The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver
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Thornton W. Burgess >> The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver
Farmer Brown's boy kept on his way, laughing at the fright of old
Jed Thumper. Presently he reached the springs from which came the
water that made the very beginning of the Laughing Brook. He
expected to find them dry, for way down on the Green Meadows the
Smiling Pool was nearly dry, and the Laughing Brook was nearly
dry, and he had supposed that of course the reason was that the
springs where the Laughing Brook started were no longer bubbling.
But they were! The clear cold water came bubbling up out of the
ground just as it always had, and ran off down into the Green
Forest in a little stream that would grow and grow as it ran and
became the Laughing Brook. Farmer Brown's boy took off his ragged
old straw hat and scowled down at the bubbling water just as if
it had no business to be bubbling there.
Of course, he didn't think just that. The fact is, he didn't know
just what he did think. Here were the springs bubbling away just
as they always had. There was the little stream starting off down
into the Green Forest with a gurgle that by and by would become a
laugh, just as it always had. And yet down on the Green Meadows
on the other side of the Green Forest there was no longer a
Laughing Brook or a Smiling Pool. He felt as if he ought to pinch
himself to make sure that he was awake and not dreaming.
"I don't know what it means," said he, talking out loud. "No,
Sir, I don't know what it means at all, but I'm going to find
out. There's a cause for everything in this world, and when a
fellow doesn't know a thing, it is his business to find out all
about it. I'm going to find out what has happened to the Laughing
Brook, if it takes me a year!"
With that he started to follow the little stream which ran
gurgling down into the Green Forest. He had followed that little
stream more than once, and now he found it just as he remembered
it. The farther it ran, the larger it grew, until at last it
became the Laughing Brook, merrily tumbling over rocks and making
deep pools in which the trout loved to hide. At last he came to
the edge of a little open hollow in the very heart of the Green
Forest. He knew what splendid deep holes there were in the
Laughing Brook here, and how the big trout loved to lie in them
because they were deep and cool. He was thinking of these trout
now and wishing that he had brought along his fishing rod. He
pushed his way through a thicket of alders and then--Farmer
Brown's boy stopped suddenly and fairly gasped! He had to stop
because there right in front of him was a pond!
He rubbed his eyes and looked again. Then he stooped down and put
his hand in the water to see if it was real. There was no doubt
about it. It was real water--a real pond where there never had
been a pond before. It was very still there in the heart of the
Green Forest. It was always very still there, but it seemed
stiller than usual as he tramped around the edge of this strange
pond. He felt as if it were all a dream. He wondered if pretty
soon he wouldn't wake up and find it all untrue. But he didn't,
so he kept on tramping until presently he came to a dam--a
splendid dam of logs and sticks and mud. Over the top of it the
water was running, and down in the Green Forest below he could
hear the Laughing Brook just beginning to laugh once more. Farmer
Brown's boy sat down with his elbows on his knees and his chin in
his hands. He was almost too much surprised to even think.
CHAPTER VIII Peter Rabbit Gets a Ducking.
Farmer Brown's boy sat with his chin in his hands staring at the
new pond in the Green Forest and at the dam which had made it.
That dam puzzled him. Who could have built it? What did they
build it for? Why hadn't he heard them chopping? He looked
carelessly at the stump of one of the trees, and then a still
more puzzled look made deep furrows between his eyes. It looked--
yes, it looked very much as if teeth, and not an axe, had cut
down that tree. Farmer Brown's boy stared and stared, his mouth
gaping wide open. He looked so funny that Peter Rabbit, who was
hiding under an old pile of brush close by, nearly laughed right
out.
But Peter didn't laugh. No, Sir, Peter didn't laugh, for just
that very minute something happened. Sniff! Sniff! That was right
behind him at the very edge of the old brushpile, and every hair
on Peter stood on end with fright.
"Bow, wow, wow!" It seemed to Peter that the great voice was
right in his very ears. It frightened him so that he just had to
jump. He didn't have time to think. And so he jumped right out
from under the pile of brush and of course right into plain
sight. And the very instant he jumped there came another great
roar behind him. Of course it was from Bowser the Hound. You see,
Bowser had been following the trail of his master, but as he
always stops to sniff at everything he passes, he had been some
distance behind. When he came to the pile of brush under which
Peter was hiding he had sniffed at that, and of course he had
smelled Peter right away.
