 Section 1 of The Adventures of Patty Beaver Work, work, all the night while the stars are shining bright. Work, work, all the day, I have got no time to play. This little rhyme Patty the Beaver made up as he toiled at building the dam which was to make the pond he so much desired deep in the green forest. Of course it wasn't quite true that about working all night and all day. Nobody could do that, you know, and keep it up. Everybody has to rest and sleep. Yes, everybody has to play a little to be at their best. So it wasn't quite true that Patty worked all day after working all night. But it was true that Patty had no time to play. He had too much to do. He had had his playtime during the long summer and now he had to get ready for the long cold winter. Now, of all the little workers in the green forest, on the green meadows and in the smiling pool, none can compare with Patty the Beaver, not even his cousin Jerry Musgrat. Happy Jack Squirrel and Striped Chipmunk store up food for the long cold months when rough brother Northwind and Jack Frost rule, and Jerry Musgrat builds a fine house wherein to keep warm and comfortable. But all this is as nothing to the work of Patty the Beaver. As I said before, Patty had had a long playtime through the summer. He had wandered up and down the laughing brook. He had followed it way up to the place where it started, and all the time he had been studying and studying to make sure that he wanted to stay in the green forest. In the first place he had to be sure that there was plenty of the kind of food that he likes. Then he had to be equally sure that he could make a pond near where this particular food grew. Last of all he had to satisfy himself that if he did make a pond and build a home he could be reasonably safe in it. And all these things he had done in his playtime. Now he was ready to go to work, and when Patty begins work he sticks to it until it is finished. He says that is the only way to succeed, and you know and I know that he is right. Now Patty the Beaver can see at night just as ready Fox and Peter Rabbit and Bobby Coon can, and he likes the night best because he feels safest then. But he can see in the daytime too, and when he feels that he is perfectly safe and no one is watching, he works then too. Of course the first thing to do was to build a dam across the Laughing Brook to make the pond he so much needed. He chose a low open place deep in the green forest, around the edge of which grew many young aspen trees, the bark of which is his favorite food. Through the middle of this open place flowed the Laughing Brook. At the lower edge was just the place for a dam. It would not have to be very long, and when it was finished, and the water was stopped in the Laughing Brook, it would just have to flow over the low open place and make a pond there. Patty's eyes twinkled when he first saw it. It was right then that he made up his mind to stay in the green forest. So now that he was ready to begin his dam, he went up the Laughing Brook to a place where Alders and Willows grew, and there he began work. That work was the cutting of a great number of trees by means of his big front teeth which were given him for just this purpose. And as he worked, Patty was happy, for no one can be truly happy who does no work. End of Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Patty Plans a Pond Patty the beaver was busy cutting down trees for the dam he had planned to build. Up in the woods of the north from which he had come to the green forest, he had learned all about tree cutting and dam building and canal digging and house building. Patty's father and mother had been very wise in the ways of the beaver world, and Patty had been quick to learn. So now he knew just what to do and the best way for doing it. You know, a great many people waste time and labor doing things the wrong way, so that they have to be done over again. They forget to be sure they are right, and so they go ahead until they find they are wrong, and all their work goes for nothing. But Patty the beaver isn't this kind. Patty would never have leaped into the spring with the steep sides without looking, as grandfather Frog did, so now he carefully picked out the trees to cut. He could not afford to waste time cutting down a tree that wasn't going to be just what he wanted when it was down. When he was sure that the tree was right, he looked up at the top to find out whether, when he had cut it, it would fall clear of other trees. He had learned to do that when he was quite young and heedless. He remembered just how he had felt when, after working hard, oh, so hard, to cut a big tree, he had warned all his friends to get out of the way so that they would not be hurt when it fell, and then it hadn't fallen at all because the top had caught another tree. He was so mortified that he didn't get over it for a long time. So now he made sure that a tree was going to fall clear and just where he wanted it. Then he sat up on his hind legs, and with his great broad tail for a brace, began to make the chips fly. You know Patty has the most wonderful teeth for cutting. They are long and broad and sharp. He would begin by making a deep bite, and then another just a little way below. Then he would pry out the little piece of wood between. When he had cut very deep on one side so that the tree would fall that way, he would work around to the other side. Just as soon as the tree began to lean and he was sure that it was going to fall, he would scamper away so as to be out of danger. He loved to see those tall trees lean forward slowly, then faster and faster till they struck the ground with a crash. Just as soon as they were down, he would trim off the branches until the trees were just long poles. This was easy work, for he could take off a good-sized branch with one bite. On many he left their bushy tops. When he had trimmed them to suit him and had cut them into the right lengths, he would tug and pull them down to the place where he meant to build his dam. There he placed the poles side by side, not across the laughing-brook like a bridge, but with the big ends pointing up the laughing-brook, which was quite broad but shallow right there. To keep them from floating away he rolled stones and piled mud on the bushy ends. Clear across on both sides he laid those poles until the land began to rise. Then he