then--why, then Grandfather Frog +fell fast asleep. + +By and by Grandfather Frog awoke with a start. He looked down at his +toes. They were not in the water at all! Indeed, the water was a good +long jump away. + +“Chugarum! There is something wrong with the Smiling Pool!” cried +Grandfather Frog, as he made a long jump into the water and started to +swim out to the Big Rock. + + + +CHAPTER IX: The Laughing Brook Stops Laughing + +There was something wrong. Grandfather Frog knew it the very minute he +got up that morning. At first he couldn't think what it was. He sat +with just his head out of water and blinked his great goggly eyes, as +he tried to think what it was that was wrong. Suddenly Grandfather Frog +realized how still it was. It was a different kind of stillness from +anything he could ever remember. He missed something, and he couldn't +think what it was. It wasn't the song of Mr. Redwing. There were +many times when he didn't hear that. It was--Grand-father Frog gave a +startled jump out on to the shore. “Chugarum! It's the Laughing Brook! +The Laughing Brook has stopped laughing!” cried Grandfather Frog. + +Could it be? Who ever heard of such a thing, excepting when Jack Frost +bound the Laughing Brook with hard black ice? Why, in the spring and in +the summer and in the fall the Laughing Brook had laughed--such a merry, +happy laugh--ever since Grandfather Frog could remember, and you know he +can remember way back in the long ago, for he is very old and very wise. +Never once in all that time had the Laughing Brook failed to laugh. It +couldn't be true now! Grandfather Frog put a hand behind one ear and +listened and listened, but not a sound could he hear. + +“Chugarum! It must be me,” said Grandfather Frog. “It must be that I am +growing old and deaf. I'll go over and ask Jerry Muskrat.” + +So Grandfather Frog dove into the water and swam out to the middle of +the Smiling Pool, on his way to Jerry Muskrat's house. It was then that +he first fully realized the truth of what Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe +Otter had told him the day before--that there was something very, very +wrong with the Smiling Pool. He stopped swimming to look around, and it +seemed as if his great goggly eyes would pop right out of his head. Yes, +Sir, it seemed as if those great goggly eyes certainly would pop right +out of Grandfather Frog's head. The Smiling Pool had grown so small that +there wasn't enough of it left to smile! + +“Where are you going, Grandfather Frog?” asked a voice over his head. + +Grandfather Frog looked up. Looking down on him from over the edge of +the Big Rock was Jerry Muskrat. The edge of the Big Rock was twice as +high above the water as Grandfather Frog had ever seen it before. + +“I--I--was going to swim over to your house to see you,” replied +Grandfather Frog. + +“It's of no use,” replied Jerry, “because I'm not there. Besides, you +couldn't swim there, anyway.” + +“Why not?” demanded Grandfather Frog in great surprise. + +“Because it isn't in the water any longer; it's way up on dry land,” + said Jerry Muskrat in the most mournful voice. + +“What's that you say?” cried Grandfather Frog, as if he couldn't believe +his own ears. + +“It's just as true as that I'm sitting here,” replied Jerry sadly. + +“Listen, Jerry Muskrat, and tell me truly; is the Laughing Brook +laughing?” cried Grandfather Frog sharply. + +“No,” replied Jerry, “the Laughing Brook has stopped laughing, and the +Smiling Pool has stopped smiling, and I think the world is upside down.” + + + +CHAPTER X: Why The World Seemed Upside Down To Jerry Muskrat + +Jerry Muskrat sat on the Big Rock in the Smiling Pool, which smiled +no longer, and held his head in both hands, for his head ached. He had +thought and thought and thought, until it seemed to him that his head +would split; and with all his thinking, he didn't understand things any +more now than he had in the beginning. You see, Jerry Muskrat's little +world was topsy-turvy. Yes, Sir, Jerry's world was upside down! Anyway, +it seemed so to him, and he couldn't understand it at all. + +The Smiling Pool, the Laughing Brook, and the Green Meadows are Jerry +Muskrat's little world. Now, as he sat on the Big Rock and looked about +him, the Green Meadows were as lovely as ever. He could see no change in +them. But the Laughing Brook had stopped laughing, and the Smiling Pool +had stopped smiling. The truth is there wasn't enough of the Laughing +Brook left to laugh, and there wasn't enough of the Smiling Pool left to +smile. + +It was dreadful! Jerry looked over to his house, of which he had once +been so proud. He had built it with the doorway under water. He had felt +perfectly safe there, because no one excepting Billy Mink or Little Joe +Otter, who can swim under water, could reach him. Now the Smiling +Pool had grown so small that Jerry's house wasn't in the water at all. +Anybody who wanted to could get into it. There was the doorway plainly +to be seen. Worse still, there was the secret entrance to the long +tunnel leading to his castle under the roots of the Big Hickory-tree. +That had been Jerry's most secret secret, and now there it was for all +the world to see. And there were all the wonderful caves and holes and +hiding-places under the bank which had been known only to Jerry Muskrat +and Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter, because the openings had always +been under water. Now anybody could find them, for they were plainly to +be seen. And where had always been smiling, dimpling water, Jerry saw +only mud. It was mud, mud, mud everywhere! The bulrushes, which had +always grown with their feet in the water, now had them only in mud, and +that was fast drying up. The lily-pads lay half curled up at the ends of +their long stems, stretched out on the mud, and looked very, very sick. +Jerry turned towards the Laughing Brook. There was just a little, teeny, +weeny stream of water trickling down the middle of it, with here and +there a tiny pool in which frightened trout and minnows were crowded. +All the secrets of the Laughing Brook were exposed, just as were the +secrets of the Smiling Pool. Jerry knew that if he wanted to find Billy +Mink's hiding-places, all he need do would be to walk up the Laughing +Brook and look. + +“Yes, Sir, the world has turned upside down,” said Jerry in a mournful +voice. + +“I believe it has,” replied Grandfather Frog, looking up from the little +pool of water left at the foot of the Big Rock. + +“I know it has!” cried Jerry. “I wonder if it will ever turn upside up +again.” + +“If it doesn't, what are you going to do?” asked Grandfather Frog. + +“I don't know,” replied Jerry Muskrat. “Here come Little Joe Otter and +Billy Mink; let's find out what they are going to do.” + + + +CHAPTER XI: Five Heads Together + +Something had to be done. Jerry Muskrat said so. Grandfather Frog said +so. Billy Mink said so. Little Joe Otter said so. Even Spotty the +Turtle said so. The Laughing Brook couldn't laugh, and the Smiling Pool +couldn't smile. You see, there wasn't water enough in either of them to +laugh or smile, and nobody knew if there ever would be again. Nobody had +ever known anything like it before, and so nobody knew what to think or +do. And yet they all felt that something must be done. + +“What do you think, Billy Mink?” asked Grandfather Frog. + +Billy Mink looked down from the top of the Big Rock into the little pool +of water that was all there was left of the Smiling Pool. He could see +a dozen fat trout in it, and he knew that he could catch them just as +easily as not, because there was no place for them to swim away from +him. But somehow he didn't want to catch them. He knew that they were +frightened almost to death already by the running away of nearly all the +water from the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool, and somehow he felt +sorry for them. + +“I think that the best thing we can do is to move down to the Big River. +I've been down there, and that's all right,” said Billy Mink. + +“That's what I think,” said Little Joe Otter. “There's no danger that +the Big River will go dry.” + +“How do you know?” asked Jerry Muskrat. “The Laughing Brook and the +Smiling Pool never went dry before.” + +“It's a long, long way down to the Big River,” broke in Spotty the +Turtle, who travels very, very slowly and carries his house with him. + +“Chugarum! I, for one, don't want to leave the Smiling Pool without +finding out what the trouble is. + + “There's nothing happens, as you know, + But has a cause to make it so. + +“Now there must be some cause, some reason, for this terrible trouble +with the Smiling Pool, and if we can find that out, perhaps we shall +know better what to do,” said Grandfather Frog. + +Jerry Muskrat nodded his head. “Grandfather Frog is right,” said he. “Of +course there must be a cause, but where are we to look for it? I've been +all over the Smiling Pool, and I'm sure it isn't there.” + +Grandfather Frog actually smiled. “Chugarum!” said he. “Of course the +cause of all the trouble isn't in the Smiling Pool. Any one would know +that!” + +“Well, if you know so much, tell us where it is then!” snapped Jerry +Muskrat. + +“In the Laughing Brook, of course,” replied Grandfather Frog. + +“No such thing!” said Billy Mink. “I've been all the way down the +Laughing Brook to the Big River, and I didn't find a thing.” + +“Have you been all the way up the Laughing Brook to the place it starts +from?” asked Grandfather Frog. + +“No-o,” replied Billy Mink. + +“Well, that's where the cause of all the trouble is,” said Grandfather +Frog, just as if he knew all about it. “It's the water that comes down +the Laughing Brook that makes the Smiling Pool, and the Smiling Pool +never could dry up if the Laughing Brook didn't first stop running.” + +“That's so! I never had thought of that,” cried Little Joe Otter. “I +tell you what, Billy Mink and I will go way up the Laughing Brook and +see what we can find.” + +“Chugarum! Let us all go,” said Grandfather Frog. + +Then the five put their heads together and decided that they would go up +the Laughing Brook to hunt for the trouble. + + + +CHAPTER XII: A Hunt For Trouble + +Ol' Mistah Buzzard, sailing high in the blue, blue sky, looked down on +a funny sight. Yes, Sir, it certainly was a funny sight. It was a little +procession of five of his friends of the Smiling Pool. First was Billy +Mink, who, because he is slim and nimble, moves so quickly it sometimes +is hard to follow him. Behind him was Little Joe Otter, whose legs are +so short that he almost looks as if he hadn't any. Behind Little Joe +was Jerry Muskrat, who is a better traveler in the water than on land. +Behind Jerry was Grandfather Frog, who neither walks nor runs but +travels with great jumps. Last of all was Spotty the Turtle, who travels +very, very slowly because, you know, he carries his house with him. +And all five were headed up the Laughing Brook, which laughed no more, +because there was not water enough in it. + +Now Ol' Mistah Buzzard hadn't been over near the Smiling Pool for some +time, and he hadn't heard how the Smiling Pool had stopped smiling, and +the Laughing Brook had stopped laughing. When he looked down and saw how +the water was so nearly gone from them that the trout and the minnows +had hardly enough in which to live, he was so surprised that he kept +saying over and over to himself: + +“Fo' the lan's sake! Fo' the lan's sake!” + +Then, when he saw his five little friends marching up the Laughing +Brook, he guessed right away that it must be something to do with the +trouble in the Smiling Pool. Ol' Mistah Buzzard just turned his broad +wings and slid down, down out of the blue, blue sky until he was right +over Grandfather Frog. + +“Where are yo'alls going?” asked Ol' Mistah Buzzard. + +“Chugarum! To find out what is the trouble with the Laughing Brook,” + replied Grandfather Frog. + +“I'll help you,” said Ol' Mistah Buzzard, once more sailing up in the +blue, blue sky. + +Grandfather Frog watched him until he was nothing but a speck. “I wish I +had wings,” sighed Grandfather Frog, and once more began to hop along up +the bed of the Laughing Brook. + +The Laughing Brook came down from the Green Forest and wound through the +Green Meadows for a little way before it reached the Smiling Pool. There +the sun shone down into it, and Grandfather Frog didn't mind, although +his legs were getting tired. But when they got into the Green Forest it +was dark and gloomy. At least Grandfather Frog thought so, and so did +Spotty the Turtle, for both dearly love the sunshine. But still they +kept on, for they felt that they must find the trouble with the Laughing +Brook. If they found this, they would also find the trouble with the +Smiling Pool. + +So Billy Mink jumped and skipped far ahead; Little Joe Otter ran; Jerry +Muskrat walked, for he soon gets tired on land; Grandfather Frog hopped; +Spotty the Turtle crawled, and way, way up in the blue, blue sky, OF +Mistah Buzzard flew, all looking for the trouble which had stopped the +laughing of the Laughing Brook and the smiling of the Smiling Pool. + + + +CHAPTER XIII: Ol' Mistah Buzzard Sees Something + +“Wait for me!” cried Little Joe Otter to Billy Mink, but Billy Mink was +in too much of a hurry and just ran faster. + +“Wait for me!” cried Jerry Muskrat to Little Joe Otter, but Little Joe +was in too much of a hurry and just ran faster. + +“Wait for me!” cried Grandfather Frog to Jerry Muskrat, but Jerry was in +too much of a hurry and just walked faster. + +“Wait for me!” cried Spotty the Turtle to Grandfather Frog, but +Grandfather Frog was in too much of a hurry and just jumped faster. + +So running and walking and jumping and crawling, Billy Mink, Little Joe +Otter, Jerry Muskrat, Grandfather Frog, and Spotty the Turtle hurried up +the Laughing Brook to try to find out why it laughed no more. And high +overhead in the blue, blue sky sailed Ol' Mistah Buzzard, and he also +was looking for the trouble that had taken away the laugh from the +Laughing Brook and the smile from the Smiling Pool. + +Now Ol' Mistah Buzzard's eyes are very sharp, and looking down from way +up in the blue, blue sky he can see a great deal. Indeed, Ol' Mistah +Buzzard can see all that is going on below on the Green Meadows and in +the Green Forest. His wings are very broad, and he can sail through the +air very swiftly when he makes up his mind to. Now, as he looked down, +he saw that Billy Mink was selfish and wouldn't wait for Little Joe +Otter, and Little Joe Otter was selfish and wouldn't wait for Jerry +Muskrat, and Jerry Muskrat was selfish and wouldn't wait for Grandfather +Frog, and Grandfather Frog was selfish and wouldn't wait for Spotty the +Turtle. + +“Ah reckon Ah will hurry up right smart and find out what the trouble +is mahself, and then go back and tell Brer Turtle; it will save him a +powerful lot of work, and it will serve Brer Mink right if Brer Turtle +finds out first what is the trouble with the Laughing Brook,” said Ol' +Mistah Buzzard and shot far ahead over the Green Forest towards that +part of it from which the Laughing Brook comes. In a few minutes he was +as far ahead of Billy Mink as Billy was ahead of Spotty the Turtle. + + For wings are swifter far than legs, + On whatsoever purpose bent, +But doubly swift and tireless Those wings on kindly deed intent. + +And this is how it happened that Ol' Mistah Buzzard was the first to +find out what it was that had stopped the laughing of the Laughing Brook +and the smiling of the Smiling Pool, but he was so surprised when he did +find out, that he forgot all about going back to tell Spotty the Turtle. +He forgot everything but his own great surprise, and he blinked his eyes +a great many times to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. Then he sailed +around and around in circles, looking down among the trees of the Green +Forest and saying over and over to himself: + +“Did yo' ever? No, Ah never! Did yo' ever? No, Ah never!” + + + +CHAPTER XIV: Spotty The Turtle Keeps Right On Going + + “One step, two steps, three steps, so! + Four steps, five steps, six steps go! + Keep right on and do your best; + Mayhap you'll win while others rest.” + +Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little +down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook. And +every time he said it, he felt better. “One step, two steps,” he kept +saying over and over, and each time he said it, he took a step and +then another. They were very short steps, very short steps indeed, for +Spotty's legs are very short. But each one carried him forward just +so much, and he knew that he was just so much nearer the thing he was +seeking. Anyway, he hoped he was. + +You see, if the Laughing Brook would never laugh any more, and the +Smiling Pool would never smile any more, there was nothing to do but +to go down to the Big River to live, and no one wanted to do that, +especially Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle. + +Now, because Billy Mink could go faster than Little Joe Otter, and +Little Joe Otter could go faster than Jerry Muskrat, and Jerry could go +faster than Grandfather Frog, and Grandfather Frog could go faster than +Spotty the Turtle, and because each one wanted to be the first to find +the trouble, no one would wait for the one behind him. So Spotty the +Turtle, who has to carry his house with him, was a long, long way behind +the others. But he kept right on going. + + “One step, two steps, three steps, so!” + +and he didn't stop for anything. He crawled over sticks and around big +stones and sometimes, when he found a little pool of water, he swam. He +always felt better then, because he can swim faster than he can walk. + +After a long, long time, Spotty the Turtle came to a little pool where +the sunshine lay warm and inviting. There, in the middle of it, on a +mossy stone, sat Grandfather Frog fast asleep. He had thought that he +was so far ahead of Spotty that he could safely rest his tired legs. +Spotty wanted to climb right up beside him and take a nap too, but he +didn't. He just grinned and kept right on going. + + “One step, two steps, three steps, so!” + +while Grandfather Frog slept on. + +By and by, after a long, long time Spotty came to another little pool, +and who should he see but Jerry Muskrat busily opening and eating some +freshwater clams which he had found there. He was so busy enjoying +himself that he didn't see Spotty, and Spotty didn't say a word, but +kept right on going, although the sight of Jerry's feast had made him +dreadfully hungry. + +By and by, after a long, long time, he came to a third little pool with +a high, smooth bank, and who should he see there but Little Joe Otter, +who had made a slippery slide down the smooth bank and was having a +glorious time sliding down into the little pool. Spotty would have liked +to take just one slide, but he didn't. He didn't even let Little Joe +Otter see him, but kept right on going. + + “One step, two steps, three steps, so!” + +By and by, after a long, long time, he came to a hollow log, and just +happening to peep in, he saw some one curled up fast asleep. Who was it? +Why, Billy Mink, to be sure! You see, Billy thought that he was so far +ahead that he might just as well take it easy, and that was what he was +doing. Spotty the Turtle didn't waken him. He just kept right on going +the same slow way he had come all day, and so, just as jolly, round, +red Mr. Sun was going to bed behind the Purple Hills, Spotty the Turtle +found the cause of the trouble in the Laughing Brook and the Smiling +Pool. + + + +CHAPTER XV: What Spotty The Turtle Found + +Spotty the Turtle stared and stared and stared, until it seemed as if +his eyes surely would pop out of his funny little head. Of course he +could believe his own eyes, and yet--and yet--well, if anybody else had +seen what he was looking at and had told him about it, he wouldn't have +believed it. No, Sir, he wouldn't have believed it. You see, he couldn't +have believed it because--why, because it didn't seem as if it could be +really and truly so. + +He wondered if the sun shining in his eyes made him think he saw more +than he really did see, so he carefully changed his position. It made no +difference. Then Spotty was sure that what he saw was real, and that he +had found the cause of the trouble in the Laughing Brook, which had made +it stop laughing and the Smiling Pool stop smiling. + +Spotty the Turtle was feeling pretty good. In fact, Spotty was feeling +very good indeed, because he had been the first to find out what was +the matter with the Laughing Brook. At least, he thought that he was the +first, and he was of all the little people who live in the Smiling Pool. +Only Ol' Mistah Buzzard had been before him, and he didn't count because +his wings are broad, and all he had to do was to sail over the Green +Forest and look down. The ones who really counted were Billy Mink and +Little Joe Otter and Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather Frog. Billy Mink had +stopped for a nap. Little Joe Otter had stopped to play. Jerry Muskrat +had stopped to eat. Grandfather Frog had stopped for a sun-nap. But +Spotty the Turtle had kept right on going, and now here he was, the +first one to find the cause of the trouble in the Laughing Brook. Do you +wonder that he felt proud and very happy? + + Keeping at it, that's the way + Spotty won the race that day. + +But now Spotty was beginning to wish that some of the others would hurry +up. He wanted to know what they thought. He wanted to talk it all over. +It was such a surprising thing that he could make neither head nor tail +of it himself, and he wondered what the others would say. And now the +long black shadows were creeping through the Green Forest, and if they +didn't get there pretty soon, they would have to wait until the next +day. + +So Spotty the Turtle found a good place to spend the night, and then he +sat down to watch and wait. Right before him was the thing which he had +found and which puzzled him so. What was it? Why, it was a wall. Yes, +Sir, that is just what it was--a wall of logs and sticks and mud, and +it was right across the Laughing Brook, where the banks were steep +and narrow. Of course the Laughing Brook could laugh no longer; there +couldn't enough water get through that wall of logs and sticks and mud +to make even the beginning of a laugh. Spotty wondered what lay behind +that wall, and who had built it, and what for, and a lot of other +things. And he was still wondering when he fell asleep. + + + +CHAPTER XVI: The Pond In The Green Forest + +SPOTTY THE TURTLE was awake by the time the first rays of the rising sun +began to creep through the Green Forest. He was far, far up the Laughing +Brook, very much farther than he had ever been before, and as he yawned +and stretched, he wondered if after all he hadn't dreamed about the wall +of logs and sticks and mud across the Laughing Brook. When he had rubbed +the last sleepy-wink out of his eyes, he looked again. There it was, +just as he had seen it the night before! Then Spotty knew that it was +real, and he began to wonder what was on the other side of it. + +“I cannot climb it, for my legs were never made for climbing,” said +Spotty mournfully as he looked at his funny little black feet. “Oh, +dear, I wish that I could climb like Happy Jack Squirrel!” Just then a +thought popped into his head and chased away the little frown that had +crept into Spotty's face. “Perhaps Happy Jack sometimes wishes that he +could swim as I can, so I guess we are even. I can't climb, but he can't +swim. How foolish it is to wish for things never meant for you!” + +And with that, all the discontent left Spotty the Turtle, and he +began to study how he could make the most of his short legs and his +perseverance, of which, as you already know, he had a great deal. He +looked this way, and he looked that way, and he saw that if he could +climb to the top of the bank on one side of the Laughing Brook, he would +be able to walk right out on the strange wall of logs and sticks and +mud, and then, of course, he could see just what was on the other side. + +So Spotty the Turtle wasted no more time wishing that he could do +something it was never meant that he should do. Instead, he picked out +what looked like the easiest place to climb the bank and started up. My, +my, my, it was hard work! You see, he had to carry his house along with +him, for he has to carry that wherever he goes, and it would have been +hard enough to have climbed that bank without carrying anything. Every +time he had climbed up three steps he slipped back two steps, but he +kept at it, puffing and blowing, saying over and over to himself: + + “I can if I will, and will if I can! + I'm sure to get there if I follow this plan.” + +Half-way up the bank Spotty lost his balance, and the house he was +carrying just tipped him right over backward, and down he rolled to the +place he had started from. + +“I needed to cool off,” said Spotty to himself and slid into a little +pool of water. Then he tried the bank again, and just as before he +slipped back two steps for every three he went up. But he shut his mouth +tight and kept at it, and by and by he was up to the place from which he +had tumbled. There he stopped to get his breath. + + “I can if I will, and will if I can! + I'm sure to get there if I follow this plan,” + +said he and started on again. Twice more he tumbled clear down to the +place he had started from, but each time he laughed at himself and tried +again. And at last he reached the top of the bank. + +“I said I could if I would, and I would if I could, and I have!” he +cried. + +Then he hurried to see what was behind the strange wall. What do you +think it was? Why, a pond! Yes, Sir, there was a pond right in the +middle of the Green Forest! Trees were coming up right out of the middle +of it, but it was a sure enough pond. Spotty found it harder work to +believe his own eyes now than when he had first seen the strange wall +across the Laughing Brook. + +“Why, why, why, what does it mean?” exclaimed Spotty the Turtle. + +“That's what I want to know!” cried Billy Mink, who came hurrying up +just then. + + + +CHAPTER XVII: Who Had Made The Strange Pond? + +Who had made the strange pond? That is what Spotty the Turtle wanted to +know. That is what Billy Mink wanted to know. So did Little Joe Otter +and Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather Frog, when they arrived. So did +Ol' Mistah Buzzard, looking down from the blue, blue sky. It was very +strange, very strange indeed! Never had there been a pond in that part +of the Green Forest before, not even in the days when Sister South Wind +melted the snow so fast that the Laughing Brook ran over its banks and +the Smiling Pool grew twice as large as it ought to be. + +Of course some one had made it. Spotty the Turtle had known that as soon +as he had seen the strange pond. All in a flash he had understood what +that wall of logs and brush and mud across the Laughing Brook was for. +It was to stop the water from running down the Laughing Brook. And of +course, if the water couldn't keep on running and laughing on its way +to the Smiling Pool, it would just stand still and grow and grow into a +pond. Of course! There was nothing else for it to do. Spotty felt very +proud when he had thought that out all by himself. + +“This wall we are sitting on has made the pond,” said Spotty the Turtle, +after a long time in which no one had spoken. + +“You don't say so!” said Billy Mink. “How ever, ever, did you guess it? +Are you sure, quite sure that the pond didn't make the wall?” + +Spotty knew that Billy Mink was making fun of him, but he is too +good-natured to lose his temper over a little thing like that. He +tried to think of something smart to say in reply, but Spotty is a slow +thinker as well as a slow walker, and before he could think of anything, +Billy was talking once more. + +“This wall is what Farmer Brown's boy calls a dam,” said Billy Mink, who +is a great traveler. “Dams are usually built to keep water from running +where it isn't wanted or to make it go where it is wanted. Now, what +I want to know is, who under the sun wants a pond way back here in +the Green Forest, and what is it for? Who do you think built this dam, +Grandfather Frog?” + +Grandfather Frog shook his head. His big goggly eyes seemed more goggly +than ever, as he stared at the new pond in the Green Forest. + +“I don't know,” said Grandfather Frog. “I don't know what to think.” + +“Why, it must be Farmer Brown's boy or Farmer Brown himself,” said Jerry +Muskrat. + +“Of course,” said Little Joe Otter, just as if he knew all about it. + +Still Grandfather Frog shook his head, as if he didn't agree. “I don't +know,” said Grandfather Frog, “I don't know. It doesn't look so to me.” + +Billy Mink ran along the top of the dam and down the back side. He +looked it all over with those sharp little eyes of his. + +“Grandfather Frog is right,” said he, when he came back. “It doesn't +look like the work of Farmer Brown or Farmer Brown's boy. But if they +didn't do it, who did? Who could have done it?” + +“I don't know,” said Grandfather Frog again, in a dreamy sort of voice. + +Spotty the Turtle looked at him, and saw that Grandfather Frog's face +wore the far-away look that it always does when he tells a story of +the days when the world was young. “I don't know,” he repeated, “but it +looks to me very much like the work of--” Grandfather Frog stopped short +off and turned to Jerry Muskrat. “Jerry Muskrat,” said he, so sharply +that Jerry nearly lost his balance in his surprise, “has your big cousin +come down from the North?” + + + +CHAPTER XVIII: Jerry Muskrat's Big Cousin + + Fiddle, faddle, feedle, fuddle! + Was there ever such a muddle? + Fuddle, feedle, faddle, fiddle! + Who is there will solve the riddle? + +Here was the Laughing Brook laughing no longer. Here was the Smiling +Pool smiling no longer. Here was a brand new pond deep in the Green +Forest. Here was a wall of logs and bushes and mud called a dam, built +by some one whom nobody had seen. And here was Grandfather Frog asking +Jerry Muskrat if his big cousin had come down from the North, when Jerry +didn't even know that he had a big cousin. + +“I--I haven't any big cousin,” said Jerry, when he had quite recovered +from his surprise at Grandfather Frog's question. + +“Chugarum!” exclaimed Grandfather Frog, and the scornful way in which he +said it made Jerry Muskrat feel very small. “Chugarum! Of course you've +got a big cousin in the North. Do you mean to tell me that you don't +know that, Jerry Muskrat?” + +Jerry had to admit that it was true that he didn't know anything about +that big cousin. If Grandfather Frog said that he had one, it must be +so, for Grandfather Frog is very old and very wise, and he knows a great +deal. Still, it was very hard for Jerry to believe that he had a big +cousin of whom he had never heard. + +“Did--did you ever see him, Grandfather Frog?” Jerry asked. + +“No!” snapped Grandfather Frog. “I never did, but I know all about him. +He is a great worker, is this big cousin of yours, and he builds dams +like this one we are sitting on.” + +“I don't believe it!” cried Billy Mink. “I don't believe any cousin of +Jerry Muskrat's ever built such a dam as this. Why, just look at that +great tree trunk at the bottom! No one but Farmer Brown or Farmer +Brown's boy could ever have dragged that there. You're crazy, +Grandfather Frog, just plain crazy.” Billy Mink sometimes is very +disrespectful to Grandfather Frog. + +“Chugarum!” replied Grandfather Frog. “I'm pretty old, but I'm not too +old to learn as some folks seem to be,” and he looked very hard at Billy +Mink. “Did I say that that tree trunk was dragged here?” + +“No,” replied Billy Mink, “but if it wasn't dragged here, how did it get +here? You are so smart, Grandfather Frog, tell me that!” + +Grandfather Frog blinked his great goggly eyes at Billy Mink as he said, +just as if he was very, very sorry for Billy, “Your eyes are very bright +and very sharp, Billy Mink, and it is a great pity that you have never +learned how to use them. That tree wasn't dragged here; it was cut so +that it fell right where it lies.” As he spoke, Grandfather Frog pointed +to the stump of the tree, and Billy Mink saw that he was right. + +But Billy Mink is like a great many other people; he dearly loves to +have the last word. Now he suddenly began to laugh. + +“Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho!” laughed Billy Mink. “Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ha!” + +“What is it that is so funny?” snapped Grandfather Frog, for nothing +makes him so angry as to be laughed at. + +“Do you mean to say that anybody but Farmer Brown or Farmer Brown's boy +could have cut down such a big tree as that?” asked Billy. “Why, that +would be as hard as to drag the tree here.” + +“Jerry Muskrat's big cousin from the North could do it, and I believe he +did,” replied Grandfather Frog. “Now that we have found the cause of the +trouble in the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool, what are we going to +do about it?” + + + +CHAPTER XIX: Jerry Muskrat Has A Busy Day + +There was the strange pond in the Green Forest, and there was the dam +of logs and sticks and mud which had made the strange pond, but look +as they would, Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter and Jerry Muskrat and +Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle could see nothing of the one who +had built the dam. It was very queer. The more they thought about it, +the queerer it seemed. They looked this way, and they looked that way. + +“There is one thing very sure, and that is that whoever built this dam +had no thought for those who live in the Laughing Brook and the Smiling +Pool,” said Grandfather Frog. “They are selfish, just plain, every-day +selfish; that's what they are! Now the Laughing Brook cannot laugh, +and the Smiling Pool cannot smile, while this dam stops the water from +running, and so--” Grandfather Frog stopped and looked around at his +four friends. + +“And so what?” cried Billy Mink impatiently. + +“And so we must spoil this dam. We must make a place for the water to +run through,” said Grandfather Frog very gravely. + +“Of course! That's the very thing!” cried Little Joe Otter and Billy +Mink and Jerry Muskrat and Spotty the Turtle. Then Little Joe Otter +looked at Billy Mink, and Billy Mink looked at Jerry Muskrat, and Jerry +Muskrat looked at Spotty the Turtle, and after that they all looked very +hard at Grandfather Frog, and all together they asked: “How are we going +to do it?” + +Grandfather Frog scratched his head thoughtfully and looked a long time +at the dam of logs and sticks and mud. Then his big mouth widened in a +big smile. + +“Why, that is very simple,” said he, “Jerry Muskrat will make a big hole +through the dam near the bottom, because he knows how, and the rest of +us will keep watch to see that no harm comes near.” + +“The very thing!” cried Little Joe Otter and Billy Mink and Spotty the +Turtle, but Jerry Muskrat thought it wasn't fair. You see, it gave him +all of the real work to do. However, Jerry thought of his dear Smiling +Pool, and how terrible it would be if it should smile no more, and so +without another word he set to work. + +Now Jerry Muskrat is a great worker, and he had made many long tunnels +into the bank around the Smiling Pool, so he had no doubt but that he +could soon make a hole through this dam. But almost right away he found +trouble. Yes, Sir, Jerry had hardly begun before he found real trouble. +You see, that dam was made mostly of sticks instead of mud, and so, +instead of digging his way in as he would have done into the bank of the +Smiling Pool, he had to stop every few minutes to gnaw off sticks that +were in the way. + +It was hard work, the hardest kind of hard work. But Jerry Muskrat is +the kind that is the more determined to do the work the harder the work +is to be done. And so, while Grandfather Frog sat on one end of the dam +and pretended to keep watch, but really took a nap in the warm sunshine, +and while Spotty the Turtle sat on the other end of the dam doing the +same thing, and while Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter swam around in the +strange pond and enjoyed themselves, Jerry Muskrat worked and worked and +worked. And just as jolly, round, red Mr. Sun started down behind the +Purple Hills, Jerry broke through into the strange pond, and the water +began to run in the Laughing Brook once more. + + + +CHAPTER XX: Jerry Has A Dreadful Disappointment + + There's nothing in this world that's sure, + No matter how we scheme and plan. + We simply have to be content + With doing just the best we can. + +Jerry Muskrat had curled himself up for the night, so tired that he +could hardly keep his eyes open long enough to find a comfortable place +to sleep. But he was happy. Yes, indeed, Jerry was happy. He could hear +the Laughing Brook beginning to laugh again. It was just a little low, +gurgling laugh, but Jerry knew that in a little while it would grow +into the full laugh that makes music through the Green Forest and puts +happiness into the hearts of all who hear it. + +So Jerry was happy, for was it not because of him that the Laughing +Brook was beginning to laugh? He had worked all the long day to make a +hole through the dam which some one had built across the Laughing Brook +and so stopped its laughter. Now the water was running again, and soon +the new, strange pond behind the dam there in the Green Forest would +be gone, and the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool would be their own +beautiful selves once more. It was because he had worked so hard all day +that he was going to sleep now. Usually he would rather sleep a part of +the day and be abroad at night. + +Very pleasant dreams had Jerry Muskrat that night, dreams of the dear +Smiling Pool, smiling just as it had as long as Jerry could remember, +before this trouble had come. He was still dreaming when Spotty the +Turtle found him and waked him, for it was broad daylight. Jerry yawned +and stretched, and then he lay still for a minute to listen to the +pleasant murmur of the Laughing Brook. But there wasn't any pleasant +murmur. There wasn't any sound at all. Jerry began to wonder if he +really was awake after all. He looked at Spotty the Turtle, and he knew +then that he was, for Spotty's face had such a worried look. + +“Get up, Jerry Muskrat, and come look at the hole you made yesterday in +the dam. You couldn't have done your work very well, for the hole has +filled up so that the water does not run any more,” said Spotty. + +“I did do it well!” snapped Jerry crossly. “I did it just as well as +I know how. You lazy folks who just sit and take sun-naps while +you pretend to keep watch had better get busy and do a little work +yourselves, if you don't like the way I work.” + +“I--I beg your pardon, Jerry Muskrat. I didn't mean to say just that,” + replied Spotty. “You see, we are all worried. We thought last night that +by this morning the Laughing Brook would be full of water again, and we +could go back to the Smiling Pool as soon as we felt like it, and here +it is as bad as ever.” + +“Perhaps the trouble is just that some sticks and grass drifted down in +the water and filled up the hole I made; that must be the trouble,” said +Jerry hopefully, as he hurried towards the dam. + +First he carefully examined it from the Laughing Brook side. Then he +dived down under water on the other side. He was gone a long time, and +Billy Mink was just getting ready to dive to see what had become of him +when he came up again. + +“What is the trouble?” cried Spotty the Turtle and Grandfather Frog and +Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter together. “Is the hole filled up with +stuff that has drifted in?” + +Jerry shook his head, as he slowly climbed out of the water. “No,” said +he. “No, it isn't filled with drift stuff brought down by the water. It +is filled with sticks and mud that somebody has put there. Somebody has +filled up the hole that I worked so hard to make yesterday, and it will +take me all day to open it up again.” + +Then Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle and Billy Mink and Little +Joe Otter and Jerry Muskrat stared at one mother, and for a long time no +one said a word. + + + +CHAPTER XXI: Jerry Muskrat Keeps Watch + + “The way in which to find things out, + And what goes on all round about, + Is just to keep my two eyes peeled + And two ears all the time unsealed.” + +So said Jerry Muskrat, as he settled himself comfortably on one end +of the new dam across the Laughing Brook deep in the Green Forest and +watched the dark shadows creep farther and farther out into the strange +pond made by the new dam. + +“I'm going to find out who it is that built this dam, and who it is that +filled the hole I made in it! I'm going to find out if I have to move up +here and live all summer!” The way in which Jerry said this and snapped +his teeth together showed that he meant just what he said. + +You see Jerry had spent another long, weary day opening the hole in the +dam once more, only to have it closed again while he slept. That had +been enough for Jerry. He hadn't tried again. Instead he had made up +his mind that he would find out who was playing such a trick on him. He +would just watch until they came, and then if they were not bigger than +he, or there were not too many of them, he would--well, the way Jerry +gritted and clashed those sharp teeth of his sounded as if he meant to +do something pretty bad. + +Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter had given up in disgust and started for +the Big River. They are great travelers, anyway, and so didn't mind so +much because there was no longer water enough in the Laughing Brook and +the Smiling Pool. Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle, who are such +very, very slow travelers, had decided that the Big River was too far +away, and so they would stay and live in the strange pond for a while, +though it wasn't nearly so nice as their dear Smiling Pool. They bad +gone to sleep now, each in his own secret place where he would be safe +for the night. + +So Jerry Muskrat sat alone and watched. The black shadows crept farther +and farther across the pond and grew blacker and blacker. Jerry didn't +mind this, because, as you know, his eyes are made for seeing in the +dark, and he dearly loves the night. Jerry had sat there a long +time without moving. He was listening and watching. By and by he saw +something that made him draw in his breath and anger leap into his eyes. +It was a little silver line on the water, and it was coming straight +towards the dam where he sat. Jerry knew that it was made by some one +swimming. + +“Ha!” said Jerry. “Now we shall see!” + +Nearer and nearer came the silver line. Then Jerry made out the head of +the swimmer. Suddenly all the anger left Jerry. He didn't have room for +anger; a great fear had crowded it out. The head was bigger than that of +any Muskrat Jerry had ever seen. It was bigger than the head of any of +Billy Mink's relatives. It was the head of a stranger, a stranger so big +that Jerry felt very, very small and hoped with all his might that the +stranger would not see him. + +Jerry held his breath as the stranger swam past and then climbed out on +the dam. He looked very much like Jerry himself, only ever and ever so +much bigger. And his tail! Jerry had never seen such a tail. It was very +broad and flat. Suddenly the big stranger turned and looked straight at +Jerry. + +“Hello, Jerry Muskrat!” said he. “Don't you know me?” + +Jerry was too frightened to speak. + +“I'm your big cousin from the North; I'm Paddy the Beaver, and if +you leave my dam alone, I think we'll be good friends,” continued the +stranger. + +“I--I--I hope so,” said Jerry in a very faint voice, trying to be +polite, but with his teeth chattering with fear. + + + +CHAPTER XXII: Jerry Loses His Fear + + “Oh, tell me, you and you and you, + If it may hap you've ever heard + Of all that wond'rous is and great + The greatest is the spoken word?” + +It's true. It's the truest thing that ever was. If you don't believe +it, you just go ask Jerry Muskrat. He'll tell you it's true, and Jerry +knows. You see, it's this way: Words are more than just sounds. Oh, my, +yes! They are little messengers, and once they have been sent out, you +can't call them back. No, Sir, you can't call them back, and sometimes +that is a very sad thing, because--well, you see these little messengers +always carry something to some one else, and that something may be anger +or hate or fear or an untruth, and it is these things which make most of +the trouble in this world. Or that something may be love or sympathy or +helpfulness or kindness, and it is these things which put an end to most +of the troubles in this world. + +Just take the ease of Jerry Muskrat. There he sat on the new dam, which +had made the strange pond in the Green Forest, shaking with fear until +his teeth chattered, as he watched a stranger very, very much bigger +than he climb up on the dam. Jerry was afraid, because he had seen that +the stranger could swim as well as he could, and as Jerry had no secret +burrows there, he knew that he couldn't get away from the stranger if he +wanted to. Somehow, Jerry knew without being told that the stranger had +built the dam, and you know Jerry had twice made a hole in the dam to +let the water out of the strange pond into the Laughing Brook. Jerry +knew right down in his heart that if he had built that dam, he would be +very, very angry with any one who tried to spoil it, and that is just +what he had tried to do. So he sat with chattering teeth, too frightened +to even try to run. + +“I wish I had let some one else keep watch,” said Jerry to himself. + +Then the big stranger had spoken. He had said: “Hello, Jerry Muskrat! +Don't you know me?” and his voice hadn't sounded the least bit angry. +Then he had told Jerry that he was his big cousin, Paddy the Beaver, and +he hoped that they would be friends. + +Now everything was just as it had been before--the strange pond, the +dam, Jerry himself and the big stranger, and the black shadows of the +night--and yet somehow, everything was different, all because a few +pleasant words had been spoken. A great fear had fallen away from +Jerry's heart, and in its place was a great hope that after all there +wasn't to be any trouble. So he replied to Paddy the Beaver as politely +as he knew how. Paddy was just as polite, and the first thing Jerry +knew, instead of being enemies, as Jerry had all along made up his mind +would be the case when he found the builder of the dam, here they were +becoming the best of friends, all because Paddy the Beaver had said the +right thing in the right way. + +“But you haven't told me yet what you made those holes in my dam for, +Cousin Jerry,” said Paddy the Beaver finally. + +Jerry didn't know just what to say. He was so pleased with his big new +cousin that he didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him that he +didn't think that dam had any business to be across the Laughing Brook, +and at the same time he wanted Paddy to know how he had spoiled the +Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool. At last he made up his mind to tell +the whole story. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII: Paddy The Beaver Does A Kind Deed + +Paddy the Beaver listened to all that his small cousin, Jerry Muskrat, +had to tell him about the trouble which Paddy's dam had caused in the +Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool. + +“You see, we who live in the Smiling Pool love it dearly, and we don't +want to have to leave it, but if the water cannot run down the Laughing +Brook, there can be no Smiling Pool, and so we will have to move off to +the Big River,” concluded Jerry Muskrat. “That is why I tried to spoil +your dam.” + +There was a twinkle in the eyes of Paddy the Beaver as he replied: +“Well, now that you have found out that you can't do that, because I am +bigger than you and can stop you, what are you going to do about it?” + +“I don't know,” said Jerry Muskrat sadly. “I don't see what we can +do about it. Of course you are big and strong and can do just as you +please, but it doesn't seem right that we who have lived here so long +should have to move and go away from all that we love so just because +you, a stranger, happen to want to live here. I tell you what!” Jerry's +eyes sparkled as a brand new thought came to him. “Couldn't you come +down and live in the Smiling Pool with us? I'm sure there is room +enough!” + +Paddy the Beaver shook his head. “No,” said he, and Jerry's heart sank. +“No, I can't do that because down there there isn't any of the kind of +food I eat. Besides, I wouldn't feel at all safe in the Smiling Pool. +You see, I always live in the woods. No, I couldn't possibly come down +to live in the Smiling Pool. But I'm truly sorry that I have made you so +much worry, Cousin Jerry, and I'm going to prove it to you. Now you sit +right here until I come back.” + +Before Jerry realized what he was going to do, Paddy the Beaver dived +into the pond, and as he disappeared, his broad tail hit the water such +a slap that it made Jerry jump. Then there began a great disturbance +down under water. In a few minutes up bobbed a stick, and then another +and another, and the water grew so muddy that Jerry couldn't see what +was going on. Paddy was gone a long time. Jerry wondered how he could +stay under water so long without air. All the time Paddy was just +fooling him. He would come up to the surface, stick his nose out, +nothing more, fill his lungs with fresh air, and go down again. + +Suddenly Jerry Muskrat heard a sound that made him prick up his funny +little short ears and whirl about so that he could look over the other +side of the dam into the Laughing Brook. What do you think that sound +was? Why, it was the sound of rushing water, the sweetest sound Jerry +had listened to for a long time. There was a great hole in the dam, and +already the brook was beginning to laugh as the water rushed down it. + +“How do you like that, Cousin Jerry?” said a voice right in his ear. +Paddy the Beaver had climbed up beside him, and his eyes were twinkling. + +“It--it's splendid!” cried Jerry. “But--but you've spoiled your dam!” + +“Oh, that's all right,” replied Paddy. “I didn't really want it now, +anyway. I don't usually build dams at this time of year, and I built +this one just for fun because it seemed such a nice place to build one. +You see, I was traveling through here, and it seemed such a nice place, +that I thought I would stay a while. I didn't know anything about the +Smiling Pool, you know. Now, I guess I'll have to move on and find a +place where I can make a pond in the fall that will not trouble other +people. You see, I don't like to be troubled myself, and so I don't want +to trouble other people. This Green Forest is a very nice place.” + +“The very nicest place in all the world excepting the Green Meadows +and the Smiling Pool!” replied Jerry promptly. “Won't you stay, Cousin +Paddy? I'm sure we would all like to have you.” + +“Of course we would,” said a gruff voice right beside them. It was +Grandfather Frog. + +Paddy the Beaver looked thoughtful. “Perhaps I will,” said he, “if I can +find some good hiding-places in the Laughing Brook.” + + + +CHAPTER XXIV: A Merry Home-Going + + “The Laughing Brook is merry + And so am I,” cried Jerry. + Grandfather Frog said he was too. + And Spotty was, the others knew. + +The trees stood with wet feet where just a little while before had been +the strange pond in the Green Forest, the pond made by the dam of Paddy +the Beaver. In the dam was a great hole made by Paddy himself. + +Through the Green Forest rang the laughter of the Laughing Brook, for +once more the water ran deep between its banks. And in the hearts of +Grandfather Frog and Jerry Muskrat and Spotty the Turtle was laughter +also, for now the Smiling Pool would smile once more, and they could go +home in peace and happiness. And there was one more who laughed. Who was +it? Why, Paddy the Beaver to be sure, and his was the best laugh of all, +for it was because he had brought happiness to others. + +“You beat me up here to the dam, but you won't beat me back to the +Smiling Pool,” cried Jerry Muskrat to Spotty the Turtle. + +Spotty laughed good-naturedly. “You'd better not stop to eat or play or +sleep on the way then,” said he, “for I shall keep right on going all +the time. I've found that is the only way to get anywhere.” + +“Let us all go down together” said Grandfather Frog. “We can help each +other over the bad places.” + +Jerry Muskrat laughed until he had to hold his sides at the very thought +of Grandfather Frog or Spotty the Turtle being able to help him, but +he is very good-natured, and so he agreed that they should all go down +together. Paddy the Beaver said that he would go, too, so off the four +started, Jerry Muskrat and Paddy the Beaver swimming side by side, and +behind them Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle. + +Now Spotty the Turtle is a very slow traveler on land, but in the water +Spotty is not so slow. In fact, it was not long before Grandfather Frog +found that he was the one who could not keep up. You see, while he is +a great diver and can swim fast for a short distance, he is soon tired +out. Pretty soon he was puffing and blowing and dropping farther and +farther behind. By and by, Spotty the Turtle looked back. There was +Grandfather Frog just tumbling head first over a little waterfall. +He came up choking and gasping and kicking his long legs very feebly. +Spotty climbed out on a rock and waited. He helped Grandfather Frog out +beside him, and when Grandfather Frog had once more gotten his breath, +what do you think Spotty did? Why, he took Grandfather Frog right on his +back and started on again. + +Now Jerry Muskrat and Paddy the Beaver, being great swimmers, were soon +out of sight. All at once Jerry remembered that they had agreed to go +back together, and down in his heart he felt a little bit mean when he +looked for Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle and could see nothing +of them. So he and Paddy sat down to wait. After what seemed a long +time, they saw something queer bobbing along in the water. + +“It's Grandfather Frog,” cried Paddy the Beaver. + +“No, it's Spotty the Turtle,” said Jerry Muskrat. + +“It's both,” replied Paddy, beginning to laugh. + +Just then Spotty tumbled over another waterfall which he hadn't seen, +and of course Grandfather Frog went with him and lost his hold on +Spotty's back. + +“I have an idea!” cried Paddy. + +“What is it?” asked Jerry. + +“Why, Grandfather Frog can ride on my flat tail,” replied Paddy, “and +then we'll go slow enough for Spotty to keep up with us.” + +And so it was that just as the first moonbeams kissed the Smiling Pool, +out of the Laughing Brook swam the merriest party that ever was seen. + +“Chugarum!” said Grandfather Frog. “It is good to be home, but I think +I would travel often, if I could have the tail of Paddy the Beaver for a +boat.” + + + +CHAPTER XXV: Paddy The Beaver Decides To Stay + + “The fair Green Meadows spreading wide, + The Smiling Pool and Laughing Brook-- + They fill our hearts with joy and pride; + We love their every hidden nook.” + +So said Jerry Muskrat, as he climbed up on the Big Rock in the middle of +the Smiling Pool, with Paddy the Beaver beside him, and watched the dear +Smiling Pool dimpling and smiling in the moonlight, as he had so often +seen it before the great trouble had come. + +“Chugarum!” said Grandfather Frog in his great deep voice from the +bulrushes. “One never knows how great their blessings are until they +have been lost and found again.” + +The bulrushes nodded, as if they too were thinking of this. You see +their feet were once more in the cool water. Paddy the Beaver seemed to +understand just how every one felt, and he smiled to himself as he saw +how happy these new friends of his were. + +“It surely is a very nice place here, and I don't wonder that you +couldn't bear to leave it,” said he. “I'm sorry that I made you all that +trouble and worry, but you see I didn't know.” + +“Oh, that's all right,” replied Jerry Muskrat, who was now very proud of +his big cousin. “I hope that now you see how nice it is, you will stay +and make your home here.” + +Paddy the Beaver looked back at the great black shadow which he knew was +the Green Forest. Way over in the middle of it he heard the hunting-call +of Hooty the Owl. Then he looked out over the Green Meadows, and from +way over on the far side of them sounded the bark of Reddy Fox, and it +was answered by the deep voice of Bowser the Hound up in Farmer Brown's +dooryard. For some reason that last sound made Paddy the Beaver shiver +a little, just as the voice of Hooty the Owl made the smaller people of +the Green Forest and the Green Meadows shiver when they heard it. Paddy +wasn't afraid of Hooty or of Reddy Fox, but Bowser's great voice was new +to him, and somehow the very sound of it made him afraid. You see, the +Green Meadows were so strange and open that he didn't feel at all at +home, for he dearly loves the deepest part of the Green Forest. + +“No,” said Paddy the Beaver, “I can't possibly live here in the Smiling +Pool. It is a very nice pool, but it wouldn't do at all for me, Cousin +Jerry. I wouldn't feel safe here a minute. Besides, there is nothing to +eat here.” + +“Oh, yes, there is,” Jerry Muskrat interrupted. “There are lily-roots +and the nicest fresh-water clams and--” + +“But there are no trees,” said Paddy the Beaver, “and you know I have to +have trees.” + +Jerry stared at Paddy as if he didn't understand. “Do--do you eat +trees?” he asked finally. + +Paddy laughed. “Just the bark,” said he, “and I have to have a great +deal of it.” + +Jerry looked as disappointed as he felt. “Of course you can't stay +then,” said he, “and--and I had thought that we would have such good +times together.” + +Paddy's eyes twinkled. “Perhaps we may yet,” said he. “You see I have +about made up my mind that I will stay a while along the Laughing Brook +in the Green Forest, and you can come to see me there. On our way down I +saw a very nice hole in the bank that I think will make me a good house +for the present, and you can come up there to see me. But if I do stay, +you and Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle must keep my secret. No +one must know that I am there. Will you?” + +“Of course we will!” cried Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather Frog and Spotty +the Turtle together. + +“Then I'll stay,” said Paddy the Beaver, diving into the Smiling Pool +with a great splash. + +And so one of Jerry Muskrat's greatest adventures ended in the finding +of his biggest cousin, Paddy the Beaver. Now Jerry has a lot of cousins, +and one of them lives on the Green Meadows not far from the Smiling +Pool. His name is Danny Meadow Mouse, and Danny is forever having +adventures too. He has them every day. In the next book you will be told +about some of these, if you care to read about them. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat, by +Thornton W. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/5110-0.zip b/5110-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6defa92 --- /dev/null +++ b/5110-0.zip diff --git a/5110-h.zip b/5110-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd88a64 --- /dev/null +++ b/5110-h.zip diff --git a/5110-h/5110-h.htm b/5110-h/5110-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a887b87 --- /dev/null +++ b/5110-h/5110-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2654 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat, by Thornton W. Burgess + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +Project Gutenberg's The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat, 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 Jerry Muskrat + +Author: Thornton W. Burgess + +Release Date: April 13, 2009 [EBook #5110] +Last Updated: March 10, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY MUSKRAT *** + + + + +Produced by Kent Fielden, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE ADVENTURES OF<br /><br />JERRY MUSKRAT + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Thornton W. Burgess + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I: </a> Jerry Muskrat + Has A Fright <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II: </a> + The Convention At The Big Rock <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0003"> + CHAPTER III: </a> The Oracle Of The Smiling Pool <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV: </a> Grandfather Frog's + Plan <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V: </a> A + Busy Day At The Smiling Pool <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER + VI: </a> Farmer Brown's Boy Is Puzzled <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII: </a> Jerry Muskrat Makes + A Discovery <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII: </a> + Grandfather Frog Watches His Toes <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0009"> + CHAPTER IX: </a> The Laughing Brook Stops Laughing <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X: </a> Why The World + Seemed Upside Down To Jerry Muskrat <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0011"> + CHAPTER XI: </a> Five Heads Together <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII: </a> A Hunt For Trouble + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII: </a> Ol' + Mistah Buzzard Sees Something <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0014"> + CHAPTER XIV: </a> Spotty The Turtle Keeps Right On Going + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV: </a> What + Spotty The Turtle Found <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI: + </a> The Pond In The Green Forest <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII: </a> Who Had Made The + Strange Pond? <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII: </a> + Jerry Muskrat's Big Cousin <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER + XIX: </a> Jerry Muskrat Has A Busy Day <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX: </a> Jerry Has A Dreadful + Disappointment <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI: </a> + Jerry Muskrat Keeps Watch <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER + XXII: </a> Jerry Loses His Fear <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XXIII: </a> + Paddy The Beaver Does A Kind Deed <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0024"> + CHAPTER XXIV: </a> A Merry Home-Going <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0025"> CHAPTER XXV: </a> Paddy The Beaver + Decides To Stay <br /><br /> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER I: Jerry Muskrat Has A Fright + </h2> + <p> + What was it Mother Muskrat had said about Farmer Brown's boy and his + traps? Jerry Muskrat sat on the edge of the Big Rock and kicked his heels + while he tried to remember. The fact is, Jerry had not half heeded. He had + been thinking of other things. Besides, it seemed to him that Mother + Muskrat was altogether foolish about a great many things. + </p> + <p> + “Pooh!” said Jerry, throwing out his chest, “I guess I can take care of + myself without being tied to my mother's apron strings! What if Farmer + Brown's boy is setting traps around the Smiling Pool? I guess he can't + fool your Uncle Jerry. He isn't so smart as he thinks he is; I can fool + him any day.” Jerry chuckled. He was thinking of how he had once fooled + Farmer Brown's boy into thinking a big trout was on his hook. + </p> + <p> + Slowly Jerry slid into the Smiling Pool and swam over towards his favorite + log. Peter Rabbit stuck his head over the edge of the bank. “Hi, Jerry,” + he shouted, “last night I saw Farmer Brown's boy coming over this way with + a lot of traps. Better watch out!” + </p> + <p> + “Go chase yourself, Peter Rabbit. I guess I can look out for myself,” + replied Jerry, just a little crossly. + </p> + <p> + Peter made a wry face and started for the sweet clover patch. Hardly was + he out of sight when Billy Mink and Bobby Coon came down the Laughing + Brook together. They seemed very much excited. When they saw Jerry + Muskrat, they beckoned for him to come over where they were, and when he + got there, they both talked at once, and it was all about Farmer Brown's + boy and his traps. + </p> + <p> + “You'd better watch out, Jerry,” warned Billy Mink, who is a great + traveler and has had wide experience. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I guess I'm able to take care of myself,” said Jerry airily, and once + more started for his favorite log. And what do you suppose he was thinking + about as he swam along? He was wishing that he knew what a trap looked + like, for despite his boasting he didn't even know what he was to look out + for. As he drew near his favorite log, something tickled his nose. He + stopped swimming to sniff and sniff. My, how good it did smell! And it + seemed to come right straight from the old log. Jerry began to swim as + fast as he could. In a few minutes he scrambled out on the old log. Then + Jerry rubbed his eyes three times to be sure that he saw aright. There + were luscious pieces of carrot lying right in front of him. + </p> + <p> + Now there is nothing that Jerry Muskrat likes better than carrot. So he + didn't stop to wonder how it got there. He just reached out for the + nearest piece and ate it. Then he reached for the next piece and ate it. + Then he did a funny little dance just for joy. When he was quite out of + breath, he sat down to rest. Snap! Something had Jerry Muskrat by the + tail! Jerry squealed with fright and pain. Oh, how it did hurt! He twisted + and turned, but he was held fast and could not see what had him. Then he + pulled and pulled, until it seemed as if his tail would pull off. But it + didn't. So he kept pulling, and pretty soon the thing let go so suddenly + that Jerry tumbled head first into the water. + </p> + <p> + When he reached home, Mother Muskrat did his sore tail up for him. “What + did I tell you about traps?” she asked severely. + </p> + <p> + Jerry stopped crying. “Was that a trap?” he asked. Then he remembered that + in his fright he didn't even see it. “Oh, dear,” he moaned, “I wouldn't + know one to-day if I met it.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II: The Convention At The Big Rock + </h2> + <p> + Jolly round, red Mr. Sun looked down on the Smiling Pool. He almost forgot + to keep on climbing up in the blue sky, he was so interested in what he + saw there. What do you think it was? Why, it was a convention at the Big + Rock, the queerest convention he ever had seen. Your papa would say that + it was a mass-meeting of angry citizens. Maybe it was, but that is a + pretty long term. Anyway, Mother Muskrat said it was a convention, and she + ought to know, for she is the one who had called it. + </p> + <p> + Of course Jerry Muskrat was there, and his uncles and aunts and all his + cousins. Billy Mink was there, and all his relations, even old Grandfather + Mink, who has lost most of his teeth and is a little hard of hearing. + </p> + <p> + Little Joe Otter was there, with his father and mother and all his + relations even to his third cousins. Bobby Coon was there, and he had + brought with him every Coon of his acquaintance who ever fished in the + Smiling Pool or along the Laughing Brook. And everybody was looking very + solemn, very solemn indeed. + </p> + <p> + When the last one had arrived, Mother Muskrat climbed up on the Big Rock + and called Jerry Muskrat up beside her, where all could see him. Then she + made a speech. “Friends of the Smiling Pool and Laughing Brook,” began + Mrs. Muskrat, “I have called you together to show you what has happened to + my son Jerry and to ask your advice.” She stopped and pointed to Jerry's + sore tail. “What do you think did that?” she demanded. + </p> + <p> + “Probably Jerry's been in a fight and got whipped,” said Bobby Coon to his + neighbor, for Bobby Coon is a graceless young scamp and does not always + show proper respect to his neighbors. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Muskrat glared at him, for she had overheard the remark. Then she + held up one hand to command silence. “Friends, it was a trap—a trap + set by Farmer Brown's boy! a trap to catch you and me and our children!” + said she solemnly. “It is no longer safe for our little folks to play + around the Smiling Pool or along the Laughing Brook. What are we going to + do about it?” + </p> + <p> + Everybody looked at everybody else in dismay. Then everybody began to talk + at once, and if Farmer Brown's boy could have heard all the things said + about him, his cheeks certainly would have burned. Indeed, I am afraid + that they would have blistered. Such excitement! Everybody had a different + idea, and nobody would listen to anybody else. Old Mr. Mink lost his + temper and called Grandpa Otter a meddlesome know-nothing. It looked very + much as if the convention was going to break up in a sad quarrel. Then Mr. + Coon climbed up on the Big Rock and with a stick pounded for silence. + </p> + <p> + “I move,” said he, “that in as much as we cannot agree, we tell + Great-Grandfather Frog all about the danger and ask his advice, for he is + very old and very wise and remembers when the world was young. All in + favor please raise their right hands.” + </p> + <p> + At once the air was full of hands, and everybody was good-natured once + more. So it was agreed to call in Great-Grandfather Frog. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III: The Oracle Of The Smiling Pool + </h2> + <p> + Grandfather Frog sat on his big green lily-pad with his eyes half closed, + for all the world as if he knew nothing about the meeting at the Big Rock. + Of course he did know, for there isn't much going on around the Smiling + Pool which he doesn't see or at least hear all about. The Merry Little + Breezes, who are here, there, and everywhere, told him all that was going + on, so that when he saw Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter swimming + towards him, he knew what they were coming for. But he pretended to be + very much surprised when Jerry Muskrat very politely said: “Good morning, + Grandfather Frog.” + </p> + <p> + “Good morning, Jerry Muskrat. You're out early this morning,” replied + Grandfather Frog. + </p> + <p> + “If you please, you are wanted over at the Big Rock,” said Jerry. + </p> + <p> + Grandfather Frog's eyes twinkled, but he made his voice very deep and + gruff as he replied: “Chugarum! You're a scamp, Jerry Muskrat, and Little + Joe Otter is another. What trick are you trying to play on me now?” + </p> + <p> + Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter looked a wee bit sheepish, for it was + true that they were forever trying to play tricks on Grandfather Frog. + “Really and truly, Grandfather Frog, there isn't any trick this time,” + said Jerry. “There is a meeting at the Big Rock to try to decide what to + do to keep Farmer Brown's boy from setting traps around the Smiling Pool + and along the Laughing Brook, and everybody wants your advice, because you + are so old and so wise. Please come.” + </p> + <p> + Grandfather Frog smoothed down his white and yellow waistcoat and + pretended to think the matter over very seriously, while Jerry and Little + Joe fidgeted impatiently. Finally he spoke. + </p> + <p> + “I am very old, as you have said, Jerry Muskrat, and it is a long way over + to the Big Rock.” + </p> + <p> + “Get right on my back and I'll take you over there,” said Jerry eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid that you'll spill me off,” replied Grandfather Frog. + </p> + <p> + “No, I won't; just try me and see,” begged Jerry. + </p> + <p> + So Grandfather Frog climbed on Jerry Muskrat's back, and Jerry started for + the Big Rock as fast as he could go. When all the Minks and the Otters and + the Coons and the Muskrats saw them coming, they gave a great shout, for + Grandfather Frog is sometimes called the oracle of the Smiling Pool. You + know an oracle is one who is very wise. + </p> + <p> + Bobby Coon helped Grandfather Frog up on the Big Rock, and when he had + made himself comfortable, Mrs. Muskrat told him all about Farmer Brown's + boy and his traps, and how Jerry had been caught in one by the tail, and + she ended by asking for his advice, because they all knew that he was so + wise. + </p> + <p> + When she said this, Grandfather Frog puffed himself up until it seemed as + if his white and yellow waistcoat would surely burst. He sat very still + for a while and gazed straight at jolly, round, red Mr. Sun without + blinking once. Then he spoke in a very deep voice. + </p> + <p> + “To-morrow morning at sunrise I will tell you what to do,” said he. And + not another word could they get out of him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV: Grandfather Frog's Plan + </h2> + <p> + Just as Old Mother West Wind and her Merry Little Breezes came down from + the Purple Hills, and jolly, round, red Mr. Sun threw his nightcap off and + began his daily climb up in the blue sky, Great-Grandfather Frog climbed + up on the Big Rock in the Smiling Pool. Early as he was, all the little + people who live along the Laughing Brook and around the Smiling Pool were + waiting for him. Bobby Coon had found two traps set by Farmer Brown's boy, + and Billy Mink had almost stepped in a third. No one felt safe any more, + yet no one knew what to do. So they all waited for the advice of + Great-Grandfather Frog, who, you know, is accounted very, very wise. + </p> + <p> + Grandfather Frog cleared his throat. “Chugarum!” said he. “You must find + all the traps that Farmer Brown's boy has set.” + </p> + <p> + “How are we going to do it?” asked Bobby Coon. + </p> + <p> + “By looking for them,” replied Grandfather Frog tartly. + </p> + <p> + Bobby Coon looked foolish and slipped out of sight behind his mother. + </p> + <p> + “All the Coons and all the Minks must search along the banks of the + Laughing Brook, and all the Muskrats and all the Otters must search along + the banks of the Smiling Pool. You must use your eyes and your noses. When + you find things good to eat where you have never found them before, watch + out! When you get the first whiff of the man-smell, watch out! Billy Mink, + you are small and quick, and your eyes are sharp. You sit here on the Big + Rock until you see Farmer Brown's boy coming. Then go hide in the + bulrushes where you can watch him, but where he cannot see you. Follow him + everywhere he goes around the Smiling Pool or along the Laughing Brook. + Without knowing it, he will show you where every trap is hidden. + </p> + <p> + “When all the traps have been found, drop a stick or a stone in each. That + will spring them, and then they will be harmless. Then you can bury them + deep in the mud. But don't eat any of the food until you have sprung all + of the traps, for just as likely as not you will get caught. When all the + traps have been sprung, why not bring all the good things to eat which you + find around them to the Big Rock and have a grand feast?” + </p> + <p> + “Hurrah for Grandfather Frog! That's a great idea!” shouted Little Joe + Otter, turning a somersault in the water. + </p> + <p> + Every one agreed with Little Joe Otter, and immediately they began to plan + a grand hunt for the traps of Farmer Brown's boy. The Muskrats and the + Otters started to search the banks of the Smiling Pool, and the Coons and + the Minks, all but Billy, started for the Laughing Brook. Billy climbed up + on the Big Rock to watch, and Grandfather Frog slowly swam back to his big + green lily-pad to wait for some foolish green flies for his breakfast. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V: A Busy Day At The Smiling Pool + </h2> + <p> + Everybody was excited. Yes, Sir, everybody in the Smiling Pool and along + the Laughing Brook was just bubbling over with excitement. Even Spotty the + Turtle, who usually takes everything so calmly that some people think him + stupid, climbed up on the highest point of an old log where he could see + what was going on. Only Grandfather Frog, sitting on his big green + lily-pad and watching for foolish green flies for his breakfast, appeared + not to know that something unusual was going on. Really, he was just as + much excited as the rest, but because he is very old and accounted very, + very wise, it would not do for him to show it. + </p> + <p> + What was it all about? Why, all the Minks and the Coons and the Otters and + the Muskrats, who live and play around the Smiling Pool and the Laughing + Brook, were hunting for traps. Yes, Sir, they were hunting for traps set + by Farmer Brown's boy, just as Grandfather Frog had advised them to. + </p> + <p> + Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter were hunting together. They were + swimming along close to shore just where the Laughing Brook leaves the + Smiling Pool, when Jerry wrinkled up his funny little nose and stopped + swimming. Sniff, sniff, sniff, went Jerry Muskrat. Then little cold + shivers ran down his backbone and way out to the tip of his tail. + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” asked Little Joe Otter. + </p> + <p> + “It's the man-smell,” whispered Jerry. + </p> + <p> + Just then Little Joe Otter gave a long sniff. “My, I smell fish!” he + cried, his eyes sparkling, and started in the direction from which the + smell came. He swam faster than Jerry, and in a minute he shouted in + delight. + </p> + <p> + “Hi, Jerry! Some one's left a fish on the edge of the bank: What a feast!” + </p> + <p> + Jerry hurried as fast as he could swim, his eyes popping out with fright, + for the nearer he got, the stronger grew that dreadful man-smell. “Don't + touch it,” he panted. “Don't touch it, Joe Otter!” + </p> + <p> + Little Joe laughed. “What's the matter, Jerry? 'Fraid I'll eat it all up + before you get here?” he asked, as he reached out for the fish. + </p> + <p> + “Stop!” shrieked Jerry, and gave Little Joe a push, just as the latter + touched the fish. + </p> + <p> + Snap! A pair of wicked steel jaws flew together and caught Little Joe + Otter by a claw of one toe. If it hadn't been for Jerry's push, he would + have been caught by a foot. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! Oh! Oh!” cried Little Joe Otter. + </p> + <p> + “Next time I guess you'll remember what Grandfather Frog said about + watching out when you find things to eat where they never were before,” + said Jerry, as he helped Little Joe pull himself free from the trap. But + he left the claw behind and had a dreadfully sore toe as a result. Then + they buried the trap deep down in the mud and started to look for another. + </p> + <p> + All around the Smiling Pool and along the Laughing Brook their cousins and + uncles and aunts and friends were just as busy, and every once in a while + some one would have just as narrow an escape as Little Joe Otter. And all + the time up at the farmhouse Farmer Brown's boy was planning what he would + do with the skins of the little animals he was sure he would catch in his + traps. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI: Farmer Brown's Boy Is Puzzled + </h2> + <p> + Farmer Brown's boy was whistling merrily as he tramped down across the + Green Meadows. The Merry Little Breezes saw him coming, and they raced + over to the Smiling Pool to tell Billy Mink. Farmer Brown's boy was coming + to visit his traps. He was very sure that he would find Billy Mink or + Little Joe Otter, or Jerry Muskrat, or perhaps Bobby Coon. + </p> + <p> + Billy Mink was sitting on top of the Big Rock. He saw the Merry Little + Breezes racing across the Green Meadows, and behind them he saw Farmer + Brown's boy. Billy Mink dived head first into the Smiling Pool. Then he + swam over to Jerry Muskrat's house and warned Jerry. Together they hunted + up Little Joe Otter, and then the three little scamps in brown hid in the + bulrushes, where they could watch Farmer Brown's boy. + </p> + <p> + The first place Farmer Brown's boy visited was Jerry Muskrat's old log. + Very cautiously he peeped over the edge of the bank. The trap was gone! + </p> + <p> + “Hurrah!” shouted Farmer Brown's boy. He was very much excited, as he + caught hold of the end of the chain, which fastened it to the old log. He + was sure that at last he had caught Jerry Muskrat. When he pulled the trap + up, it was empty. Between the jaws were a few hairs and a little bit of + skin, which Jerry Muskrat had left there when he sprung the trap with his + tail. + </p> + <p> + Farmer Brown's boy was disappointed. “Well, I'll get him to-morrow, + anyway,” said he to himself. Then he went on to his next trap; it was + nowhere to be seen. When he pulled the chain he was so excited that he + trembled. The trap did not come up at once. He pulled and pulled, and then + suddenly up it came, all covered with mud. In it was one little claw from + Little Joe Otter. Very carefully Farmer Brown's boy set the trap again. If + he could have looked over in the bulrushes and have seen Little Joe Otter + and Billy Mink and Jerry Muskrat watching him and tickling and laughing, + he would not have been so sure that next time he would catch Little Joe + Otter. + </p> + <p> + All around the Smiling Pool and then up and down the Laughing Brook Farmer + Brown's boy tramped, and each trap he found sprung and buried in the mud. + He had stopped whistling by this time, and there was a puzzled frown on + his freckled face. What did it mean? Could some other boy have found all + his traps and played a trick by springing all of them? The more he thought + about it, the more puzzled he became. You see, he did not know anything + about the busy day the Minks and the Otters and the Muskrats and the Coons + had spent the day before. + </p> + <p> + Old Grandfather Frog, sitting on his big green lily-pad, smoothed down his + white and yellow waistcoat and winked up at jolly, round, red Mr. Sun as + Farmer Brown's boy tramped off across the Green Meadows. + </p> + <p> + “Chugarum!” said Grandfather Frog, as he snapped up a foolish green fly. + “Much good it will do you to set those traps again!” + </p> + <p> + Then Grandfather Frog called to Billy Mink and sent him to tell all the + other little people of the Smiling Pool and the Laughing Brook that they + must hurry and spring all the traps again as they had before. + </p> + <p> + This time it was easy, because they knew just where the traps were, so all + day long they dropped sticks and stones into the traps and once more + sprung them. Then they prepared for a grand feast of the good things to + eat which Farmer Brown's boy had left, scattered around the traps. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII: Jerry Muskrat Makes A Discovery + </h2> + <p> + The beautiful springtime had brought a great deal of happiness to the + Smiling Pool, as it had to the Green Meadows and to the Green Forest. + Great-Grandfather Frog, who had slept the long winter away in his own + special bed way down in the mud, had waked up with an appetite so great + that for a while it seemed as if he could think of nothing but his + stomach. Jerry Muskrat had felt the spring fever in his bones and had gone + up and down the Laughing Brook, poking into all kinds of places just for + the fun of seeing new things. Little Joe Otter had been more full of fun + than ever, if that were possible. Mr. and Mrs. Redwing had come back to + the bulrushes from their winter home way down in the warm Southland. + Everybody was happy, just as happy as could be. + </p> + <p> + One sunny morning Jerry Muskrat sat on the Big Rock in the middle of the + Smiling Pool, just thinking of how happy everybody was and laughing at + Little Joe Otter, who was cutting up all sorts of capers in the water. + Suddenly Jerry's sharp eyes saw something that made him wrinkle his + forehead in a puzzled frown and look and look at the opposite bank. + Finally he called to Little Joe Otter. + </p> + <p> + “Hi, Little Joe! Come over here!” shouted Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “What for?” asked Little Joe, turning a somersault in the water. + </p> + <p> + “I want you to see if there is anything wrong with my eyes,” replied + Jerry. + </p> + <p> + Little Joe Otter stopped swimming and stared up at Jerry Muskrat. “They + look all right to me,” said he, as he started to climb up on the Big Rock. + </p> + <p> + “Of course they look all right,” replied Jerry, “but what I want to know + is if they see all right. Look over at that bank.” + </p> + <p> + Little Joe Otter looked over at the bank. He stared and stared, but he + didn't see anything unusual. It looked just as it always did. He told + Jerry Muskrat so. + </p> + <p> + “Then it must be my eyes,” sighed Jerry. “It certainly must be my eyes. It + looks to me as if the water does not come as high up on the bank as it did + yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + Little Joe Otter looked again and his eyes opened wide. “You are right, + Jerry Muskrat!” he cried. “There's nothing the matter with your eyes. The + water is as low as it ever gets, even in the very middle of summer. What + can it mean?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” replied Jerry Muskrat. “It is queer! It certainly is very + queer! Let's go ask Grandfather Frog. You know he is very old and very + wise, so perhaps he can tell us what it means.” + </p> + <p> + Splash! Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter dived into the Smiling Pool and + started a race to see who could reach Grandfather Frog first. He was + sitting among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool, for the + lily-pads were not yet big enough for him to sit on comfortably. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Grandfather Frog, what's the matter with the Smiling Pool?” they + shouted, as they came up quite out of breath. + </p> + <p> + “Chugarum! There's nothing the matter with the Smiling Pool; it's the best + place in all the world,” replied Grandfather Frog gruffly. + </p> + <p> + “But there is something the matter,” insisted Jerry Muskrat, and then he + told what he had discovered. + </p> + <p> + “I don't believe it,” said Grandfather Frog. “I never heard of such a + thing in the springtime.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII: Grandfather Frog Watches His Toes + </h2> + <p> + Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool. + Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the + very joy of springtime. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tra-la-la-lee, see me! See me! + Happy am I as I can be! + Happy am I the whole day long + And so I sing my gladsome song.” + </pre> + <p> + Of course Mr. Redwing was happy. Why shouldn't he be? Here it was the + beautiful springtime, the gladdest time of all the year, the time when + happiness creeps into everybody's heart. Grandfather Frog listened. He + nodded his head. “Chugarum! I'm happy, too,” said Grandfather Frog. But + even as he said it, a little worried look crept into his big goggly eyes + and then down to the corners of his big mouth, which had been stretched in + a smile. Little by little the smile grew smaller and smaller, until there + wasn't any smile. No, Sir, there wasn't any smile. Instead of looking + happy, as he said he felt, Grandfather Frog actually looked unhappy. + </p> + <p> + The fact is he couldn't forget what Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter had + told him—that there was something the matter with the Smiling Pool. + He didn't believe it, not a word of it. At least he tried to make himself + think that he didn't believe it. They had said that the water in the + Smiling Pool was growing lower and lower, just as it did in the middle of + summer, in the very hottest weather. Now Grandfather Frog is very old and + very wise, and he had never heard of such a thing happening in the + springtime. So he wouldn't believe it now. And yet—and yet + Grandfather Frog had an uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong. + Ha! he knew now what it was! He had been sitting up to his middle in + water, and now he was sitting with only his toes in the water, and he + couldn't remember having changed his position! + </p> + <p> + “Of course, I moved without thinking what I was doing,” muttered + Grandfather Frog, but still the worried look didn't leave his face. You + see he just couldn't make himself believe what he wanted to believe, try + as he would. + </p> + <p> + “Chugarum! I know what I'll do; I'll watch my toes!” exclaimed Grandfather + Frog. + </p> + <p> + So Grandfather Frog waded out into the water until it covered his feet, + and then he sat down and began to watch his toes. Mr. Redwing looked down + and saw him, and Grandfather Frog looked so funny gazing at his own toes + that Mr. Redwing stopped singing long enough to ask: “What are you doing, + Grandfather Frog?” + </p> + <p> + “Watching my toes,” replied Grandfather Frog gruffly. + </p> + <p> + “Watching your toes! Ho, ho, ho! Watching your toes! Who ever heard of + such a thing? Are you afraid that they will run away, Grandfather Frog?” + shouted Mr. Redwing. + </p> + <p> + Grandfather Frog didn't answer. He kept right on watching his toes. Mr. + Redwing flew away to tell everybody he met how Grandfather Frog had become + foolish and was watching his toes. The sun shone down warm and bright, and + pretty soon Grandfather Frog's big goggly eyes began to blink. Then his + head began to nod, and then—why, then Grandfather Frog fell fast + asleep. + </p> + <p> + By and by Grandfather Frog awoke with a start. He looked down at his toes. + They were not in the water at all! Indeed, the water was a good long jump + away. + </p> + <p> + “Chugarum! There is something wrong with the Smiling Pool!” cried + Grandfather Frog, as he made a long jump into the water and started to + swim out to the Big Rock. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX: The Laughing Brook Stops Laughing + </h2> + <p> + There was something wrong. Grandfather Frog knew it the very minute he got + up that morning. At first he couldn't think what it was. He sat with just + his head out of water and blinked his great goggly eyes, as he tried to + think what it was that was wrong. Suddenly Grandfather Frog realized how + still it was. It was a different kind of stillness from anything he could + ever remember. He missed something, and he couldn't think what it was. It + wasn't the song of Mr. Redwing. There were many times when he didn't hear + that. It was—Grand-father Frog gave a startled jump out on to the + shore. “Chugarum! It's the Laughing Brook! The Laughing Brook has stopped + laughing!” cried Grandfather Frog. + </p> + <p> + Could it be? Who ever heard of such a thing, excepting when Jack Frost + bound the Laughing Brook with hard black ice? Why, in the spring and in + the summer and in the fall the Laughing Brook had laughed—such a + merry, happy laugh—ever since Grandfather Frog could remember, and + you know he can remember way back in the long ago, for he is very old and + very wise. Never once in all that time had the Laughing Brook failed to + laugh. It couldn't be true now! Grandfather Frog put a hand behind one ear + and listened and listened, but not a sound could he hear. + </p> + <p> + “Chugarum! It must be me,” said Grandfather Frog. “It must be that I am + growing old and deaf. I'll go over and ask Jerry Muskrat.” + </p> + <p> + So Grandfather Frog dove into the water and swam out to the middle of the + Smiling Pool, on his way to Jerry Muskrat's house. It was then that he + first fully realized the truth of what Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter + had told him the day before—that there was something very, very + wrong with the Smiling Pool. He stopped swimming to look around, and it + seemed as if his great goggly eyes would pop right out of his head. Yes, + Sir, it seemed as if those great goggly eyes certainly would pop right out + of Grandfather Frog's head. The Smiling Pool had grown so small that there + wasn't enough of it left to smile! + </p> + <p> + “Where are you going, Grandfather Frog?” asked a voice over his head. + </p> + <p> + Grandfather Frog looked up. Looking down on him from over the edge of the + Big Rock was Jerry Muskrat. The edge of the Big Rock was twice as high + above the water as Grandfather Frog had ever seen it before. + </p> + <p> + “I—I—was going to swim over to your house to see you,” replied + Grandfather Frog. + </p> + <p> + “It's of no use,” replied Jerry, “because I'm not there. Besides, you + couldn't swim there, anyway.” + </p> + <p> + “Why not?” demanded Grandfather Frog in great surprise. + </p> + <p> + “Because it isn't in the water any longer; it's way up on dry land,” said + Jerry Muskrat in the most mournful voice. + </p> + <p> + “What's that you say?” cried Grandfather Frog, as if he couldn't believe + his own ears. + </p> + <p> + “It's just as true as that I'm sitting here,” replied Jerry sadly. + </p> + <p> + “Listen, Jerry Muskrat, and tell me truly; is the Laughing Brook + laughing?” cried Grandfather Frog sharply. + </p> + <p> + “No,” replied Jerry, “the Laughing Brook has stopped laughing, and the + Smiling Pool has stopped smiling, and I think the world is upside down.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X: Why The World Seemed Upside Down To Jerry Muskrat + </h2> + <p> + Jerry Muskrat sat on the Big Rock in the Smiling Pool, which smiled no + longer, and held his head in both hands, for his head ached. He had + thought and thought and thought, until it seemed to him that his head + would split; and with all his thinking, he didn't understand things any + more now than he had in the beginning. You see, Jerry Muskrat's little + world was topsy-turvy. Yes, Sir, Jerry's world was upside down! Anyway, it + seemed so to him, and he couldn't understand it at all. + </p> + <p> + The Smiling Pool, the Laughing Brook, and the Green Meadows are Jerry + Muskrat's little world. Now, as he sat on the Big Rock and looked about + him, the Green Meadows were as lovely as ever. He could see no change in + them. But the Laughing Brook had stopped laughing, and the Smiling Pool + had stopped smiling. The truth is there wasn't enough of the Laughing + Brook left to laugh, and there wasn't enough of the Smiling Pool left to + smile. + </p> + <p> + It was dreadful! Jerry looked over to his house, of which he had once been + so proud. He had built it with the doorway under water. He had felt + perfectly safe there, because no one excepting Billy Mink or Little Joe + Otter, who can swim under water, could reach him. Now the Smiling Pool had + grown so small that Jerry's house wasn't in the water at all. Anybody who + wanted to could get into it. There was the doorway plainly to be seen. + Worse still, there was the secret entrance to the long tunnel leading to + his castle under the roots of the Big Hickory-tree. That had been Jerry's + most secret secret, and now there it was for all the world to see. And + there were all the wonderful caves and holes and hiding-places under the + bank which had been known only to Jerry Muskrat and Billy Mink and Little + Joe Otter, because the openings had always been under water. Now anybody + could find them, for they were plainly to be seen. And where had always + been smiling, dimpling water, Jerry saw only mud. It was mud, mud, mud + everywhere! The bulrushes, which had always grown with their feet in the + water, now had them only in mud, and that was fast drying up. The + lily-pads lay half curled up at the ends of their long stems, stretched + out on the mud, and looked very, very sick. Jerry turned towards the + Laughing Brook. There was just a little, teeny, weeny stream of water + trickling down the middle of it, with here and there a tiny pool in which + frightened trout and minnows were crowded. All the secrets of the Laughing + Brook were exposed, just as were the secrets of the Smiling Pool. Jerry + knew that if he wanted to find Billy Mink's hiding-places, all he need do + would be to walk up the Laughing Brook and look. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Sir, the world has turned upside down,” said Jerry in a mournful + voice. + </p> + <p> + “I believe it has,” replied Grandfather Frog, looking up from the little + pool of water left at the foot of the Big Rock. + </p> + <p> + “I know it has!” cried Jerry. “I wonder if it will ever turn upside up + again.” + </p> + <p> + “If it doesn't, what are you going to do?” asked Grandfather Frog. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” replied Jerry Muskrat. “Here come Little Joe Otter and + Billy Mink; let's find out what they are going to do.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI: Five Heads Together + </h2> + <p> + Something had to be done. Jerry Muskrat said so. Grandfather Frog said so. + Billy Mink said so. Little Joe Otter said so. Even Spotty the Turtle said + so. The Laughing Brook couldn't laugh, and the Smiling Pool couldn't + smile. You see, there wasn't water enough in either of them to laugh or + smile, and nobody knew if there ever would be again. Nobody had ever known + anything like it before, and so nobody knew what to think or do. And yet + they all felt that something must be done. + </p> + <p> + “What do you think, Billy Mink?” asked Grandfather Frog. + </p> + <p> + Billy Mink looked down from the top of the Big Rock into the little pool + of water that was all there was left of the Smiling Pool. He could see a + dozen fat trout in it, and he knew that he could catch them just as easily + as not, because there was no place for them to swim away from him. But + somehow he didn't want to catch them. He knew that they were frightened + almost to death already by the running away of nearly all the water from + the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool, and somehow he felt sorry for + them. + </p> + <p> + “I think that the best thing we can do is to move down to the Big River. + I've been down there, and that's all right,” said Billy Mink. + </p> + <p> + “That's what I think,” said Little Joe Otter. “There's no danger that the + Big River will go dry.” + </p> + <p> + “How do you know?” asked Jerry Muskrat. “The Laughing Brook and the + Smiling Pool never went dry before.” + </p> + <p> + “It's a long, long way down to the Big River,” broke in Spotty the Turtle, + who travels very, very slowly and carries his house with him. + </p> + <p> + “Chugarum! I, for one, don't want to leave the Smiling Pool without + finding out what the trouble is. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “There's nothing happens, as you know, + But has a cause to make it so. +</pre> + <p> + “Now there must be some cause, some reason, for this terrible trouble with + the Smiling Pool, and if we can find that out, perhaps we shall know + better what to do,” said Grandfather Frog. + </p> + <p> + Jerry Muskrat nodded his head. “Grandfather Frog is right,” said he. “Of + course there must be a cause, but where are we to look for it? I've been + all over the Smiling Pool, and I'm sure it isn't there.” + </p> + <p> + Grandfather Frog actually smiled. “Chugarum!” said he. “Of course the + cause of all the trouble isn't in the Smiling Pool. Any one would know + that!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, if you know so much, tell us where it is then!” snapped Jerry + Muskrat. + </p> + <p> + “In the Laughing Brook, of course,” replied Grandfather Frog. + </p> + <p> + “No such thing!” said Billy Mink. “I've been all the way down the Laughing + Brook to the Big River, and I didn't find a thing.” + </p> + <p> + “Have you been all the way up the Laughing Brook to the place it starts + from?” asked Grandfather Frog. + </p> + <p> + “No-o,” replied Billy Mink. + </p> + <p> + “Well, that's where the cause of all the trouble is,” said Grandfather + Frog, just as if he knew all about it. “It's the water that comes down the + Laughing Brook that makes the Smiling Pool, and the Smiling Pool never + could dry up if the Laughing Brook didn't first stop running.” + </p> + <p> + “That's so! I never had thought of that,” cried Little Joe Otter. “I tell + you what, Billy Mink and I will go way up the Laughing Brook and see what + we can find.” + </p> + <p> + “Chugarum! Let us all go,” said Grandfather Frog. + </p> + <p> + Then the five put their heads together and decided that they would go up + the Laughing Brook to hunt for the trouble. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII: A Hunt For Trouble + </h2> + <p> + Ol' Mistah Buzzard, sailing high in the blue, blue sky, looked down on a + funny sight. Yes, Sir, it certainly was a funny sight. It was a little + procession of five of his friends of the Smiling Pool. First was Billy + Mink, who, because he is slim and nimble, moves so quickly it sometimes is + hard to follow him. Behind him was Little Joe Otter, whose legs are so + short that he almost looks as if he hadn't any. Behind Little Joe was + Jerry Muskrat, who is a better traveler in the water than on land. Behind + Jerry was Grandfather Frog, who neither walks nor runs but travels with + great jumps. Last of all was Spotty the Turtle, who travels very, very + slowly because, you know, he carries his house with him. And all five were + headed up the Laughing Brook, which laughed no more, because there was not + water enough in it. + </p> + <p> + Now Ol' Mistah Buzzard hadn't been over near the Smiling Pool for some + time, and he hadn't heard how the Smiling Pool had stopped smiling, and + the Laughing Brook had stopped laughing. When he looked down and saw how + the water was so nearly gone from them that the trout and the minnows had + hardly enough in which to live, he was so surprised that he kept saying + over and over to himself: + </p> + <p> + “Fo' the lan's sake! Fo' the lan's sake!” + </p> + <p> + Then, when he saw his five little friends marching up the Laughing Brook, + he guessed right away that it must be something to do with the trouble in + the Smiling Pool. Ol' Mistah Buzzard just turned his broad wings and slid + down, down out of the blue, blue sky until he was right over Grandfather + Frog. + </p> + <p> + “Where are yo'alls going?” asked Ol' Mistah Buzzard. + </p> + <p> + “Chugarum! To find out what is the trouble with the Laughing Brook,” + replied Grandfather Frog. + </p> + <p> + “I'll help you,” said Ol' Mistah Buzzard, once more sailing up in the + blue, blue sky. + </p> + <p> + Grandfather Frog watched him until he was nothing but a speck. “I wish I + had wings,” sighed Grandfather Frog, and once more began to hop along up + the bed of the Laughing Brook. + </p> + <p> + The Laughing Brook came down from the Green Forest and wound through the + Green Meadows for a little way before it reached the Smiling Pool. There + the sun shone down into it, and Grandfather Frog didn't mind, although his + legs were getting tired. But when they got into the Green Forest it was + dark and gloomy. At least Grandfather Frog thought so, and so did Spotty + the Turtle, for both dearly love the sunshine. But still they kept on, for + they felt that they must find the trouble with the Laughing Brook. If they + found this, they would also find the trouble with the Smiling Pool. + </p> + <p> + So Billy Mink jumped and skipped far ahead; Little Joe Otter ran; Jerry + Muskrat walked, for he soon gets tired on land; Grandfather Frog hopped; + Spotty the Turtle crawled, and way, way up in the blue, blue sky, OF + Mistah Buzzard flew, all looking for the trouble which had stopped the + laughing of the Laughing Brook and the smiling of the Smiling Pool. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII: Ol' Mistah Buzzard Sees Something + </h2> + <p> + “Wait for me!” cried Little Joe Otter to Billy Mink, but Billy Mink was in + too much of a hurry and just ran faster. + </p> + <p> + “Wait for me!” cried Jerry Muskrat to Little Joe Otter, but Little Joe was + in too much of a hurry and just ran faster. + </p> + <p> + “Wait for me!” cried Grandfather Frog to Jerry Muskrat, but Jerry was in + too much of a hurry and just walked faster. + </p> + <p> + “Wait for me!” cried Spotty the Turtle to Grandfather Frog, but + Grandfather Frog was in too much of a hurry and just jumped faster. + </p> + <p> + So running and walking and jumping and crawling, Billy Mink, Little Joe + Otter, Jerry Muskrat, Grandfather Frog, and Spotty the Turtle hurried up + the Laughing Brook to try to find out why it laughed no more. And high + overhead in the blue, blue sky sailed Ol' Mistah Buzzard, and he also was + looking for the trouble that had taken away the laugh from the Laughing + Brook and the smile from the Smiling Pool. + </p> + <p> + Now Ol' Mistah Buzzard's eyes are very sharp, and looking down from way up + in the blue, blue sky he can see a great deal. Indeed, Ol' Mistah Buzzard + can see all that is going on below on the Green Meadows and in the Green + Forest. His wings are very broad, and he can sail through the air very + swiftly when he makes up his mind to. Now, as he looked down, he saw that + Billy Mink was selfish and wouldn't wait for Little Joe Otter, and Little + Joe Otter was selfish and wouldn't wait for Jerry Muskrat, and Jerry + Muskrat was selfish and wouldn't wait for Grandfather Frog, and + Grandfather Frog was selfish and wouldn't wait for Spotty the Turtle. + </p> + <p> + “Ah reckon Ah will hurry up right smart and find out what the trouble is + mahself, and then go back and tell Brer Turtle; it will save him a + powerful lot of work, and it will serve Brer Mink right if Brer Turtle + finds out first what is the trouble with the Laughing Brook,” said Ol' + Mistah Buzzard and shot far ahead over the Green Forest towards that part + of it from which the Laughing Brook comes. In a few minutes he was as far + ahead of Billy Mink as Billy was ahead of Spotty the Turtle. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + For wings are swifter far than legs, + On whatsoever purpose bent, +But doubly swift and tireless Those wings on kindly deed intent. +</pre> + <p> + And this is how it happened that Ol' Mistah Buzzard was the first to find + out what it was that had stopped the laughing of the Laughing Brook and + the smiling of the Smiling Pool, but he was so surprised when he did find + out, that he forgot all about going back to tell Spotty the Turtle. He + forgot everything but his own great surprise, and he blinked his eyes a + great many times to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. Then he sailed + around and around in circles, looking down among the trees of the Green + Forest and saying over and over to himself: + </p> + <p> + “Did yo' ever? No, Ah never! Did yo' ever? No, Ah never!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV: Spotty The Turtle Keeps Right On Going + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “One step, two steps, three steps, so! + Four steps, five steps, six steps go! + Keep right on and do your best; + Mayhap you'll win while others rest.” + </pre> + <p> + Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little + down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook. And every + time he said it, he felt better. “One step, two steps,” he kept saying + over and over, and each time he said it, he took a step and then another. + They were very short steps, very short steps indeed, for Spotty's legs are + very short. But each one carried him forward just so much, and he knew + that he was just so much nearer the thing he was seeking. Anyway, he hoped + he was. + </p> + <p> + You see, if the Laughing Brook would never laugh any more, and the Smiling + Pool would never smile any more, there was nothing to do but to go down to + the Big River to live, and no one wanted to do that, especially + Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle. + </p> + <p> + Now, because Billy Mink could go faster than Little Joe Otter, and Little + Joe Otter could go faster than Jerry Muskrat, and Jerry could go faster + than Grandfather Frog, and Grandfather Frog could go faster than Spotty + the Turtle, and because each one wanted to be the first to find the + trouble, no one would wait for the one behind him. So Spotty the Turtle, + who has to carry his house with him, was a long, long way behind the + others. But he kept right on going. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “One step, two steps, three steps, so!” + </pre> + <p> + and he didn't stop for anything. He crawled over sticks and around big + stones and sometimes, when he found a little pool of water, he swam. He + always felt better then, because he can swim faster than he can walk. + </p> + <p> + After a long, long time, Spotty the Turtle came to a little pool where the + sunshine lay warm and inviting. There, in the middle of it, on a mossy + stone, sat Grandfather Frog fast asleep. He had thought that he was so far + ahead of Spotty that he could safely rest his tired legs. Spotty wanted to + climb right up beside him and take a nap too, but he didn't. He just + grinned and kept right on going. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “One step, two steps, three steps, so!” + </pre> + <p> + while Grandfather Frog slept on. + </p> + <p> + By and by, after a long, long time Spotty came to another little pool, and + who should he see but Jerry Muskrat busily opening and eating some + freshwater clams which he had found there. He was so busy enjoying himself + that he didn't see Spotty, and Spotty didn't say a word, but kept right on + going, although the sight of Jerry's feast had made him dreadfully hungry. + </p> + <p> + By and by, after a long, long time, he came to a third little pool with a + high, smooth bank, and who should he see there but Little Joe Otter, who + had made a slippery slide down the smooth bank and was having a glorious + time sliding down into the little pool. Spotty would have liked to take + just one slide, but he didn't. He didn't even let Little Joe Otter see + him, but kept right on going. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “One step, two steps, three steps, so!” + </pre> + <p> + By and by, after a long, long time, he came to a hollow log, and just + happening to peep in, he saw some one curled up fast asleep. Who was it? + Why, Billy Mink, to be sure! You see, Billy thought that he was so far + ahead that he might just as well take it easy, and that was what he was + doing. Spotty the Turtle didn't waken him. He just kept right on going the + same slow way he had come all day, and so, just as jolly, round, red Mr. + Sun was going to bed behind the Purple Hills, Spotty the Turtle found the + cause of the trouble in the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV: What Spotty The Turtle Found + </h2> + <p> + Spotty the Turtle stared and stared and stared, until it seemed as if his + eyes surely would pop out of his funny little head. Of course he could + believe his own eyes, and yet—and yet—well, if anybody else + had seen what he was looking at and had told him about it, he wouldn't + have believed it. No, Sir, he wouldn't have believed it. You see, he + couldn't have believed it because—why, because it didn't seem as if + it could be really and truly so. + </p> + <p> + He wondered if the sun shining in his eyes made him think he saw more than + he really did see, so he carefully changed his position. It made no + difference. Then Spotty was sure that what he saw was real, and that he + had found the cause of the trouble in the Laughing Brook, which had made + it stop laughing and the Smiling Pool stop smiling. + </p> + <p> + Spotty the Turtle was feeling pretty good. In fact, Spotty was feeling + very good indeed, because he had been the first to find out what was the + matter with the Laughing Brook. At least, he thought that he was the + first, and he was of all the little people who live in the Smiling Pool. + Only Ol' Mistah Buzzard had been before him, and he didn't count because + his wings are broad, and all he had to do was to sail over the Green + Forest and look down. The ones who really counted were Billy Mink and + Little Joe Otter and Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather Frog. Billy Mink had + stopped for a nap. Little Joe Otter had stopped to play. Jerry Muskrat had + stopped to eat. Grandfather Frog had stopped for a sun-nap. But Spotty the + Turtle had kept right on going, and now here he was, the first one to find + the cause of the trouble in the Laughing Brook. Do you wonder that he felt + proud and very happy? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Keeping at it, that's the way + Spotty won the race that day. +</pre> + <p> + But now Spotty was beginning to wish that some of the others would hurry + up. He wanted to know what they thought. He wanted to talk it all over. It + was such a surprising thing that he could make neither head nor tail of it + himself, and he wondered what the others would say. And now the long black + shadows were creeping through the Green Forest, and if they didn't get + there pretty soon, they would have to wait until the next day. + </p> + <p> + So Spotty the Turtle found a good place to spend the night, and then he + sat down to watch and wait. Right before him was the thing which he had + found and which puzzled him so. What was it? Why, it was a wall. Yes, Sir, + that is just what it was—a wall of logs and sticks and mud, and it + was right across the Laughing Brook, where the banks were steep and + narrow. Of course the Laughing Brook could laugh no longer; there couldn't + enough water get through that wall of logs and sticks and mud to make even + the beginning of a laugh. Spotty wondered what lay behind that wall, and + who had built it, and what for, and a lot of other things. And he was + still wondering when he fell asleep. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI: The Pond In The Green Forest + </h2> + <p> + SPOTTY THE TURTLE was awake by the time the first rays of the rising sun + began to creep through the Green Forest. He was far, far up the Laughing + Brook, very much farther than he had ever been before, and as he yawned + and stretched, he wondered if after all he hadn't dreamed about the wall + of logs and sticks and mud across the Laughing Brook. When he had rubbed + the last sleepy-wink out of his eyes, he looked again. There it was, just + as he had seen it the night before! Then Spotty knew that it was real, and + he began to wonder what was on the other side of it. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot climb it, for my legs were never made for climbing,” said Spotty + mournfully as he looked at his funny little black feet. “Oh, dear, I wish + that I could climb like Happy Jack Squirrel!” Just then a thought popped + into his head and chased away the little frown that had crept into + Spotty's face. “Perhaps Happy Jack sometimes wishes that he could swim as + I can, so I guess we are even. I can't climb, but he can't swim. How + foolish it is to wish for things never meant for you!” + </p> + <p> + And with that, all the discontent left Spotty the Turtle, and he began to + study how he could make the most of his short legs and his perseverance, + of which, as you already know, he had a great deal. He looked this way, + and he looked that way, and he saw that if he could climb to the top of + the bank on one side of the Laughing Brook, he would be able to walk right + out on the strange wall of logs and sticks and mud, and then, of course, + he could see just what was on the other side. + </p> + <p> + So Spotty the Turtle wasted no more time wishing that he could do + something it was never meant that he should do. Instead, he picked out + what looked like the easiest place to climb the bank and started up. My, + my, my, it was hard work! You see, he had to carry his house along with + him, for he has to carry that wherever he goes, and it would have been + hard enough to have climbed that bank without carrying anything. Every + time he had climbed up three steps he slipped back two steps, but he kept + at it, puffing and blowing, saying over and over to himself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “I can if I will, and will if I can! + I'm sure to get there if I follow this plan.” + </pre> + <p> + Half-way up the bank Spotty lost his balance, and the house he was + carrying just tipped him right over backward, and down he rolled to the + place he had started from. + </p> + <p> + “I needed to cool off,” said Spotty to himself and slid into a little pool + of water. Then he tried the bank again, and just as before he slipped back + two steps for every three he went up. But he shut his mouth tight and kept + at it, and by and by he was up to the place from which he had tumbled. + There he stopped to get his breath. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “I can if I will, and will if I can! + I'm sure to get there if I follow this plan,” + </pre> + <p> + said he and started on again. Twice more he tumbled clear down to the + place he had started from, but each time he laughed at himself and tried + again. And at last he reached the top of the bank. + </p> + <p> + “I said I could if I would, and I would if I could, and I have!” he cried. + </p> + <p> + Then he hurried to see what was behind the strange wall. What do you think + it was? Why, a pond! Yes, Sir, there was a pond right in the middle of the + Green Forest! Trees were coming up right out of the middle of it, but it + was a sure enough pond. Spotty found it harder work to believe his own + eyes now than when he had first seen the strange wall across the Laughing + Brook. + </p> + <p> + “Why, why, why, what does it mean?” exclaimed Spotty the Turtle. + </p> + <p> + “That's what I want to know!” cried Billy Mink, who came hurrying up just + then. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII: Who Had Made The Strange Pond? + </h2> + <p> + Who had made the strange pond? That is what Spotty the Turtle wanted to + know. That is what Billy Mink wanted to know. So did Little Joe Otter and + Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather Frog, when they arrived. So did Ol' Mistah + Buzzard, looking down from the blue, blue sky. It was very strange, very + strange indeed! Never had there been a pond in that part of the Green + Forest before, not even in the days when Sister South Wind melted the snow + so fast that the Laughing Brook ran over its banks and the Smiling Pool + grew twice as large as it ought to be. + </p> + <p> + Of course some one had made it. Spotty the Turtle had known that as soon + as he had seen the strange pond. All in a flash he had understood what + that wall of logs and brush and mud across the Laughing Brook was for. It + was to stop the water from running down the Laughing Brook. And of course, + if the water couldn't keep on running and laughing on its way to the + Smiling Pool, it would just stand still and grow and grow into a pond. Of + course! There was nothing else for it to do. Spotty felt very proud when + he had thought that out all by himself. + </p> + <p> + “This wall we are sitting on has made the pond,” said Spotty the Turtle, + after a long time in which no one had spoken. + </p> + <p> + “You don't say so!” said Billy Mink. “How ever, ever, did you guess it? + Are you sure, quite sure that the pond didn't make the wall?” + </p> + <p> + Spotty knew that Billy Mink was making fun of him, but he is too + good-natured to lose his temper over a little thing like that. He tried to + think of something smart to say in reply, but Spotty is a slow thinker as + well as a slow walker, and before he could think of anything, Billy was + talking once more. + </p> + <p> + “This wall is what Farmer Brown's boy calls a dam,” said Billy Mink, who + is a great traveler. “Dams are usually built to keep water from running + where it isn't wanted or to make it go where it is wanted. Now, what I + want to know is, who under the sun wants a pond way back here in the Green + Forest, and what is it for? Who do you think built this dam, Grandfather + Frog?” + </p> + <p> + Grandfather Frog shook his head. His big goggly eyes seemed more goggly + than ever, as he stared at the new pond in the Green Forest. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” said Grandfather Frog. “I don't know what to think.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, it must be Farmer Brown's boy or Farmer Brown himself,” said Jerry + Muskrat. + </p> + <p> + “Of course,” said Little Joe Otter, just as if he knew all about it. + </p> + <p> + Still Grandfather Frog shook his head, as if he didn't agree. “I don't + know,” said Grandfather Frog, “I don't know. It doesn't look so to me.” + </p> + <p> + Billy Mink ran along the top of the dam and down the back side. He looked + it all over with those sharp little eyes of his. + </p> + <p> + “Grandfather Frog is right,” said he, when he came back. “It doesn't look + like the work of Farmer Brown or Farmer Brown's boy. But if they didn't do + it, who did? Who could have done it?