Now when Peter jumped out so suddenly, he had landed right at one
end of the dam. The second roar of Bowser's great voice
frightened him still more, and he jumped right up on the dam.
There was nothing for him to do now but go across, and it wasn't
the best of going. No, indeed, it wasn't the best of going. You
see, it was mostly a tangle of sticks. Happy Jack Squirrel or
Chatterer the Red Squirrel or Striped Chipmunk would have skipped
across it without the least trouble. But Peter Rabbit has no
sharp little claws with which to cling to logs and sticks, and
right away he was in a peck of trouble. He slipped down between
the sticks, scrambled out, slipped again, and then, trying to
make a long jump, he lost his balance and--tumbled heels over
head into the water.
Poor Peter Rabbit! He gave himself up for lost this time. He
could swim, but at best he is a poor swimmer and doesn't like the
water. He couldn't dive and keep out of sight like Jerry Muskrat
or Billy Mink. All he could do was to paddle as fast as his legs
would go. The water had gone up his nose and down his throat so
that he choked, and all the time he felt sure that Bowser the
Hound would plunge in after him and catch him. And if he
shouldn't why Farmer Brown's boy would simply wait for him to
come ashore and then catch him.
But Farmer Brown's boy didn't do anything of the kind. No, Sir,
he didn't. Instead he shouted to Bowser and called him away.
Bowser didn't want to come, but he long ago learned to obey, and
very slowly he walked over to where his master was sitting.
"You know it wouldn't be fair, old fellow, to try to catch Peter
now. It wouldn't be fair at all, and we never want to do anything
unfair, do we?" said he. Perhaps Bowser didn't agree, but he
wagged his tail as if he did, and sat down beside his master to
watch Peter swim.
It seemed to Peter as if he never, never would reach the shore,
though really it was only a very little distance that he had to
swim. When he did scramble out, he was a sorry-looking Rabbit. He
didn't waste any time, but started for home as fast as he could
go, lipperty-lipperty-lip. And Farmer Brown's boy and Bowser the
Hound just laughed and didn't try to catch him at all.
"Well, I never!" exclaimed Sammy Jay, who had seen it all from
the top of a pine tree. "Well, I never! I guess Farmer Brown's
boy isn't so bad, after all."
CHAPTER IX Paddy Plans a House.
Paddy the Beaver sat on his dam, and his eyes shone with
happiness as he looked out over the shining water of the pond he
had made. All around the edge of it grew the tall trees of the
Green Forest. It was very beautiful and very still and very
lonesome. That is, it would have seemed lonesome to almost anyone
but Paddy the Beaver. But Paddy never is lonesome. You see, he
finds company in the trees and flowers and all the little plants.
It was still, very, very still. Over on one side was a beautiful
rosy glow in the water. It was the reflection from jolly, round,
red Mr. Sun. Paddy couldn't see him because of the tall trees,
but he knew exactly what Mr. Sun was doing. He was going to bed
behind the Purple Hills. Pretty soon the little stars would come
out and twinkle down at him. He loves the little stars and always
watches for the first one.
Yes, Paddy the Beaver was very happy. He would have been
perfectly happy except for one thing. Farmer Brown's boy had
found his dam and pond that very afternoon, and Paddy wasn't
quite sure what Farmer Brown's boy might do. He had kept himself
snugly hidden while Farmer Brown's boy was there, and he felt
quite sure that Farmer Brown's boy didn't know who had built the
dam. But for this reason he might, he just might, try to find out
all about it, and that would mean that Paddy would always have to
be on the watch.
"But what's the use of worrying over troubles that haven't come
yet, and may never come? Time enough to worry when they do come,"
said Paddy to himself, which shows that Paddy has a great deal of
wisdom in his little brown head. "The thing for me to do now is
to get ready for winter, and that means a great deal of work," he
continued. "Let me see, I've got to build a house, a big, stout,
warm house, where I will be warm and safe when my pond is frozen
over. And I've got to lay in a supply of food, enough to last me
until gentle Sister South Wind comes to prepare the way for
lovely Mistress Spring. My, my, I can't afford to be sitting here
dreaming when there is so much to be done!"
With that Paddy slipped into the water and swam all around his
new pond to make sure of just the best place to build his house.
Now, placing one's house in just the right place is a very
important matter. Some people are dreadfully careless about this.
Jimmy Skunk, for instance, often makes the mistake of digging his
house (you know Jimmy makes his house underground) right where
everyone who happens along that way will see it. Perhaps that is
because Jimmy is so independent that he doesn't care who knows
where he lives.