dragged more poles and piled on top of these and wedged short sticks crosswise between them. And all the time the laughing-brook was having harder and harder work to run. Its merry laugh grew less merry and finally almost stopped because, you see, the water could not get through between all those poles and sticks fast enough. It was just about that time that the little people of the smiling pool decided that it was time to see just what Paddy was doing. And they started up the laughing-brook leaving only Grandfather Frog and the tadpoles in the smiling pool, which for a little while would smile no more. End of Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Paddy has many visitors. Paddy the beaver knew perfectly well that he would have visitors just as soon as he began to build his dam. He expected a lot of them. You see, he knew that none of them ever had seen a beaver at work unless perhaps it was prickly-porkey the porcupine who also had come down from the north. So as he worked he kept his ears open and he smiled to himself as he heard a little rustle here and then a little rustle there. He knew just what those little rustles meant. Each one meant another visitor. Yes, sir, each rustle meant another visitor and yet not one had shown himself. Paddy chuckled. Seems to me that you aren't dreadfully afraid to show yourselves. He said in a loud voice just as if he were talking to nobody in particular. Everything was still. There wasn't so much as a rustle after Paddy spoke. He chuckled again. He could just feel ever so many eyes watching him, though he didn't see a single pair. And he knew that the reason his visitors were hiding so carefully was because they were afraid of him. You see, Paddy was much bigger than most of the little meadow and forest people and they didn't know what kind of a temper he might have. It is always safest to be very distrustful of strangers. That is one of the very first things taught all little meadow and forest children. Of course Paddy knew all about this. He had been brought up that way. Be sure and then you'll never be sorry had been one of his mother's favorite sayings and he had always remembered it. Indeed it had saved him a great deal of trouble. So now he was perfectly willing to go right on working and let his hidden visitors watch him until they were sure that he meant them no harm. You see, he himself felt quite sure that none of them was big enough to do him any harm. Little Joe Otter was the only one he had any doubts about and he felt quite sure that Little Joe wouldn't try to pick a quarrel. So he kept right on cutting trees, trimming off the branches and hauling the trunks down to the dam he was building. Some of them he floated down the Laughing Brook. This was easier. Now when the little people of the smiling pool, who were the first to find out that Paddy the beaver had come to the Green Forest, had started up the Laughing Brook to see what he was doing, they had told the merry little breezes where they were going. The merry little breezes had been greatly excited. They couldn't understand how a stranger could have been living in the Green Forest without their knowledge. You see, they quite forgot that they very seldom wandered to the deepest part of the Green Forest. Of course, they started it once as fast as they could go to tell all the other little people who live on or around the Green Meadows. Aw, but old man Coyote. For some reason they thought it best not to tell him. They were a little doubtful about old man Coyote. He was so big and strong and so sly and smart that all his neighbors were afraid of him. Perhaps the merry little breezes had this fact in mind and knew that none would dare go to call on the stranger if they knew that old man Coyote was going to. Anyway, they simply passed the time of day with old man Coyote and hurried on to tell everyone else, and the very last one they met was Sammy Jay. Sammy was terribly put out to think that anything should be going on that he didn't know about first. You know he is very fond of prying into the affairs of other people, and he loves dearly to boast that there is nothing going on in the Green Forest or on the Green Meadows that he doesn't know about. So now his pride was heard. And he was in a terrible rage as he started after the merry little breezes for the place deep in the Green Forest where they said Patty the beaver was at work. He didn't believe a word of it, but he would see for himself. Chapter 4. Sammy Jay Speaks His Mind When Sammy Jay reached the place deep in the Green Forest where Patty the beaver was so hard at work, he didn't hide as had the little four-footed people. You see, of course, he had no reason to hide because he felt perfectly safe. Patty had just cut a big tree and it fell with a crash as Sammy came hurrying up. Sammy was so surprised that for a minute he couldn't find his tongue. He had not supposed that anybody but Farmer Brown or Farmer Brown's boy could cut down so large a tree as that and it quite took his breath away. But he got it again in a minute. He was boiling with anger anyway to think that he should have been the last to learn that Patty had come down from the north to make his home in the Green Forest. And here was a chance to speak his mind. FEEF! FEEF! FEEF! He screamed in his harshest voice. Patty the beaver looked up with a twinkle in his eyes. Hello, Mr. Jay. I see you haven't any better manners than your cousin who lives up where I came from. Said he. FEEF! FEEF! FEEF! Screamed Sammy, hopping up and down, he was so angry. Meaning yourself, I suppose. Said Patty. I never did see an honest Jay and I don't suppose I ever will. Hahahaha! Laughed Peter Rabbit, who had quite forgotten that he was hiding. Oh! How do you do, Mr. Rabbit? I'm very glad you have called on me this morning. Said Patty, just as if he hadn't known all the time just where Peter was. Mr. Jay seems to have gotten out of the wrong side of the bed this morning. Peter laughed again. He always does. Said he. If he didn't, he wouldn't be happy. You wouldn't think it to look at him, but he is. He is happy right now. He doesn't know it, but he is. He always is happy when he can show what a bad temper he has. Sammy Jay glared down at Peter. Then he glared at Patty. And all the time he still shrieked FEEF! as hard as ever he could. Patty kept right on working, paying no attention to