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” said Grandfather Frog again, in a dreamy sort of voice. + </p> + <p> + Spotty the Turtle looked at him, and saw that Grandfather Frog's face wore + the far-away look that it always does when he tells a story of the days + when the world was young. “I don't know,” he repeated, “but it looks to me + very much like the work of—” Grandfather Frog stopped short off and + turned to Jerry Muskrat. “Jerry Muskrat,” said he, so sharply that Jerry + nearly lost his balance in his surprise, “has your big cousin come down + from the North?” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII: Jerry Muskrat's Big Cousin + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Fiddle, faddle, feedle, fuddle! + Was there ever such a muddle? + Fuddle, feedle, faddle, fiddle! + Who is there will solve the riddle? +</pre> + <p> + Here was the Laughing Brook laughing no longer. Here was the Smiling Pool + smiling no longer. Here was a brand new pond deep in the Green Forest. + Here was a wall of logs and bushes and mud called a dam, built by some one + whom nobody had seen. And here was Grandfather Frog asking Jerry Muskrat + if his big cousin had come down from the North, when Jerry didn't even + know that he had a big cousin. + </p> + <p> + “I—I haven't any big cousin,” said Jerry, when he had quite + recovered from his surprise at Grandfather Frog's question. + </p> + <p> + “Chugarum!” exclaimed Grandfather Frog, and the scornful way in which he + said it made Jerry Muskrat feel very small. “Chugarum! Of course you've + got a big cousin in the North. Do you mean to tell me that you don't know + that, Jerry Muskrat?” + </p> + <p> + Jerry had to admit that it was true that he didn't know anything about + that big cousin. If Grandfather Frog said that he had one, it must be so, + for Grandfather Frog is very old and very wise, and he knows a great deal. + Still, it was very hard for Jerry to believe that he had a big cousin of + whom he had never heard. + </p> + <p> + “Did—did you ever see him, Grandfather Frog?” Jerry asked. + </p> + <p> + “No!” snapped Grandfather Frog. “I never did, but I know all about him. He + is a great worker, is this big cousin of yours, and he builds dams like + this one we are sitting on.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't believe it!” cried Billy Mink. “I don't believe any cousin of + Jerry Muskrat's ever built such a dam as this. Why, just look at that + great tree trunk at the bottom! No one but Farmer Brown or Farmer Brown's + boy could ever have dragged that there. You're crazy, Grandfather Frog, + just plain crazy.” Billy Mink sometimes is very disrespectful to + Grandfather Frog. + </p> + <p> + “Chugarum!” replied Grandfather Frog. “I'm pretty old, but I'm not too old + to learn as some folks seem to be,” and he looked very hard at Billy Mink. + “Did I say that that tree trunk was dragged here?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” replied Billy Mink, “but if it wasn't dragged here, how did it get + here? You are so smart, Grandfather Frog, tell me that!” + </p> + <p> + Grandfather Frog blinked his great goggly eyes at Billy Mink as he said, + just as if he was very, very sorry for Billy, “Your eyes are very bright + and very sharp, Billy Mink, and it is a great pity that you have never + learned how to use them. That tree wasn't dragged here; it was cut so that + it fell right where it lies.” As he spoke, Grandfather Frog pointed to the + stump of the tree, and Billy Mink saw that he was right. + </p> + <p> + But Billy Mink is like a great many other people; he dearly loves to have + the last word. Now he suddenly began to laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho!” laughed Billy Mink. “Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ha!” + </p> + <p> + “What is it that is so funny?” snapped Grandfather Frog, for nothing makes + him so angry as to be laughed at. + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean to say that anybody but Farmer Brown or Farmer Brown's boy + could have cut down such a big tree as that?” asked Billy. “Why, that + would be as hard as to drag the tree here.” + </p> + <p> + “Jerry Muskrat's big cousin from the North could do it, and I believe he + did,” replied Grandfather Frog. “Now that we have found the cause of the + trouble in the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool, what are we going to + do about it?” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX: Jerry Muskrat Has A Busy Day + </h2> + <p> + There was the strange pond in the Green Forest, and there was the dam of + logs and sticks and mud which had made the strange pond, but look as they + would, Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter and Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather + Frog and Spotty the Turtle could see nothing of the one who had built the + dam. It was very queer. The more they thought about it, the queerer it + seemed. They looked this way, and they looked that way. + </p> + <p> + “There is one thing very sure, and that is that whoever built this dam had + no thought for those who live in the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool,” + said Grandfather Frog. “They are selfish, just plain, every-day selfish; + that's what they are! Now the Laughing Brook cannot laugh, and the Smiling + Pool cannot smile, while this dam stops the water from running, and so—” + Grandfather Frog stopped and looked around at his four friends. + </p> + <p> + “And so what?” cried Billy Mink impatiently. + </p> + <p> + “And so we must spoil this dam. We must make a place for the water to run + through,” said Grandfather Frog very gravely. + </p> + <p> + “Of course! That's the very thing!” cried Little Joe Otter and Billy Mink + and Jerry Muskrat and Spotty the Turtle. Then Little Joe Otter looked at + Billy Mink, and Billy Mink looked at Jerry Muskrat, and Jerry Muskrat + looked at Spotty the Turtle, and after that they all looked very hard at + Grandfather Frog, and all together they asked: “How are we going to do + it?” + </p> + <p> + Grandfather Frog scratched his head thoughtfully and looked a long time at + the dam of logs and sticks and mud. Then his big mouth widened in a big + smile. + </p> + <p> + “Why, that is very simple,” said he, “Jerry Muskrat will make a big hole + through the dam near the bottom, because he knows how, and the rest of us + will keep watch to see that no harm comes near.” + </p> + <p> + “The very thing!” cried Little Joe Otter and Billy Mink and Spotty the + Turtle, but Jerry Muskrat thought it wasn't fair. You see, it gave him all + of the real work to do. However, Jerry thought of his dear Smiling Pool, + and how terrible it would be if it should smile no more, and so without + another word he set to work. + </p> + <p> + Now Jerry Muskrat is a great worker, and he had made many long tunnels + into the bank around the Smiling Pool, so he had no doubt but that he + could soon make a hole through this dam. But almost right away he found + trouble. Yes, Sir, Jerry had hardly begun before he found real trouble. + You see, that dam was made mostly of sticks instead of mud, and so, + instead of digging his way in as he would have done into the bank of the + Smiling Pool, he had to stop every few minutes to gnaw off sticks that + were in the way. + </p> + <p> + It was hard work, the hardest kind of hard work. But Jerry Muskrat is the + kind that is the more determined to do the work the harder the work is to + be done. And so, while Grandfather Frog sat on one end of the dam and + pretended to keep watch, but really took a nap in the warm sunshine, and + while Spotty the Turtle sat on the other end of the dam doing the same + thing, and while Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter swam around in the + strange pond and enjoyed themselves, Jerry Muskrat worked and worked and + worked. And just as jolly, round, red Mr. Sun started down behind the + Purple Hills, Jerry broke through into the strange pond, and the water + began to run in the Laughing Brook once more. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX: Jerry Has A Dreadful Disappointment + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + There's nothing in this world that's sure, + No matter how we scheme and plan. + We simply have to be content + With doing just the best we can. +</pre> + <p> + Jerry Muskrat had curled himself up for the night, so tired that he could + hardly keep his eyes open long enough to find a comfortable place to + sleep. But he was happy. Yes, indeed, Jerry was happy. He could hear the + Laughing Brook beginning to laugh again. It was just a little low, + gurgling laugh, but Jerry knew that in a little while it would grow into + the full laugh that makes music through the Green Forest and puts + happiness into the hearts of all who hear it. + </p> + <p> + So Jerry was happy, for was it not because of him that the Laughing Brook + was beginning to laugh? He had worked all the long day to make a hole + through the dam which some one had built across the Laughing Brook and so + stopped its laughter. Now the water was running again, and soon the new, + strange pond behind the dam there in the Green Forest would be gone, and + the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool would be their own beautiful + selves once more. It was because he had worked so hard all day that he was + going to sleep now. Usually he would rather sleep a part of the day and be + abroad at night. + </p> + <p> + Very pleasant dreams had Jerry Muskrat that night, dreams of the dear + Smiling Pool, smiling just as it had as long as Jerry could remember, + before this trouble had come. He was still dreaming when Spotty the Turtle + found him and waked him, for it was broad daylight. Jerry yawned and + stretched, and then he lay still for a minute to listen to the pleasant + murmur of the Laughing Brook. But there wasn't any pleasant murmur. There + wasn't any sound at all. Jerry began to wonder if he really was awake + after all. He looked at Spotty the Turtle, and he knew then that he was, + for Spotty's face had such a worried look. + </p> + <p> + “Get up, Jerry Muskrat, and come look at the hole you made yesterday in + the dam. You couldn't have done your work very well, for the hole has + filled up so that the water does not run any more,” said Spotty. + </p> + <p> + “I did do it well!” snapped Jerry crossly. “I did it just as well as I + know how. You lazy folks who just sit and take sun-naps while you pretend + to keep watch had better get busy and do a little work yourselves, if you + don't like the way I work.” + </p> + <p> + “I—I beg your pardon, Jerry Muskrat. I didn't mean to say just + that,” replied Spotty. “You see, we are all worried. We thought last night + that by this morning the Laughing Brook would be full of water again, and + we could go back to the Smiling Pool as soon as we felt like it, and here + it is as bad as ever.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps the trouble is just that some sticks and grass drifted down in + the water and filled up the hole I made; that must be the trouble,” said + Jerry hopefully, as he hurried towards the dam. + </p> + <p> + First he carefully examined it from the Laughing Brook side. Then he dived + down under water on the other side. He was gone a long time, and Billy + Mink was just getting ready to dive to see what had become of him when he + came up again. + </p> + <p> + “What is the trouble?” cried Spotty the Turtle and Grandfather Frog and + Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter together. “Is the hole filled up with + stuff that has drifted in?” + </p> + <p> + Jerry shook his head, as he slowly climbed out of the water. “No,” said + he. “No, it isn't filled with drift stuff brought down by the water. It is + filled with sticks and mud that somebody has put there. Somebody has + filled up the hole that I worked so hard to make yesterday, and it will + take me all day to open it up again.” + </p> + <p> + Then Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle and Billy Mink and Little Joe + Otter and Jerry Muskrat stared at one mother, and for a long time no one + said a word. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI: Jerry Muskrat Keeps Watch + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The way in which to find things out, + And what goes on all round about, + Is just to keep my two eyes peeled + And two ears all the time unsealed.” + </pre> + <p> + So said Jerry Muskrat, as he settled himself comfortably on one end of the + new dam across the Laughing Brook deep in the Green Forest and watched the + dark shadows creep farther and farther out into the strange pond made by + the new dam. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to find out who it is that built this dam, and who it is that + filled the hole I made in it! I'm going to find out if I have to move up + here and live all summer!” The way in which Jerry said this and snapped + his teeth together showed that he meant just what he said. + </p> + <p> + You see Jerry had spent another long, weary day opening the hole in the + dam once more, only to have it closed again while he slept. That had been + enough for Jerry. He hadn't tried again. Instead he had made up his mind + that he would find out who was playing such a trick on him. He would just + watch until they came, and then if they were not bigger than he, or there + were not too many of them, he would—well, the way Jerry gritted and + clashed those sharp teeth of his sounded as if he meant to do something + pretty bad. + </p> + <p> + Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter had given up in disgust and started for + the Big River. They are great travelers, anyway, and so didn't mind so + much because there was no longer water enough in the Laughing Brook and + the Smiling Pool. Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle, who are such + very, very slow travelers, had decided that the Big River was too far + away, and so they would stay and live in the strange pond for a while, + though it wasn't nearly so nice as their dear Smiling Pool. They bad gone + to sleep now, each in his own secret place where he would be safe for the + night. + </p> + <p> + So Jerry Muskrat sat alone and watched. The black shadows crept farther + and farther across the pond and grew blacker and blacker. Jerry didn't + mind this, because, as you know, his eyes are made for seeing in the dark, + and he dearly loves the night. Jerry had sat there a long time without + moving. He was listening and watching. By and by he saw something that + made him draw in his breath and anger leap into his eyes. It was a little + silver line on the water, and it was coming straight towards the dam where + he sat. Jerry knew that it was made by some one swimming. + </p> + <p> + “Ha!” said Jerry. “Now we shall see!” + </p> + <p> + Nearer and nearer came the silver line. Then Jerry made out the head of + the swimmer. Suddenly all the anger left Jerry. He didn't have room for + anger; a great fear had crowded it out. The head was bigger than that of + any Muskrat Jerry had ever seen. It was bigger than the head of any of + Billy Mink's relatives. It was the head of a stranger, a stranger so big + that Jerry felt very, very small and hoped with all his might that the + stranger would not see him. + </p> + <p> + Jerry held his breath as the stranger swam past and then climbed out on + the dam. He looked very much like Jerry himself, only ever and ever so + much bigger. And his tail! Jerry had never seen such a tail. It was very + broad and flat. Suddenly the big stranger turned and looked straight at + Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, Jerry Muskrat!” said he. “Don't you know me?” + </p> + <p> + Jerry was too frightened to speak. + </p> + <p> + “I'm your big cousin from the North; I'm Paddy the Beaver, and if you + leave my dam alone, I think we'll be good friends,” continued the + stranger. + </p> + <p> + “I—I—I hope so,” said Jerry in a very faint voice, trying to + be polite, but with his teeth chattering with fear. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXII: Jerry Loses His Fear + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Oh, tell me, you and you and you, + If it may hap you've ever heard + Of all that wond'rous is and great + The greatest is the spoken word?” + </pre> + <p> + It's true. It's the truest thing that ever was. If you don't believe it, + you just go ask Jerry Muskrat. He'll tell you it's true, and Jerry knows. + You see, it's this way: Words are more than just sounds. Oh, my, yes! They + are little messengers, and once they have been sent out, you can't call + them back. No, Sir, you can't call them back, and sometimes that is a very + sad thing, because—well, you see these little messengers always + carry something to some one else, and that something may be anger or hate + or fear or an untruth, and it is these things which make most of the + trouble in this world. Or that something may be love or sympathy or + helpfulness or kindness, and it is these things which put an end to most + of the troubles in this world. + </p> + <p> + Just take the ease of Jerry Muskrat. There he sat on the new dam, which + had made the strange pond in the Green Forest, shaking with fear until his + teeth chattered, as he watched a stranger very, very much bigger than he + climb up on the dam. Jerry was afraid, because he had seen that the + stranger could swim as well as he could, and as Jerry had no secret + burrows there, he knew that he couldn't get away from the stranger if he + wanted to. Somehow, Jerry knew without being told that the stranger had + built the dam, and you know Jerry had twice made a hole in the dam to let + the water out of the strange pond into the Laughing Brook. Jerry knew + right down in his heart that if he had built that dam, he would be very, + very angry with any one who tried to spoil it, and that is just what he + had tried to do. So he sat with chattering teeth, too frightened to even + try to run. + </p> + <p> + “I wish I had let some one else keep watch,” said Jerry to himself. + </p> + <p> + Then the big stranger had spoken. He had said: “Hello, Jerry Muskrat! + Don't you know me?” and his voice hadn't sounded the least bit angry. Then + he had told Jerry that he was his big cousin, Paddy the Beaver, and he + hoped that they would be friends. + </p> + <p> + Now everything was just as it had been before—the strange pond, the + dam, Jerry himself and the big stranger, and the black shadows of the + night—and yet somehow, everything was different, all because a few + pleasant words had been spoken. A great fear had fallen away from Jerry's + heart, and in its place was a great hope that after all there wasn't to be + any trouble. So he replied to Paddy the Beaver as politely as he knew how. + Paddy was just as polite, and the first thing Jerry knew, instead of being + enemies, as Jerry had all along made up his mind would be the case when he + found the builder of the dam, here they were becoming the best of friends, + all because Paddy the Beaver had said the right thing in the right way. + </p> + <p> + “But you haven't told me yet what you made those holes in my dam for, + Cousin Jerry,” said Paddy the Beaver finally. + </p> + <p> + Jerry didn't know just what to say. He was so pleased with his big new + cousin that he didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him that he + didn't think that dam had any business to be across the Laughing Brook, + and at the same time he wanted Paddy to know how he had spoiled the + Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool. At last he made up his mind to tell + the whole story. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIII: Paddy The Beaver Does A Kind Deed + </h2> + <p> + Paddy the Beaver listened to all that his small cousin, Jerry Muskrat, had + to tell him about the trouble which Paddy's dam had caused in the Laughing + Brook and the Smiling Pool. + </p> + <p> + “You see, we who live in the Smiling Pool love it dearly, and we don't + want to have to leave it, but if the water cannot run down the Laughing + Brook, there can be no Smiling Pool, and so we will have to move off to + the Big River,” concluded Jerry Muskrat. “That is why I tried to spoil + your dam.” + </p> + <p> + There was a twinkle in the eyes of Paddy the Beaver as he replied: “Well, + now that you have found out that you can't do that, because I am bigger + than you and can stop you, what are you going to do about it?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” said Jerry Muskrat sadly. “I don't see what we can do + about it. Of course you are big and strong and can do just as you please, + but it doesn't seem right that we who have lived here so long should have + to move and go away from all that we love so just because you, a stranger, + happen to want to live here. I tell you what!” Jerry's eyes sparkled as a + brand new thought came to him. “Couldn't you come down and live in the + Smiling Pool with us? I'm sure there is room enough!” + </p> + <p> + Paddy the Beaver shook his head. “No,” said he, and Jerry's heart sank. + “No, I can't do that because down there there isn't any of the kind of + food I eat. Besides, I wouldn't feel at all safe in the Smiling Pool. You + see, I always live in the woods. No, I couldn't possibly come down to live + in the Smiling Pool. But I'm truly sorry that I have made you so much + worry, Cousin Jerry, and I'm going to prove it to you. Now you sit right + here until I come back.” + </p> + <p> + Before Jerry realized what he was going to do, Paddy the Beaver dived into + the pond, and as he disappeared, his broad tail hit the water such a slap + that it made Jerry jump. Then there began a great disturbance down under + water. In a few minutes up bobbed a stick, and then another and another, + and the water grew so muddy that Jerry couldn't see what was going on. + Paddy was gone a long time. Jerry wondered how he could stay under water + so long without air. All the time Paddy was just fooling him. He would + come up to the surface, stick his nose out, nothing more, fill his lungs + with fresh air, and go down again. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly Jerry Muskrat heard a sound that made him prick up his funny + little short ears and whirl about so that he could look over the other + side of the dam into the Laughing Brook. What do you think that sound was? + Why, it was the sound of rushing water, the sweetest sound Jerry had + listened to for a long time. There was a great hole in the dam, and + already the brook was beginning to laugh as the water rushed down it. + </p> + <p> + “How do you like that, Cousin Jerry?” said a voice right in his ear. Paddy + the Beaver had climbed up beside him, and his eyes were twinkling. + </p> + <p> + “It—it's splendid!” cried Jerry. “But—but you've spoiled your + dam!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that's all right,” replied Paddy. “I didn't really want it now, + anyway. I don't usually build dams at this time of year, and I built this + one just for fun because it seemed such a nice place to build one. You + see, I was traveling through here, and it seemed such a nice place, that I + thought I would stay a while. I didn't know anything about the Smiling + Pool, you know. Now, I guess I'll have to move on and find a place where I + can make a pond in the fall that will not trouble other people. You see, I + don't like to be troubled myself, and so I don't want to trouble other + people. This Green Forest is a very nice place.” + </p> + <p> + “The very nicest place in all the world excepting the Green Meadows and + the Smiling Pool!” replied Jerry promptly. “Won't you stay, Cousin Paddy? + I'm sure we would all like to have you.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course we would,” said a gruff voice right beside them. It was + Grandfather Frog. + </p> + <p> + Paddy the Beaver looked thoughtful. “Perhaps I will,” said he, “if I can + find some good hiding-places in the Laughing Brook.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIV: A Merry Home-Going + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The Laughing Brook is merry + And so am I,” cried Jerry. + Grandfather Frog said he was too. + And Spotty was, the others knew. +</pre> + <p> + The trees stood with wet feet where just a little while before had been + the strange pond in the Green Forest, the pond made by the dam of Paddy + the Beaver. In the dam was a great hole made by Paddy himself. + </p> + <p> + Through the Green Forest rang the laughter of the Laughing Brook, for once + more the water ran deep between its banks. And in the hearts of + Grandfather Frog and Jerry Muskrat and Spotty the Turtle was laughter + also, for now the Smiling Pool would smile once more, and they could go + home in peace and happiness. And there was one more who laughed. Who was + it? Why, Paddy the Beaver to be sure, and his was the best laugh of all, + for it was because he had brought happiness to others. + </p> + <p> + “You beat me up here to the dam, but you won't beat me back to the Smiling + Pool,” cried Jerry Muskrat to Spotty the Turtle. + </p> + <p> + Spotty laughed good-naturedly. “You'd better not stop to eat or play or + sleep on the way then,” said he, “for I shall keep right on going all the + time. I've found that is the only way to get anywhere.” + </p> + <p> + “Let us all go down together” said Grandfather Frog. “We can help each + other over the bad places.” + </p> + <p> + Jerry Muskrat laughed until he had to hold his sides at the very thought + of Grandfather Frog or Spotty the Turtle being able to help him, but he is + very good-natured, and so he agreed that they should all go down together. + Paddy the Beaver said that he would go, too, so off the four started, + Jerry Muskrat and Paddy the Beaver swimming side by side, and behind them + Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle. + </p> + <p> + Now Spotty the Turtle is a very slow traveler on land, but in the water + Spotty is not so slow. In fact, it was not long before Grandfather Frog + found that he was the one who could not keep up. You see, while he is a + great diver and can swim fast for a short distance, he is soon tired out. + Pretty soon he was puffing and blowing and dropping farther and farther + behind. By and by, Spotty the Turtle looked back. There was Grandfather + Frog just tumbling head first over a little waterfall. He came up choking + and gasping and kicking his long legs very feebly. Spotty climbed out on a + rock and waited. He helped Grandfather Frog out beside him, and when + Grandfather Frog had once more gotten his breath, what do you think Spotty + did? Why, he took Grandfather Frog right on his back and started on again. + </p> + <p> + Now Jerry Muskrat and Paddy the Beaver, being great swimmers, were soon + out of sight. All at once Jerry remembered that they had agreed to go back + together, and down in his heart he felt a little bit mean when he looked + for Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle and could see nothing of them. + So he and Paddy sat down to wait. After what seemed a long time, they saw + something queer bobbing along in the water. + </p> + <p> + “It's Grandfather Frog,” cried Paddy the Beaver. + </p> + <p> + “No, it's Spotty the Turtle,” said Jerry Muskrat. + </p> + <p> + “It's both,” replied Paddy, beginning to laugh. + </p> + <p> + Just then Spotty tumbled over another waterfall which he hadn't seen, and + of course Grandfather Frog went with him and lost his hold on Spotty's + back. + </p> + <p> + “I have an idea!” cried Paddy. + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” asked Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Grandfather Frog can ride on my flat tail,” replied Paddy, “and then + we'll go slow enough for Spotty to keep up with us.” + </p> + <p> + And so it was that just as the first moonbeams kissed the Smiling Pool, + out of the Laughing Brook swam the merriest party that ever was seen. + </p> + <p> + “Chugarum!” said Grandfather Frog. “It is good to be home, but I think I + would travel often, if I could have the tail of Paddy the Beaver for a + boat.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXV: Paddy The Beaver Decides To Stay + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The fair Green Meadows spreading wide, + The Smiling Pool and Laughing Brook— + They fill our hearts with joy and pride; + We love their every hidden nook.” + </pre> + <p> + So said Jerry Muskrat, as he climbed up on the Big Rock in the middle of + the Smiling Pool, with Paddy the Beaver beside him, and watched the dear + Smiling Pool dimpling and smiling in the moonlight, as he had so often + seen it before the great trouble had come. + </p> + <p> + “Chugarum!” said Grandfather Frog in his great deep voice from the + bulrushes. “One never knows how great their blessings are until they have + been lost and found again.” + </p> + <p> + The bulrushes nodded, as if they too were thinking of this. You see their + feet were once more in the cool water. Paddy the Beaver seemed to + understand just how every one felt, and he smiled to himself as he saw how + happy these new friends of his were. + </p> + <p> + “It surely is a very nice place here, and I don't wonder that you couldn't + bear to leave it,” said he. “I'm sorry that I made you all that trouble + and worry, but you see I didn't know.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that's all right,” replied Jerry Muskrat, who was now very proud of + his big cousin. “I hope that now you see how nice it is, you will stay and + make your home here.” + </p> + <p> + Paddy the Beaver looked back at the great black shadow which he knew was + the Green Forest. Way over in the middle of it he heard the hunting-call + of Hooty the Owl. Then he looked out over the Green Meadows, and from way + over on the far side of them sounded the bark of Reddy Fox, and it was + answered by the deep voice of Bowser the Hound up in Farmer Brown's + dooryard. For some reason that last sound made Paddy the Beaver shiver a + little, just as the voice of Hooty the Owl made the smaller people of the + Green Forest and the Green Meadows shiver when they heard it. Paddy wasn't + afraid of Hooty or of Reddy Fox, but Bowser's great voice was new to him, + and somehow the very sound of it made him afraid. You see, the Green + Meadows were so strange and open that he didn't feel at all at home, for + he dearly loves the deepest part of the Green Forest. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Paddy the Beaver, “I can't possibly live here in the Smiling + Pool. It is a very nice pool, but it wouldn't do at all for me, Cousin + Jerry. I wouldn't feel safe here a minute. Besides, there is nothing to + eat here.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes, there is,” Jerry Muskrat interrupted. “There are lily-roots and + the nicest fresh-water clams and—” + </p> + <p> + “But there are no trees,” said Paddy the Beaver, “and you know I have to + have trees.” + </p> + <p> + Jerry stared at Paddy as if he didn't understand. “Do—do you eat + trees?” he asked finally. + </p> + <p> + Paddy laughed. “Just the bark,” said he, “and I have to have a great deal + of it.” + </p> + <p> + Jerry looked as disappointed as he felt. “Of course you can't stay then,” + said he, “and—and I had thought that we would have such good times + together.” + </p> + <p> + Paddy's eyes twinkled. “Perhaps we may yet,” said he. “You see I have + about made up my mind that I will stay a while along the Laughing Brook in + the Green Forest, and you can come to see me there. On our way down I saw + a very nice hole in the bank that I think will make me a good house for + the present, and you can come up there to see me. But if I do stay, you + and Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle must keep my secret. No one + must know that I am there. Will you?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course we will!” cried Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather Frog and Spotty + the Turtle together. + </p> + <p> + “Then I'll stay,” said Paddy the Beaver, diving into the Smiling Pool with + a great splash. + </p> + <p> + And so one of Jerry Muskrat's greatest adventures ended in the finding of + his biggest cousin, Paddy the Beaver. Now Jerry has a lot of cousins, and + one of them lives on the Green Meadows not far from the Smiling Pool. His + name is Danny Meadow Mouse, and Danny is forever having adventures too. He + has them every day. In the next book you will be told about some of these, + if you care to read about them. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat, by +Thornton W. Burgess + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY MUSKRAT *** + +***** This file should be named 5110-h.htm or 5110-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/1/5110/ + +Produced by Kent Fielden, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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 Jerry Muskrat + +Author: Thornton W. Burgess + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5110] +Posting Date: April 13, 2009 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY MUSKRAT *** + + + + +Produced by Kent Fielden + + + + + + +THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY MUSKRAT + +By Thornton W. Burgess + + + + +CHAPTER I: Jerry Muskrat Has A Fright + +What was it Mother Muskrat had said about Farmer Brown's boy and his +traps? Jerry Muskrat sat on the edge of the Big Rock and kicked his +heels while he tried to remember. The fact is, Jerry had not half +heeded. He had been thinking of other things. Besides, it seemed to him +that Mother Muskrat was altogether foolish about a great many things. + +"Pooh!" said Jerry, throwing out his chest, "I guess I can take care of +myself without being tied to my mother's apron strings! What if Farmer +Brown's boy is setting traps around the Smiling Pool? I guess he can't +fool your Uncle Jerry. He isn't so smart as he thinks he is; I can fool +him any day." Jerry chuckled. He was thinking of how he had once fooled +Farmer Brown's boy into thinking a big trout was on his hook. + +Slowly Jerry slid into the Smiling Pool and swam over towards his +favorite log. Peter Rabbit stuck his head over the edge of the bank. +"Hi, Jerry," he shouted, "last night I saw Farmer Brown's boy coming +over this way with a lot of traps. Better watch out!" + +"Go chase yourself, Peter Rabbit. I guess I can look out for myself," +replied Jerry, just a little crossly. + +Peter made a wry face and started for the sweet clover patch. Hardly was +he out of sight when Billy Mink and Bobby Coon came down the Laughing +Brook together. They seemed very much excited. When they saw Jerry +Muskrat, they beckoned for him to come over where they were, and when he +got there, they both talked at once, and it was all about Farmer Brown's +boy and his traps. + +"You'd better watch out, Jerry," warned Billy Mink, who is a great +traveler and has had wide experience. + +"Oh, I guess I'm able to take care of myself," said Jerry airily, and +once more started for his favorite log. And what do you suppose he was +thinking about as he swam along? He was wishing that he knew what a trap +looked like, for despite his boasting he didn't even know what he was +to look out for. As he drew near his favorite log, something tickled his +nose. He stopped swimming to sniff and sniff. My, how good it did smell! +And it seemed to come right straight from the old log. Jerry began to +swim as fast as he could. In a few minutes he scrambled out on the +old log. Then Jerry rubbed his eyes three times to be sure that he saw +aright. There were luscious pieces of carrot lying right in front of +him. + +Now there is nothing that Jerry Muskrat likes better than carrot. So +he didn't stop to wonder how it got there. He just reached out for the +nearest piece and ate it. Then he reached for the next piece and ate it. +Then he did a funny little dance just for joy. When he was quite out of +breath, he sat down to rest. Snap! Something had Jerry Muskrat by the +tail! Jerry squealed with fright and pain. Oh, how it did hurt! He +twisted and turned, but he was held fast and could not see what had him. +Then he pulled and pulled, until it seemed as if his tail would pull +off. But it didn't. So he kept pulling, and pretty soon the thing let go +so suddenly that Jerry tumbled head first into the water. + +When he reached home, Mother Muskrat did his sore tail up for him. "What +did I tell you about traps?" she asked severely. + +Jerry stopped crying. "Was that a trap?" he asked. Then he remembered +that in his fright he didn't even see it. "Oh, dear," he moaned, "I +wouldn't know one to-day if I met it." + + + +CHAPTER II: The Convention At The Big Rock + +Jolly round, red Mr. Sun looked down on the Smiling Pool. He almost +forgot to keep on climbing up in the blue sky, he was so interested in +what he saw there. What do you think it was? Why, it was a convention at +the Big Rock, the queerest convention he ever had seen. Your papa would +say that it was a mass-meeting of angry citizens. Maybe it was, but that +is a pretty long term. Anyway, Mother Muskrat said it was a convention, +and she ought to know, for she is the one who had called it. + +Of course Jerry Muskrat was there, and his uncles and aunts and all +his cousins. Billy Mink was there, and all his relations, even old +Grandfather Mink, who has lost most of his teeth and is a little hard of +hearing. + +Little Joe Otter was there, with his father and mother and all his +relations even to his third cousins. Bobby Coon was there, and he had +brought with him every Coon of his acquaintance who ever fished in the +Smiling Pool or along the Laughing Brook. And everybody was looking very +solemn, very solemn indeed. + +When the last one had arrived, Mother Muskrat climbed up on the Big Rock +and called Jerry Muskrat up beside her, where all could see him. Then +she made a speech. "Friends of the Smiling Pool and Laughing Brook," +began Mrs. Muskrat, "I have called you together to show you what has +happened to my son Jerry and to ask your advice." She stopped and +pointed to Jerry's sore tail. "What do you think did that?" she +demanded. + +"Probably Jerry's been in a fight and got whipped," said Bobby Coon to +his neighbor, for Bobby Coon is a graceless young scamp and does not +always show proper respect to his neighbors. + +Mrs. Muskrat glared at him, for she had overheard the remark. Then she +held up one hand to command silence. "Friends, it was a trap--a trap +set by Farmer Brown's boy! a trap to catch you and me and our children!" +said she solemnly. "It is no longer safe for our little folks to play +around the Smiling Pool or along the Laughing Brook. What are we going +to do about it?" + +Everybody looked at everybody else in dismay. Then everybody began to +talk at once, and if Farmer Brown's boy could have heard all the things +said about him, his cheeks certainly would have burned. Indeed, I am +afraid that they would have blistered. Such excitement! Everybody had +a different idea, and nobody would listen to anybody else. Old Mr. Mink +lost his temper and called Grandpa Otter a meddlesome know-nothing. It +looked very much as if the convention was going to break up in a sad +quarrel. Then Mr. Coon climbed up on the Big Rock and with a stick +pounded for silence. + +"I move," said he, "that in as much as we cannot agree, we tell +Great-Grandfather Frog all about the danger and ask his advice, for he +is very old and very wise and remembers when the world was young. All in +favor please raise their right hands." + +At once the air was full of hands, and everybody was good-natured once +more. So it was agreed to call in Great-Grandfather Frog. + + + +CHAPTER III: The Oracle Of The Smiling Pool + +Grandfather Frog sat on his big green lily-pad with his eyes half +closed, for all the world as if he knew nothing about the meeting at the +Big Rock. Of course he did know, for there isn't much going on around +the Smiling Pool which he doesn't see or at least hear all about. The +Merry Little Breezes, who are here, there, and everywhere, told him +all that was going on, so that when he saw Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe +Otter swimming towards him, he knew what they were coming for. But he +pretended to be very much surprised when Jerry Muskrat very politely +said: "Good morning, Grandfather Frog." + +"Good morning, Jerry Muskrat. You're out early this morning," replied +Grandfather Frog. + +"If you please, you are wanted over at the Big Rock," said Jerry. + +Grandfather Frog's eyes twinkled, but he made his