Part 6 (1/2)

Sammy Jay looked very much pleased indeed and very proud.

”So you see, it takes both of us to make this ca.n.a.l; I dig while Sammy watches. So we are building it together,” concluded Paddy with a twinkle in his eyes.

”I see,” said Jerry slowly. Then he turned to Sammy Jay. ”I beg your pardon, Sammy,” said he. ”I do indeed.”

”That's all right,” replied Sammy airily. ”What do you think of our ca.n.a.l?”

”I think it is wonderful,” replied Jerry.

And indeed it was a very fine ca.n.a.l, straight, wide, and deep enough for Paddy to swim in and float his logs out to the pond.

Yes, indeed, it was a very fine ca.n.a.l.

CHAPTER XXII Paddy Finishes His Harvest.

”Sharp his tongue and sharp his eyes-- Sammy guards against surprise.

If 'twere not for Sammy Jay I could do no work today.”

When Sammy overheard Paddy the Beaver say that to Jerry Muskrat, it made him swell up all over with pure pride. You see, Sammy is so used to hearing bad things about himself that to hear something nice like that pleased him immensely. He straightway forgot all the mean things he had said to Paddy when he first saw him--how he had called him a thief because he had cut the aspen trees he needed. He forgot all this. He forgot how Paddy had made him the laughingstock of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows by cutting down the very tree in which he had been sitting. He forgot everything but that Paddy had trusted him to keep watch and now was saying nice things about him. He made up his mind that he would deserve all the nice things that Paddy could say, and he thought that Paddy was the finest fellow in the world.

Jerry Muskrat looked doubtful. He didn't trust Sammy, and he took care not to go far from the water when he heard that Old Man Coyote had been hanging around. But Paddy worked away just as if he hadn't a fear in the world.