Sammy. This made Sammy more angry than ever. He kept coming nearer and nearer until at last he was in the very tree that Patty happened to be cutting. Patty's eyes twinkled. I'm no thief! he exclaimed suddenly. You are! You are! Thief! Thief! Shrieked Sammy. You're stealing our trees! They're not your trees! He torqued Patty. They belong to the green forest. And the green forest belongs to all who love it. And we all have a perfect right to take what we need from it. I need these trees. And I've just as much right to take them as you have to take the fat acorns that drop in the fall. No such thing! Screamed Sammy. You know he can't talk without screaming. And the more excited he gets, the louder he screams. No such thing! Acorns are food. They are meant to eat. I have to have them to live. But you are cutting down whole trees. You're spoiling the green forest. You don't belong here. Nobody invited you and nobody wants you. You're a thief! Then up spoke Jerry Musgrat, who you know is cousin to Patty Beaver. Don't you mind him? Said he, pointing at Sammy Jay. Nobody does. He's the greatest troublemaker in the green forest or on the green meadows. He would steal from his own relatives. Don't mind what he says, cousin Patty. Now, all this time Patty had been working away just as if no one was around. Just as Jerry stopped speaking, Patty thumped the ground with his tail, which is his way of warning people to watch out, and suddenly screwed away as fast as he could run. Sammy Jay was so surprised that he couldn't find his tongue for a minute, and he didn't notice anything peculiar about that tree. Then suddenly he felt himself falling. With a frightened scream, he spread his wings to fly, but branches of the tree swept him down with them right into the laughing brook. You see, while Sammy had been speaking his mind, Patty the Beaver had cut down the very tree in which he was sitting. Sammy wasn't hurt, but he was wet and muddy and terribly frightened. The most miserable-looking Jay that ever was seen. It was too much for all the little people who were hiding. They just had to laugh. Then they all came out to pay their respects to Patty the Beaver. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Patty the Beaver kept right on working just as if he hadn't any visitors. You see, it is a big undertaking to build a dam, and when that was done there was a house to build and a supply of food for the winter to cut and store. Oh, Patty the Beaver had no time for idle gossip, you may be sure, so he kept right on building his dam. It didn't look much like a dam at first, and some of Patty's visitors turned up their noses when they first saw it. They had heard stories of what a wonderful dam builder Patty was, and they had expected to see something like the smooth grass-covered bank with which Farmer Brown kept the big river from running back on his lowlands. Instead, all they saw was a great pile of poles and sticks, which looked like anything but a dam. Poo, exclaimed Billy Mink. I guess we needn't worry about the laughing brook and the smiling pool if that is the best Patty can do. Why the water of the laughing brook will work through that in no time. Of course Patty heard him, but he said nothing, just kept right on working. Just look at the way he has laid those sticks. Continued Billy Mink. Seems as if anyone would know enough to lay them across the laughing brook instead of just the other way. I could build a better dam than that. Patty said nothing. He just kept right on working. Yes, sir. Billy boasted. I could build a better dam than that. Why that pile of sticks will never stop the water? Is something the matter with your eyesight, Billy Mink? Enquired Jerry Muscret. Of course not. Retorted Billy indignantly. Why? Oh, nothing much. Only you don't seem to notice that already the laughing brook is over its banks above Patty's dam. Replied Jerry, who had been studying the dam with a great deal of interest. Billy looked a wee bit foolish. For sure enough there was a little pool just above the dam and it was growing bigger. Patty still kept at work saying nothing. He was digging in front of the dam now and the mud and grass he dug up he stuffed in between the ends of the sticks and patted down with his hands. He did this all along the front of the dam and on top of it too, wherever he thought it was needed. Of course this made it harder for the water to work through and a little pond above the dam began to grow faster. It wasn't a great while before it was nearly to the top of the dam which at first was very low. Then Patty brought more sticks. This was easier now because he could float them down from where he was cutting. He would put them in place on the top of the dam then hurry for more. Wherever it was needed he would put in mud. He even rolled a few stones in to help hold the mass. So the dam grew and grew and so did the pond above the dam. Of course it took a good many days to build so big a dam and a lot of hard work. Every morning the little people of the green forest and the green meadows would visit it and every morning they would find that it had grown a great deal in the night for that is when Patty likes best to work. By this time the laughing brook had stopped laughing and down in the smiling pool there was hardly water enough for the minnows to feel safe a minute. Billy Mink had stopped making fun of the dam and all the little people who lived in the laughing brook and the smiling pool were terribly worried. To be sure Patty had warned them of what he was going to do and had promised that just as soon as his pond was big enough the water would once more run in the laughing brook. They tried to believe him but they couldn't help having just a wee bit of fear that he might not be wholly honest. You see, they didn't know him for he was a stranger. Jerry Musgrat was the only one who seemed absolutely sure that everything would be all right. Perhaps that was because Patty is his cousin and Jerry couldn't help but feel proud of such a big cousin and one who was so smart. So day by day the dam grew and the pond grew and then one morning grandfather Frog, down in what had once been the smiling pool, heard a sound that made his heart jump for joy. It was a murmur that kept growing and growing until at last it was the merry laugh of the laughing brook. Then he knew that Patty had kept his word and the water