voice very deep and +gruff as he replied: "Chugarum! You're a scamp, Jerry Muskrat, and +Little Joe Otter is another. What trick are you trying to play on me +now?" + +Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter looked a wee bit sheepish, for it was +true that they were forever trying to play tricks on Grandfather Frog. +"Really and truly, Grandfather Frog, there isn't any trick this time," +said Jerry. "There is a meeting at the Big Rock to try to decide what to +do to keep Farmer Brown's boy from setting traps around the Smiling Pool +and along the Laughing Brook, and everybody wants your advice, because +you are so old and so wise. Please come." + +Grandfather Frog smoothed down his white and yellow waistcoat and +pretended to think the matter over very seriously, while Jerry and +Little Joe fidgeted impatiently. Finally he spoke. + +"I am very old, as you have said, Jerry Muskrat, and it is a long way +over to the Big Rock." + +"Get right on my back and I'll take you over there," said Jerry eagerly. + +"I'm afraid that you'll spill me off," replied Grandfather Frog. + +"No, I won't; just try me and see," begged Jerry. + +So Grandfather Frog climbed on Jerry Muskrat's back, and Jerry started +for the Big Rock as fast as he could go. When all the Minks and the +Otters and the Coons and the Muskrats saw them coming, they gave a +great shout, for Grandfather Frog is sometimes called the oracle of the +Smiling Pool. You know an oracle is one who is very wise. + +Bobby Coon helped Grandfather Frog up on the Big Rock, and when he had +made himself comfortable, Mrs. Muskrat told him all about Farmer Brown's +boy and his traps, and how Jerry had been caught in one by the tail, and +she ended by asking for his advice, because they all knew that he was so +wise. + +When she said this, Grandfather Frog puffed himself up until it seemed +as if his white and yellow waistcoat would surely burst. He sat very +still for a while and gazed straight at jolly, round, red Mr. Sun +without blinking once. Then he spoke in a very deep voice. + +"To-morrow morning at sunrise I will tell you what to do," said he. And +not another word could they get out of him. + + + +CHAPTER IV: Grandfather Frog's Plan + +Just as Old Mother West Wind and her Merry Little Breezes came down from +the Purple Hills, and jolly, round, red Mr. Sun threw his nightcap off +and began his daily climb up in the blue sky, Great-Grandfather Frog +climbed up on the Big Rock in the Smiling Pool. Early as he was, all the +little people who live along the Laughing Brook and around the Smiling +Pool were waiting for him. Bobby Coon had found two traps set by Farmer +Brown's boy, and Billy Mink had almost stepped in a third. No one felt +safe any more, yet no one knew what to do. So they all waited for the +advice of Great-Grandfather Frog, who, you know, is accounted very, very +wise. + +Grandfather Frog cleared his throat. "Chugarum!" said he. "You must find +all the traps that Farmer Brown's boy has set." + +"How are we going to do it?" asked Bobby Coon. + +"By looking for them," replied Grandfather Frog tartly. + +Bobby Coon looked foolish and slipped out of sight behind his mother. + +"All the Coons and all the Minks must search along the banks of the +Laughing Brook, and all the Muskrats and all the Otters must search +along the banks of the Smiling Pool. You must use your eyes and your +noses. When you find things good to eat where you have never found them +before, watch out! When you get the first whiff of the man-smell, watch +out! Billy Mink, you are small and quick, and your eyes are sharp. You +sit here on the Big Rock until you see Farmer Brown's boy coming. Then +go hide in the bulrushes where you can watch him, but where he cannot +see you. Follow him everywhere he goes around the Smiling Pool or along +the Laughing Brook. Without knowing it, he will show you where every +trap is hidden. + +"When all the traps have been found, drop a stick or a stone in each. +That will spring them, and then they will be harmless. Then you can +bury them deep in the mud. But don't eat any of the food until you have +sprung all of the traps, for just as likely as not you will get caught. +When all the traps have been sprung, why not bring all the good things +to eat which you find around them to the Big Rock and have a grand +feast?" + +"Hurrah for Grandfather Frog! That's a great idea!" shouted Little Joe +Otter, turning a somersault in the water. + +Every one agreed with Little Joe Otter, and immediately they began to +plan a grand hunt for the traps of Farmer Brown's boy. The Muskrats +and the Otters started to search the banks of the Smiling Pool, and +the Coons and the Minks, all but Billy, started for the Laughing Brook. +Billy climbed up on the Big Rock to watch, and Grandfather Frog slowly +swam back to his big green lily-pad to wait for some foolish green flies +for his breakfast. + + + +CHAPTER V: A Busy Day At The Smiling Pool + +Everybody was excited. Yes, Sir, everybody in the Smiling Pool and along +the Laughing Brook was just bubbling over with excitement. Even Spotty +the Turtle, who usually takes everything so calmly that some people +think him stupid, climbed up on the highest point of an old log where he +could see what was going on. Only Grandfather Frog, sitting on his big +green lily-pad and watching for foolish green flies for his breakfast, +appeared not to know that something unusual was going on. Really, he +was just as much excited as the rest, but because he is very old and +accounted very, very wise, it would not do for him to show it. + +What was it all about? Why, all the Minks and the Coons and the Otters +and the Muskrats, who live and play around the Smiling Pool and the +Laughing Brook, were hunting for traps. Yes, Sir, they were hunting for +traps set by Farmer Brown's boy, just as Grandfather Frog had advised +them to. + +Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter were hunting together. They were +swimming along close to shore just where the Laughing Brook leaves the +Smiling Pool, when Jerry wrinkled up his funny little nose and stopped +swimming. Sniff, sniff, sniff, went Jerry Muskrat. Then little cold +shivers ran down his backbone and way out to the tip of his tail. + +"What is it?" asked Little Joe Otter. + +"It's the man-smell," whispered Jerry. + +Just then Little Joe Otter gave a long sniff. "My, I smell fish!" he +cried, his eyes sparkling, and started in the direction from which the +smell came. He swam faster than Jerry, and in a minute he shouted in +delight. + +"Hi, Jerry! Some one's left a fish on the edge of the bank: What a +feast!" + +Jerry hurried as fast as he could swim, his eyes popping out with +fright, for the nearer he got, the stronger grew that dreadful +man-smell. "Don't touch it," he panted. "Don't touch it, Joe Otter!" + +Little Joe laughed. "What's the matter, Jerry? 'Fraid I'll eat it all up +before you get here?" he asked, as he reached out for the fish. + +"Stop!" shrieked Jerry, and gave Little Joe a push, just as the latter +touched the fish. + +Snap! A pair of wicked steel jaws flew together and caught Little Joe +Otter by a claw of one toe. If it hadn't been for Jerry's push, he would +have been caught by a foot. + +"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Little Joe Otter. + +"Next time I guess you'll remember what Grandfather Frog said about +watching out when you find things to eat where they never were before," +said Jerry, as he helped Little Joe pull himself free from the trap. But +he left the claw behind and had a dreadfully sore toe as a result. +Then they buried the trap deep down in the mud and started to look for +another. + +All around the Smiling Pool and along the Laughing Brook their cousins +and uncles and aunts and friends were just as busy, and every once in a +while some one would have just as narrow an escape as Little Joe Otter. +And all the time up at the farmhouse Farmer Brown's boy was planning +what he would do with the skins of the little animals he was sure he +would catch in his traps. + + + +CHAPTER VI: Farmer Brown's Boy Is Puzzled + +Farmer Brown's boy was whistling merrily as he tramped down across the +Green Meadows. The Merry Little Breezes saw him coming, and they raced +over to the Smiling Pool to tell Billy Mink. Farmer Brown's boy was +coming to visit his traps. He was very sure that he would find Billy +Mink or Little Joe Otter, or Jerry Muskrat, or perhaps Bobby Coon. + +Billy Mink was sitting on top of the Big Rock. He saw the Merry Little +Breezes racing across the Green Meadows, and behind them he saw Farmer +Brown's boy. Billy Mink dived head first into the Smiling Pool. Then +he swam over to Jerry Muskrat's house and warned Jerry. Together they +hunted up Little Joe Otter, and then the three little scamps in brown +hid in the bulrushes, where they could watch Farmer Brown's boy. + +The first place Farmer Brown's boy visited was Jerry Muskrat's old log. +Very cautiously he peeped over the edge of the bank. The trap was gone! + +"Hurrah!" shouted Farmer Brown's boy. He was very much excited, as he +caught hold of the end of the chain, which fastened it to the old log. +He was sure that at last he had caught Jerry Muskrat. When he pulled the +trap up, it was empty. Between the jaws were a few hairs and a little +bit of skin, which Jerry Muskrat had left there when he sprung the trap +with his tail. + +Farmer Brown's boy was disappointed. "Well, I'll get him to-morrow, +anyway," said he to himself. Then he went on to his next trap; it was +nowhere to be seen. When he pulled the chain he was so excited that he +trembled. The trap did not come up at once. He pulled and pulled, and +then suddenly up it came, all covered with mud. In it was one little +claw from Little Joe Otter. Very carefully Farmer Brown's boy set the +trap again. If he could have looked over in the bulrushes and have +seen Little Joe Otter and Billy Mink and Jerry Muskrat watching him and +tickling and laughing, he would not have been so sure that next time he +would catch Little Joe Otter. + +All around the Smiling Pool and then up and down the Laughing Brook +Farmer Brown's boy tramped, and each trap he found sprung and buried in +the mud. He had stopped whistling by this time, and there was a puzzled +frown on his freckled face. What did it mean? Could some other boy have +found all his traps and played a trick by springing all of them? The +more he thought about it, the more puzzled he became. You see, he did +not know anything about the busy day the Minks and the Otters and the +Muskrats and the Coons had spent the day before. + +Old Grandfather Frog, sitting on his big green lily-pad, smoothed down +his white and yellow waistcoat and winked up at jolly, round, red Mr. +Sun as Farmer Brown's boy tramped off across the Green Meadows. + +"Chugarum!" said Grandfather Frog, as he snapped up a foolish green fly. +"Much good it will do you to set those traps again!" + +Then Grandfather Frog called to Billy Mink and sent him to tell all the +other little people of the Smiling Pool and the Laughing Brook that they +must hurry and spring all the traps again as they had before. + +This time it was easy, because they knew just where the traps were, so +all day long they dropped sticks and stones into the traps and once more +sprung them. Then they prepared for a grand feast of the good things to +eat which Farmer Brown's boy had left, scattered around the traps. + + + +CHAPTER VII: Jerry Muskrat Makes A Discovery + +The beautiful springtime had brought a great deal of happiness to the +Smiling Pool, as it had to the Green Meadows and to the Green Forest. +Great-Grandfather Frog, who had slept the long winter away in his own +special bed way down in the mud, had waked up with an appetite so great +that for a while it seemed as if he could think of nothing but his +stomach. Jerry Muskrat had felt the spring fever in his bones and had +gone up and down the Laughing Brook, poking into all kinds of places +just for the fun of seeing new things. Little Joe Otter had been more +full of fun than ever, if that were possible. Mr. and Mrs. Redwing had +come back to the bulrushes from their winter home way down in the warm +Southland. Everybody was happy, just as happy as could be. + +One sunny morning Jerry Muskrat sat on the Big Rock in the middle of the +Smiling Pool, just thinking of how happy everybody was and laughing at +Little Joe Otter, who was cutting up all sorts of capers in the water. +Suddenly Jerry's sharp eyes saw something that made him wrinkle his +forehead in a puzzled frown and look and look at the opposite bank. +Finally he called to Little Joe Otter. + +"Hi, Little Joe! Come over here!" shouted Jerry. + +"What for?" asked Little Joe, turning a somersault in the water. + +"I want you to see if there is anything wrong with my eyes," replied +Jerry. + +Little Joe Otter stopped swimming and stared up at Jerry Muskrat. "They +look all right to me," said he, as he started to climb up on the Big +Rock. + +"Of course they look all right," replied Jerry, "but what I want to know +is if they see all right. Look over at that bank." + +Little Joe Otter looked over at the bank. He stared and stared, but he +didn't see anything unusual. It looked just as it always did. He told +Jerry Muskrat so. + +"Then it must be my eyes," sighed Jerry. "It certainly must be my eyes. +It looks to me as if the water does not come as high up on the bank as +it did yesterday." + +Little Joe Otter looked again and his eyes opened wide. "You are right, +Jerry Muskrat!" he cried. "There's nothing the matter with your eyes. +The water is as low as it ever gets, even in the very middle of summer. +What can it mean?" + +"I don't know," replied Jerry Muskrat. "It is queer! It certainly is +very queer! Let's go ask Grandfather Frog. You know he is very old and +very wise, so perhaps he can tell us what it means." + +Splash! Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter dived into the Smiling Pool +and started a race to see who could reach Grandfather Frog first. He +was sitting among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool, for the +lily-pads were not yet big enough for him to sit on comfortably. + +"Oh, Grandfather Frog, what's the matter with the Smiling Pool?" they +shouted, as they came up quite out of breath. + +"Chugarum! There's nothing the matter with the Smiling Pool; it's the +best place in all the world," replied Grandfather Frog gruffly. + +"But there is something the matter," insisted Jerry Muskrat, and then he +told what he had discovered. + +"I don't believe it," said Grandfather Frog. "I never heard of such a +thing in the springtime." + + + +CHAPTER VIII: Grandfather Frog Watches His Toes + +Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling +Pool. Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst +with the very joy of springtime. + + "Tra-la-la-lee, see me! See me! + Happy am I as I can be! + Happy am I the whole day long + And so I sing my gladsome song." + +Of course Mr. Redwing was happy. Why shouldn't he be? Here it was the +beautiful springtime, the gladdest time of all the year, the time when +happiness creeps into everybody's heart. Grandfather Frog listened. He +nodded his head. "Chugarum! I'm happy, too," said Grandfather Frog. But +even as he said it, a little worried look crept into his big goggly eyes +and then down to the corners of his big mouth, which had been stretched +in a smile. Little by little the smile grew smaller and smaller, until +there wasn't any smile. No, Sir, there wasn't any smile. Instead of +looking happy, as he said he felt, Grandfather Frog actually looked +unhappy. + +The fact is he couldn't forget what Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter +had told him--that there was something the matter with the Smiling +Pool. He didn't believe it, not a word of it. At least he tried to make +himself think that he didn't believe it. They had said that the water +in the Smiling Pool was growing lower and lower, just as it did in the +middle of summer, in the very hottest weather. Now Grandfather Frog is +very old and very wise, and he had never heard of such a thing happening +in the springtime. So he wouldn't believe it now. And yet--and yet +Grandfather Frog had an uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong. +Ha! he knew now what it was! He had been sitting up to his middle in +water, and now he was sitting with only his toes in the water, and he +couldn't remember having changed his position! + +"Of course, I moved without thinking what I was doing," muttered +Grandfather Frog, but still the worried look didn't leave his face. You +see he just couldn't make himself believe what he wanted to believe, try +as he would. + +"Chugarum! I know what I'll do; I'll watch my toes!" exclaimed +Grandfather Frog. + +So Grandfather Frog waded out into the water until it covered his feet, +and then he sat down and began to watch his toes. Mr. Redwing looked +down and saw him, and Grandfather Frog looked so funny gazing at his own +toes that Mr. Redwing stopped singing long enough to ask: "What are you +doing, Grandfather Frog?" + +"Watching my toes," replied Grandfather Frog gruffly. + +"Watching your toes! Ho, ho, ho! Watching your toes! Who ever heard of +such a thing? Are you afraid that they will run away, Grandfather Frog?" +shouted Mr. Redwing. + +Grandfather Frog didn't answer. He kept right on watching his toes. +Mr. Redwing flew away to tell everybody he met how Grandfather Frog had +become foolish and was watching his toes. The sun shone down warm and +bright, and pretty soon Grandfather Frog's big goggly eyes began to +blink. Then his head began to nod, and then--why, then Grandfather Frog +fell fast asleep. + +By and by Grandfather Frog awoke with a start. He looked down at his +toes. They were not in the water at all! Indeed, the water was a good +long jump away. + +"Chugarum! There is something wrong with the Smiling Pool!" cried +Grandfather Frog, as he made a long jump into the water and started to +swim out to the Big Rock. + + + +CHAPTER IX: The Laughing Brook Stops Laughing + +There was something wrong. Grandfather Frog knew it the very minute he +got up that morning. At first he couldn't think what it was. He sat +with just his head out of water and blinked his great goggly eyes, as +he tried to think what it was that was wrong. Suddenly Grandfather Frog +realized how still it was. It was a different kind of stillness from +anything he could ever remember. He missed something, and he couldn't +think what it was. It wasn't the song of Mr. Redwing. There were +many times when he didn't hear that. It was--Grand-father Frog gave a +startled jump out on to the shore. "Chugarum! It's the Laughing Brook! +The Laughing Brook has stopped laughing!" cried Grandfather Frog. + +Could it be? Who ever heard of such a thing, excepting when Jack Frost +bound the Laughing Brook with hard black ice? Why, in the spring and in +the summer and in the fall the Laughing Brook had laughed--such a merry, +happy laugh--ever since Grandfather Frog could remember, and you know he +can remember way back in the long ago, for he is very old and very wise. +Never once in all that time had the Laughing Brook failed to laugh. It +couldn't be true now! Grandfather Frog put a hand behind one ear and +listened and listened, but not a sound could he hear. + +"Chugarum! It must be me," said Grandfather Frog. "It must be that I am +growing old and deaf. I'll go over and ask Jerry Muskrat." + +So Grandfather Frog dove into the water and swam out to the middle of +the Smiling Pool, on his way to Jerry Muskrat's house. It was then that +he first fully realized the truth of what Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe +Otter had told him the day before--that there was something very, very +wrong with the Smiling Pool. He stopped swimming to look around, and it +seemed as if his great goggly eyes would pop right out of his head. Yes, +Sir, it seemed as if those great goggly eyes certainly would pop right +out of Grandfather Frog's head. The Smiling Pool had grown so small that +there wasn't enough of it left to smile! + +"Where are you going, Grandfather Frog?" asked a voice over his head. + +Grandfather Frog looked up. Looking down on him from over the edge of +the Big Rock was Jerry Muskrat. The edge of the Big Rock was twice as +high above the water as Grandfather Frog had ever seen it before. + +"I--I--was going to swim over to your house to see you," replied +Grandfather Frog. + +"It's of no use," replied Jerry, "because I'm not there. Besides, you +couldn't swim there, anyway." + +"Why not?" demanded Grandfather Frog in great surprise. + +"Because it isn't in the water any longer; it's way up on dry land," +said Jerry Muskrat in the most mournful voice. + +"What's that you say?" cried Grandfather Frog, as if he couldn't believe +his own ears. + +"It's just as true as that I'm sitting here," replied Jerry sadly. + +"Listen, Jerry Muskrat, and tell me truly; is the Laughing Brook +laughing?" cried Grandfather Frog sharply. + +"No," replied Jerry, "the Laughing Brook has stopped laughing, and the +Smiling Pool has stopped smiling, and I think the world is upside down." + + + +CHAPTER X: Why The World Seemed Upside Down To Jerry Muskrat + +Jerry Muskrat sat on the Big Rock in the Smiling Pool, which smiled +no longer, and held his head in both hands, for his head ached. He had +thought and thought and thought, until it seemed to him that his head +would split; and with all his thinking, he didn't understand things any +more now than he had in the beginning. You see, Jerry Muskrat's little +world was topsy-turvy. Yes, Sir, Jerry's world was upside down! Anyway, +it seemed so to him, and he couldn't understand it at all. + +The Smiling Pool, the Laughing Brook, and the Green Meadows are Jerry +Muskrat's little world. Now, as he sat on the Big Rock and looked about +him, the Green Meadows were as lovely as ever. He could see no change in +them. But the Laughing Brook had stopped laughing, and the Smiling Pool +had stopped smiling. The truth is there wasn't enough of the Laughing +Brook left to laugh, and there wasn't enough of the Smiling Pool left to +smile. + +It was dreadful! Jerry looked over to his house, of which he had once +been so proud. He had built it with the doorway under water. He had felt +perfectly safe there, because no one excepting Billy Mink or Little Joe +Otter, who can swim under water, could reach him. Now the Smiling +Pool had grown so small that Jerry's house wasn't in the water at all. +Anybody who wanted to could get into it. There was the doorway plainly +to be seen. Worse still, there was the secret entrance to the long +tunnel leading to his castle under the roots of the Big Hickory-tree. +That had been Jerry's most secret secret, and now there it was for all +the world to see. And there were all the wonderful caves and holes and +hiding-places under the bank which had been known only to Jerry Muskrat +and Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter, because the openings had always +been under water. Now anybody could find them, for they were plainly to +be seen. And where had always been smiling, dimpling water, Jerry saw +only mud. It was mud, mud, mud everywhere! The bulrushes, which had +always grown with their feet in the water, now had them only in mud, and +that was fast drying up. The lily-pads lay half curled up at the ends of +their long stems, stretched out on the mud, and looked very, very sick. +Jerry turned towards the Laughing Brook. There was just a little, teeny, +weeny stream of water trickling down the middle of it, with here and +there a tiny pool in which frightened trout and minnows were crowded. +All the secrets of the Laughing Brook were exposed, just as were the +secrets of the Smiling Pool. Jerry knew that if he wanted to find Billy +Mink's hiding-places, all he need do would be to walk up the Laughing +Brook and look. + +"Yes, Sir, the world has turned upside down," said Jerry in a mournful +voice. + +"I believe it has," replied Grandfather Frog, looking up from the little +pool of water left at the foot of the Big Rock. + +"I know it has!" cried Jerry. "I wonder if it will ever turn upside up +again." + +"If it doesn't, what are you going to do?" asked Grandfather Frog. + +"I don't know," replied Jerry Muskrat. "Here come Little Joe Otter and +Billy Mink; let's find out what they are going to do." + + + +CHAPTER XI: Five Heads Together + +Something had to be done. Jerry Muskrat said so. Grandfather Frog said +so. Billy Mink said so. Little Joe Otter said so. Even Spotty the +Turtle said so. The Laughing Brook couldn't laugh, and the Smiling Pool +couldn't smile. You see, there wasn't water enough in either of them to +laugh or smile, and nobody knew if there ever would be again. Nobody had +ever known anything like it before, and so nobody knew what to think or +do. And yet they all felt that something must be done. + +"What do you think, Billy Mink?" asked Grandfather Frog. + +Billy Mink looked down from the top of the Big Rock into the little pool +of water that was all there was left of the Smiling Pool. He could see +a dozen fat trout in it, and he knew that he could catch them just as +easily as not, because there was no place for them to swim away from +him. But somehow he didn't want to catch them. He knew that they were +frightened almost to death already by the running away of nearly all the +water from the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool, and somehow he felt +sorry for them. + +"I think that the best thing we can do is to move down to the Big River. +I've been down there, and that's all right," said Billy Mink. + +"That's what I think," said Little Joe Otter. "There's no danger that +the Big River will go dry." + +"How do you know?" asked Jerry Muskrat. "The Laughing Brook and the +Smiling Pool never went dry before." + +"It's a long, long way down to the Big River," broke in Spotty the +Turtle, who travels very, very slowly and carries his house with him. + +"Chugarum! I, for one, don't want to leave the Smiling Pool without +finding out what the trouble is. + + "There's nothing happens, as you know, + But has a cause to make it so. + +"Now there must be some cause, some reason, for this terrible trouble +with the Smiling Pool, and if we can find that out, perhaps we shall +know better what to do," said Grandfather Frog. + +Jerry Muskrat nodded his head. "Grandfather Frog is right," said he. "Of +course there must be a cause, but where are we to look for it? I've been +all over the Smiling Pool, and I'm sure it isn't there." + +Grandfather Frog actually smiled. "Chugarum!" said he. "Of course the +cause of all the trouble isn't in the Smiling Pool. Any one would know +that!" + +"Well, if you know so much, tell us where it is then!" snapped Jerry +Muskrat. + +"In the Laughing Brook, of course," replied Grandfather Frog. + +"No such thing!" said Billy Mink. "I've been all the way down the +Laughing Brook to the Big River, and I didn't find a thing." + +"Have you been all the way up the Laughing Brook to the place it starts +from?" asked Grandfather Frog. + +"No-o," replied Billy Mink. + +"Well, that's where the cause of all the trouble is," said Grandfather +Frog, just as if he knew all about it. "It's the water that comes down +the Laughing Brook that makes the Smiling Pool, and the Smiling Pool +never could dry up if the Laughing Brook didn't first stop running." + +"That's so! I never had thought of that," cried Little Joe Otter. "I +tell you what, Billy Mink and I will go way up the Laughing Brook and +see what we can find." + +"Chugarum! Let us all go," said Grandfather Frog. + +Then the five put their heads together and decided that they would go up +the Laughing Brook to hunt for the trouble. + + + +CHAPTER XII: A Hunt For Trouble + +Ol' Mistah Buzzard, sailing high in the blue, blue sky, looked down on +a funny sight. Yes, Sir, it certainly was a funny sight. It was a little +procession of five of his friends of the Smiling Pool. First was Billy +Mink, who, because he is slim and nimble, moves so quickly it sometimes +is hard to follow him. Behind him was Little Joe Otter, whose legs are +so short that he almost looks as if he hadn't any. Behind Little Joe +was Jerry Muskrat, who is a better traveler in the water than on land. +Behind Jerry was Grandfather Frog, who neither walks nor runs but +travels with great jumps. Last of all was Spotty the Turtle, who travels +very, very slowly because, you know, he carries his house with him. +And all five were headed up the Laughing Brook, which laughed no more, +because there was not water enough in it. + +Now Ol' Mistah Buzzard hadn't been over near the Smiling Pool for some +time, and he hadn't heard how the Smiling Pool had stopped smiling, and +the Laughing Brook had stopped laughing. When he looked down and saw how +the water was so nearly gone from them that the trout and the minnows +had hardly enough in which to live, he was so surprised that he kept +saying over and over to himself: + +"Fo' the lan's sake! Fo' the lan's sake!" + +Then, when he saw his five little friends marching up the Laughing +Brook, he guessed right away that it must be something to do with the +trouble in the Smiling Pool. Ol' Mistah Buzzard just turned his broad +wings and slid down, down out of the blue, blue sky until he was right +over Grandfather Frog. + +"Where are yo'alls going?" asked Ol' Mistah Buzzard. + +"Chugarum! To find out what is the trouble with the Laughing Brook," +replied Grandfather Frog. + +"I'll help you," said Ol' Mistah Buzzard, once more sailing up in the +blue, blue sky. + +Grandfather Frog watched him until he was nothing but a speck. "I wish I +had wings," sighed Grandfather Frog, and once more began to hop along up +the bed of the Laughing Brook. + +The Laughing Brook came down from the Green Forest and wound through the +Green Meadows for a little way before it reached the Smiling Pool. There +the sun shone down into it, and Grandfather Frog didn't mind, although +his legs were getting tired. But when they got into the Green Forest it +was dark and gloomy. At least Grandfather Frog thought so, and so did +Spotty the Turtle, for both dearly love the sunshine. But still they +kept on, for they felt that they must find the trouble with the Laughing +Brook. If they found this, they would also find the trouble with the +Smiling Pool. + +So Billy Mink jumped and skipped far ahead; Little Joe Otter ran; Jerry +Muskrat walked, for he soon gets tired on land; Grandfather Frog hopped; +Spotty the Turtle crawled, and way, way up in the blue, blue sky, OF +Mistah Buzzard flew, all looking for the trouble which had stopped the +laughing of the Laughing Brook and the smiling of the Smiling Pool. + + + +CHAPTER XIII: Ol' Mistah Buzzard Sees Something + +"Wait for me!" cried Little Joe Otter to Billy Mink, but Billy Mink was +in too much of a hurry and just ran faster. + +"Wait for me!" cried Jerry Muskrat to Little Joe Otter, but Little Joe +was in too much of a hurry and just ran faster. + +"Wait for me!" cried Grandfather Frog to Jerry Muskrat, but Jerry was in +too much of a hurry and just walked faster. + +"Wait for me!" cried Spotty the Turtle to Grandfather Frog, but +Grandfather Frog was in too much of a hurry and just jumped faster. + +So running and walking and jumping and crawling, Billy Mink, Little Joe +Otter, Jerry Muskrat, Grandfather Frog, and Spotty the Turtle hurried up +the Laughing Brook to try to find out why it laughed no more. And high +overhead in the blue, blue sky sailed Ol' Mistah Buzzard, and he also +was looking for the trouble that had taken away the laugh from the +Laughing Brook and the smile from the Smiling Pool. + +Now Ol' Mistah Buzzard's eyes are very sharp, and looking down from way +up in the blue, blue sky he can see a great deal. Indeed, Ol' Mistah +Buzzard can see all that is going on below on the Green Meadows and in +the Green Forest. His wings are very broad, and he can sail through the +air very swiftly when he makes up his mind to. Now, as he looked down, +he saw that Billy Mink was selfish and wouldn't wait for Little Joe +Otter, and Little Joe Otter was selfish and wouldn't wait for Jerry +Muskrat, and Jerry Muskrat was selfish and wouldn't wait for Grandfather +Frog, and Grandfather Frog was selfish and wouldn't wait for Spotty the +Turtle. + +"Ah reckon Ah will hurry up right smart and find out what the trouble +is mahself, and then go back and tell Brer Turtle; it will save him a +powerful lot of work, and it will serve Brer Mink right if Brer Turtle +finds out first what is the trouble with the Laughing Brook," said Ol' +Mistah Buzzard and shot far ahead over the Green Forest towards that +part of it from which the Laughing Brook comes. In a few minutes he was +as far ahead of Billy Mink as Billy was ahead of Spotty the Turtle. + + For wings are swifter far than legs, + On whatsoever purpose bent, +But doubly swift and tireless Those wings on kindly deed intent. + +And this is how it happened that Ol' Mistah Buzzard was the first to +find out what it was that had stopped the laughing of the Laughing Brook +and the smiling of the Smiling Pool, but he was so surprised when he did +find out, that he forgot all about going back to tell Spotty the Turtle. +He forgot everything but his own great surprise, and he blinked his eyes +a great many times to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. Then he sailed +around and around in circles, looking down among the trees of the Green +Forest and saying over and over to himself: + +"Did yo' ever? No, Ah never! Did yo' ever? No, Ah never!" + + + +CHAPTER XIV: Spotty The Turtle Keeps Right On Going + + "One step, two steps, three steps, so! + Four steps, five steps, six steps go! + Keep right on and do your best; + Mayhap you'll win while others rest." + +Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little +down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook. And +every time he said it, he felt better. "One step, two steps," he kept +saying over and over, and each time he said it, he took a step and +then another. They were very short steps, very short steps indeed, for +Spotty's legs are very short. But each one carried him forward just +so much, and he knew that he was just so much nearer the thing he was +seeking. Anyway, he hoped he was. + +You see, if the Laughing Brook would never laugh any more, and the +Smiling Pool would never smile any more, there was nothing to do but +to go down to the Big River to live, and no one wanted to do that, +especially Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle. + +Now, because Billy Mink could go faster than Little Joe Otter, and +Little Joe Otter could go faster than Jerry Muskrat, and Jerry could go +faster than Grandfather Frog, and Grandfather Frog could go faster than +Spotty the Turtle, and because each one wanted to be the first to find +the trouble, no one would wait for the one behind him. So Spotty the +Turtle, who has to carry his house with him, was a long, long way behind +the others. But he kept right on going. + + "One step, two steps, three steps, so!" + +and he didn't stop for anything. He crawled over sticks and around big +stones and sometimes, when he found a little pool of water, he swam. He +always felt better then, because he can swim faster than he can walk. + +After a long, long time, Spotty the Turtle came to a little pool where +the sunshine lay warm and inviting. There, in the middle of it, on a +mossy stone, sat Grandfather Frog fast asleep. He had thought that he +was so far ahead of Spotty that he could safely rest his tired legs. +Spotty wanted to climb right up beside him and take a nap too, but he +didn't. He just grinned and kept right on going. + + "One step, two steps, three steps, so!" + +while Grandfather Frog slept on. + +By and by, after a long, long time Spotty came to another little pool, +and who should he see but Jerry Muskrat busily opening and eating some +freshwater clams which he had found there. He was so busy enjoying +himself that he didn't see Spotty, and Spotty didn't say a word, but +kept right on going, although the sight of Jerry's feast had made him +dreadfully hungry. + +By and by, after a long, long time, he came to a third little pool with +a high, smooth bank, and who should he see there but Little Joe Otter, +who had made a slippery slide down the smooth bank and was having a +glorious time sliding down into the little pool. Spotty would have liked +to take just one slide, but he didn't. He didn't even let Little Joe +Otter see him, but kept right on going. + + "One step, two steps, three steps, so!" + +By and by, after a long, long time, he came to a hollow log, and just +happening to peep in, he saw some one curled up fast asleep. Who was it? +Why, Billy Mink, to be sure! You see, Billy thought that he was so far +ahead that he might just as well take it easy, and that was what he was +doing. Spotty the Turtle didn't waken him. He just kept right on going +the same slow way he had come all day, and so, just as jolly, round, +red Mr. Sun was going to bed behind the Purple Hills, Spotty the Turtle +found the cause of the trouble in the Laughing Brook and the Smiling +Pool. + + + +CHAPTER XV: What Spotty The Turtle Found + +Spotty the Turtle stared and stared and stared, until it seemed as if +his eyes surely would pop out of his funny little head. Of course he +could believe his own eyes, and yet--and yet--well, if anybody else had +seen what he was looking at and had told him about it, he wouldn't have +believed it. No, Sir, he wouldn't have believed it. You see, he couldn't +have believed it because--why, because it didn't seem as if it could be +really and truly so. + +He wondered if the sun shining in his eyes made him think he saw more +than he really did see, so he carefully changed his position. It made no +difference. Then Spotty was sure that what he saw was real, and that he +had found the cause of the trouble in the Laughing Brook, which had made +it stop laughing and the Smiling Pool stop smiling. + +Spotty the Turtle was feeling pretty good. In fact, Spotty was feeling +very good indeed, because he had been the first to find out what was +the matter with the Laughing Brook. At least, he thought that he was the +first, and he was of all the little people who live in the Smiling Pool. +Only Ol' Mistah Buzzard had been before him, and he didn't count because +his wings are broad, and all he had to do was to sail over the Green +Forest and look down. The ones who really counted were Billy Mink and +Little Joe Otter and Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather Frog. Billy Mink had +stopped for a nap. Little Joe Otter had stopped to play. Jerry Muskrat +had stopped to eat. Grandfather Frog had stopped for a sun-nap. But +Spotty the Turtle had kept right on going, and now here he was, the +first one to find the cause of the trouble in the Laughing Brook. Do you +wonder that he felt proud and very happy? + + Keeping at it, that's the way + Spotty won the race that day. + +But now Spotty was beginning to wish that some of the others would hurry +up. He wanted to know what they thought. He wanted to talk it all over. +It was such a surprising thing that he could make neither head nor tail +of it himself, and he wondered what the others would say. And now the +long black shadows were creeping through the Green Forest, and if they +didn't get there pretty soon, they would have to wait until the next +day. + +So Spotty the Turtle found a good place to spend the night, and then he +sat down to watch and wait. Right before him was the thing which he had +found and which puzzled him so. What was it? Why, it was a wall. Yes, +Sir, that is just what it was--a wall of logs and sticks and mud, and +it was right across the Laughing Brook, where the banks were steep +and narrow. Of course the Laughing Brook could laugh no longer; there +couldn't enough water get through that wall of logs and sticks and mud +to make even the beginning of a laugh. Spotty wondered what lay behind +that wall, and who had built it, and what for, and a lot of other +things. And he was still wondering when he fell asleep. + + + +CHAPTER XVI: The Pond In The Green Forest + +SPOTTY THE TURTLE was awake by the time the first rays of the rising sun +began to creep through the Green Forest. He was far, far up the Laughing +Brook, very much farther than he had ever been before, and as he yawned +and stretched, he wondered if after all he