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Paddy pretended to be terribly frightened. _Page 80_.]
THEADVENTURES OF
PaddyBEAVER
THORNTON W. BURGESS
LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANYBOSTON TORONTO
Copyright 1917 by Thornton W. Burgess
_Illustrations by Harrison Cody_
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I PADDY THE BEAVER BEGINS WORK
II PADDY PLANS A POND
III PADDY HAS MANY VISITORS
IV SAMMY JAY SPEAKS HIS MIND
V PADDY KEEPS HIS PROMISE
VI FARMER BROWN'S BOY GROWS CURIOUS
VII FARMER BROWN'S BOY GETS ANOTHER SURPRISE
VIII PETER RABBIT GETS A DUCKING
IX PADDY PLANS A HOUSE
X PADDY STARTS HIS HOUSE
XI PETER RABBIT AND JERRY MUSKRAT ARE PUZZLED
XII JERRY MUSKRAT LEARNS SOMETHING
XIII THE QUEER STOREHOUSE
XIV A FOOTPRINT IN THE MUD
XV SAMMY JAY MAKES PADDY A CALL
XVI OLD MAN COYOTE IS VERY CRAFTY
XVII OLD MAN COYOTE IS DISAPPOINTED
XVIII OLD MAN COYOTE TRIES ANOTHER PLAN
XIX PADDY AND SAMMY JAY BECOME FRIENDS
XX SAMMY JAY OFFERS TO HELP PADDY
XXI PADDY AND SAMMY JAY WORK TOGETHER
XXII PADDY FINISHES HIS HARVEST
* * * * *
THE ADVENTURES OF PADDY THE BEAVER
I
PADDY THE BEAVER BEGINS WORK
Work, work all the night While the stars are shining bright; Work, work all the day; I have got no time to play.
This little rhyme Paddy the Beaver made up as he toiled at building thedam which was to make the pond he so much desired deep in the GreenForest. Of course it wasn't quite true, that about working all night andall day. Nobody could do that, you know, and keep it up. Everybody hasto rest and sleep. Yes, and everybody has to play a little to be attheir best. So it wasn't quite true that Paddy worked all day afterworking all night. But it was true that Paddy had no time to play. Hehad too much to do. He had had his playtime during the long summer, andnow he had to get ready for the long cold winter.
Now of all the little workers in the Green Forest, on the Green Meadows,and in the Smiling Pool, none can compare with Paddy the Beaver, noteven his cousin, Jerry Muskrat. Happy Jack Squirrel and Striped Chipmunkstore up food for the long cold months when rough Brother North Wind andJack Frost rule, and Jerry Muskrat builds a fine house wherein to keepwarm and comfortable, but all this is as nothing to the work of Paddythe Beaver.
As I said before, Paddy had had a long playtime through the summer. Hehad wandered up and down the Laughing Brook. He had followed it way upto the place where it started. And all the time he had been studying andstudying to make sure that he wanted to stay in the Green Forest. In thefirst place, he had to be sure that there was plenty of the kind of foodthat he likes. Then he had to be equally sure that he could make a pondnear where this particular food grew. Last of all, he had to satisfyhimself that if he did make a pond and build a home, he would bereasonably safe in it. And all these things he had done in his playtime.Now he was ready to go to work, and when Paddy begins work, he sticks toit until it is finished. He says that is the only way to succeed, andyou know and I know that he is right.
Now Paddy the Beaver can see at night just as Reddy Fox and PeterRabbit and Bobby Coon can, and he likes the night best, because he feelssafest then. But he can see in the daytime too, and when he feels thathe is perfectly safe and no one is watching, he works then too. Ofcourse the first thing to do was to build a dam across the LaughingBrook to make the pond he so much needed. He chose a low open place deepin the Green Forest, around the edge of which grew many youngaspen-trees, the bark of which is his favorite food. Through the middleof this open place flowed the Laughing Brook. At the lower edge was justthe place for a dam. It would not have to be very long, and when it wasfinished and the water was stopped in the Laughing Brook, it would justhave to flow over the low open place and make a pond there. Paddy's eyestwinkled when he first saw it. It was right then that he made up hismind to stay in the Green Forest.