would once more fill the smiling pool. End of Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Farmer Brown's Boy Grows Curious Now it happened that the very day before Patty the beaver decided that his pond was big enough and so allowed the water to run in the laughing brook once more, Farmer Brown's Boy took it into his head to go fishing in the smiling pool. As usual he went whistling down across the green meadows. Somehow when he goes fishing he always feels like whistling. Grandfather Frog heard him coming and dived into the little bit of water remaining in the smiling pool and stirred up the mud at the bottom so that Farmer Brown's Boy shouldn't see him. Nearer and nearer drew the whistle. Suddenly it stopped right short off. Farmer Brown's Boy had come in sight of the smiling pool or rather it was what used to be the smiling pool. Now there wasn't any smiling pool for the very little pool left was too small and sickly looking to smile. There were great banks of mud out of which grew the bowl rushes. The lily pads were forlornly stretched out towards the tiny pool of water remaining. Where the banks were steep and high the holes that Jerry Musgrat and Billy Mink knew so well were plain to see. Over at one side stood Jerry Musgrat's house wholly out of water. Somehow it seemed to Farmer Brown's Boy that he must be dreaming. He never, never had seen anything like this before not even in the very driest weather of the hottest part of the summer. He looked this way and looked that way. The green meadows looked just as usual. The green forest looked just as usual. The laughing brook. Ha! What was the matter with the laughing brook? He couldn't hear it and that, you know, was very unusual. He dropped his rod and ran over to the laughing brook. There wasn't any brook. No, sir, there wasn't any brook. Just pools of water with the tiniest of streams trickling between. Big stones over which he had always seen the water running in the prettiest of little white falls were bare and dry, and the little pools, frightened minnows, were darting about. Farmer Brown's Boy scratched his head in a puzzled way. I don't understand it, said he. I don't understand it at all. Something must have gone wrong with the springs that supply the water for the laughing brook. They must have failed. Yes, sir, that is just what must have happened. But I never heard of such a thing happening before and I really don't see how it could happen. He stared up into the green forest just as if he thought he could see those springs. Of course, he didn't think anything of the kind. He was just turning it all over in his mind. I know what I'll do. I'll go up to those springs this afternoon and find out what the trouble is, he said out loud. They are way over almost on the other side of the green forest, and the easiest way to get there is to start from home and cut across the old pasture up to the edge of the mountain behind the green forest. If I try to follow up the laughing brook now, it will take too long because it winds and twists so. Besides, it is too hard work. With that Farmer Brown's Boy went back and picked up his rod. Then he started for home across the green meadows and for once he wasn't whistling. You see, he was too busy thinking. In fact, he was so busy thinking that he didn't see Jimmy Skunk until he almost stepped on him and then he gave a frightened jump and ran for without a gun he was just as much afraid of Jimmy as Jimmy was of him when he did have a gun. Jimmy just grinned and went on about his business. It always tickles Jimmy to see people run away from him, especially people so much bigger than himself. He looked so silly. They should think that they would have learned by this time that if they don't bother me, I won't bother them. He muttered as he rolled over a stone to look for fat beetles. Somehow folks never seemed to understand me. End of Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Farmer Brown's Boy gets another surprise. Across the old pasture to the foot of the mountain back of the green forest tramped Farmer Brown's boy. Ahead of him trotted Bowser the Hound, sniffing and snuffing for the tracks of Reddy or Granny Fox. Of course he didn't find them for Reddy and Granny hadn't been up in the old pasture for a long time. But he did find old Jed Thumper the big gray rabbit who had made things so uncomfortable for Peter Rabbit once upon a time and gave him such a fright that old Jed didn't even look where he was going and almost ran head first into Farmer Brown's Boy. Hi there, you old cotton-tail! yelled Farmer Brown's Boy and this frightened old Jed still more so that he actually ran right past his own castle of bullbriars without seeing it. 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 he had seen before. 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 supposed that, of course the reason was that the springs where the laughing brooks 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 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 he thought 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 a 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. He said, talking out loud No, sir. I don't know what it means at all. 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 a pond. 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 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 trapped 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 and so he kept on trapping until presently he came to a dam. This 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. This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by John Leder The Adventures of Patty Beaver by Thornton W. Burgess Chapter 8 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 teeth 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 brush pile and every hair on Peter stood on end with fright. Sniff, sniff! 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 it was 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 to 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 pack 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 overhead into the water. Oh poor Peter Rabbit! He gave himself up for loss 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 Musgrad or Billy Mink. All he could do was 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 fella, to try to catch Peter now. Not 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. Lippity, lippity, lipp. 