hadn't dreamed about the wall +of logs and sticks and mud across the Laughing Brook. When he had rubbed +the last sleepy-wink out of his eyes, he looked again. There it was, +just as he had seen it the night before! Then Spotty knew that it was +real, and he began to wonder what was on the other side of it. + +"I cannot climb it, for my legs were never made for climbing," said +Spotty mournfully as he looked at his funny little black feet. "Oh, +dear, I wish that I could climb like Happy Jack Squirrel!" Just then a +thought popped into his head and chased away the little frown that had +crept into Spotty's face. "Perhaps Happy Jack sometimes wishes that he +could swim as I can, so I guess we are even. I can't climb, but he can't +swim. How foolish it is to wish for things never meant for you!" + +And with that, all the discontent left Spotty the Turtle, and he +began to study how he could make the most of his short legs and his +perseverance, of which, as you already know, he had a great deal. He +looked this way, and he looked that way, and he saw that if he could +climb to the top of the bank on one side of the Laughing Brook, he would +be able to walk right out on the strange wall of logs and sticks and +mud, and then, of course, he could see just what was on the other side. + +So Spotty the Turtle wasted no more time wishing that he could do +something it was never meant that he should do. Instead, he picked out +what looked like the easiest place to climb the bank and started up. My, +my, my, it was hard work! You see, he had to carry his house along with +him, for he has to carry that wherever he goes, and it would have been +hard enough to have climbed that bank without carrying anything. Every +time he had climbed up three steps he slipped back two steps, but he +kept at it, puffing and blowing, saying over and over to himself: + + "I can if I will, and will if I can! + I'm sure to get there if I follow this plan." + +Half-way up the bank Spotty lost his balance, and the house he was +carrying just tipped him right over backward, and down he rolled to the +place he had started from. + +"I needed to cool off," said Spotty to himself and slid into a little +pool of water. Then he tried the bank again, and just as before he +slipped back two steps for every three he went up. But he shut his mouth +tight and kept at it, and by and by he was up to the place from which he +had tumbled. There he stopped to get his breath. + + "I can if I will, and will if I can! + I'm sure to get there if I follow this plan," + +said he and started on again. Twice more he tumbled clear down to the +place he had started from, but each time he laughed at himself and tried +again. And at last he reached the top of the bank. + +"I said I could if I would, and I would if I could, and I have!" he +cried. + +Then he hurried to see what was behind the strange wall. What do you +think it was? Why, a pond! Yes, Sir, there was a pond right in the +middle of the Green Forest! Trees were coming up right out of the middle +of it, but it was a sure enough pond. Spotty found it harder work to +believe his own eyes now than when he had first seen the strange wall +across the Laughing Brook. + +"Why, why, why, what does it mean?" exclaimed Spotty the Turtle. + +"That's what I want to know!" cried Billy Mink, who came hurrying up +just then. + + + +CHAPTER XVII: Who Had Made The Strange Pond? + +Who had made the strange pond? That is what Spotty the Turtle wanted to +know. That is what Billy Mink wanted to know. So did Little Joe Otter +and Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather Frog, when they arrived. So did +Ol' Mistah Buzzard, looking down from the blue, blue sky. It was very +strange, very strange indeed! Never had there been a pond in that part +of the Green Forest before, not even in the days when Sister South Wind +melted the snow so fast that the Laughing Brook ran over its banks and +the Smiling Pool grew twice as large as it ought to be. + +Of course some one had made it. Spotty the Turtle had known that as soon +as he had seen the strange pond. All in a flash he had understood what +that wall of logs and brush and mud across the Laughing Brook was for. +It was to stop the water from running down the Laughing Brook. And of +course, if the water couldn't keep on running and laughing on its way +to the Smiling Pool, it would just stand still and grow and grow into a +pond. Of course! There was nothing else for it to do. Spotty felt very +proud when he had thought that out all by himself. + +"This wall we are sitting on has made the pond," said Spotty the Turtle, +after a long time in which no one had spoken. + +"You don't say so!" said Billy Mink. "How ever, ever, did you guess it? +Are you sure, quite sure that the pond didn't make the wall?" + +Spotty knew that Billy Mink was making fun of him, but he is too +good-natured to lose his temper over a little thing like that. He +tried to think of something smart to say in reply, but Spotty is a slow +thinker as well as a slow walker, and before he could think of anything, +Billy was talking once more. + +"This wall is what Farmer Brown's boy calls a dam," said Billy Mink, who +is a great traveler. "Dams are usually built to keep water from running +where it isn't wanted or to make it go where it is wanted. Now, what +I want to know is, who under the sun wants a pond way back here in +the Green Forest, and what is it for? Who do you think built this dam, +Grandfather Frog?" + +Grandfather Frog shook his head. His big goggly eyes seemed more goggly +than ever, as he stared at the new pond in the Green Forest. + +"I don't know," said Grandfather Frog. "I don't know what to think." + +"Why, it must be Farmer Brown's boy or Farmer Brown himself," said Jerry +Muskrat. + +"Of course," said Little Joe Otter, just as if he knew all about it. + +Still Grandfather Frog shook his head, as if he didn't agree. "I don't +know," said Grandfather Frog, "I don't know. It doesn't look so to me." + +Billy Mink ran along the top of the dam and down the back side. He +looked it all over with those sharp little eyes of his. + +"Grandfather Frog is right," said he, when he came back. "It doesn't +look like the work of Farmer Brown or Farmer Brown's boy. But if they +didn't do it, who did? Who could have done it?" + +"I don't know," said Grandfather Frog again, in a dreamy sort of voice. + +Spotty the Turtle looked at him, and saw that Grandfather Frog's face +wore the far-away look that it always does when he tells a story of +the days when the world was young. "I don't know," he repeated, "but it +looks to me very much like the work of--" Grandfather Frog stopped short +off and turned to Jerry Muskrat. "Jerry Muskrat," said he, so sharply +that Jerry nearly lost his balance in his surprise, "has your big cousin +come down from the North?" + + + +CHAPTER XVIII: Jerry Muskrat's Big Cousin + + Fiddle, faddle, feedle, fuddle! + Was there ever such a muddle? + Fuddle, feedle, faddle, fiddle! + Who is there will solve the riddle? + +Here was the Laughing Brook laughing no longer. Here was the Smiling +Pool smiling no longer. Here was a brand new pond deep in the Green +Forest. Here was a wall of logs and bushes and mud called a dam, built +by some one whom nobody had seen. And here was Grandfather Frog asking +Jerry Muskrat if his big cousin had come down from the North, when Jerry +didn't even know that he had a big cousin. + +"I--I haven't any big cousin," said Jerry, when he had quite recovered +from his surprise at Grandfather Frog's question. + +"Chugarum!" exclaimed Grandfather Frog, and the scornful way in which he +said it made Jerry Muskrat feel very small. "Chugarum! Of course you've +got a big cousin in the North. Do you mean to tell me that you don't +know that, Jerry Muskrat?" + +Jerry had to admit that it was true that he didn't know anything about +that big cousin. If Grandfather Frog said that he had one, it must be +so, for Grandfather Frog is very old and very wise, and he knows a great +deal. Still, it was very hard for Jerry to believe that he had a big +cousin of whom he had never heard. + +"Did--did you ever see him, Grandfather Frog?" Jerry asked. + +"No!" snapped Grandfather Frog. "I never did, but I know all about him. +He is a great worker, is this big cousin of yours, and he builds dams +like this one we are sitting on." + +"I don't believe it!" cried Billy Mink. "I don't believe any cousin of +Jerry Muskrat's ever built such a dam as this. Why, just look at that +great tree trunk at the bottom! No one but Farmer Brown or Farmer +Brown's boy could ever have dragged that there. You're crazy, +Grandfather Frog, just plain crazy." Billy Mink sometimes is very +disrespectful to Grandfather Frog. + +"Chugarum!" replied Grandfather Frog. "I'm pretty old, but I'm not too +old to learn as some folks seem to be," and he looked very hard at Billy +Mink. "Did I say that that tree trunk was dragged here?" + +"No," replied Billy Mink, "but if it wasn't dragged here, how did it get +here? You are so smart, Grandfather Frog, tell me that!" + +Grandfather Frog blinked his great goggly eyes at Billy Mink as he said, +just as if he was very, very sorry for Billy, "Your eyes are very bright +and very sharp, Billy Mink, and it is a great pity that you have never +learned how to use them. That tree wasn't dragged here; it was cut so +that it fell right where it lies." As he spoke, Grandfather Frog pointed +to the stump of the tree, and Billy Mink saw that he was right. + +But Billy Mink is like a great many other people; he dearly loves to +have the last word. Now he suddenly began to laugh. + +"Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho!" laughed Billy Mink. "Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ha!" + +"What is it that is so funny?" snapped Grandfather Frog, for nothing +makes him so angry as to be laughed at. + +"Do you mean to say that anybody but Farmer Brown or Farmer Brown's boy +could have cut down such a big tree as that?" asked Billy. "Why, that +would be as hard as to drag the tree here." + +"Jerry Muskrat's big cousin from the North could do it, and I believe he +did," replied Grandfather Frog. "Now that we have found the cause of the +trouble in the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool, what are we going to +do about it?" + + + +CHAPTER XIX: Jerry Muskrat Has A Busy Day + +There was the strange pond in the Green Forest, and there was the dam +of logs and sticks and mud which had made the strange pond, but look +as they would, Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter and Jerry Muskrat and +Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle could see nothing of the one who +had built the dam. It was very queer. The more they thought about it, +the queerer it seemed. They looked this way, and they looked that way. + +"There is one thing very sure, and that is that whoever built this dam +had no thought for those who live in the Laughing Brook and the Smiling +Pool," said Grandfather Frog. "They are selfish, just plain, every-day +selfish; that's what they are! Now the Laughing Brook cannot laugh, +and the Smiling Pool cannot smile, while this dam stops the water from +running, and so--" Grandfather Frog stopped and looked around at his +four friends. + +"And so what?" cried Billy Mink impatiently. + +"And so we must spoil this dam. We must make a place for the water to +run through," said Grandfather Frog very gravely. + +"Of course! That's the very thing!" cried Little Joe Otter and Billy +Mink and Jerry Muskrat and Spotty the Turtle. Then Little Joe Otter +looked at Billy Mink, and Billy Mink looked at Jerry Muskrat, and Jerry +Muskrat looked at Spotty the Turtle, and after that they all looked very +hard at Grandfather Frog, and all together they asked: "How are we going +to do it?" + +Grandfather Frog scratched his head thoughtfully and looked a long time +at the dam of logs and sticks and mud. Then his big mouth widened in a +big smile. + +"Why, that is very simple," said he, "Jerry Muskrat will make a big hole +through the dam near the bottom, because he knows how, and the rest of +us will keep watch to see that no harm comes near." + +"The very thing!" cried Little Joe Otter and Billy Mink and Spotty the +Turtle, but Jerry Muskrat thought it wasn't fair. You see, it gave him +all of the real work to do. However, Jerry thought of his dear Smiling +Pool, and how terrible it would be if it should smile no more, and so +without another word he set to work. + +Now Jerry Muskrat is a great worker, and he had made many long tunnels +into the bank around the Smiling Pool, so he had no doubt but that he +could soon make a hole through this dam. But almost right away he found +trouble. Yes, Sir, Jerry had hardly begun before he found real trouble. +You see, that dam was made mostly of sticks instead of mud, and so, +instead of digging his way in as he would have done into the bank of the +Smiling Pool, he had to stop every few minutes to gnaw off sticks that +were in the way. + +It was hard work, the hardest kind of hard work. But Jerry Muskrat is +the kind that is the more determined to do the work the harder the work +is to be done. And so, while Grandfather Frog sat on one end of the dam +and pretended to keep watch, but really took a nap in the warm sunshine, +and while Spotty the Turtle sat on the other end of the dam doing the +same thing, and while Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter swam around in the +strange pond and enjoyed themselves, Jerry Muskrat worked and worked and +worked. And just as jolly, round, red Mr. Sun started down behind the +Purple Hills, Jerry broke through into the strange pond, and the water +began to run in the Laughing Brook once more. + + + +CHAPTER XX: Jerry Has A Dreadful Disappointment + + There's nothing in this world that's sure, + No matter how we scheme and plan. + We simply have to be content + With doing just the best we can. + +Jerry Muskrat had curled himself up for the night, so tired that he +could hardly keep his eyes open long enough to find a comfortable place +to sleep. But he was happy. Yes, indeed, Jerry was happy. He could hear +the Laughing Brook beginning to laugh again. It was just a little low, +gurgling laugh, but Jerry knew that in a little while it would grow +into the full laugh that makes music through the Green Forest and puts +happiness into the hearts of all who hear it. + +So Jerry was happy, for was it not because of him that the Laughing +Brook was beginning to laugh? He had worked all the long day to make a +hole through the dam which some one had built across the Laughing Brook +and so stopped its laughter. Now the water was running again, and soon +the new, strange pond behind the dam there in the Green Forest would +be gone, and the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool would be their own +beautiful selves once more. It was because he had worked so hard all day +that he was going to sleep now. Usually he would rather sleep a part of +the day and be abroad at night. + +Very pleasant dreams had Jerry Muskrat that night, dreams of the dear +Smiling Pool, smiling just as it had as long as Jerry could remember, +before this trouble had come. He was still dreaming when Spotty the +Turtle found him and waked him, for it was broad daylight. Jerry yawned +and stretched, and then he lay still for a minute to listen to the +pleasant murmur of the Laughing Brook. But there wasn't any pleasant +murmur. There wasn't any sound at all. Jerry began to wonder if he +really was awake after all. He looked at Spotty the Turtle, and he knew +then that he was, for Spotty's face had such a worried look. + +"Get up, Jerry Muskrat, and come look at the hole you made yesterday in +the dam. You couldn't have done your work very well, for the hole has +filled up so that the water does not run any more," said Spotty. + +"I did do it well!" snapped Jerry crossly. "I did it just as well as +I know how. You lazy folks who just sit and take sun-naps while +you pretend to keep watch had better get busy and do a little work +yourselves, if you don't like the way I work." + +"I--I beg your pardon, Jerry Muskrat. I didn't mean to say just that," +replied Spotty. "You see, we are all worried. We thought last night that +by this morning the Laughing Brook would be full of water again, and we +could go back to the Smiling Pool as soon as we felt like it, and here +it is as bad as ever." + +"Perhaps the trouble is just that some sticks and grass drifted down in +the water and filled up the hole I made; that must be the trouble," said +Jerry hopefully, as he hurried towards the dam. + +First he carefully examined it from the Laughing Brook side. Then he +dived down under water on the other side. He was gone a long time, and +Billy Mink was just getting ready to dive to see what had become of him +when he came up again. + +"What is the trouble?" cried Spotty the Turtle and Grandfather Frog and +Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter together. "Is the hole filled up with +stuff that has drifted in?" + +Jerry shook his head, as he slowly climbed out of the water. "No," said +he. "No, it isn't filled with drift stuff brought down by the water. It +is filled with sticks and mud that somebody has put there. Somebody has +filled up the hole that I worked so hard to make yesterday, and it will +take me all day to open it up again." + +Then Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle and Billy Mink and Little +Joe Otter and Jerry Muskrat stared at one mother, and for a long time no +one said a word. + + + +CHAPTER XXI: Jerry Muskrat Keeps Watch + + "The way in which to find things out, + And what goes on all round about, + Is just to keep my two eyes peeled + And two ears all the time unsealed." + +So said Jerry Muskrat, as he settled himself comfortably on one end +of the new dam across the Laughing Brook deep in the Green Forest and +watched the dark shadows creep farther and farther out into the strange +pond made by the new dam. + +"I'm going to find out who it is that built this dam, and who it is that +filled the hole I made in it! I'm going to find out if I have to move up +here and live all summer!" The way in which Jerry said this and snapped +his teeth together showed that he meant just what he said. + +You see Jerry had spent another long, weary day opening the hole in the +dam once more, only to have it closed again while he slept. That had +been enough for Jerry. He hadn't tried again. Instead he had made up +his mind that he would find out who was playing such a trick on him. He +would just watch until they came, and then if they were not bigger than +he, or there were not too many of them, he would--well, the way Jerry +gritted and clashed those sharp teeth of his sounded as if he meant to +do something pretty bad. + +Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter had given up in disgust and started for +the Big River. They are great travelers, anyway, and so didn't mind so +much because there was no longer water enough in the Laughing Brook and +the Smiling Pool. Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle, who are such +very, very slow travelers, had decided that the Big River was too far +away, and so they would stay and live in the strange pond for a while, +though it wasn't nearly so nice as their dear Smiling Pool. They bad +gone to sleep now, each in his own secret place where he would be safe +for the night. + +So Jerry Muskrat sat alone and watched. The black shadows crept farther +and farther across the pond and grew blacker and blacker. Jerry didn't +mind this, because, as you know, his eyes are made for seeing in the +dark, and he dearly loves the night. Jerry had sat there a long +time without moving. He was listening and watching. By and by he saw +something that made him draw in his breath and anger leap into his eyes. +It was a little silver line on the water, and it was coming straight +towards the dam where he sat. Jerry knew that it was made by some one +swimming. + +"Ha!" said Jerry. "Now we shall see!" + +Nearer and nearer came the silver line. Then Jerry made out the head of +the swimmer. Suddenly all the anger left Jerry. He didn't have room for +anger; a great fear had crowded it out. The head was bigger than that of +any Muskrat Jerry had ever seen. It was bigger than the head of any of +Billy Mink's relatives. It was the head of a stranger, a stranger so big +that Jerry felt very, very small and hoped with all his might that the +stranger would not see him. + +Jerry held his breath as the stranger swam past and then climbed out on +the dam. He looked very much like Jerry himself, only ever and ever so +much bigger. And his tail! Jerry had never seen such a tail. It was very +broad and flat. Suddenly the big stranger turned and looked straight at +Jerry. + +"Hello, Jerry Muskrat!" said he. "Don't you know me?" + +Jerry was too frightened to speak. + +"I'm your big cousin from the North; I'm Paddy the Beaver, and if +you leave my dam alone, I think we'll be good friends," continued the +stranger. + +"I--I--I hope so," said Jerry in a very faint voice, trying to be +polite, but with his teeth chattering with fear. + + + +CHAPTER XXII: Jerry Loses His Fear + + "Oh, tell me, you and you and you, + If it may hap you've ever heard + Of all that wond'rous is and great + The greatest is the spoken word?" + +It's true. It's the truest thing that ever was. If you don't believe +it, you just go ask Jerry Muskrat. He'll tell you it's true, and Jerry +knows. You see, it's this way: Words are more than just sounds. Oh, my, +yes! They are little messengers, and once they have been sent out, you +can't call them back. No, Sir, you can't call them back, and sometimes +that is a very sad thing, because--well, you see these little messengers +always carry something to some one else, and that something may be anger +or hate or fear or an untruth, and it is these things which make most of +the trouble in this world. Or that something may be love or sympathy or +helpfulness or kindness, and it is these things which put an end to most +of the troubles in this world. + +Just take the ease of Jerry Muskrat. There he sat on the new dam, which +had made the strange pond in the Green Forest, shaking with fear until +his teeth chattered, as he watched a stranger very, very much bigger +than he climb up on the dam. Jerry was afraid, because he had seen that +the stranger could swim as well as he could, and as Jerry had no secret +burrows there, he knew that he couldn't get away from the stranger if he +wanted to. Somehow, Jerry knew without being told that the stranger had +built the dam, and you know Jerry had twice made a hole in the dam to +let the water out of the strange pond into the Laughing Brook. Jerry +knew right down in his heart that if he had built that dam, he would be +very, very angry with any one who tried to spoil it, and that is just +what he had tried to do. So he sat with chattering teeth, too frightened +to even try to run. + +"I wish I had let some one else keep watch," said Jerry to himself. + +Then the big stranger had spoken. He had said: "Hello, Jerry Muskrat! +Don't you know me?" and his voice hadn't sounded the least bit angry. +Then he had told Jerry that he was his big cousin, Paddy the Beaver, and +he hoped that they would be friends. + +Now everything was just as it had been before--the strange pond, the +dam, Jerry himself and the big stranger, and the black shadows of the +night--and yet somehow, everything was different, all because a few +pleasant words had been spoken. A great fear had fallen away from +Jerry's heart, and in its place was a great hope that after all there +wasn't to be any trouble. So he replied to Paddy the Beaver as politely +as he knew how. Paddy was just as polite, and the first thing Jerry +knew, instead of being enemies, as Jerry had all along made up his mind +would be the case when he found the builder of the dam, here they were +becoming the best of friends, all because Paddy the Beaver had said the +right thing in the right way. + +"But you haven't told me yet what you made those holes in my dam for, +Cousin Jerry," said Paddy the Beaver finally. + +Jerry didn't know just what to say. He was so pleased with his big new +cousin that he didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him that he +didn't think that dam had any business to be across the Laughing Brook, +and at the same time he wanted Paddy to know how he had spoiled the +Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool. At last he made up his mind to tell +the whole story. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII: Paddy The Beaver Does A Kind Deed + +Paddy the Beaver listened to all that his small cousin, Jerry Muskrat, +had to tell him about the trouble which Paddy's dam had caused in the +Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool. + +"You see, we who live in the Smiling Pool love it dearly, and we don't +want to have to leave it, but if the water cannot run down the Laughing +Brook, there can be no Smiling Pool, and so we will have to move off to +the Big River," concluded Jerry Muskrat. "That is why I tried to spoil +your dam." + +There was a twinkle in the eyes of Paddy the Beaver as he replied: +"Well, now that you have found out that you can't do that, because I am +bigger than you and can stop you, what are you going to do about it?" + +"I don't know," said Jerry Muskrat sadly. "I don't see what we can +do about it. Of course you are big and strong and can do just as you +please, but it doesn't seem right that we who have lived here so long +should have to move and go away from all that we love so just because +you, a stranger, happen to want to live here. I tell you what!" Jerry's +eyes sparkled as a brand new thought came to him. "Couldn't you come +down and live in the Smiling Pool with us? I'm sure there is room +enough!" + +Paddy the Beaver shook his head. "No," said he, and Jerry's heart sank. +"No, I can't do that because down there there isn't any of the kind of +food I eat. Besides, I wouldn't feel at all safe in the Smiling Pool. +You see, I always live in the woods. No, I couldn't possibly come down +to live in the Smiling Pool. But I'm truly sorry that I have made you so +much worry, Cousin Jerry, and I'm going to prove it to you. Now you sit +right here until I come back." + +Before Jerry realized what he was going to do, Paddy the Beaver dived +into the pond, and as he disappeared, his broad tail hit the water such +a slap that it made Jerry jump. Then there began a great disturbance +down under water. In a few minutes up bobbed a stick, and then another +and another, and the water grew so muddy that Jerry couldn't see what +was going on. Paddy was gone a long time. Jerry wondered how he could +stay under water so long without air. All the time Paddy was just +fooling him. He would come up to the surface, stick his nose out, +nothing more, fill his lungs with fresh air, and go down again. + +Suddenly Jerry Muskrat heard a sound that made him prick up his funny +little short ears and whirl about so that he could look over the other +side of the dam into the Laughing Brook. What do you think that sound +was? Why, it was the sound of rushing water, the sweetest sound Jerry +had listened to for a long time. There was a great hole in the dam, and +already the brook was beginning to laugh as the water rushed down it. + +"How do you like that, Cousin Jerry?" said a voice right in his ear. +Paddy the Beaver had climbed up beside him, and his eyes were twinkling. + +"It--it's splendid!" cried Jerry. "But--but you've spoiled your dam!" + +"Oh, that's all right," replied Paddy. "I didn't really want it now, +anyway. I don't usually build dams at this time of year, and I built +this one just for fun because it seemed such a nice place to build one. +You see, I was traveling through here, and it seemed such a nice place, +that I thought I would stay a while. I didn't know anything about the +Smiling Pool, you know. Now, I guess I'll have to move on and find a +place where I can make a pond in the fall that will not trouble other +people. You see, I don't like to be troubled myself, and so I don't want +to trouble other people. This Green Forest is a very nice place." + +"The very nicest place in all the world excepting the Green Meadows +and the Smiling Pool!" replied Jerry promptly. "Won't you stay, Cousin +Paddy? I'm sure we would all like to have you." + +"Of course we would," said a gruff voice right beside them. It was +Grandfather Frog. + +Paddy the Beaver looked thoughtful. "Perhaps I will," said he, "if I can +find some good hiding-places in the Laughing Brook." + + + +CHAPTER XXIV: A Merry Home-Going + + "The Laughing Brook is merry + And so am I," cried Jerry. + Grandfather Frog said he was too. + And Spotty was, the others knew. + +The trees stood with wet feet where just a little while before had been +the strange pond in the Green Forest, the pond made by the dam of Paddy +the Beaver. In the dam was a great hole made by Paddy himself. + +Through the Green Forest rang the laughter of the Laughing Brook, for +once more the water ran deep between its banks. And in the hearts of +Grandfather Frog and Jerry Muskrat and Spotty the Turtle was laughter +also, for now the Smiling Pool would smile once more, and they could go +home in peace and happiness. And there was one more who laughed. Who was +it? Why, Paddy the Beaver to be sure, and his was the best laugh of all, +for it was because he had brought happiness to others. + +"You beat me up here to the dam, but you won't beat me back to the +Smiling Pool," cried Jerry Muskrat to Spotty the Turtle. + +Spotty laughed good-naturedly. "You'd better not stop to eat or play or +sleep on the way then," said he, "for I shall keep right on going all +the time. I've found that is the only way to get anywhere." + +"Let us all go down together" said Grandfather Frog. "We can help each +other over the bad places." + +Jerry Muskrat laughed until he had to hold his sides at the very thought +of Grandfather Frog or Spotty the Turtle being able to help him, but +he is very good-natured, and so he agreed that they should all go down +together. Paddy the Beaver said that he would go, too, so off the four +started, Jerry Muskrat and Paddy the Beaver swimming side by side, and +behind them Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle. + +Now Spotty the Turtle is a very slow traveler on land, but in the water +Spotty is not so slow. In fact, it was not long before Grandfather Frog +found that he was the one who could not keep up. You see, while he is +a great diver and can swim fast for a short distance, he is soon tired +out. Pretty soon he was puffing and blowing and dropping farther and +farther behind. By and by, Spotty the Turtle looked back. There was +Grandfather Frog just tumbling head first over a little waterfall. +He came up choking and gasping and kicking his long legs very feebly. +Spotty climbed out on a rock and waited. He helped Grandfather Frog out +beside him, and when Grandfather Frog had once more gotten his breath, +what do you think Spotty did? Why, he took Grandfather Frog right on his +back and started on again. + +Now Jerry Muskrat and Paddy the Beaver, being great swimmers, were soon +out of sight. All at once Jerry remembered that they had agreed to go +back together, and down in his heart he felt a little bit mean when he +looked for Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle and could see nothing +of them. So he and Paddy sat down to wait. After what seemed a long +time, they saw something queer bobbing along in the water. + +"It's Grandfather Frog," cried Paddy the Beaver. + +"No, it's Spotty the Turtle," said Jerry Muskrat. + +"It's both," replied Paddy, beginning to laugh. + +Just then Spotty tumbled over another waterfall which he hadn't seen, +and of course Grandfather Frog went with him and lost his hold on +Spotty's back. + +"I have an idea!" cried Paddy. + +"What is it?" asked Jerry. + +"Why, Grandfather Frog can ride on my flat tail," replied Paddy, "and +then we'll go slow enough for Spotty to keep up with us." + +And so it was that just as the first moonbeams kissed the Smiling Pool, +out of the Laughing Brook swam the merriest party that ever was seen. + +"Chugarum!" said Grandfather Frog. "It is good to be home, but I think +I would travel often, if I could have the tail of Paddy the Beaver for a +boat." + + + +CHAPTER XXV: Paddy The Beaver Decides To Stay + + "The fair Green Meadows spreading wide, + The Smiling Pool and Laughing Brook-- + They fill our hearts with joy and pride; + We love their every hidden nook." + +So said Jerry Muskrat, as he climbed up on the Big Rock in the middle of +the Smiling Pool, with Paddy the Beaver beside him, and watched the dear +Smiling Pool dimpling and smiling in the moonlight, as he had so often +seen it before the great trouble had come. + +"Chugarum!" said Grandfather Frog in his great deep voice from the +bulrushes. "One never knows how great their blessings are until they +have been lost and found again." + +The bulrushes nodded, as if they too were thinking of this. You see +their feet were once more in the cool water. Paddy the Beaver seemed to +understand just how every one felt, and he smiled to himself as he saw +how happy these new friends of his were. + +"It surely is a very nice place here, and I don't wonder that you +couldn't bear to leave it," said he. "I'm sorry that I made you all that +trouble and worry, but you see I didn't know." + +"Oh, that's all right," replied Jerry Muskrat, who was now very proud of +his big cousin. "I hope that now you see how nice it is, you will stay +and make your home here." + +Paddy the Beaver looked back at the great black shadow which he knew was +the Green Forest. Way over in the middle of it he heard the hunting-call +of Hooty the Owl. Then he looked out over the Green Meadows, and from +way over on the far side of them sounded the bark of Reddy Fox, and it +was answered by the deep voice of Bowser the Hound up in Farmer Brown's +dooryard. For some reason that last sound made Paddy the Beaver shiver +a little, just as the voice of Hooty the Owl made the smaller people of +the Green Forest and the Green Meadows shiver when they heard it. Paddy +wasn't afraid of Hooty or of Reddy Fox, but Bowser's great voice was new +to him, and somehow the very sound of it made him afraid. You see, the +Green Meadows were so strange and open that he didn't feel at all at +home, for he dearly loves the deepest part of the Green Forest. + +"No," said Paddy the Beaver, "I can't possibly live here in the Smiling +Pool. It is a very nice pool, but it wouldn't do at all for me, Cousin +Jerry. I wouldn't feel safe here a minute. Besides, there is nothing to +eat here." + +"Oh, yes, there is," Jerry Muskrat interrupted. "There are lily-roots +and the nicest fresh-water clams and--" + +"But there are no trees," said Paddy the Beaver, "and you know I have to +have trees." + +Jerry stared at Paddy as if he didn't understand. "Do--do you eat +trees?" he asked finally. + +Paddy laughed. "Just the bark," said he, "and I have to have a great +deal of it." + +Jerry looked as disappointed as he felt. "Of course you can't stay +then," said he, "and--and I had thought that we would have such good +times together." + +Paddy's eyes twinkled. "Perhaps we may yet," said he. "You see I have +about made up my mind that I will stay a while along the Laughing Brook +in the Green Forest, and you can come to see me there. On our way down I +saw a very nice hole in the bank that I think will make me a good house +for the present, and you can come up there to see me. But if I do stay, +you and Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle must keep my secret. No +one must know that I am there. Will you?" + +"Of course we will!" cried Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather Frog and Spotty +the Turtle together. + +"Then I'll stay," said Paddy the Beaver, diving into the Smiling Pool +with a great splash. + +And so one of Jerry Muskrat's greatest adventures ended in the finding +of his biggest cousin, Paddy the Beaver. Now Jerry has a lot of cousins, +and one of them lives on the Green Meadows not far from the Smiling +Pool. His name is Danny Meadow Mouse, and Danny is forever having +adventures too. He has them every day. In the next book you will be told +about some of these, if you care to read about them. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat, by +Thornton W. 