Part 2 (1/2)

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 s.h.i.+ning 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 gra.s.s 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 gra.s.sy 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 gra.s.s.”

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 c.o.o.n 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 gra.s.s 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.