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. I guess Farmer Brown's boy isn't so bad after all. End of chapter 8 Chapter 9 Patty Plans a House Patty 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 Patty the beaver. But Patty 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. Patty 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, Patty 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 Patty 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 Patty would have to be always on the watch. But watch the use of worrying over troubles that haven't come yet and may never come. Time enough to worry when they do come. Said Patty to himself which shows that Patty had 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 Southwind comes to prepare the way for lovely Mr. Spring. My, my, I can't afford to be sitting here dreaming when there is such a lot to be done. With that Patty 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 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 Patty 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 foundation strong and the walls thick. I must have plenty of mud to plaster with, and inside, up above the water I must have the snugest to 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 Patty 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. End of Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Patty starts his house Jerry Muscratt was very much interested when he found that Patty 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 Patty could build as good a house as he could. His house was down in the smiling pool, and Jerry thought it a very good deed, and was very proud of it. It was built of mud and sod, and little alder and willow twigs and bowl-rushes. 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 Patty. Perhaps he hoped that Patty would ask his advice. But Patty 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 afford 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 Patty work. The first thing to build was the foundation. This was of mud and grass, with sticks worked into it to hold it together. Patty dug the mud and, because the pond was new, there was a great deal of grassy sod there which was just what Patty 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 Patty. That'll 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 you see he had forgotten how much bigger Patty is. Each night Jerry and Patty worked, resting during the daytime. Occasionally Bobby Coon or Reddy Fox or Uncle 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, Patty and Jerry were working under water. But at last Peter was 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 Patty 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 Patty'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. Patty would dive down to the bottom and then come up with a 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 mud. And so the mud pile grew and grew until it was quite two feet high. Now, said Patty, I'll build the walls and I guess you can't help me much with those. I'm going to begin them to-morrow night. Perhaps you would like to see me do it, Cousin Jerry. I certainly will," replied Jerry, still puzzling over that pile of mud in the middle. End of chapter 10 Chapter 11 Peter Rabbit and Jerry Musgrat are puzzled. Jerry Musgrat was more and more sure that his big cousin, Patty 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 Patty Rabbit almost every night since Patty 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 Patty 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 Patty'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? Well, 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 understand is what Patty is thinking by building that great pile of mud right up 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 Patty 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's making, Jerry? It's splendid house yourself that you ought to be able to help Patty 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 Patty advice. I don't just like to, he confessed. You know, he might not like it 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, well, I think I'll wait a while. Now all this time Patty 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. End of Chapter 11 and end of Section 3 Recording by John Leader Bloomington, Illinois Section 4 of The Adventures of Patty Beaver This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by John Leader The Adventures of Patty Beaver by Thornton W. Burgess Chapter 12 Jerry Musgrat Learned Something If you think you know it all you are writing for a fall. Use your ears and use your eyes but hold your tongue and you will be wise. Jerry Musgrat 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 Patty the Beaver was building his house. No, sir. Jerry wasn't so careful then. He thought he knew more about building a house than Patty did. He was sure of it when he watched Patty 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 Musgrat'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 Patty the Beaver was making a foolish mistake in building his house and that Jerry Musgrat who ought to know said so. So whenever they got the chance the little people of the green forest and the green meadows would steal up to the shore of Patty's new pond and chuckle as they looked out at the great pile of sticks and mud which Patty 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 Patty which they had had since he built his wonderful dam. Jerry and Peter sat in the moonlight talking it over. Patty 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 he wrinkled his brows trying to think what Patty could be doing. Presently Patty 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 Patty would come up for air in 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 Patty. Hello cousin Jerry. Said he, I was just going to invite you over to see what you think of my house inside and just follow me. Patty dived and Jerry dived after him. He followed Patty in at one of the three doorways under water and up a smooth hall right into the 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. Patty's eyes twinkled. Well, said he, I think of it. I think it is splendid just perfectly splendid. But I don't understand it at all cousin Patty. 