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Burgess + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5110] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 29, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY MUSKRAT *** + + + + +This eBook was prepared by by Kent Fielden (fielden3@aol.com). + + +THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY MUSKRAT + +BY THORNTON W. BURGESS + + + +CHAPTER I: Jerry Muskrat Has A Fright + +What was it Mother Muskrat had said about Farmer Brown's boy and his +traps? Jerry Muskrat sat on the edge of the Big Rock and kicked his +heels while he tried to remember. The fact is, Jerry had not half heeded. +He had been thinking of other things. Besides, it seemed to him that +Mother Muskrat was altogether foolish about a great many things. + +"Pooh!" said Jerry, throwing out his chest, "I guess I can take care +of myself without being tied to my mother's apron strings! What if +Farmer Brown's boy is setting traps around the Smiling Pool? I guess +he can't fool your Uncle Jerry. He isn't so smart as he thinks he is; +I can fool him any day." Jerry chuckled. He was thinking of how +he had once fooled Farmer Brown's boy into thinking a big trout was +on his hook. + +Slowly Jerry slid into the Smiling Pool and swam over towards his +favorite log. Peter Rabbit stuck his head over the edge of the bank. +"Hi, Jerry," he shouted, "last night I saw Farmer Brown's boy +coming over this way with a lot of traps. Better watch out!" + +"Go chase yourself, Peter Rabbit. I guess I can look out for +myself," replied Jerry, just a little crossly. + +Peter made a wry face and started for the sweet clover patch. +Hardly was he out of sight when Billy Mink and Bobby Coon came +down the Laughing Brook together. They seemed very much excited. +When they saw Jerry Muskrat, they beckoned for him to come over +where they were, and when he got there, they both talked at once, +and it was all about Farmer Brown's boy and his traps. + +"You'd better watch out, Jerry," warned Billy Mink, who is a great +traveler and has had wide experience. + +"Oh, I guess I'm able to take care of myself," said Jerry airily, +and once more started for his favorite log. And what do you suppose +he was thinking about as he swam along? He was wishing that he knew +what a trap looked like, for despite his boasting he didn't even +know what he was to look out for. As he drew near his favorite log, +something tickled his nose. He stopped swimming to sniff and sniff. +My, how good it did smell! And it seemed to come right straight from +the old log. Jerry began to swim as fast as he could. In a few +minutes he scrambled out on the old log. Then Jerry rubbed his eyes +three times to be sure that he saw aright. There were luscious +pieces of carrot lying right in front of him. + +Now there is nothing that Jerry Muskrat likes better than carrot. +So he didn't stop to wonder how it got there. He just reached out +for the nearest piece and ate it. Then he reached for the next piece +and ate it. Then he did a funny little dance just for joy. When he +was quite out of breath, he sat down to rest. Snap! Something had +Jerry Muskrat by the tail! Jerry squealed with fright and pain. Oh, +how it did hurt! He twisted and turned, but he was held fast and +could not see what had him. Then he pulled and pulled, until it +seemed as if his tail would pull off. But it didn't. So he kept +pulling, and pretty soon the thing let go so suddenly that Jerry +tumbled head first into the water. + +When he reached home, Mother Muskrat did his sore tail up for him. +"What did I tell you about traps?" she asked severely. + +Jerry stopped crying. "Was that a trap?" he asked. Then he remembered +that in his fright he didn't even see it. "Oh, dear," he moaned, "I +wouldn't know one to-day if I met it." + + + +CHAPTER II: The Convention At Ther Big Rock + +Jolly round, red Mr. Sun looked down on the Smiling Pool. He almost +forgot to keep on climbing up in the blue sky, he was so interested +in what he saw there. What do you think it was? Why, it was a +convention at the Big Rock, the queerest convention he ever had seen. +Your papa would say that it was a mass-meeting of angry citizens. +Maybe it was, but that is a pretty long term. Anyway, Mother Muskrat +said it was a convention, and she ought to know, for she is the one +who had called it. + +Of course Jerry Muskrat was there, and his uncles and aunts and all +his cousins. Billy Mink was there, and all his relations, even old +Grandfather Mink, who has lost most of his teeth and is a little +hard of hearing. + +Little Joe Otter was there, with his father and mother and all his +relations even to his third cousins. Bobby Coon was there, and he +had brought with him every Coon of his acquaintance who ever fished +in the Smiling Pool or along the Laughing Brook. And everybody was +looking very solemn, very solemn indeed. + +When the last one had arrived, Mother Muskrat climbed up on the Big +Rock and called Jerry Muskrat up beside her, where all could see him. +Then she made a speech. "Friends of the Smiling Pool and Laughing +Brook," began Mrs. Muskrat, "I have called you together to show you +what has happened to my son Jerry and to ask your advice." She stopped +and pointed to Jerry's sore tail. "What do you think did that?" she +demanded. + +"Probably Jerry's been in a fight and got whipped," said Bobby Coon +to his neighbor, for Bobby Coon is a graceless young scamp and does +not always show proper respect to his neighbors. + +Mrs. Muskrat glared at him, for she had overheard the remark. Then +she held up one hand to command silence. "Friends, it was a trap -- +a trap set by Farmer Brown's boy! a trap to catch you and me and our +children!" said she solemnly. "It is no longer safe for our little +folks to play around the Smiling Pool or along the Laughing Brook. +What are we going to do about it?" + +Everybody looked at everybody else in dismay. Then everybody began +to talk at once, and if Farmer Brown's boy could have heard all the +things said about him, his cheeks certainly would have burned. +Indeed, I am afraid that they would have blistered. Such excitement! +Everybody had a different idea, and nobody would listen to anybody +else. Old Mr. Mink lost his temper and called Grandpa Otter a +meddlesome know-nothing. It looked very much as if the convention +was going to break up in a sad quarrel. Then Mr. Coon climbed up on +the Big Rock and with a stick pounded for silence. + +"I move," said he, "that in as much as we cannot agree, we tell +Great-Grandfather Frog all about the danger and ask his advice, for +he is very old and very wise and remembers when the world was young. +All in favor please raise their right hands." + +At once the air was full of hands, and everybody was good-natured +once more. So it was agreed to call in Great-Grandfather Frog. + + + +CHAPTER III: The Oracle Of The Smiling Pool + +Grandfather Frog sat on his big green lily-pad with his eyes half +closed, for all the world as if he knew nothing about the meeting at +the Big Rock. Of course he did know, for there isn't much going on +around the Smiling Pool which he doesn't see or at least hear all +about. The Merry Little Breezes, who are here, there, and everywhere, +told him all that was going on, so that when he saw Jerry Muskrat +and Little Joe Otter swimming towards him, he knew what they were +coming for. But he pretended to be very much surprised when Jerry +Muskrat very politely said: "Good morning, Grandfather Frog." + +"Good morning, Jerry Muskrat. You're out early this morning," +replied Grandfather Frog. + +"If you please, you are wanted over at the Big Rock," said Jerry. + +Grandfather Frog's eyes twinkled, but he made his voice very deep +and gruff as he replied: "Chugarum! You're a scamp, Jerry Muskrat, +and Little Joe Otter is another. What trick are you trying to play +on me now?" + +Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter looked a wee bit sheepish, for it +was true that they were forever trying to play tricks on Grandfather +Frog. "Really and truly, Grandfather Frog, there isn't any trick +this time," said Jerry. "There is a meeting at the Big Rock to try +to decide what to do to keep Farmer Brown's boy from setting traps +around the Smiling Pool and along the Laughing Brook, and everybody +wants your advice, because you are so old and so wise. Please come." + +Grandfather Frog smoothed down his white and yellow waistcoat and +pretended to think the matter over very seriously, while Jerry and +Little Joe fidgeted impatiently. Finally he spoke. + +"I am very old, as you have said, Jerry Muskrat, and it is a long way +over to the Big Rock." + +"Get right on my back and I'll take you over there," said Jerry eagerly. + +"I'm afraid that you'll spill me off," replied Grandfather Frog. + +"No, I won't; just try me and see," begged Jerry. + +So Grandfather Frog climbed on Jerry Muskrat's back, and Jerry +started for the Big Rock as fast as he could go. When all the Minks +and the Otters and the Coons and the Muskrats saw them coming, they +gave a great shout, for Grandfather Frog is sometimes called the oracle +of the Smiling Pool. You know an oracle is one who is very wise. + +Bobby Coon helped Grandfather Frog up on the Big Rock, and when he +had made himself comfortable, Mrs. Muskrat told him all about Farmer +Brown's boy and his traps, and how Jerry had been caught in one by +the tail, and she ended by asking for his advice, because they all +knew that he was so wise. + +When she said this, Grandfather Frog puffed himself up until it seemed +as if his white and yellow waistcoat would surely burst. He sat +very still for a while and gazed straight at jolly, round, red +Mr. Sun without blinking once. Then he spoke in a very deep voice. + +"To-morrow morning at sunrise I will tell you what to do," said he. +And not another word could they get out of him. + + + +CHAPTER IV: Grandfather Frog's Plan + +Just as Old Mother West Wind and her Merry Little Breezes came down +from the Purple Hills, and jolly, round, red Mr. Sun threw his +nightcap off and began his daily climb up in the blue sky, +Great-Grandfather Frog climbed up on the Big Rock in the Smiling +Pool. Early as he was, all the little people who live along the +Laughing Brook and around the Smiling Pool were waiting for him. +Bobby Coon had found two traps set by Farmer Brown's boy, and +Billy Mink had almost stepped in a third. No one felt safe any more, +yet no one knew what to do. So they all waited for the advice of +Great-Grandfather Frog, who, you know, is accounted very, very wise. + +Grandfather Frog cleared his throat. "Chugarum!" said he. "You must +find all the traps that Farmer Brown's boy has set." + +"How are we going to do it?" asked Bobby Coon. + +"By looking for them," replied Grandfather Frog tartly. + +Bobby Coon looked foolish and slipped out of sight behind his mother. + +"All the Coons and all the Minks must search along the banks of the +Laughing Brook, and all the Muskrats and all the Otters must search +along the banks of the Smiling Pool. You must use your eyes and your +noses. When you find things good to eat where you have never found +them before, watch out! When you get the first whiff of the man-smell, +watch out! Billy Mink, you are small and quick, and your eyes are +sharp. You sit here on the Big Rock until you see Farmer Brown's +boy coming. Then go hide in the bulrushes where you can watch him, +but where he cannot see you. Follow him everywhere he goes around +the Smiling Pool or along the Laughing Brook. Without knowing it, +he will show you where every trap is hidden. + +"When all the traps have been found, drop a stick or a stone in each. +That will spring them, and then they will be harmless. Then you can +bury them deep in the mud. But don't eat any of the food until you +have sprung all of the traps, for just as likely as not you will get +caught. When all the traps have been sprung, why not bring all the +good things to eat which you find around them to the Big Rock and +have a grand feast?" + +"Hurrah for Grandfather Frog! That's a great idea!" shouted Little +Joe Otter, turning a somersault in the water. + +Every one agreed with Little Joe Otter, and immediately they began +to plan a grand hunt for the traps of Farmer Brown's boy. +The Muskrats and the Otters started to search the banks of the +Smiling Pool, and the Coons and the Minks, all but Billy, started +for the Laughing Brook. Billy climbed up on the Big Rock to watch, +and Grandfather Frog slowly swam back to his big green lily-pad to +wait for some foolish green flies for his breakfast. + + + +CHAPTER V: A Busy Day At The Smiling Pool + +Everybody was excited. Yes, Sir. everybody in the Smiling Pool and +along the Laughing Brook was just bubbling over with excitement. +Even Spotty the Turtle, who usually takes everything so calmly that +some people think him stupid, climbed up on the highest point of an +old log where he could see what was going on. Only Grandfather +Frog, sitting on his big green lily-pad and watching for foolish +green flies for his breakfast, appeared not to know that something +unusual was going on. Really, he was just as much excited as the +rest, but because he is very old and accounted very, very wise, it +would not do for him to show it. + +What was it all about? Why, all the Minks and the Coons and the +Otters and the Muskrats, who live and play around the Smiling Pool +and the Laughing Brook, were hunting for traps. Yes, Sir, they were +hunting for traps set by Farmer Brown's boy, just as Grandfather +Frog had advised them to. + +Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter were hunting together. They +were swimming along close to shore just where the Laughing Brook +leaves the Smiling Pool, when Jerry wrinkled up his funny little +nose and stopped swimming. Sniff, sniff, sniff, went Jerry Muskrat. +Then little cold shivers ran down his backbone and way out to the +tip of his tail. + +"What is it?" asked Little Joe Otter. + +"It's the man-smell," whispered Jerry. + +Just then Little Joe Otter gave a long sniff. "My, I smell fish!" +he cried, his eyes sparkling, and started in the direction from +which the smell came. He swam faster than Jerry, and in a minute he +shouted in delight. + +"Hi, Jerry! Some one's left a fish on the edge of the bank: What a +feast!" + +Jerry hurried as fast as he could swim, his eyes popping out with +fright, for the nearer he got, the stronger grew that dreadful man-smell. +"Don't touch it," he panted. "Don't touch it, Joe Otter!" + +Little Joe laughed. "What's the matter, Jerry? 'Fraid I'll eat it +all up before you get here?" he asked, as he reached out for the fish. + +"Stop!" shrieked Jerry, and gave Little Joe a push, just as the +latter touched the fish. + +Snap! A pair of wicked steel jaws flew together and caught Little +Joe Otter by a claw of one toe. If it hadn't been for Jerry's push, +he would have been caught by a foot. + +"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Little Joe Otter. + +"Next time I guess you'll remember what Grandfather Frog said about +watching out when you find things to eat where they never were before," +said Jerry, as he helped Little Joe pull himself free from the trap. +But he left the claw behind and had a dreadfully sore toe as a result. +Then they buried the trap deep down in the mud and started to look +for another. + +All around the Smiling Pool and along the Laughing Brook their +cousins and uncles and aunts and friends were just as busy, and +every once in a while some one would have just as narrow an escape +as Little Joe Otter. And all the time up at the farmhouse Farmer +Brown's boy was planning what he would do with the skins of the +little animals he was sure he would catch in his traps. + + + +CHAPTER VI: Farmer Brown's Boy Is Puzzled + +Farmer Brown's boy was whistling merrily as he tramped down across +the Green Meadows. The Merry Little Breezes saw him coming, and they +raced over to the Smiling Pool to tell Billy Mink. Farmer Brown's +boy was coming to visit his traps. He was very sure that he would +find Billy Mink or Little Joe Otter, or Jerry Muskrat, or perhaps +Bobby Coon. + +Billy Mink was sitting on top of the Big Rock. He saw the Merry +Little Breezes racing across the Green Meadows, and behind them +he saw Farmer Brown's boy. Billy Mink dived head first into the +Smiling Pool. Then he swam over to Jerry Muskrat's house and warned +Jerry. Together they hunted up Little Joe Otter, and then the three +little scamps in brown hid in the bulrushes, where they could watch +Farmer Brown's boy. + +The first place Farmer Brown's boy visited was Jerry Muskrat's +old log. Very cautiously he peeped over the edge of the bank. +The trap was gone! + +"Hurrah!" shouted Farmer Brown's boy. He was very much excited, as +he caught hold of the end of the chain, which fastened it to the old +log. He was sure that at last he had caught Jerry Muskrat. When he +pulled the trap up, it was empty. Between the jaws were a few hairs +and a little bit of skin, which Jerry Muskrat had left there when he +sprung the trap with his tail. + +Farmer Brown's boy was disappointed. "Well, I'll get him to-morrow, +anyway," said he to himself. Then he went on to his next trap; +it was nowhere to be seen. When he pulled the chain he was so excited +that he trembled. The trap did not come up at once. He pulled and +pulled, and then suddenly up it came, all covered with mud. In it +was one little claw from Little Joe Otter. Very carefully Farmer +Brown's boy set the trap again. If he could have looked over in the +bulrushes and have seen Little Joe Otter and Billy Mink and Jerry +Muskrat watching him and tickling and laughing, he would not have +been so sure that next time he would catch Little Joe Otter. + +All around the Smiling Pool and then up and down the Laughing Brook +Farmer Brown's boy tramped, and each trap he found sprung and buried +in the mud. He had stopped whistling by this time, and there was a +puzzled frown on his freckled face. What did it mean? Could some +other boy have found all his traps and played a trick by springing +all of them? The more he thought about it, the more puzzled he +became. You see, he did not know anything about the busy day the +Minks and the Otters and the Muskrats and the Coons had spent the +day before. + +Old Grandfather Frog, sitting on his big green lily-pad, smoothed +down his white and yellow waistcoat and winked up at jolly, round, +red Mr. Sun as Farmer Brown's boy tramped off across the Green Meadows. + +"Chugarum!" said Grandfather Frog, as he snapped up a foolish green fly. +"Much good it will do you to set those traps again!" + +Then Grandfather Frog called to Billy Mink and sent him to tell all +the other little people of the Smiling Pool and the Laughing Brook +that they must hurry and spring all the traps again as they had before. + +This time it was easy, because they knew just where the traps were, +so all day long they dropped sticks and stones into the traps and +once more sprung them. Then they prepared for a grand feast of the +good things to eat which Farmer Brown's boy had left, scattered +around the traps. + + + +CHAPTER VII: Jerry Muskrat Makes A Discovery + +The beautiful springtime had brought a great deal of happiness to +the Smiling Pool, as it had to the Green Meadows and to the Green +Forest. Great-Grandfather Frog, who had slept the long winter away +in his own special bed way down in the mud, had waked up with an +appetite so great that for a while it seemed as if he could think of +nothing but his stomach. Jerry Muskrat had felt the spring fever in +his bones and had gone up and down the Laughing Brook, poking into +all kinds of places just for the fun of seeing new things. Little +Joe Otter had been more full of fun than ever, if that were possible. +Mr. and Mrs. Redwing had come back to the bulrushes from their +winter home way down in the warm Southland. Everybody was happy, +just as happy as could be. + +One sunny morning Jerry Muskrat sat on the Big Rock in the middle of +the Smiling Pool, just thinking of how happy everybody was and +laughing at Little Joe Otter, who was cutting up all sorts of capers +in the water. Suddenly Jerry's sharp eyes saw something that made +him wrinkle his forehead in a puzzled frown and look and look at the +opposite bank. Finally he called to Little Joe Otter. + +"Hi, Little Joe! Come over here!" shouted Jerry. + +"What for?" asked Little Joe, turning a somersault in the water. + +"I want you to see if there is anything wrong with my eyes," +replied Jerry. + +Little Joe Otter stopped swimming and stared up at Jerry Muskrat. +"They look all right to me," said he, as he started to climb up on +the Big Rock. + +"Of course they look all right," replied Jerry, "but what I want to +know is if they see all right. Look over at that bank." + +Little Joe Otter looked over at the bank. He stared and stared, but +he didn't see anything unusual. It looked just as it always did. +He told Jerry Muskrat so. + +"Then it must be my eyes," sighed Jerry. "It certainly must be my +eyes. It looks to me as if the water does not come as high up on the +bank as it did yesterday." + +Little Joe Otter looked again and his eyes opened wide. "You are +right, Jerry Muskrat!" he cried. "There's nothing the matter with +your eyes. The water is as low as it ever gets, even in the very +middle of summer. What can it mean?" + +"I don't know," replied Jerry Muskrat. "It is queer! It certainly +is very queer! Let's go ask Grandfather Frog. You know he is very +old and very wise, so perhaps he can tell us what it means." + +Splash! Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter dived into the Smiling +Pool and started a race to see who could reach Grandfather Frog first. +He was sitting among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool, +for the lily-pads were not yet big enough for him to sit on comfortably. + +"Oh, Grandfather Frog, what's the matter with the Smiling Pool?" +they shouted, as they came up quite out of breath. + +"Chugarum! There's nothing the matter with the Smiling Pool; it's +the best place in all the world," replied Grandfather Frog gruffly. + +"But there is something the matter," insisted Jerry Muskrat, and +then he told what he had discovered. + +"I don't believe it," said Grandfather Frog. "I never heard of such +a thing in the springtime." + + + +CHAPTER VIII: Grandfather Frog Watches His Toes + +Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling +Pool. Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would +burst with the very joy of springtime. + + "Tra-la-la-lee, see me! See me! + Happy am I as I can be! + Happy am I the whole day long + And so I sing my gladsome song." + +Of course Mr. Redwing was happy. Why shouldn't he be? Here it was +the beautiful springtime, the gladdest time of all the year, the +time when happiness creeps into everybody's heart. Grandfather Frog +listened. He nodded his head. "Chugarum! I'm happy, too," said +Grandfather Frog. But even as he said it, a little worried look +crept into his big goggly eyes and then down to the corners of his +big mouth, which had been stretched in a smile. Little by little the +smile grew smaller and smaller, until there wasn't any smile. No, +Sir, there wasn't any smile. Instead of looking happy, as he said he +felt, Grandfather Frog actually looked unhappy. + +The fact is he couldn't forget what Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe +Otter had told him -- that there was something the matter with the +Smiling Pool. He didn't believe it, not a word of it. At least he +tried to make himself think that he didn't believe it. They had said +that the water in the Smiling Pool was growing lower and lower, just +as it did in the middle of summer, in the very hottest weather. +Now Grandfather Frog is very old and very wise, and he had never +heard of such a thing happening in the springtime. So he wouldn't +believe it now. And yet -- and yet Grandfather Frog had an +uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong. Ha! he knew now +what it was! He had been sitting up to his middle in water, and now +he was sitting with only his toes in the water, and he couldn't +remember having changed his position! + +"Of course, I moved without thinking what I was doing," muttered +Grandfather Frog, but still the worried look didn't leave his face. +You see he just couldn't make himself believe what he wanted to +believe, try as he would. + +"Chugarum! I know what I'll do; I'll watch my toes!" exclaimed +Grandfather Frog. + +So Grandfather Frog waded out into the water until it covered his feet, +and then he sat down and began to watch his toes. Mr, Redwing +looked down and saw him, and Grandfather Frog looked so funny gazing +at his own toes that Mr. Redwing stopped singing long enough to ask: +"What are you doing, Grandfather Frog?" + +"Watching my toes," replied Grandfather Frog gruffly. + +"Watching your toes! Ho, ho, ho! Watching your toes! Who ever heard +of such a thing? Are you afraid that they will run away, Grandfather +Frog?" shouted Mr. Redwing. + +Grandfather Frog didn't answer. He kept right on watching his toes. +Mr. Redwing flew away to tell everybody he met how Grandfather Frog +had become foolish and was watching his toes. The sun shone down +warm and bright, and pretty soon Grandfather Frog's big goggly eyes +began to blink. Then his head began to nod, and then -- why, then +Grandfather Frog fell fast asleep. + +By and by Grandfather Frog awoke with a start. He looked down at his +toes. They were not in the water at all! Indeed, the water was a +good long jump away. + +"Chugarum! There is something wrong with the Smiling Pool!" cried +Grandfather Frog, as he made a long jump into the water and started +to swim out to the Big Rock. + + + +CHAPTER IX: The Laughing Brook Stops Laughing + +There was something wrong. Grandfather Frog knew it the very minute +he got up that morning. At first he couldn't think what it was. +He sat with just his head out of water and blinked his great goggly +eyes, as he tried to think what it was that was wrong. Suddenly +Grandfather Frog realized how still it was. It was a different kind +of stillness from anything he could ever remember. He missed something, +and he couldn't think what it was. It wasn't the song of Mr. Redwing. +There were many times when he didn't hear that. It was -- +Grand-father Frog gave a startled jump out on to the shore. +"Chugarum! It's the Laughing Brook! The Laughing Brook has stopped +laughing!" cried Grandfather Frog. + +Could it be? Who ever heard of such a thing, excepting when Jack +Frost bound the Laughing Brook with hard black ice? Why, in the +spring and in the summer and in the fall the Laughing Brook had +laughed -- such a merry, happy laugh -- ever since Grandfather Frog +could remember, and you know he can remember way back in the long +ago. for he is very old and very wise. Never once in all that time +had the Laughing Brook failed to laugh. It couldn't be true now! +Grandfather Frog put a hand behind one ear and listened and +listened, but not a sound could he hear. + +"Chugarum! It must be me," said Grandfather Frog. "It must be that I +am growing old and deaf. I'll go over and ask Jerry Muskrat." + +So Grandfather Frog dove into the water and swam out to the middle +of the Smiling Pool, on his way to Jerry Muskrat's house. It was +then that he first fully realized the truth of what Jerry Muskrat +and Little Joe Otter had told him the day before -- that there was +something very, very wrong with the Smiling Pool. He stopped +swimming to look around, and it seemed as if his great goggly eyes +would pop right out of his head. Yes, Sir, it seemed as if those +great goggly eyes certainly would pop right out of Grandfather +Frog's head. The Smiling Pool had grown so small that there wasn't +enough of it left to smile! + +"Where are you going, Grandfather Frog?" asked a voice over his head. + +Grandfather Frog looked up. Looking down on him from over the edge +of the Big Rock was Jerry Muskrat. The edge of the Big Rock was twice +as high above the water as Grandfather Frog had ever seen it before. + +"I -- I -- was going to swim over to your house to see you," replied +Grandfather Frog. + +"It's of no use," replied Jerry, "because I'm not there. Besides, +you couldn't swim there, anyway." + +"Why not?" demanded Grandfather Frog in great surprise. + +"Because it isn't in the water any longer; it's way up on dry land," +said Jerry Muskrat in the most mournful voice. + +"What's that you say?" cried Grandfather Frog, as if he couldn't +believe his own ears. + +"It's just as true as that I'm sitting here," replied Jerry sadly. + +"Listen, Jerry Muskrat, and tell me truly; is the Laughing Brook +laughing?" cried Grandfather Frog sharply. + +"No," replied Jerry, "the Laughing Brook has stopped laughing, and +the Smiling Pool has stopped smiling, and I think the world is +upside down." + + + +CHAPTER X: Why The World Seemed Upside Down To Jerry Muskrat + +Jerry Muskrat sat on the Big Rock in the Smiling Pool, which smiled +no longer, and held his head in both hands, for his head ached. He +had thought and thought and thought, until it seemed to him that his +head would split; and with all his thinking, he didn't understand +things any more now than he had in the beginning. You see, Jerry +Muskrat's little world was topsy-turvy. Yes, Sir, Jerry's world was +upside down! Anyway, it seemed so to him, and he couldn't +understand it at all. + +The Smiling Pool, the Laughing Brook, and the Green Meadows are +Jerry Muskrat's little world. Now, as he sat on the Big Rock and +looked about him, the Green Meadows were as lovely as ever. He could +see no change in them. But the Laughing Brook had stopped laughing, +and the Smiling Pool had stopped smiling. The truth is there wasn't +enough of the Laughing Brook left to laugh, and there wasn't enough +of the Smiling Pool left to smile. + +It was dreadful! Jerry looked over to his house, of which he had +once been so proud. He had built it with the doorway under water. +He had felt perfectly safe there, because no one excepting Billy +Mink or Little Joe Otter, who can swim under water, could reach him. +Now the Smiling Pool had grown so small that Jerry's house wasn't +in the water at all. Anybody who wanted to could get into it. +There was the doorway plainly to be seen. Worse still, there was +the secret entrance to the long tunnel leading to his castle under +the roots of the Big Hickory-tree. That had been Jerry's most +secret secret, and now there it was for all the world to see. +And there were all the wonderful caves and holes and hiding-places +under the bank which had been known only to Jerry Muskrat and Billy +Mink and Little Joe Otter, because the openings had always been +under water. Now anybody could find them, for they were plainly to +be seen. And where had always been smiling, dimpling water, Jerry +saw only mud. It was mud, mud, mud everywhere! The bulrushes, +which had always grown with their feet in the water, now had them +only in mud, and that was fast drying up. The lily-pads lay half +curled up at the ends of their long stems, stretched out on the mud, +and looked very, very sick. Jerry turned towards the Laughing +Brook. There was just a little, teeny, weeny stream of water +trickling down the middle of it, with here and there a tiny pool in +which frightened trout and minnows were crowded. All the secrets of +the Laughing Brook were exposed, just as were the secrets of the +Smiling Pool. Jerry knew that if he wanted to find Billy Mink's +hiding-places, all he need do would be to walk up the Laughing Brook +and look. + +"Yes, Sir, the world has turned upside down," said Jerry in a +mournful voice. + +"I believe it has," replied Grandfather Frog, looking up from the +little pool of water left at the foot of the Big Rock. + +"I know it has!" cried Jerry. "I wonder if it will ever turn upside +up again." + +"If it doesn't, what are you going to do?" asked Grandfather Frog. + +"I don't know," replied Jerry Muskrat. "Here come Little Joe Otter +and Billy Mink; let's find out what they are going to do." + + + +CHAPTER XI: Five Heads Together + +Something had to be done. Jerry Muskrat said so. Grandfather Frog +said so. Billy Mink said so. Little Joe Otter said so. Even Spotty +the Turtle said so. The Laughing Brook couldn't laugh, and the +Smiling Pool couldn't smile. You see, there wasn't water enough in +either of them to laugh or smile, and nobody knew if there ever +would be again. Nobody had ever known anything like it before, and +so nobody knew what to think or do. And yet they all felt that +something must be done. + +"What do you think, Billy Mink?" asked Grandfather Frog. + +Billy Mink looked down from the top of the Big Rock into the little +pool of water that was all there was left of the Smiling Pool. +He could see a dozen fat trout in it, and he knew that he could +catch them just as easily as not, because there was no place for +them to swim away from him. But somehow he didn't want to catch +them. He knew that they were frightened almost to death already by +the running away of nearly all the water from the Laughing Brook and +the Smiling Pool, and somehow he felt sorry for them. + +"I think that the best thing we can do is to move down to the Big River. +I've been down there, and that's all right," said Billy Mink. + +"That's what I think, " said Little Joe Otter. "There's no danger +that the Big River will go dry." + +"How do you know?" asked Jerry Muskrat. "The Laughing Brook and the +Smiling Pool never went dry before." + +"It's a long, long way down to the Big River," broke in Spotty the +Turtle, who travels very, very slowly and carries his house with him. + +"Chugarum! I, for one, don't want to leave the Smiling Pool without +finding out what the trouble is. + + "There's nothing happens, as you know, + But has a cause to make it so. + +"Now there must be some cause, some reason, for this terrible +trouble with the Smiling Pool, and if we can find that out, perhaps +we shall know better what to do," said Grandfather Frog. + +Jerry Muskrat nodded his head. "Grandfather Frog is right," said he. +"Of course there must be a cause, but where are we to look for it? +I've been all over the Smiling Pool, and I'm sure it isn't there." + +Grandfather Frog actually smiled. "Chugarum!" said he. "Of course +the cause of all the trouble isn't in the Smiling Pool. Any one +would know that!" + +"Well, if you know so much, tell us where it is then!" snapped Jerry +Muskrat. + +"In the Laughing Brook, of course," replied Grandfather Frog. + +"No such thing!" said Billy Mink. "I've been all the way down the +Laughing Brook to the Big River, and I didn't find a thing." + +"Have you been all the way up the Laughing Brook to the place it +starts from?" asked Grandfather Frog. + +"No-o," replied Billy Mink. + +"Well, that's where the cause of all the trouble is," said +Grandfather Frog, just as if he knew all about it. "It's the water +that comes down the Laughing Brook that makes the Smiling Pool, and +the Smiling Pool never could dry up if the Laughing Brook didn't +first stop running." + +"That's so! I never had thought of that," cried Little Joe Otter. +"I tell you what, Billy Mink and I will go way up the Laughing Brook +and see what we can find." + +"Chugarum! Let us all go," said Grandfather Frog. + +Then the five put their heads together and decided that they would +go up the Laughing Brook to hunt for the trouble. + + + +CHAPTER XII: A Hunt For Trouble + +Ol' Mistah Buzzard, sailing high in the blue, blue sky, looked down +on a funny sight. Yes, Sir, it certainly was a funny sight. It was a +little procession of five of his friends of the Smiling Pool. First +was Billy Mink, who, because he is slim and nimble, moves so quickly +it sometimes is hard to follow him. Behind him was Little Joe Otter, +whose legs are so short that he almost looks as if he hadn't any. +Behind Little Joe was Jerry Muskrat, who is a better traveler +in the water than on land. Behind Jerry was Grandfather Frog, who +neither walks nor runs but travels with great jumps. Last of all was +Spotty the Turtle, who travels very, very slowly because, you know, +he carries his house with him. And all five were headed up the +Laughing Brook, which laughed no more, because there was not water +enough in it. + +Now Ol' Mistah Buzzard hadn't been over near the Smiling Pool for +some time, and he hadn't heard how the Smiling Pool had stopped +smiling, and the Laughing Brook had stopped laughing. When he looked +down and saw how the water was so nearly gone from them that the +trout and the minnows had hardly enough in which to live, he was so +surprised that he kept saying over and over to himself: + +"Fo' the lan's sake! Fo' the lan's sake!" + +Then, when he saw his five little friends marching up the Laughing +Brook, he guessed right away that it must be something to do with +the trouble in the Smiling Pool. Ol' Mistah Buzzard just turned his +broad wings and slid down, down out of the blue, blue sky until he +was right over Grandfather Frog. + +"Where are yo'alls going?" asked Ol' Mistah Buzzard. + +"Chugarum! To find out what is the trouble with the Laughing Brook," +replied Grandfather Frog. + +"I'll help you," said Ol' Mistah Buzzard, once more sailing up in +the blue, blue sky. + +Grandfather Frog watched him until he was nothing but a speck. "I +wish I had wings," sighed Grandfather Frog, and once more began to +hop along up the bed of the Laughing Brook. + +The Laughing Brook came down from the Green Forest and wound through +the Green Meadows for a little way before it reached the Smiling Pool. +There the sun shone down into it, and Grandfather Frog didn't mind, +although his legs were getting tired. But when they got into the +Green Forest it was dark and gloomy. At least Grandfather Frog +thought so, and so did Spotty the Turtle, for both dearly love the +sunshine. But still they kept on, for they felt that they must find +the trouble with the Laughing Brook. If they found this, they would +also find the trouble with the Smiling Pool. + +So Billy Mink jumped and skipped far ahead; Little Joe Otter ran; +Jerry Muskrat walked, for he soon gets tired on land; Grandfather +Frog hopped; Spotty the Turtle crawled, and way, way up in the blue, +blue sky, OF Mistah Buzzard flew, all looking for the trouble which +had stopped the laughing of the Laughing Brook and the smiling of +the Smiling Pool. + + + +CHAPTER XIII: Ol' Mistah Buzzard Sees Something + +"Wait for me!" cried Little Joe Otter to Billy Mink, but Billy Mink +was in too much of a hurry and just ran faster. + +"Wait for me!" cried Jerry Muskrat to Little Joe Otter, but Little +Joe was in too much of a hurry and just ran faster. + +"Wait for me!" cried Grandfather Frog to Jerry Muskrat, but Jerry +was in too much of a hurry and just walked faster. + +"Wait for me!" cried Spotty the Turtle to Grandfather Frog, but +Grandfather Frog was in too much of a hurry and just jumped faster. + +So running and walking and jumping and crawling, Billy Mink, Little +Joe Otter, Jerry Muskrat, Grandfather Frog, and Spotty the Turtle +hurried up the Laughing Brook to try to find out why it laughed no more. +And high overhead in the blue, blue sky sailed Ol' Mistah Buzzard, +and he also was looking for the trouble that had taken away the +laugh from the Laughing Brook and the smile from the Smiling Pool. + +Now Ol' Mistah Buzzard's eyes are very sharp, and looking down from +way up in the blue, blue sky he can see a great deal. Indeed, Ol' +Mistah Buzzard can see all that is going on below on the Green +Meadows and in the Green Forest. His wings are very broad, and he +can sail through the air very swiftly when he makes up his mind +to. Now, as he looked down, he saw that Billy Mink was selfish and +wouldn't wait for Little Joe Otter, and Little Joe Otter was selfish +and wouldn't wait for Jerry Muskrat, and Jerry Muskrat was selfish +and wouldn't wait for Grandfather Frog, and Grandfather Frog was +selfish and wouldn't wait for Spotty the Turtle. + +"Ah reckon Ah will hurry up right smart and find out what the +trouble is mahself, and then go back and tell Brer Turtle; it will +save him a powerful lot of work, and it will serve Brer Mink right +if Brer Turtle finds out first what is the trouble with the Laughing +Brook," said Ol' Mistah Buzzard and shot far ahead over the Green +Forest towards that part of it from which the Laughing Brook comes. +In a few minutes he was as far ahead of Billy Mink as Billy was +ahead of Spotty the Turtle. + + For wings are swifter far than legs, + On whatsoever purpose bent, +But doubly swift and tireless + Those wings on kindly deed intent. + +And this is how it happened that Ol' Mistah Buzzard was the first to +find out what it was that had stopped the laughing of the Laughing +Brook and the smiling of the Smiling Pool, but he was so surprised +when he did find out, that he forgot all about going back to tell +Spotty the Turtle. He forgot everything but his own great surprise, +and he blinked his eyes a great many times to make sure that he +wasn't dreaming. Then he sailed around and around in circles, +looking down among the trees of the Green Forest and saying over and +over to himself: + +"Did yo' ever? No, Ah never! Did yo' ever? No, Ah never!" + + + +CHAPTER XIV: Spotty The Turtle Keeps Right On Going + + "One step, two steps, three steps, so! + Four steps, five steps, six steps go! + Keep right on and do your best; + Mayhap you'll win while others rest." + +Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little +down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook. +And every time he said it, he felt better. "One step, two steps," +he kept saying over and over, and each time he said it, he took a +step and then another. They were very short steps, very short steps +indeed, for Spotty's legs are very short. But each one carried him +forward just so much, and he knew that he was just so much nearer +the thing he was seeking. Anyway, he hoped he was. + +You see, if the Laughing Brook would never laugh any more, and the +Smiling Pool would never smile any more, there was nothing to do but +to go down to the Big River to live, and no one wanted to do that, +especially Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle. + +Now, because Billy Mink could go faster than Little Joe Otter, and +Little Joe Otter could go faster than Jerry Muskrat, and Jerry could +go faster than Grandfather Frog, and Grandfather Frog could go +faster than Spotty the Turtle, and because each one wanted to be the +first to find the trouble, no one would wait for the one behind him. +So Spotty the Turtle, who has to carry his house with him, was +a long, long way behind the others. But he kept right on going. + + "One step, two steps, three steps, so!" + +and he didn't stop for anything. He crawled over sticks and around +big stones and sometimes, when he found a little pool of water, +he swam. He always felt better then, because he can swim faster +than he can walk. + +After a long, long time, Spotty the Turtle came to a little pool +where the sunshine lay warm and inviting. There, in the middle of it, +on a mossy stone, sat Grandfather Frog fast asleep. He had thought +that he was so far ahead of Spotty that he could safely rest his +tired legs. Spotty wanted to climb right up beside him and take a +nap too, but he didn't. He just grinned and kept right on going. + + "One step, two steps, three steps, so!" + +while Grandfather Frog slept on. + +By and by, after a long, long time Spotty came to another little +pool, and who should he see but Jerry Muskrat busily opening and +eating some freshwater clams which he had found there. He was so +busy enjoying himself that he didn't see Spotty, and Spotty didn't +say a word, but kept right on going, although the sight of Jerry's +feast had made him dreadfully hungry. + +By and by, after a long, long time, he came to a third little pool +with a high, smooth bank, and who should he see there but Little +Joe Otter, who had made a slippery slide down the smooth bank and +was having a glorious time sliding down into the little pool. +Spotty would have liked to take just one slide, but he didn't. +He didn't even let Little Joe Otter see him, but kept right on going. + + "One step, two steps, three steps, so!" + +By and by, after a long, long time, he came to a hollow log, and +just happening to peep in, he saw some one curled up fast asleep. +Who was it? Why, Billy Mink, to be sure! You see, Billy +thought that he was so far ahead that he might just as well take it +easy, and that was what he was doing. Spotty the Turtle didn't waken +him. He just kept right on going the same slow way he had come all +day, and so, just as jolly, round, red Mr. Sun was going to bed +behind the Purple Hills, Spotty the Turtle found the cause of the +trouble in the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool. + + + +CHAPTER XV: What Spotty The Turtle Found + +Spotty the Turtle stared and stared and stared, until it seemed as +if his eyes surely would pop out of his funny little head. Of course +he could believe his own eyes, and yet -- and yet -- well, if anybody +else had seen what he was looking at and had told him about it, he +wouldn't have believed it. No, Sir, he wouldn't have believed it. +You see, he couldn't have believed it because -- why, because it +didn't seem as if it could be really and truly so. + +He wondered if the sun shining in his eyes made him think he saw +more than he really did see, so he carefully changed his position. +It made no difference. Then Spotty was sure that what he saw was real, +and that he had found the cause of the trouble in the Laughing Brook, +which had made it stop laughing and the Smiling Pool stop smiling. + +Spotty the Turtle was feeling pretty good. In fact, Spotty was +feeling very good indeed, because he had been the first to find out +what was the matter with the Laughing Brook. At least, he thought +that he was the first, and he was of all the little people who live +in the Smiling Pool. Only Ol' Mistah Buzzard had been before him, +and he didn't count because his wings are broad, and all he had to +do was to sail over the Green Forest and look down. The ones who +really counted were Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter and Jerry +Muskrat and Grandfather Frog. Billy Mink had stopped for a nap. +Little Joe Otter had stopped to play. Jerry Muskrat had stopped +to eat. Grandfather Frog had stopped for a sun-nap. But Spotty the +Turtle had kept right on going, and now here he was, the first one +to find the cause of the trouble in the Laughing Brook. Do you +wonder that he felt proud and very happy? + + Keeping at it, that's the way + Spotty won the race that day. + +But now Spotty was beginning to wish that some of the others would +hurry up. He wanted to know what they thought. He wanted to talk it +all over. It was such a surprising thing that he could make neither +head nor tail of it himself, and he wondered what the others would say. +And now the long black shadows were creeping through the Green +Forest, and if they didn't get there pretty soon, they would have to +wait until the next day. + +So Spotty the Turtle found a good place to spend the night, and then +he sat down to watch and wait. Right before him was the thing which +he had found and which puzzled him so. What was it? Why, it was +a wall. Yes, Sir, that is just what it was -- a wall of logs and +sticks and mud, and it was right across the Laughing Brook, where +the banks were steep and narrow. Of course the Laughing Brook could +laugh no longer; there couldn't enough water get through that wall +of logs and sticks and mud to make even the beginning of a laugh. +Spotty wondered what lay behind that wall, and who had built it, and +what for, and a lot of other things. And he was still wondering +when he fell asleep. + + + +CHAPTER XVI: The Pond In The Green Forest + +SPOTTY THE TURTLE was awake by the time the first rays of the rising +sun began to creep through the Green Forest. He was far, far up the +Laughing Brook, very much farther than he had ever been before, and +as he yawned and stretched, he wondered if after all he hadn't +dreamed about the wall of logs and sticks and mud across the +Laughing Brook. When he had rubbed the last sleepy-wink out of his +eyes, he looked again. There it was, just as he had seen it the +night before! Then Spotty knew that it was real, and he began to +wonder what was on the other side of it. + +"I cannot climb it, for my legs were never made for climbing," said +Spotty mournfully as he looked at his funny little black feet. +"Oh, dear, I wish that I could climb like Happy Jack Squirrel!" +Just then a thought popped into his head and chased away the little +frown that had crept into Spotty's face. "Perhaps Happy Jack +sometimes wishes that he could swim as I can, so I guess we are even. +I can't climb, but he can't swim. How foolish it is to wish for +things never meant for you!" + +And with that, all the discontent left Spotty the Turtle, and he +began to study how he could make the most of his short legs and his +perseverance, of which, as you already know, he had a great deal. He +looked this way, and he looked that way, and he saw that if he could +climb to the top of the bank on one side of the Laughing Brook, he +would be able to walk right out on the strange wall of logs and +sticks and mud, and then, of course, he could see just what was on +the other side. + +So Spotty the Turtle wasted no more time wishing that he could do +something it was never meant that he should do. Instead, he picked +out what looked like the easiest place to climb the bank and started up. +My, my, my, it was hard work! You see, he had to carry his house +along with him, for he has to carry that wherever he goes, and it +would have been hard enough to have climbed that bank without +carrying anything. Every time he had climbed up three steps he +slipped back two steps, but he kept at it, puffing and blowing, +saying over and over to himself: + + "I can if I will, and will if I can! + I'm sure to get there if I follow this plan." + +Half-way up the bank Spotty lost his balance, and the house he was +carrying just tipped him right over backward, and down he rolled to +the place he had started from. + +"I needed to cool off," said Spotty to himself and slid into a +little pool of water. Then he tried the bank again, and just as +before he slipped back two steps for every three he went up. But he +shut his mouth tight and kept at it, and by and by he was up to the +place from which he had tumbled. There he stopped to get his breath. + + "I can if I will, and will if I can! + I'm sure to get there if I follow this plan," + +said he and started on again. Twice more he tumbled clear down to +the place he had started from, but each time he laughed at himself +and tried again. And at last he reached the top of the bank. + +"I said I could if I would, and I would if I could, and I have!" he +cried. + +Then he hurried to see what was behind the strange wall. What do you +think it was? Why, a pond! Yes, Sir, there was a pond right in the +middle of the Green Forest! Trees were coming up right out of the +middle of it, but it was a sure enough pond. Spotty found it harder +work to believe his own eyes now than when he had first seen the +strange wall across the Laughing Brook. + +"Why, why, why, what does it mean?" exclaimed Spotty the Turtle. + +"That's what I want to know!" cried Billy Mink, who came hurrying up +just then. + + + +CHAPTER XVII: Who Had Made The Strange Pond? + +Who had made the strange pond? That is what Spotty the Turtle wanted +to know. That is what Billy Mink wanted to know. So did Little +Joe Otter and Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather Frog, when they arrived. +So did Ol' Mistah Buzzard, looking down from the blue, blue sky. It +was very strange, very strange indeed! Never had there been a pond +in that part of the Green Forest before, not even in the days when +Sister South Wind melted the snow so fast that the Laughing Brook ran +over its banks and the Smiling Pool grew twice as large as it ought +to be. + +Of course some one had made it. Spotty the Turtle had known that as +soon as he had seen the strange pond. All in a flash he had +understood what that wall of logs and brush and mud across the +Laughing Brook was for. It was to stop the water from running down +the Laughing Brook. And of course, if the water couldn't keep on +running and laughing on its way to the Smiling Pool, it would just +stand still and grow and grow into a pond. Of course! There was +nothing else for it to do. Spotty felt very proud when he had +thought that out all by himself. + +"This wall we are sitting on has made the pond," said Spotty the +Turtle, after a long time in which no one had spoken. + +"You don't say so!" said Billy Mink. "How ever, ever, did you guess it? +Are you sure, quite sure that the pond didn't make the wall?" + +Spotty knew that Billy Mink was making fun of him, but he is too +good-natured to lose his temper over a little thing like that. +He tried to think of something smart to say in reply, but Spotty is +a slow thinker as well as a slow walker, and before he could think +of anything, Billy was talking once more. + +"This wall is what Farmer Brown's boy calls a dam," said Billy Mink, +who is a great traveler. "Dams are usually built to keep water from +running where it isn't wanted or to make it go where it is wanted. +Now, what I want to know is, who under the sun wants a pond way back +here in the Green Forest, and what is it for? Who do you think +built this dam, Grandfather Frog?" + +Grandfather Frog shook his head. His big goggly eyes seemed more +goggly than ever, as he stared at the new pond in the Green Forest. + +"I don't know," said Grandfather Frog. "I don't know what to think." + +"Why, it must be Farmer Brown's boy or Farmer Brown himself," said +Jerry Muskrat. + +"Of course," said Little Joe Otter, just as if he knew all about it. + +Still Grandfather Frog shook his head, as if he didn't agree. "I +don't know," said Grandfather Frog, "I don't know. It doesn't look +so to me." + +Billy Mink ran along the top of the dam and down the back side. +He looked it all over with those sharp little eyes of his. + +"Grandfather Frog is right," said he, when he came back. "It doesn't +look like the work of Farmer Brown or Farmer Brown's boy. But if +they didn't do it, who did? Who could have done it?" + +"I don't know," said Grandfather Frog again, in a dreamy sort of voice. + +Spotty the Turtle looked at him, and saw that Grandfather Frog's +face wore the far-away look that it always does when he tells a +story of the days when the world was young. "I don't know," he +repeated, "but it looks to me very much like the work of --" +Grandfather Frog stopped short off and turned to Jerry Muskrat. +"Jerry Muskrat," said he, so sharply that Jerry nearly lost his balance +in his surprise, "has your big cousin come down from the North?" + + + +CHAPTER XVIII: Jerry Muskrat's Big Cousin + + Fiddle, faddle, feedle, fuddle! + Was there ever such a muddle? + Fuddle, feedle, faddle, fiddle! + Who is there will solve the riddle? + +Here was the Laughing Brook laughing no longer. Here was the Smiling +Pool smiling no longer. Here was a brand new pond deep in the Green +Forest. Here was a wall of logs and bushes and mud called a dam, +built by some one whom nobody had seen. And here was Grandfather +Frog asking Jerry Muskrat if his big cousin had come down from the +North, when Jerry didn't even know that he had a big cousin. + +"I -- I haven't any big cousin," said Jerry, when he had quite +recovered from his surprise at Grandfather Frog's question. + +"Chugarum!" exclaimed Grandfather Frog, and the scornful way in +which he said it made Jerry Muskrat feel very small. "Chugarum! +Of course you've got a big cousin in the North. Do you mean to +tell me that you don't know that, Jerry Muskrat?" + +Jerry had to admit that it was true that he didn't know anything +about that big cousin. If Grandfather Frog said that he had one, +it must be so, for Grandfather Frog is very old and very wise, and +he knows a great deal. Still, it was very hard for Jerry to believe +that he had a big cousin of whom he had never heard. + +"Did -- did you ever see him, Grandfather Frog?" Jerry asked. + +"No!" snapped Grandfather Frog. "I never did, but I know all +about him. He is a great worker, is this big cousin of yours, +and he builds dams like this one we are sitting on." + +"I don't believe it!" cried Billy Mink. "I don't believe any cousin +of Jerry Muskrat's ever built such a dam as this. Why, just look at +that great tree trunk at the bottom! No one but Farmer Brown or +Farmer Brown's boy could ever have dragged that there. You're crazy, +Grandfather Frog, just plain crazy." Billy Mink sometimes is very +disrespectful to Grandfather Frog. + +"Chugarum!" replied Grandfather Frog. "I'm pretty old, but I'm not +too old to learn as some folks seem to be," and he looked very hard +at Billy Mink. "Did I say that that tree trunk was dragged here?" + +"No," replied Billy Mink, "but if it wasn't dragged here, how did +it get here? You are so smart, Grandfather Frog, tell me that!" + +Grandfather Frog blinked his great goggly eyes at Billy Mink as he +said, just as if he was very, very sorry for Billy, "Your eyes are +very bright and very sharp, Billy Mink, and it is a great pity that +you have never learned how to use them. That tree wasn't dragged +here; it was cut so that it fell right where it lies." As he spoke, +Grandfather Frog pointed to the stump of the tree, and Billy Mink +saw that he was right. + +But Billy Mink is like a great many other people; he dearly loves to +have the last word. Now he suddenly began to laugh. + +"Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho!" laughed Billy Mink. "Ho, ho, ho! +Ha, ha, ha!" + +"What is it that is so funny?" snapped Grandfather Frog, for nothing +makes him so angry as to be laughed at. + +"Do you mean to say that anybody but Farmer Brown or Farmer Brown's +boy could have cut down such a big tree as that?" asked Billy. +"Why, that would be as hard as to drag the tree here." + +"Jerry Muskrat's big cousin from the North could do it, and I +believe he did," replied Grandfather Frog. "Now that we have found +the cause of the trouble in the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool, +what are we going to do about it?" + + + +CHAPTER XIX: Jerry Muskrat Has A Busy Day + +There was the strange pond in the Green Forest, and there was the +dam of logs and sticks and mud which had made the strange pond, but +look as they would, Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter and Jerry +Muskrat and Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle could see nothing +of the one who had built the dam. It was very queer. The more they +thought about it, the queerer it seemed. They looked this way, and +they looked that way. + +"There is one thing very sure, and that is that whoever built this +dam had no thought for those who live in the Laughing Brook and the +Smiling Pool," said Grandfather Frog. "They are selfish, just +plain, every-day selfish; that's what they are! Now the Laughing +Brook cannot laugh, and the Smiling Pool cannot smile, while this +dam stops the water from running, and so --" Grandfather Frog +stopped and looked around at his four friends. + +"And so what?" cried Billy Mink impatiently. + +"And so we must spoil this dam. We must make a place for the water +to run through," said Grandfather Frog very gravely. + +"Of course! That's the very thing!" cried Little Joe Otter and Billy +Mink and Jerry Muskrat and Spotty the Turtle. Then Little Joe Otter +looked at Billy Mink, and Billy Mink looked at Jerry Muskrat, and +Jerry Muskrat looked at Spotty the Turtle, and after that they all +looked very hard at Grandfather Frog, and all together they asked: +"How are we going to do it?" + +Grandfather Frog scratched his head thoughtfully and looked a long +time at the dam of logs and sticks and mud. Then his big mouth +widened in a big smile. + +"Why, that is very simple," said he, "Jerry Muskrat will make a big +hole through the dam near the bottom, because he knows how, and the +rest of us will keep watch to see that no harm comes near." + +"The very thing!" cried Little Joe Otter and Billy Mink and Spotty +the Turtle, but Jerry Muskrat thought it wasn't fair. You see, it +gave him all of the real work to do. However, Jerry thought of his +dear Smiling Pool, and how terrible it would be if it should smile +no more, and so without another word he set to work. + +Now Jerry Muskrat is a great worker, and he had made many long +tunnels into the bank around the Smiling Pool, so he had no doubt +but that he could soon make a hole through this dam. But almost +right away he found trouble. Yes, Sir, Jerry had hardly begun before +he found real trouble. You see, that dam was made mostly of sticks +instead of mud, and so, instead of digging his way in as he would +have done into the bank of the Smiling Pool, he had to stop every +few minutes to gnaw off sticks that were in the way. + +It was hard work, the hardest kind of hard work. But Jerry Muskrat +is the kind that is the more determined to do the work the harder +the work is to be done. And so, while Grandfather Frog sat on one +end of the dam and pretended to keep watch, but really took a nap in +the warm sunshine, and while Spotty the Turtle sat on the other end +of the dam doing the same thing, and while Billy Mink and Little Joe +Otter swam around in the strange pond and enjoyed themselves, Jerry +Muskrat worked and worked and worked. And just as jolly, round, red +Mr. Sun started down behind the Purple Hills, Jerry broke through +into the strange pond, and the water began to run in the Laughing +Brook once more. + + + +CHAPTER XX: Jerry Has A Dreadful Disappointment + + There's nothing in this world that's sure, + No matter how we scheme and plan. + We simply have to be content + With doing just the best we can. + +Jerry Muskrat had curled himself up for the night, so tired that he +could hardly keep his eyes open long enough to find a comfortable +place to sleep. But he was happy. Yes, indeed, Jerry was happy. He +could hear the Laughing Brook beginning to laugh again. It was just +a little low, gurgling laugh, but Jerry knew that in a little while +it would grow into the full laugh that makes music through the Green +Forest and puts happiness into the hearts of all who hear it. + +So Jerry was happy, for was it not because of him that the Laughing +Brook was beginning to laugh? He had worked all the long day to make +a hole through the dam which some one had built across the Laughing +Brook and so stopped its laughter. Now the water was running again, +and soon the new, strange pond behind the dam there in the Green +Forest would be gone, and the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool +would be their own beautiful selves once more. It was because he had +worked so hard all day that he was going to sleep now. Usually he +would rather sleep a part of the day and be abroad at night. + +Very pleasant dreams had Jerry Muskrat that night, dreams of the +dear Smiling Pool, smiling just as it had as long as Jerry could +remember, before this trouble had come. He was still dreaming when +Spotty the Turtle found him and waked him, for it was broad daylight. +Jerry yawned and stretched, and then he lay still for a minute to +listen to the pleasant murmur of the Laughing Brook. But there +wasn't any pleasant murmur. There wasn't any sound at all. Jerry +began to wonder if he really was awake after all. He looked at +Spotty the Turtle, and he knew then that he was, for Spotty's face +had such a worried look. + +"Get up, Jerry Muskrat, and come look at the hole you made yesterday +in the dam. You couldn't have done your work very well, for the hole +has filled up so that the water does not run any more," said Spotty. + +"I did do it well!" snapped Jerry crossly. "I did it just as well as +I know how. You lazy folks who just sit and take sun-naps while you +pretend to keep watch had better get busy and do a little work +yourselves, if you don't like the way I work." + +"I -- I beg your pardon, Jerry Muskrat. I didn't mean to say just +that," replied Spotty. "You see, we are all worried. We thought last +night that by this morning the Laughing Brook would be full of water +again, and we could go back to the Smiling Pool as soon as we felt +like it, and here it is as bad as ever." + +"Perhaps the trouble is just that some sticks and grass drifted down +in the water and filled up the hole I made; that must be the +trouble," said Jerry hopefully, as he hurried towards the dam. + +First he carefully examined it from the Laughing Brook side. Then he +dived down under water on the other side. He was gone a long time, +and Billy Mink was just getting ready to dive to see what had become +of him when he came up again. + +"What is the trouble?" cried Spotty the Turtle and Grandfather Frog +and Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter together. "Is the hole filled up +with stuff that has drifted in?" + +Jerry shook his head, as he slowly climbed out of the water. "No," +said he. "No, it isn't filled with drift stuff brought down by +the water. It is filled with sticks and mud that somebody has put there. +Somebody has filled up the hole that I worked so hard to make +yesterday, and it will take me all day to open it up again." + +Then Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle and Billy Mink and +Little Joe Otter and Jerry Muskrat stared at one mother, and for a +long time no one said a word. + + + +CHAPTER XXI: Jerry Muskrat Keeps Watch + + "The way in which to find things out, + And what goes on all round about, + Is just to keep my two eyes peeled + And two ears all the time unsealed." + +So said Jerry Muskrat, as he settled himself comfortably on one end +of the new dam across the Laughing Brook deep in the Green Forest +and watched the dark shadows creep farther and farther out into the +strange pond made by the new dam. + +"I'm going to find out who it is that built this dam, and who it is +that filled the hole I made in it! I'm going to find out if I have +to move up here and live all summer!" The way in which Jerry said +this and snapped his teeth together showed that he meant just what +he said. + +You see Jerry had spent another long, weary day opening the hole +in the dam once more, only to have it closed again while he slept. +That had been enough for Jerry. He hadn't tried again. Instead he +had made up his mind that he would find out who was playing such a +trick on him. He would just watch until they came, and then if they +were not bigger than he, or there were not too many of them, he +would -- well, the way Jerry gritted and clashed those sharp teeth +of his sounded as if he meant to do something pretty bad. + +Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter had given up in disgust and started +for the Big River. They are great travelers, anyway, and so didn't +mind so much because there was no longer water enough in the +Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool. Grandfather Frog and Spotty the +Turtle, who are such very, very slow travelers, had decided that the +Big River was too far away, and so they would stay and live in the +strange pond for a while, though it wasn't nearly so nice as their +dear Smiling Pool. They bad gone to sleep now, each in his own +secret place where he would be safe for the night. + +So Jerry Muskrat sat alone and watched. The black shadows crept +farther and farther across the pond and grew blacker and blacker. +Jerry didn't mind this, because, as you know, his eyes are made for +seeing in the dark, and he dearly loves the night. Jerry had sat +there a long time without moving. He was listening and watching. +By and by he saw something that made him draw in his breath and +anger leap into his eyes. It was a little silver line on the water, +and it was coming straight towards the dam where he sat. Jerry knew +that it was made by some one swimming. + +"Ha!" said Jerry. "Now we shall see!" + +Nearer and nearer came the silver line. Then Jerry made out the head +of the swimmer. Suddenly all the anger left Jerry. He didn't have +room for anger; a great fear had crowded it out. The head was bigger +than that of any Muskrat Jerry had ever seen. It was bigger than +the head of any of Billy Mink's relatives. It was the head of a +stranger, a stranger so big that Jerry felt very, very small and +hoped with all his might that the stranger would not see him. + +Jerry held his breath as the stranger swam past and then climbed out +on the dam. He looked very much like Jerry himself, only ever and +ever so much bigger. And his tail! Jerry had never seen such a tail. +It was very broad and flat. Suddenly the big stranger turned and +looked straight at Jerry. + +"Hello, Jerry Muskrat!" said he. "Don't you know me?" + +Jerry was too frightened to speak. + +"I'm your big cousin from the North; I'm Paddy the Beaver, and if +you leave my dam alone, I think we'll be good friends," continued +the stranger. + +"I -- I -- I hope so," said Jerry in a very faint voice, trying to +be polite, but with his teeth chattering with fear. + + + +CHAPTER XXII: Jerry Loses His Fear + + "Oh, tell me, you and you and you, + If it may hap you've ever heard + Of all that wond'rous is and great + The greatest is the spoken word?" + +It's true. It'sthe truest thing that ever was. If you don't believe +it, you just go ask Jerry Muskrat. He'll tell you it's true, and +Jerry knows. You see, it's this way: Words are more than just +sounds. Oh, my, yes! They are little messengers, and once they have +been sent out, you can't call them back. No, Sir, you can't call +them back, and sometimes that is a very sad thing, because -- well, +you see these little messengers always carry something to some one +else, and that something may be anger or hate or fear or an untruth, +and it is these things which make most of the trouble in this world. +Or that something may be love or sympathy or helpfulness or kindness, +and it is these things which put an end to most of the troubles +in this world. + +Just take the ease of Jerry Muskrat. There he sat on the new dam, +which had made the strange pond in the Green Forest, shaking with +fear until his teeth chattered, as he watched a stranger very, very +much bigger than he climb up on the dam. Jerry was afraid, because +he had seen that the stranger could swim as well as he could, and as +Jerry had no secret burrows there, he knew that he couldn't get away +from the stranger if he wanted to. Somehow, Jerry knew without being +told that the stranger had built the dam, and you know Jerry had +twice made a hole in the dam to let the water out of the strange +pond into the Laughing Brook. Jerry knew right down in his heart +that if he had built that dam, he would be very, very angry with any +one who tried to spoil it, and that is just what he had tried to do. +So he sat with chattering teeth, too frightened to even try to run. + +"I wish I had let some one else keep watch," said Jerry to himself. + +Then the big stranger had spoken. He had said: "Hello, Jerry +Muskrat! Don't you know me?" and his voice hadn't sounded the least +bit angry. Then he had told Jerry that he was his big cousin, Paddy +the Beaver, and he hoped that they would be friends. + +Now everything was just as it had been before -- the strange pond, +the dam, Jerry himself and the big stranger, and the black shadows +of the night -- and yet somehow, everything was different, all +because a few pleasant words had been spoken. A great fear had +fallen away from Jerry's heart, and in its place was a great hope +that after all there wasn't to be any trouble. So he replied to +Paddy the Beaver as politely as he knew how. Paddy was just as polite, +and the first thing Jerry knew, instead of being enemies, as Jerry +had all along made up his mind would be the case when he found the +builder of the dam, here they were becoming the best of friends, all +because Paddy the Beaver had said the right thing in the right way. + +"But you haven't told me yet what you made those holes in my dam for, +Cousin Jerry," said Paddy the Beaver finally. + +Jerry didn't know just what to say. He was so pleased with his big +new cousin that he didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him +that he didn't think that dam had any business to be across the +Laughing Brook, and at the same time he wanted Paddy to know how he +had spoiled the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool. At last he made +up his mind to tell the whole story. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII: Paddy The Beaver Does A Kind Deed + +Paddy the Beaver listened to all that his small cousin, Jerry Muskrat, +had to tell him about the trouble which Paddy's dam had +caused in the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool. + +"You see, we who live in the Smiling Pool love it dearly, and we +don't want to have to leave it, but if the water cannot run down the +Laughing Brook, there can be no Smiling Pool, and so we will have to +move off to the Big River," concluded Jerry Muskrat. "That is why I +tried to spoil your dam." + +There was a twinkle in the eyes of Paddy the Beaver as he replied: +"Well, now that you have found out that you can't do that, because I +am bigger than you and can stop you, what are you going to do about it?" + +"I don't know," said Jerry Muskrat sadly. "I don't see what we can +do about it. Of course you are big and strong and can do just as you +please, but it doesn't seem right that we who have lived here so +long should have to move and go away from all that we love so just +because you, a stranger, happen to want to live here. I tell you +what!" Jerry's eyes sparkled as a brand new thought came to him. +"Couldn't you come down and live in the Smiling Pool with us? +I'm sure there is room enough!" + +Paddy the Beaver shook his head. "No," said he, and Jerry's heart sank. +"No, I can't do that because down there there isn't any of the +kind of food I eat. Besides, I wouldn't feel at all safe in the +Smiling Pool. You see, I always live in the woods. No, I couldn't +possibly come down to live in the Smiling Pool. But I'm truly sorry +that I have made you so much worry, Cousin Jerry, and I'm going to +prove it to you. Now you sit right here until I come back." + +Before Jerry realized what he was going to do, Paddy the Beaver +dived into the pond, and as he disappeared, his broad tail hit the +water such a slap that it made Jerry jump. Then there began a great +disturbance down under water. In a few minutes up bobbed a stick, +and then another and another, and the water grew so muddy that Jerry +couldn't see what was going on. Paddy was gone a long time. Jerry +wondered how he could stay under water so long without air. All the +time Paddy was just fooling him. He would come up to the surface, +stick his nose out, nothing more, fill his lungs with fresh air, and +go down again. + +Suddenly Jerry Muskrat heard a sound that made him prick up his +funny little short ears and whirl about so that he could look over +the other side of the dam into the Laughing Brook. What do you think +that sound was? Why, it was the sound of rushing water, the sweetest +sound Jerry had listened to for a long time. There was a great hole +in the dam, and already the brook was beginning to laugh as the +water rushed down it. + +"How do you like that, Cousin Jerry?" said a voice right in his ear. +Paddy the Beaver had climbed up beside him, and his eyes were twinkling. + +"It -- it's splendid!" cried Jerry. "But -- but you've spoiled your +dam!" + +"Oh, that's all right," replied Paddy. "I didn't really want it now, +anyway. I don't usually build dams at this time of year, and I +built this one just for fun because it seemed such a nice place to +build one. You see, I was traveling through here, and it seemed such +a nice place, that I thought I would stay a while. I didn't know +anything about the Smiling Pool, you know. Now, I guess I'll have to +move on and find a place where I can make a pond in the fall that +will not trouble other people. You see, I don't like to be troubled +myself, and so I don't want to trouble other people. This Green +Forest is a very nice place." + +"The very nicest place in all the world excepting the Green Meadows +and the Smiling Pool!" replied Jerry promptly. "Won't you stay, +Cousin Paddy? I'm sure we would all like to have you." + +"Of course we would," said a gruff voice right beside them. It was +Grandfather Frog. + +Paddy the Beaver looked thoughtful. "Perhaps I will," said he, "if I +can find some good hiding-places in the Laughing Brook." + + + +CHAPTER XXIV: A Merry Home-Going + + "The Laughing Brook is merry + And so am I," cried Jerry. + Grandfather Frog said he was too. + And Spotty was, the others knew. + +The trees stood with wet feet where just a little while before had +been the strange pond in the Green Forest, the pond made by the dam +of Paddy the Beaver. In the dam was a great hole made by Paddy himself. + +Through the Green Forest rang the laughter of the Laughing Brook, +for once more the water ran deep between its banks. And in the +hearts of Grandfather Frog and Jerry Muskrat and Spotty the Turtle +was laughter also, for now the Smiling Pool would smile once more, +and they could go home in peace and happiness. And there was one +more who laughed. Who was it? Why, Paddy the Beaver to be sure, +and his was the best laugh of all, for it was because he had brought +happiness to others. + +"You beat me up here to the dam, but you won't beat me back to the +Smiling Pool," cried Jerry Muskrat to Spotty the Turtle. + +Spotty laughed good-naturedly. "You'd better not stop to eat or play +or sleep on the way then," said he, "for I shall keep right on going +all the time. I've found that is the only way to get anywhere." + +"Let us all go down together" said Grandfather Frog. "We can help +each other over the bad places." + +Jerry Muskrat laughed until he had to hold his sides at the very +thought of Grandfather Frog or Spotty the Turtle being able to help +him, but he is very good-natured, and so he agreed that they should +all go down together. Paddy the Beaver said that he would go, too, +so off the four started, Jerry Muskrat and Paddy the Beaver swimming +side by side, and behind them Grandfather Frog and Spotty the +Turtle. + +Now Spotty the Turtle is a very slow traveler on land, but in the +water Spotty is not so slow. In fact, it was not long before +Grandfather Frog found that he was the one who could not keep up. +You see, while he is a great diver and can swim fast for a short +distance, he is soon tired out. Pretty soon he was puffing and +blowing and dropping farther and farther behind. By and by, Spotty +the Turtle looked back. There was Grandfather Frog just tumbling +head first over a little waterfall. He came up choking and gasping +and kicking his long legs very feebly. Spotty climbed out on a rock +and waited. He helped Grandfather Frog out beside him, and when +Grandfather Frog had once more gotten his breath, what do you think +Spotty did? Why, he took Grandfather Frog right on his back and +started on again. + +Now Jerry Muskrat and Paddy the Beaver, being great swimmers, were +soon out of sight. All at once Jerry remembered that they had agreed +to go back together, and down in his heart he felt a little bit mean +when he looked for Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle and could +see nothing of them. So he and Paddy sat down to wait. After what +seemed a long time, they saw something queer bobbing along in the +water. + +"It's Grandfather Frog," cried Paddy the Beaver. + +"No, it's Spotty the Turtle," said Jerry Muskrat. + +"It's both," replied Paddy, beginning to laugh. + +Just then Spotty tumbled over another waterfall which he hadn't seen, +and of course Grandfather Frog went with him and lost his hold +on Spotty's back. + +"I have an idea!" cried Paddy. + +"What is it?" asked Jerry. + +"Why, Grandfather Frog can ride on my flat tail," replied Paddy, +"and then we'll go slow enough for Spotty to keep up with us." + +And so it was that just as the first moonbeams kissed the Smiling +Pool, out of the Laughing Brook swam the merriest party that ever +was seen. + +"Chugarum!" said Grandfather Frog. "It is good to be home, but I +think I would travel often, if I could have the tail of Paddy the +Beaver for a boat." + + + +CHAPTER XXV: Paddy The Beaver Decides To Stay + + "The fair Green Meadows spreading wide, + The Smiling Pool and Laughing Brook -- + They fill our hearts with joy and pride; + We love their every hidden nook." + +So said Jerry Muskrat, as he climbed up on the Big Rock in the +middle of the Smiling Pool, with Paddy the Beaver beside him, and +watched the dear Smiling Pool dimpling and smiling in the moonlight, +as he had so often seen it before the great trouble had come. + +"Chugarum!" said Grandfather Frog in his great deep voice from the +bulrushes. "One never knows how great their blessings are until they +have been lost and found again." + +The bulrushes nodded, as if they too were thinking of this. You see +their feet were once more in the cool water. Paddy the Beaver seemed +to understand just how every one felt, and he smiled to himself as +he saw how happy these new friends of his were. + +"It surely is a very nice place here, and I don't wonder that you +couldn't bear to leave it," said he. "I'm sorry that I made you all +that trouble and worry, but you see I didn't know." + +"Oh, that's all right," replied Jerry Muskrat, who was now very +proud of his big cousin. "I hope that now you see how nice it is, +you will stay and make your home here." + +Paddy the Beaver looked back at the great black shadow which he knew +was the Green Forest. Way over in the middle of it he heard the +hunting-call of Hooty the Owl. Then he looked out over the Green +Meadows, and from way over on the far side of them sounded the bark +of Reddy Fox, and it was answered by the deep voice of Bowser the +Hound up in Farmer Brown's dooryard. For some reason that last sound +made Paddy the Beaver shiver a little, just as the voice of Hooty +the Owl made the smaller people of the Green Forest and the Green +Meadows shiver when they heard it. Paddy wasn't afraid of Hooty or +of Reddy Fox, but Bowser's great voice was new to him, and somehow +the very sound of it made him afraid. You see, the Green Meadows +were so strange and open that he didn't feel at all at home, for he +dearly loves the deepest part of the Green Forest. + +"No," said Paddy the Beaver, "I can't possibly live here in the +Smiling Pool. It is a very nice pool, but it wouldn't do at all for +me, Cousin Jerry. I wouldn't feel safe here a minute. Besides, +there is nothing to eat here." + +"Oh, yes, there is," Jerry Muskrat interrupted. "There are +lily-roots and the nicest fresh-water clams and --" + +"But there are no trees," said Paddy the Beaver, "and you know I +have to have trees." + +Jerry stared at Paddy as if he didn't understand. "Do -- do you eat +trees?" he asked finally. + +Paddy laughed. "Just the bark," said he, "and I have to have a great +deal of it." + +Jerry looked as disappointed as he felt. "Of course you can't stay +then," said he, "and -- and I had thought that we would have such +good times together." + +Paddy's eyes twinkled. "Perhaps we may yet," said he. "You see I +have about made up my mind that I will stay a while along the +Laughing Brook in the Green Forest, and you can come to see me +there. On our way down I saw a very nice hole in the bank that I +think will make me a good house for the present, and you can come up +there to see me. But if I do stay, you and Grandfather Frog and +Spotty the Turtle must keep my secret. No one must know that I am +there. Will you?" + +"Of course we will!" cried Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather Frog and +Spotty the Turtle together. + +"Then I'll stay," said Paddy the Beaver, diving into the Smiling +Pool with a great splash. + +And so one of Jerry Muskrat's greatest adventures ended in the +finding of his biggest cousin, Paddy the Beaver. Now Jerry has a lot +of cousins, and one of them lives on the Green Meadows not far from +the Smiling Pool. His name is Danny Meadow Mouse, and Danny is forever +having adventures too. He has them every day. In the next book you +will be told about some of these, if you care to read about them. + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of The Adventures Of Jerry Muskrat + + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY MUSKRAT *** + +This file should be named jmusk10.txt or jmusk10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, jmusk11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, jmusk10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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