"Hello, Sammy Jay! I see you don't feel any better than usual thismorning," said Paddy. "Don't you want to sit up in this tree while Icut it down?"
Sammy grew black in the face with anger, for he knew that Paddy waslaughing at him. You remember how only a few days before he had been sointent on calling Paddy bad names that he actually hadn't noticed thatPaddy was cutting the very tree in which he was sitting, and so when itfell he had had a terrible fright.
"You think you are very smart, Mr. Beaver, but you'll think differentlyone of these fine days!" screamed Sammy. "If you knew what I know, youwouldn't be so well satisfied with yourself."
"What do you know?" asked Paddy, pretending to be very much alarmed.
"I'm not going to tell you what I know," retorted Sammy Jay. "You'llfind out soon enough. And when you do find out, you'll never stealanother tree from our Green Forest. Somebody is going to catch you,and it isn't Farmer Brown's boy either!"
Paddy pretended to be terribly frightened. "Oh, who is it? Please tellme, Mr. Jay," he begged.
Now to be called Mr. Jay made Sammy feel very important. Nearlyeverybody else called him Sammy. He swelled himself out trying to lookas important as he felt, and his eyes snapped with pleasure. He wasactually making Paddy the Beaver afraid. At least he thought he was.
"No, Sir, I won't tell you," he replied. "I wouldn't be you for a greatdeal though! Somebody who is smarter than you are is going to catch you,and when he gets through with you, there won't be anything left but afew bones. No, Sir, nothing but a few bones!"
"Oh, Mr. Jay, this is terrible news! Whatever am I to do?" cried Paddy,all the time keeping right on at work cutting another tree.
"There's nothing you can do," replied Sammy, grinning wickedly atPaddy's fright. "There's nothing you can do unless you go right straightback to the North where you came from. You think you are very smartbut--"
Sammy didn't finish. Crack! Over fell the tree Paddy had been cuttingand the top of it fell straight into the alder in which Sammy wassitting. "Oh! Oh! Help!" shrieked Sammy, spreading his wings and flyingaway just in time.
Paddy sat down and laughed until his sides ached. "Come make me anothercall some day, Sammy!" he said. "And when you do, please bring some realnews. I know all about Old Man Coyote. You can tell him for me that whenhe is planning to catch people he should be careful not to leavefootprints to give himself away."
Sammy didn't reply. He just sneaked off through the Green Forest,looking quite as foolish as he felt.
XVI
OLD MAN COYOTE IS VERY CRAFTY
Coyote has a crafty brain; His wits are sharp his ends to gain.
There is nothing in the world more true than that. Old Man Coyote hasthe craftiest brain of all the little people of the Green Forest or theGreen Meadows. Sharp as are the wits of old Granny Fox, they are notquite as sharp as the wits of Old Man Coyote. If you want to fool him,you will have to get up very early in the morning, and then it is morethan likely that you will be the one fooled, not he. There is verylittle going on around him that he doesn't know about. But once in awhile something escapes him. The coming of Paddy the Beaver to the GreenForest was one of these things. He didn't know a thing about Paddy untilPaddy had finished his dam and his house, and was cutting his supply offood for the winter.
You see, it was this way: When the Merry Little Breezes of Old MotherWest Wind first heard what was going on in the Green Forest and hurriedaround over the Green Meadows and through the Green Forest to spread thenews, as is their way, they took the greatest pains not to even hint itto Old Man Coyote because they were afraid that he would make troubleand perhaps drive Paddy away. The place that Paddy had chosen to buildhis dam was so deep in the Green Forest that Old Man Coyote seldom wentthat way. So it was that he knew nothing about Paddy, and Paddy knewnothing about him for some time.
But after a while Old Man Coyote noticed that the little people ofthe Green Meadows were not about as much as usual. They seemed to havea secret of some kind. He mentioned the matter to his friend, Diggerthe Badger.
Digger had been so intent on his own affairs that he hadn't noticedanything unusual, but when Old Man Coyote mentioned the matter heremembered that Blacky the Crow headed straight for the Green Forestevery morning. Several times he had seen Sammy Jay flying in the samedirection as if in a great hurry to get somewhere.