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 Patty. But what did you build it for in this place? Jerry persisted. Because I had to have something to rest my sticks against while I was building my walls, of course, replied Patty. 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 who isn't Jerry. I'm afraid I don't," confessed Jerry sadly. End of Chapter 12 Chapter 13 The Queer Storehouse Everybody knew that Patty 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 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 Patty the Beaver cannot climb and if he should 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, Patty 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, Patty 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 Patty 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 Musgrat, 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 when he 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. Well do, and then come tell us. Begged Peter, who was growing so curious that he couldn't sit still. So Jerry swam out to where Patty was so busy. Is this your food supply, Cousin Patty? He asked. Yes. replied Patty, crawling up on the rest. Yes. This is my food supply. Isn't it splendid? I guess it is. replied Jerry, trying to be polite. Though I like lily roots and clams better. But what are you going to do with it? Where is your storehouse? The pond is my storehouse. replied Patty. I would make a great pile right here close to my house and the water will keep it nice and fresh all winter. When the pond is frozen over all I have to do is slip out one of my doorways down there on the bottom, swim over here and get a stick and fill my stomach. Isn't it handy? End of Chapter 13 Chapter 14 A Footprint in the Mud Very early one morning Patty the beaver heard Sammy Jay making a terrible fuss over in the aspen trees on the edge of the pond Patty had made in the green forest. Patty couldn't see because he was inside his house and it has no window. But he could hear. He wrinkled up his brows thoughtfully. It seems to me that Sammy is very much excited this morning, said he talking to himself a way he has because he is so much alone. But he screams like that Sammy is usually trying to do two things at once. Make trouble for somebody and keeping somebody else out of trouble. And when you come to think of it that's rather a funny way of doing. It shows that he isn't all bad and at the same time he is a long way from being all good. Now I should say from the sounds that Sammy has discovered Reddy Fox trying to steal upon someone over where my aspen trees are growing. Reddy is afraid of me, but I suspect that he knows that Peter Rabbit has been hanging around here a lot lately, watching me work, and he thinks perhaps he can catch Peter. I shall have to whisper in one of Peter's long ears and tell him to watch out. After a while he heard Sammy Jay's voice growing fainter and fainter in the green forest. Finally he couldn't hear it at all. Whoever was there and Sammy has followed just to torment them. Thought Patty. He was very busy making a bed. He is very particular about his bed, is Patty the beaver. He makes it a fine splinters of wood which he splits off with those wonderful great cutting teeth of his. This makes the driest kind of a bed. It requires a great deal of patience and work, but patience is one of the first things a little beaver learns, and honest work Well done is one of the greatest pleasures in the world, as Patty long ago found out for himself. So he kept at work on his bed for some time after all was still outside. At last Patty decided that he would go over to his aspen trees and look them over to decide which ones he would cut the next night. He slid down one of his long halls, out the doorway at the bottom of the pond, and then swam up to the surface where he floated for minutes with just his head out of water. And all the time his eyes and nose and ears were busy looking, smelling and listening for any sign of danger. Everything was still. Sure that he was quite safe Patty swam across to the place where the aspen trees grew and waddled out on the shore. Patty looked this way and looked that way. He looked up in the treetops and turned off up the hill. But most of all he looked at the ground. Yes, sir, Patty just studied the ground. You see, he hadn't forgotten the fuss Sammy Jay had been making there and he was trying to find out what it was all about. At first he didn't see anything unusual but by and by he happened to notice a little wet place and right in the middle of it was something that made Patty's eyes open wide. It was a footprint. Someone had carelessly stepped in the mud. Ha! exclaimed Patty and the hair on his back lifted ever so little and for a minute he had a prickly feeling all over. The footprint was very much like that of Ready Fox. Only it was larger. Ha! said Patty again. That certainly is the footprint of Old Man Coyote. I see I have got to watch out more sharply than I had thought. All right, Mr. Coyote. Now that I know you are about, you'll have to be smarter than I think you are to catch me. You certainly will be back here tonight looking for me so I think I'll do my cutting right now in the daytime. End of Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Sammy Jay makes Patty a call. Patty the beaver was hard at work. He had just cut down a good-sized aspen tree and now he was gnawing it into short lengths to put in his food pile in the pond. As he worked Patty was doing a lot of thinking about the footprint of Old Man Coyote in a little patch of mud. For he knew that meant that Old Man Coyote had discovered his pond and would be hanging around hoping to catch Patty off his guard. Patty knew it just as well as Old Man Coyote had told him so. That was why he was at work cutting his food supply in the daytime. Usually he works at night and he knew that Old Man Coyote knew it. He'll try to catch me then, thought Patty, so I'll do my working on land now when to fool him. The tree he was cutting began to sway and crack. Patty cut out one more big chip then hurried away to a safe place where the tree fell into the bush. Screamed a voice just back of Patty. Hello, Sammy Jay. I see you don't feel any better than usual this morning. Said Patty. Don't you want to sit up in this tree while I cut it