So now that he was ready to begin his dam he went up the LaughingBrook to a place where alders and willows grew, and there he beganwork; that work was the cutting of a great number of trees by meansof his big front teeth which were given him for just this purpose.And as he worked, Paddy was happy, for one can never be truly happywho does no work.
II
PADDY PLANS A POND
Paddy the Beaver was busy cutting down trees for the dam he had plannedto build. Up in the woods of the North from which he had come to theGreen Forest he had learned all about tree-cutting and dam-building andcanal-digging and house-building. Paddy's father and mother had beenvery wise in the ways of the Beaver world, and Paddy had been quick tolearn. So now he knew just what to do and the best way of doing it. Youknow a great many people waste time and labor doing things the wrongway, so that they have to be done over again. They forget to be surethey are right, and so they go ahead until they find they are wrong,and all their work goes for nothing.
But Paddy the Beaver isn't this kind. Paddy would never have leapedinto the spring with the steep sides without looking, as GrandfatherFrog did. So now he carefully picked out the trees to cut. He couldnot afford to waste time cutting down a tree that wasn't going to bejust what he wanted when it was down. When he was sure that the treewas right, he looked up at the top to find out whether, when he hadcut it, it would fall clear of other trees. He had learned to do thatwhen he was quite young and heedless. He remembered just how he hadfelt when after working hard, oh, so hard, to cut a big tree, he hadwarned all his friends to get out of the way so that they would not behurt when it fell, and then it hadn't fallen at all because the top hadcaught in another tree. He was so mortified that he didn't get over itfor a long time.
So now he made sure that a tree was going to fall clear and just wherehe wanted it. Then he sat up on his hind legs, and with his great broadtail for a brace, began to make the chips fly. You know Paddy has themost wonderful teeth for cutting. They are long and broad and sharp.He would begin by making a deep bite, and then another just a littleway below. Then he would pry out the little piece of wood between.When he had cut very deep on one side so that the tree would fall thatway, he would work around to the other side. Just as soon as the treebegan to lean and he was sure that it was going to fall, he wouldscamper away so as to be out of danger. He loved to see those talltrees lean forward slowly, then faster and faster, till they struckthe ground with a crash.
Just as soon as they were down, he would trim off the branches untilthe trees were just long poles. This was easy work, for he could takeoff a good-sized branch with one bite. On many he left their bushytops. When he had trimmed them to suit him and had cut them into theright lengths, he would tug and pull them down to the place where hemeant to build his dam.
There he placed the poles side by side, not across the Laughing Brooklike a bridge, but with the big ends pointing up the Laughing Brook,which was quite broad but shallow right there. To keep them fromfloating away, he rolled stones and piled mud on the bushy ends. Clearacross on both sides he laid those poles until the land began to rise.Then he dragged more poles and piled on top of these and wedged shortsticks crosswise between them.
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bsp; And all the time the Laughing Brook was having harder and harder workto run. Its merry laugh grew less merry and finally almost stopped,because, you see, the water could not get through between all thosepoles and sticks fast enough. It was just about that time that thelittle people of the Smiling Pool decided that it was time to see justwhat Paddy was doing, and they started up the Laughing Brook, leavingonly Grandfather Frog and the tadpoles in the Smiling Pool, which for alittle while would smile no more.
III
PADDY HAS MANY VISITORS
Paddy the Beaver knew perfectly well that he would have visitors justas soon as he began to build his dam. He expected a lot of them. Yousee, he knew that none of them ever had seen a Beaver at work unlessperhaps it was Prickly Porky the Porcupine, who also had come downfrom the North. So as he worked he kept his ears open, and he smiledto himself as he heard a little rustle here and then a little rustlethere. He knew just what those little rustles meant. Each one meantanother visitor. Yes, Sir, each rustle meant another visitor, and yetnot one had shown himself.
