The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver | Page 9

beautiful and very still and very lonesome. That is, it would have
seemed lonesome to almost any one 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 but 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 very
reason he might, he just might, try to find out all about it, and that
would mean that Paddy would have to be always 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 such a lot 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 every one 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 to 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.

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.