But Paddy the Beaver never is careless. He always chooses just
the very best place. He makes sure that it is best before he
begins. So now, although he was quite positive just where his
house should be, he swam around the pond to make doubly sure.
Then, when he was quite satisfied, he swam over to the place he
had chosen. It was where the water was quite deep.
"There mustn't be the least chance that the ice will ever get
thick enough too close up my doorway, said he, "and I'm sure it
never will here. I must make the foundations strong and the walls
thick. I must have plenty of mud to plaster with, and inside, up
above the water, I must have the snuggest, warmest room where I
can sleep in comfort. This is the place to build it, and it is
high time I was at work."
With that Paddy swam over to the place where he had cut the trees
for his dam, and his heart was light, for he had long ago learned
that the surest way to be happy is to be busy.
CHAPTER X Paddy Starts His House.
Jerry Muskrat was very much interested when he found that Paddy
the Beaver, who you know, is his cousin, was building a house.
Jerry is a house-builder himself, and down deep in his heart he
very much doubted if Paddy could build as good a house as he
could. His house was down in the Smiling Pool, and Jerry thought
it a very wonderful house indeed, and was very proud of it. It
was built of mud and sod and little alder and willow twigs and
bulrushes. Jerry had spent one winter in it, and he had decided
to spend another there after he had fixed it up a little. So, as
long as he didn't have to build a brand-new house, he could
afford the time to watch his cousin Paddy. Perhaps he hoped that
Paddy would ask his advice.
But Paddy did nothing of the kind. He had seen Jerry Muskrat's
house, and he had smiled. But he had taken great pains not to
let Jerry see that smile. He wouldn't have hurt Jerry's feelings
for the world. He is too polite and good-natured to do anything
like that. So Jerry sat on the end of an old log and watched
Paddy work. The first thing to build was the foundation. This was
of mud and grass with sticks worked into it to hold it together.
Paddy dug the mud from the bottom of his new pond. And because
the pond was new, there was a great deal of grassy sod there,
which was just what Paddy needed. It was very convenient.
Jerry watched a little while and then, because Jerry is a worker
himself, he just had to get busy and help. Rather timidly he told
his big cousin that he would like to have a share in building the
new house.
"All right," replied Paddy, "that will be fine. You can bring mud
while I am getting the sticks and grass."
So Jerry dived down to the bottom of the pond and dug up mud and
piled it on the foundation and was happy. The little stars looked
down and twinkled merrily as they watched the two workers. So the
foundation grew and grew down under the water. Jerry was very
much surprised at the size of it. It was ever and ever so much
bigger than the foundation for his own house. You see, he had
forgotten how much bigger Paddy is.
Each night Jerry and Paddy worked, resting during the daytime.
Occasionally Bobby Coon or Reddy Fox or Unc' Billy Possum or
Jimmy Skunk would come to the edge of the pond to see what was
going on. Peter Rabbit came every night. But they couldn't see
much because, you know, Paddy and Jerry were working under water.
But at last Peter was rewarded. There, just above the water, was
a splendid platform of mud and grass and sticks. A great many
sticks were carefully laid as soon as the platform was above the
water, for Paddy was very particular about this. You see, it was
to be the floor for the splendid room he was planning to build.
When it suited him, he began to pile mud in the very middle.
Jerry puzzled and puzzled over this. Where was Paddy's room going
to be, if he piled up the mud that way? But he didn't like to ask
questions, so he kept right on helping. Paddy would dive down to
the bottom and then come up with double handfuls of mud, which he
held against his chest. He would scramble out onto the platform
and waddle over to the pile in the middle, where he would put the
mud and pat it down. Then back to the bottom for more.
And so the mud pile grew and grew, until it was quite two feet
high.
"Now," said Paddy, "I'll build the walls, and I guess you can't
help me much with those. I'm going to begin them tomorrow night.
Perhaps you will like to see me do it, Cousin Jerry."
"I certainly will," replied Jerry, still puzzling over that pile
of mud in the middle.
CHAPTER XI Peter Rabbit and Jerry Muskrat Are Puzzled.
Jerry Muskrat was more and more sure that his big cousin, Paddy
the Beaver, didn't know quite so much as he might about
house-building. Jerry would have liked to offer some suggestions,
but he didn't quite dare. You see, he was very anxious not to
displease his big cousin. But he felt that he simply had got to
speak his mind to someone, so he swam across to where he had seen
Peter Rabbit almost every night since Paddy began to build. Sure
enough, Peter was there, sitting up very straight and staring
with big round eyes at the platform of mud and sticks out in the
water where Paddy the Beaver was at work.