Old Man Coyote grinned. "That's all I need to know, friend Digger,"said he. "When Blacky the Crow and Sammy Jay visit a place more thanonce, something interesting is going on there. I think I'll take astroll up through the Green Forest and have a look around."
With that, off Old Man Coyote started. But he was too sly and crafty togo straight to the Green Forest. He pretended to hunt around over theGreen Meadows just as he usually did, all the time working nearer andnearer to the Green Forest. When he reached the edge of it, he slippedin among the trees, and when he felt sure that no one was likely to seehim, he began to run this way and that way with his nose to the ground.
"Ha!" he exclaimed presently, "Reddy Fox has been this way lately."
Pretty soon he found another trail. "So," said he, "Peter Rabbit hasbeen over here a good deal of late, and his trail goes in the samedirection as that of Reddy Fox. I guess all I have to do now is tofollow Peter's trail, and it will lead me to what I want to find out."
So Old Man Coyote followed Peter's trail, and he presently came to thepond of Paddy the Beaver. "Ha!" said he, as he looked out and sawPaddy's new house. "So there is a newcomer to the Green Forest! I havealways heard that Beaver is very good eating. My stomach begins to feelempty this very minute." His mouth began to water, and a fierce, hungrylook shone in his yellow eyes.
It was just then that Sammy Jay saw him and began to scream at the topof his lungs so that Paddy the Beaver over in his house heard him. OldMan Coyote knew that it was of no use to stay longer with Sammy Jayabout, so he took a hasty look at the pond and found where Paddy cameashore to cut his food. Then, shaking his fist at Sammy Jay, he startedstraight back for the Green Meadows. "I'll just pay a visit here in thenight," said he, "and give Mr. Beaver a surprise while he is at work."
But with all his craft, Old Man Coyote didn't notice that he had left afootprint in the mud.
XVII
OLD MAN COYOTE IS DISAPPOINTED
Old Man Coyote lay stretched out in his favorite napping place on theGreen Meadows. He was thinking of what he had found out up in the GreenForest that morning--that Paddy the Beaver was living there. Old ManCoyote's thoughts seemed very pleasant to himself, though really theywere very dreadful thoughts. You see, he was thinking how easy it wasgoing to be to catch Paddy the Beaver, and what a splendid meal he wouldmake. He licked his chops at the thought.
"He doesn't know I know he's here," thought Old Man Coyote. "In fact, Idon't believe he even knows that I am anywhere around. Of course, hewon't be watching for me. He cuts his trees at night, so all I will haveto do is to hide right close by where he is at work, and he'll walkright into my mouth. Sammy Jay knows I was up there this morning, butSammy sleeps at night, so he will not give the alarm. My, my, how goodthat Beaver will taste!" He licked his chops once more, then yawned andclosed his eyes for a nap.
Old Man Coyote waited until jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had gone to bedbehind the Purple Hills, and the Black Shadows had crept out across theGreen Meadows. Then, keeping in the blackest of them, and looking verymuch like a shadow himself, he slipped into the Green Forest. It wasdark in there, and he made straight for Paddy's new pond, trotting alongswiftly without making a sound. When he was near the aspen-trees whichhe knew Paddy was planning to cut, he crept forward very slowly andcarefully. Everything was still as still could be.
"Good!" thought Old Man Coyote. "I am here first, and now all I need dois to hide and wait for Paddy to come ashore."
So he stretched himself flat behind some brush close beside the littlepath Paddy had made up from the edge of the water and waited. It wasvery still, so still that it seemed almost as if he co
uld hear his heartbeat. He could see the little stars twinkling in the sky and their ownreflections twinkling back at them from the water of Paddy's pond. OldMan Coyote waited and waited. He is very patient when there is somethingto gain by it. For such a splendid dinner as Paddy the Beaver would makehe felt that he could well afford to be patient. So he waited andwaited, and everything was as still as if no living thing but the treeswere there. Even the trees seemed to be asleep.
At last, after a long, long time, he heard just the faintest splash. Hepricked up his ears and peeped out on the pond with the hungriest lookin his yellow eyes. There was a little line of silver coming straighttowards him. He knew that it was made by Paddy the Beaver swimming.Nearer and nearer it drew. Old Man Coyote chuckled way down deep inside,without making a sound. He could see Paddy's head now, and Paddy wascoming straight in, as if he hadn't a fear in the world.