down? Sammy grew black in the face with anger for he knew that Patty was laughing at him. You remember how only a few days before he had been so intent on calling Patty bad names that he actually hadn't noticed the very tree in which he was sitting? And so when it fell he had had a terrible fright. You think you're very smart, Mr. Beaver, but you'll think differently one of these fine days. Screamed Sammy. If you know what I know, you wouldn't be so well satisfied with yourself. What do you know? Asked Patty, pretending to be very much alarmed. I'm not going to tell you what I know. Retorted Sammy Jay. And when you do find out you'll never steal another tree from our green forest. Somebody's going to catch you and it isn't Farmer Brown's boy either. Patty pretended to be terribly frightened. Oh, who is it? Please tell me, Mr. Jay. He begged. Now, to be called Mr. Jay made Sammy feel very important. Nearly everybody else called him Sammy. He swelled himself out trying to look as important as he felt and his eyes snapped with pleasure. He was actually making Patty the beaver afraid. At least he thought he was. No, sir, I won't tell you. He replied. I wouldn't be you for a great deal, though. Somebody who is smarter than you are is going to catch you and when he gets through with you there won't be anything left but a few bones. No, sir, nothing but a few bones. Oh, Mr. Jay, this is terrible news. Whatever am I to do? cried Patty all the time, keeping right on at work, cutting another tree. There's nothing you can do. replied Sammy, grinning wickedly at Patty's fright. There's nothing you can do unless you go right straight back to the north where you came from. You think you're very smart, but... Sammy didn't finish. Crack! Overfell the tree Patty had been cutting and the top of it fell straight into the alder in which Sammy was sitting. Oh, oh, oh, help! shrieked Sammy, spreading his wings and flying away just in time. Patty sat down and laughed until his sides ached. You come make me another call some day, Sammy. He said, and when you do, please bring me some real news. I know all about old man Coyote. You can tell him for me that when he is planning to catch people he should be careful not to leave footprints to give himself away. Sammy didn't reply. He just sneaked off through the green forest looking quite as foolish as he felt. End of Chapter 15 and end of Section 4 Recording by John Leader Bloomington, Illinois Section 5 of The Adventures of Patty Beaver This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by John Leader The Adventures of Patty Beaver by Thornton W. Burgess Chapter 16 Old Man Coyote is Very Crafty Coyote has a crafty brain. His wits are sharp. His ends to gain. There is nothing in the world more true than that. Old Man Coyote has the craftiest brain of all the little people of the green forest or the green meadows. Sharpest are the wits of Old Granny Fox. They are not quite as sharp as the wits of Old Man Coyote. If you want to fool him you will have to get up very early in the morning and then it is more than likely that you will be the one fooled, not he. There is very little going on around him that he doesn't know about. But once in a while something escapes him. The coming of Patty the beaver to the green forest was one of these things. He didn't know a thing about Patty until Patty had finished his dam in his house and was cutting his supply of food for the winter. You see it was this way. When the merry little breezes of Old Mother Westwind first heard what was going on in the green forest and hurried around over the green meadows and flew the green forest to spread the news, as is their way, they took the greatest pains not to even hint it to Old Man Coyote because they were afraid that he would make trouble and perhaps drive Patty away. The place that Patty had chosen to build his dam was so deep in the green forest that Old Man Coyote seldom went that way. So it was that he knew nothing about Patty and Patty knew nothing about him for some time. But after a while Old Man Coyote noticed that the little people of the green meadows were not about as much as usual. They seemed to have a secret of some kind. He mentioned the matter to his friend Digger the Badger. Digger had been so intent on his own affairs that he hadn't noticed anything unusual. But when Old Man Coyote mentioned the matter he remembered that Blackie the Crow headed straight for the green forest every morning. Several times he had seen Sammy Jay flying in the same direction as if in a great hurry to get somewhere. Old Man Coyote grinned. That's all I need to know, friend Digger. Said he, when Blackie the Crow and Sammy Jay visit a place more than once something interesting is going on there. I think I'll take a stroll up through the green forest and have a look around. With that Old Man Coyote started. But he was too sly and crafty to go straight to the green forest. He pretended to hunt around over the green meadows just as he usually did. All the time working nearer and nearer to the green forest. When he reached the edge of it he slipped in among the trees and when he felt sure that no one was likely to see him he began to run this way and that way with his nose to the ground. Ah! he exclaimed presently. Ready Fox has been this way lately. Pretty soon he found another trail. So, said he, Peter Rabbit has been over here a good deal of late and his trail goes in the same direction as that of Ready Fox. I guess all I have to do now is to follow Peter's trail and it will lead me to what I want to find out. So Old Man Coyote followed Peter's trail and he presently came to the pond of Paddy the beaver. Ah! said he as he looked out and saw Paddy's new house and so there is a new comer to the green forest. I have always heard that beaver is very good eating. My stomach begins to feel empty this very minute. His mouth began to water and a fierce hungry look shown in his yellow eyes. It was just then that Sammy J. saw him and began to scream at the top of his lungs so that Paddy the beaver over in his house heard him. Old Man Coyote knew that it was of no use to stay longer with Sammy J. about so he took a hasty look at the pond and found where Paddy came ashore to cut his food. Then, shaking his fist at Sammy J. he started straight back for the green meadows. I'll just pay a visit here in the night. Old Man