Part 5 (2/2)

XVIII

OLD MAN COYOTE TRIES ANOTHER PLAN

For three nights Old Man Coyote had stolen up through the Green Forest with the co the aspen-trees where Paddy the Beaver cut his food, and for three nights Paddy had failed to cos in the water to keep hi ry look in his eyes changed to one of doubt and then to suspicion Could it be that Paddy the Beaver was san to look verythere each night Yes, Sir, that's the way it looked For three nights Paddy hadn't cut a single tree, and yet each night he had plenty of food logs ready to take to his storehouse in the pond

”That means that he coht Old Man Coyote as, tired and with black anger in his heart, he trotted hoht ”He couldn't have found out about h It must be that some one has told him

And nobody knows that I have been over there but Sammy Jay It must be he who has been the tattletale I think I'll visit Paddy by daylight to-morrow, and then we'll see!”

Now the trouble with some smart people is that they are never able to believe that others may be as smart as they Old Man Coyote didn't know that the first time he had visited Paddy's pond he had left behind him a footprint in a little patch of soft mud If he had known it, he wouldn't have believed that Paddy would be suess what that footprint meant So Old Man Coyote laid all the bla, when Sa over the Green Meadows, Old Man Coyote accused his to Saht him

Now Sammy had flon to the Green Meadows to tell Old Man Coyote how Paddy was doing all his work on land in the daytian to call hi warned Paddy, and to threaten dreadful things, he straightway forgot all his anger at Paddy and turned it all on Old Man Coyote He called hireat deal, for Saue When he hadn't any breath left, he flew over to the Green Forest, 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 the Green Forest, looking this way and that way to be sure that no one saw hih the Green Forest towards the pond of Paddy the Beaver As he drew near, he heard a crash, and it made him smile He knehat itdown trees With his storound, he crept forward little by little, little by little, taking the greatest care not to rustle so much as a leaf Presently he reached a place where he could see the aspen-trees, and there sure enough was Paddy, sitting up on his hind legs and hard at work cutting another tree

Old Man Coyote lay down for a few led a little nearer Slowly and carefully he drew his legs under him and made ready for a rush Paddy the Beaver was his at last! At just that very ht over his head ”Thief!

thief! thief!”

It was Sammy Jay, who had silently followed him all the way Paddy the Beaver didn't stop to even look around He knehat that scream meant, and he scrambled down his little path to the water as he never had scrareat splash, Old Man Coyote landed with a great jue of the pond

XIX

PADDY AND SAMMY JAY BECOME FRIENDS

Paddy the Beaver floated in his pond and grinned in the ht hier on the bank He had felt so sure of Paddy that tiotten away fro cruel teeth, and he looked very fierce and 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 only rier You see, Paddy knew perfectly well that he was absolutely safe, and he just couldn't resist the tes He had had to be on the watch for days lest he should be caught, and so he hadn't been able to work quite so well as he could have done with nothing to fear, and he still had a lot of preparations to ht of hiht he was or he never would have left a footprint in theand chuckling as he listened, heard that, he flehere he would be just out of reach of Old Man Coyote, and then he just turned that tongue of his loose, and you know that so in the s at both ends Of course, this isn't really so, but when he gets to abusing people it seems as if it must be true He called Old Man Coyote every bad name he could think of He called him a sneak, a thief, a coward, a bully, and a lot of other things

”You said I had warned Paddy that you were trying to catch hiht, and all the time you had warned him yourself!” screamed Sammy ”I used to think that you were smart, 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 carier than ever He was angry with Paddy for escaping frory, and the worst of it was he couldn't catch either one, for one was at home in the water and the other was at home in the air and he couldn't follow in either place Finally he saas of no use to stay there to be laughed at, so, , he started for the Green Meadows

As soon as he was out of sight Paddy turned to Sammy Jay