Paddy chuckled. "Seems to me that you are dreadfully afraid to showyourselves," said he in a loud voice, just as if he were talking tonobody in particular. Everything was still. There wasn't so much as arustle after Paddy spoke. He chuckled again. He could just _feel_ everso many eyes watching him, though he didn't see a single pair. And heknew that the reason his visitors were hiding so carefully was becausethey were afraid of him. You see, Paddy was much bigger than most of thelittle meadow and forest people, and they didn't know what kind of atemper he might have. It is always safest to be very distrustful ofstrangers. That is one of the very first things taught all little meadowand forest children.
Of course, Paddy knew all about this. He had been brought up that way."Be sure, and then you'll never be sorry" had been one of his mother'sfavorite sayings, and he had always remembered it. Indeed, it had savedhim a great deal of trouble. So now he was perfectly willing to go righton working and let his hidden visitors watch him until they were surethat he meant them no harm. You see, he himself felt quite sure thatnone of them was big enough to do him any harm. Little Joe Otter wasthe only one he had any doubts about, and he felt quite sure that LittleJoe wouldn't try to pick a quarrel. So he kept right on cutting trees,trimming off the branches, and hauling the trunks down to the dam hewas building. Some of them he floated down the Laughing Brook. Thiswas easier.
Now when the little people of the Smiling Pool, who were the first tofind out that Paddy the Beaver had come to the Green Forest, had startedup the Laughing Brook to see what he was doing, they had told the MerryLittle Breezes where they were going. The Merry Little Breezes had beengreatly excited. They couldn't understand how a stranger could have beenliving in the Green Forest without their knowledge. You see, they quiteforgot that they very seldom wandered to the deepest part of the GreenForest. Of course they started at once as fast as they could go to tellall the other little people who live on or around the Green Meadows, allbut Old Man Coyote. For some reason they thought it best not to tellhim. They were a little doubtful about Old Man Coyote. He was so big andstrong and so sly and smart that all his neighbors were afraid of him.Perhaps the Merry Little Breezes had this fact in mind, and knew thatnone would dare go to call on the stranger if they knew that Old ManCoyote was going too. Anyway, they simply passed the time of day withOld Man Coyote and hurried on to tell every one else, and the very lastone they met was Sammy Jay.
Sammy was terribly put out to think that anything should be going onthat he didn't know about first. You know he is very fond of prying intothe affairs of other people, and he loves dearly to boast that there isnothing going on in the Green Forest or on the Green Meadows that hedoesn't know about. So now his pride was hurt, and he was in a terriblerage as he started after the Merry Little Breezes for the place deep inthe Green Forest where they said Paddy the Beaver was at work. He didn'tbelieve a word of it, but he would see for himself.
IV
SAMMY JAY SPEAKS HIS MIND
When Sammy Jay reached the place deep in the Green Forest where Paddythe Beaver was so hard at work, he didn't hide as had the littlefour-footed people. You see, of course, he had no reason to hide,because he felt perfectly safe. Paddy had just cut a big tree, and itfell with a crash as Sammy came hurrying up. Sammy was so surprisedthat for a minute he couldn't find his tongue. He had not supposedthat anybody but Farmer Brown or Farmer Brown's boy could cut down solarge a tree as that, and it quite took his breath away. But he got itagain in a minute. He was boiling with anger, anyway, to think that heshould have been the last to learn that Paddy had come down from theNorth to make his home in the Green Forest, and here was a chance tospeak his mind.
"Thief! thief! thief!" he screamed in his harshest voice.
Paddy the Beaver looked up with a twinkle in his eyes. "Hello, Mr. Jay!I see you haven't any better manners than your cousin who lives up whereI came from," said he.
"Thief! thief! thief!" screamed Sammy, hopping up and down, he wasso angry.
"Meaning yourself, I suppose," said Paddy. "I never did see an honestJay, and I don't suppose I ever will."
"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Peter Rabbit, who had quite forgotten that hewas hiding.
"Oh, how do you do, Mr. Rabbit? I'm very glad you have called on me thismorning," said Paddy, just as if he hadn't known all the time just wherePeter was. "Mr. Jay seems to have gotten out of the wrong side of hisbed this morning."
