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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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