Almost to the edge of the pond swam Paddy. Then he stopped. In a fewminutes he began to swim again, but this time it was back in thedirection of his house, and he seemed to be carrying something. It wasone of the little food logs he had cut that day, and he was taking itout to his storehouse. Then back he came for another. And so he kept on,never once coming ashore. Old Man Coyote waited until Paddy had carriedthe last log to his storehouse and then, with a loud whack on the waterwith his broad tail, had dived and disappeared in his house.
Then Old Man Coyote arose and started elsewhere to look for his dinner,and in his heart was bitter disappointment.
XVIII
OLD MAN COYOTE TRIES ANOTHER PLAN
For three nights Old Man Coyote had stolen up through the Green Forestwith the coming of the Black Shadows and had hidden among theaspen-trees where Paddy the Beaver cut his food, and for three nightsPaddy had failed to come ashore. Each night he had seemed to have enoughfood logs in the water to keep him busy without cutting more. Old ManCoyote lay there, and the hungry look in his eyes changed to one ofdoubt and then to suspicion. Could it be that Paddy the Beaver wassmarter than he thought? It began to look very much as if Paddy knewperfectly well that he was hiding there each night. Yes, Sir, that's theway it looked. For three nights Paddy hadn't cut a single tree, and yeteach night he had plenty of food logs ready to take to his storehouse inthe pond.
"That means that he comes ashore in the daytime and cuts his trees,"thought Old Man Coyote as, tired and with black anger in his heart, hetrotted home the third night. "He couldn't have found out about mehimself; he isn't smart enough. It must be that some one has told him.And nobody knows that I have been over there but Sammy Jay. It must behe who has been the tattletale. I think I'll visit Paddy by daylightto-morrow, and then we'll see!"
Now the trouble with some smart people is that they are never able tobelieve that others may be as smart as they. Old Man Coyote didn't knowthat the first time he had visited Paddy's pond he had left behind him afootprint in a little patch of soft mud. If he had known it, he wouldn'thave believed that Paddy would be smart enough to guess what thatfootprint meant. So Old Man Coyote laid all the blame at the door ofSammy Jay, and that very morning, when Sammy came flying over the GreenMeadows, Old Man Coyote accused him of being a tattletale and threatenedthe most dreadful things to Sammy if ever he caught him.
Now Sammy had flown down to the Green Meadows to tell Old Man Coyotehow Paddy was doing all his work on land in the daytime. But when OldMan Coyote began to call him a tattletale and accuse him of havingwarned Paddy, and to threaten dreadful things, he straightway forgot allhis anger at Paddy and turned it all on Old Man Coyote. He called himeverything he could think of, and this was a great deal, for Sammy has awicked tongue. When he hadn't any breath left, he flew over to the GreenForest, and there he hid where he could watch all that was going on.
That afternoon Old Man Coyote tried his new plan. He slipped into theGreen Forest, looking this way and that way to be sure that no one sawhim. Then very, very softly, he crept up through the Green Foresttowards the pond of Paddy the Beaver. As he drew near, he heard a crash,and it made him smile. He knew what it meant. It meant that Paddy was atwork cutting down trees. With his stomach almost on the ground, he creptforward little by little, little by little, taking the greatest care notto rustle so much as a leaf. Presently he reached a place where he couldsee the aspen-trees, and there sure enough was Paddy, sitting up on hishind legs and hard at work cutting another tree.
Old Man Coyote lay down for a few minutes to watch. Then he wriggleda little nearer. Slowly and carefully he drew his legs under him andmade ready for a rush. Paddy the Beaver was his at last! At justthat very minute a harsh scream rang out right over his head "Thief!thief! thief!"
It was Sammy Jay, who had silently followed him all the way. Paddy theBeaver didn't stop to even look around. He knew what that scream meant,and he scrambled down his little path to the water as he never hadscrambled before. And as he dived with a great splash, Old Man Coyotelanded with a great jump on the very edge of the pond.