"Well, Peter, what do you think of it?" asked Jerry
"What is it?" asked Peter innocently. "Is it another dam?"
Jerry threw back his head and laughed and laughed.
Peter looked at him suspiciously. "I don't see anything to laugh
at," said he.
"Why, it's a house, you stupid. It's Paddy's new house," replied
Jerry, wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes.
"I'm not stupid!" retorted Peter. "How was I to know that that
pile of mud and sticks is meant for a house? It certainly doesn't
look it. Where is the door?"
"To tell you the truth, I don't think it is much of a house
myself," replied Jerry. "It has got a door, all right. In fact it
has got three. You can't see them because they are under water,
and there is a passage from each right up through that platform
of mud and sticks, which is the foundation of the house. It
really is a very fine foundation, Peter; it really is. But what
I can't understand is what Paddy is thinking of by building that
great pile of mud right in the middle. When he gets his walls
built, where will his bedroom be? There won't be any room at all.
It won't be a house at all--just a big useless pile of sticks and
mud.
Peter scratched his head and then pulled his whiskers thoughtfully
as he gazed out at the pile in the water where Paddy the Beaver
was at work.
"It does look foolish, that's a fact," said he. "Why don't you
point out to him the mistake he is making, Jerry? You have built
such a splendid house yourself that you ought to be able to help
Paddy and show him his mistakes."
Jerry had smiled a very self-satisfied smile when Peter mentioned
his fine house, but he shook his head at the suggestion that he
should give Paddy advice.
"I--I don't just like to," he confessed. "You know, he might not
like it and--and it doesn't seem as if it would be quite polite.
Peter sniffed. "That wouldn't trouble me any if he were my
cousin," said he.
Jerry shook his head, "No, I don't believe it would," he replied,
"but it does trouble me and--and--well, I think I'll wait
awhile."
Now all this time Paddy had been hard at work. He was bringing
the longest branches which he had cut from the trees out of which
he had built his dam, and a lot of slender willow and alder
poles. He pushed these ahead of him as he swam. When he reached
the foundation of his house, he would lean them against the pile
of mud in the middle with their big ends resting on the
foundation. So he worked all the way around until by and by the
mud pile in the middle couldn't be seen. It was completely
covered with sticks, and they were cunningly fastened together at
the tops.
CHAPTER XII Jerry Muskrat Learns Something
If you think you know it all
You are riding for a fall.
Use your ears and use your eyes,
But hold your tongue and you'll be wise.
Jerry Muskrat will tell you that is as true as true can be. Jerry
knows. He found it out for himself. Now he is very careful what
he says about other people or what they are doing. But he wasn't
so careful when his cousin, Paddy the Beaver, was building his
house. No, Sir, Jerry wasn't so careful then. He though he knew
more about building a house than Paddy did. He was sure of it
when he watched Paddy heap up a great pile of mud right in the
middle where his room ought to be, and then build a wall of
sticks around it. He said as much to Peter Rabbit.
Now it is never safe to say anything to Peter Rabbit that you
don't care to have others know. Peter has a great deal of respect
for Jerry Muskrat's opinion on house-building. You see, he very
much admires Jerry's snug house in the Smiling Pool. It really is
a very fine house, and Jerry may be excused for being proud of
it. But that doesn't excuse Jerry for thinking that he knows all
there is to know about house-building. Of course Peter told
everyone he met that Paddy the Beaver was making a foolish
mistake in building his house, and that Jerry Muskrat, who ought
to know, said so.
So whenever they got the chance, the little people of the Green
Forest and Green Meadows would steal up to the shore of Paddy's
new pond and chuckle as they looked out at the great pile of
sticks and mud which Paddy had built for a house, but in which he
had forgotten to make a room. At least they supposed that he had
forgotten this very important thing. He must have, for there
wasn't any room. It was a great joke. They laughed a lot about
it, and they lost a great deal of the respect for Paddy which
they had had since he built his wonderful dam.