Peter laughed again. "He always does," said he. "If he didn't, hewouldn't be happy. You wouldn't think it to look at him, but he is happyright now. He doesn't know it, but he is. He always is happy when he canshow what a bad temper he has."
Sammy Jay glared down at Peter. Then he glared at Paddy. And all thetime he still shrieked "Thief!" as hard as ever he could. Paddy keptright on working, paying no attention to Sammy. This made Sammy moreangry than ever. He kept coming nearer and nearer until at last hewas in the very tree that Paddy happened to be cutting. Paddy'seyes twinkled.
"I'm no thief!" he exclaimed suddenly.
"You are! You are! Thief! Thief!" shrieked Sammy. "You're stealingour trees!"
"They're not your trees," retorted Paddy. "They belong to the GreenForest, and the Green Forest belongs to all who love it, and we all havea perfect right to take what we need from it. I need these trees, andI've just as much right to take them as you have to take the fat acornsthat drop in the fall."
"No such thing!" screamed Sammy. You know he can't talk withoutscreaming, and the more excited he gets, the louder he screams. "No suchthing! Acorns are food. They are meant to eat. I have to have them tolive. But you are cutting down whole trees. You are spoiling the GreenForest. You don't belong here. Nobody invited you, and nobody wants you.You're a thief!"
Then up spoke Jerry Muskrat, who, you know, is cousin to Paddythe Beaver.
"Don't you mind him," said he, pointing at Sammy Jay. "Nobody does.He's the greatest trouble-maker in the Green Forest or on the GreenMeadows. He would steal from his own relatives. Don't mind what hesays, Cousin Paddy."
Now all this time Paddy had been working away just as if no one wasaround. Just as Jerry stopped speaking, Paddy thumped the ground withhis tail, which is his way of warning people to watch out, and suddenlyscurried away as fast as he could run. Sammy Jay was so surprised thathe couldn't find his tongue for a minute, and he didn't notice anythingpeculiar about that tree. Then suddenly he felt himself falling. With afrightened scream, he spread his wings to fly, but branches of the treeswept him down with them right into the Laughing Brook.
You see while Sammy had been speaking his mind, Paddy the Beaver had cutdown the very tree in which he was sitting.
Sammy wasn't hurt, but he was wet and muddy and terriblyfrightened,--the most miserable looking Jay that ever was seen.It was too much for all the little people who were hiding. Theyjust had to laugh. Then they all came out to pay their respectsto Paddy the Beaver.
V
PADDY KEEPS HIS PROMISE
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sp; Paddy the Beaver kept right on working just as if he hadn't anyvisitors. You see, it is a big undertaking to build a dam. And when thatwas done there was a house to build and a supply of food for the winterto cut and store. Oh, Paddy the Beaver had no time for idle gossip, youmay be sure! So he kept right on building his dam. It didn't look muchlike a dam at first, and some of Paddy's visitors turned up their noseswhen they first saw it. They had heard stories of what a wonderfuldam-builder Paddy was, and they had expected to see something like thesmooth, grass-covered bank with which Farmer Brown kept the Big Riverfrom running back on his low lands. Instead, all they saw was a greatpile of poles and sticks which looked like anything but a dam.
"Pooh!" exclaimed Billy Mink, "I guess we needn't worry about theLaughing Brook and the Smiling Pool, if that is the best Paddy can do.Why, the water of the Laughing Brook will work through that in no time."
Of course Paddy heard him, but he said nothing, just kept righton working.
"Just look at the way he has laid those sticks!" continued Billy Mink."Seems as if any one would know enough to lay them _across_ the LaughingBrook instead of just the other way. I could build a better damthan that."
Paddy said nothing; he just kept right on working.
"Yes, Sir," Billy boasted. "I could build a better dam than that. Why,that pile of sticks will never stop the water."
"Is something the matter with your eyesight, Billy Mink?" inquiredJerry Muskrat.
"Of course not!" retorted Billy indignantly. "Why?"
"Oh, nothing much, only you don't seem to notice that already theLaughing Brook is over its banks above Paddy's dam," replied Jerry,who had been studying the dam with a great deal of interest.