XIX
PADDY AND SAMMY JAY BECOME FRIENDS
Paddy the Beaver floated in his pond and grinned in the most provokingway at Old Man Coyote, who had so nearly caught him. Old Man Coyotefairly danced with anger on the bank. He had felt so sure of Paddythat time that it was hard work to believe that Paddy had really gottenaway from him. He bared his long cruel teeth, and he looked very fierceand ugly.
"Come on in; the water's fine!" called Paddy.
Now, of course, this wasn't a nice thing for Paddy to do, for it onlymade Old Man Coyote all the angrier. You see, Paddy knew perfectly wellthat he was absolutely safe, and he just couldn't resist the temptationto say some unkind things. He had had to be on the watch for days lesthe should be caught, and so he hadn't been able to work quite so well ashe could have done with nothing to fear, and he still had a lot ofpreparations to make for winter. So he told Old Man Coyote just what hethought of him, and that he wasn't as smart as he thought he was or henever would have left a footprint in the mud to give him away.
When Sammy Jay, who was listening and chuckling as he listened, heardthat, he flew down where he would be just out of reach of Old ManCoyote, and then he just turned that tongue of his loose, and you knowthat some people say that Sammy's tongue is hung in the middle and wagsat both ends. Of course, this isn't really so, but when he gets toabusing people it seems as if it must be true. He called Old Man Coyoteevery bad name he could think of. He called him a sneak, a thief, acoward, a bully, and a lot of other things.
"You said I had warned Paddy that you were trying to catch him and thatwas why you failed to find him at work at night, and all the time youhad warned him yourself!" screamed Sammy. "I used to think that you weresmart, but I know better now. Paddy is twice as smart as you are."
"Mr. Coyote is ever so sly; Mr. Coyote is clever and spry; If you believe all you hear. Mr. Coyote is naught of the kind; Mr. Coyote is stupid and blind; He can't catch a flea on his ear."
Paddy the Beaver laughed till the tears came at Sammy's foolish verse,but it made Old Man Coyote angrier than ever. He was angry with Paddyfor escaping from him, and he was angry with Sammy, terribly angry, andthe worst of it was he couldn't catch either one, for one was at home inthe water and the other was at home in the air and he couldn't follow ineither place. Finally he saw it was of no use to stay there to belaughed at, so, muttering and grumbling, he started for the GreenMeadows.
As soon as he was out of sight Paddy turned to Sammy Jay.
"Mr. Jay," said he, knowing how it pleased Sammy to be called mister,"Mr. Jay, you have done me a mighty good turn to-day, and I am not goingto forget it. You can call me what you please and scream at me all youplease, but you won't get any satisfaction out of it, because I simplywon't get angry. I will say to myself, 'Mr. Jay saved my life the otherday,' and then I won't mind your tongue."
Now this made Sammy feel very proud and very happy. You know it is veryseldom that he hears anything nice said of him. He flew down on thestump of one of the trees Paddy had cut. "Let's be f
riends," said he.
"With all my heart!" replied Paddy.
XX
SAMMY JAY OFFERS TO HELP PADDY
Paddy sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen-trees he would have to cutto complete his store of food for the winter. All those near the edge ofhis pond had been cut. The others were scattered about some littledistance away. "I don't know," said Paddy out loud. "I don't know."
"What don't you know?" asked Sammy Jay, who, now that he and Paddy hadbecome friends, was very much interested in what Paddy was doing.
"Why," replied Paddy, "I don't know just how I am going to get thosetrees. Now that Old Man Coyote is watching for me, it isn't safe forme to go very far from my pond. I suppose I could dig a canal up tosome of the nearest trees and then float them down to the pond, butit is hard to work and keep sharp watch for enemies at the same time.I guess I'll have to be content with some of these alders growingclose to the water, but the bark of aspens is so much better thatI--I wish I could get them."
"What's a canal?" asked Sammy abruptly.
"A canal? Why, a canal is a kind of ditch in which water can run,"replied Paddy.
Sammy nodded. "I've seen Farmer Brown dig one over on the Green Meadows,but it looked like a great deal of work. I didn't suppose that any oneelse could do it. Do you really mean that you can dig a canal, Paddy?"
"Of course I mean it," replied Paddy, in a surprised tone of voice. "Ihave helped dig lots of canals. You ought to see some of them back whereI came from."