Jerry and Peter sat in the moonlight talking it over. Paddy had
stopped bringing sticks for his wall. He had dived down out of
sight, and he was gone a long time. Suddenly Jerry noticed that
the water had grown very, very muddy all around Paddy's new
house. He wrinkled his brows trying to think what Paddy could be
doing. Presently Paddy came up for air. Then he went down again,
and the water grew muddier than ever. This went on for a long
time. Every little while Paddy would come up for air and a few
minutes of rest. Then down he would go, and the water would grow
muddier and muddier.
At last Jerry could stand it no longer. He just had to see what
was going on. He slipped into the water and swam over to where
the water was muddiest. Just as he got there up came Paddy.
"Hello, Cousin Jerry!" said he. "I was just going to invite you
over to see what you think of my house inside. Just follow me."
Paddy dived, and Jerry dived after him. He followed Paddy in at
one of the three doorways under water and up a smooth hall right
into the biggest, nicest bedroom Jerry had ever seen in all his
life. He just gasped in sheer surprise. He couldn't do anything
else. He couldn't find his tongue to say a word. Here he was in
this splendid great room up above the water, and he had been so
sure that there wasn't any room at all! He just didn't know what
to make of it.
Paddy's eyes twinkled. "Well," said he, "what do you think of
it?"
"I--I--think it is splendid, just perfectly splendid! But I don't
understand it at all, Cousin Paddy. I--I--Where is that great
pile of mud I helped you build in the middle?" Jerry looked as
foolish as he felt when he asked this.
"Why, I've dug it all away. That's what made the water so muddy,"
replied Paddy.
"But what did you build it for in the first place?" Jerry asked.
"Because I had to have something solid to rest my sticks against
while I was building my walls, of course," replied Paddy. When I
got the tops fastened together for a roof, they didn't need a
support any longer, and then I dug it away to make this room. I
couldn't have built such a big room any other way. I see you
don't know very much about house-building, Cousin Jerry."
"I--I'm afraid I don't," confessed Jerry sadly.
CHAPTER XIII The Queer Storehouse.
Everybody knew that Paddy the Beaver was laying up a supply of
food for the winter, and everybody thought it was queer food.
That is, everybody but Prickly Porky the Porcupine thought so.
Prickly Porky likes the same kind of food, but he never lays up a
supply. He just goes out and gets it when he wants it, winter or
summer. What kind of food was it? Why, bark, to be sure. Yes,
Sir, it was just bark--the bark of certain kinds of trees.
Now Prickly Porky can climb the trees and eat the bark right
there, but Paddy the Beaver cannot climb, and if he would just
eat the bark that he can reach from the ground, it would take
such a lot of trees to keep him filled up that he would soon
spoil the Green Forest. You know, when the bark is taken off a
tree all the way around, the tree dies. That is because all the
things that a tree draws out of the ground to make it grow and
keep it alive are carried up from the roots in the sap, and the
sap cannot go up the tree trunks and into the branches when the
bark is taken off, because it is up the inside of the bark that
it travels. So when the bark is taken from a tree all the way
around the trunk, the tree just starves to death.
Now Paddy the Beaver loves the Green Forest as dearly as you and
I do, and perhaps even a little more dearly. You see, it is his
home. Besides, Paddy never is wasteful. So he cuts down a tree so
that he can get all the bark instead of killing a whole lot of
trees for a very little bark, as he might do if he were lazy.
There isn't a lazy bone in him--not one. The bark he likes best
is from the aspen. When he cannot get that, he will eat the bark
from the poplar, the alder, the willow, and even the birch. But
he likes the aspen so much better that he will work very hard to
get it. Perhaps it tastes better because he does have to work so
hard for it.
There were some aspen trees growing right on the edge of the pond
Paddy had made in the Green Forest. These he cut just as he had
cut the trees for his dam. As soon as a tree was down, he would
cut it into short lengths, and with these swim out to where the
water was deep, close to his new house. He took them one by one
and carried the first ones to the bottom, where he pushed them
into the mud just enough to hold them. Then, as fast as he
brought more, he piled them on the first ones. And so the pile
grew and grew.
Jerry Muskrat, Peter Rabbit, Bobby Coon, and the other little
people of the Green Forest watched him with the greatest interest
and curiosity. They couldn't quite make out what he was doing. It
was almost as if he were building the foundation for another
house.
"What's he doing, Jerry?" demanded Peter, when he could keep
still no longer.
"I don't exactly know," replied Jerry. "He said that he was going
to lay in a supply of food for the winter, just as I told you,
and I suppose that is what he is doing. But I don't quite
understand what he is taking it all out into the pond for. I
believe I'll go ask him."