Coyote said he and give Mr. Beaver a surprise while he is at work. But with all his craft Old Man Coyote didn't notice that he had left a footprint in the mud. CHAPTER XVII Old Man Coyote is disappointed. Old Man Coyote lay stretched out in his favorite napping place on the green meadows. He was thinking of what he had found out up in the green forest that morning that Paddy the beaver was living there. Old Man Coyote's thoughts seemed very pleasant to himself though really they were very dreadful thoughts. You see, he was thinking how easy it was going to be to catch Paddy the beaver and what a splendid meal he would make. He licked his chops at the thought. He doesn't know. I know he's here. Thought Old Man Coyote. In fact, I don't believe he even knows that I am anywhere around. Of course, he won't be watching for me. He cuts his trees at night so all I have to do is to hide right close by where he is at work and he'll walk right into my mouth. Sammy Jay knows I was up there this morning but Sammy sleeps at night so he will not give the alarm. My, my, how good that beaver will taste! He licked his chops once more then yawned and closed his eyes for a nap. Old Man Coyote waited until jolly round red Mr. Sun had gone to bed behind the purple hills and the black shadows had crept out across the green meadows. Then, keeping in the blackest of them and looking very much like a shadow himself, he slipped into the green forest. It was dark there and he made straight for Patty's new pond trotting along swiftly without making a sound. When he was near the aspen trees which he knew Patty was planning to cut, he crept forward very slowly and carefully. Everything was still as still could be. Good! Thought Old Man Coyote. I am here first and now all I need do is to hide and wait for Patty to come ashore. So he stretched himself flat behind some brush close beside the little path Patty had made up from the edge of the water and waited. It was very still, so still that it seemed almost as if he could hear his heartbeat. He could see the little stars twinkling in the sky and their own reflections twinkling back at them from the water of Patty's pond. Old Man Coyote waited and waited. He is very patient when there is something to gain by it. For such a splendid dinner as Patty the beaver would make he felt that he could well afford to be patient. So he waited and waited and everything was as still as if no living thing but the trees were there. Even the trees seemed to be asleep. At last, after a long, long time he heard just the faintest splash. He pricked up his ears and peeped out on the pond with the hungriest look in his yellow eyes. There was a little line of silver coming straight towards him. He knew that it was made by Patty the beaver swimming. Nearer and nearer it drew. Old Man Coyote chuckled way down deep inside without making a sound. He could see Patty's head now and Patty was coming straight in as if he hadn't a fear in the world. Almost to the edge of the pond swam Patty. Then he stopped. In a few minutes he began to swim again but this time it was back in the direction of his house and he seemed to be carrying something. It was one of the little food logs he had cut that day and he was taking it out to his storehouse. Then he came back for another and so he kept on, never once coming ashore. Old Man Coyote waited until Patty had carried the last log to his storehouse and then, with a loud whack on the water with his broad tail, had dived and disappeared in his house. Then Old Man Coyote arose and started elsewhere to look for his dinner and in his heart was bitter disappointment. End of Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Old Man Coyote Tries Another Plan For three nights Old Man Coyote had stolen up through the green forest with the coming of the black shadows and a hidden among the aspen trees where Patty the beaver cuts his food and for three nights Patty had failed to come ashore. Each night he had seemed to have enough food logs in the water to keep him busy without cutting more. Old Man Coyote lay there and the hungry look in his eyes changed to one of doubt and then to suspicion. Could it be that Patty the beaver was smarter than he thought? It began to look very much as if Patty knew perfectly well that he was hiding there each night. Yes, sir, that's the way it looked. For three nights Patty hadn't cut a single tree yet each night he had plenty of food logs ready to take to his storehouse and the pond. That means he comes ashore on the daytime and cuts his trees. Thought Old Man Coyote as tired and with black anger in his heart he trotted home the third night. He couldn't have found out about me himself. He isn't smart enough. It must be that someone 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 Patty by daylight tomorrow 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 Patty's pond he had left behind him a footprint and a little patch of soft mud. If he had known it he wouldn't have believed that Patty would be smart enough to guess what that footprint meant. Old Man Coyote laid all the blame at the door of Sammy Jay and that very morning when Sammy came flying over the green meadows Old Man Coyote accused him of being a tattletale and threatened the most dreadful things to Sammy if ever he caught him. Now Sammy had flown down to the green meadows to tell Old Man Coyote how Patty was doing all his work on land in the daytime but when Old Man Coyote began to call him a tattletale and accused him of having warned Patty and to threaten dreadful things he straightway forgot all his anger at Patty and turned it all on Old Man Coyote. He called him everything he could think of and this was a great deal for Sammy has a wicked tongue. 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 him. Then, very, very softly, he crept up through the green forest towards the pond of Patty the beaver. As he drew near he heard a crash and it made him smile. He knew what that meant. It meant that Patty was at work cutting down trees. With his stomach almost on the ground 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 Patty sitting up on his hind legs and hard at work cutting another tree. Old Man Coyote laid down for a few minutes to watch. Then he wriggled a little nearer. Slowly and carefully he drew his legs under him and made ready for a rush. Patty the beaver was his at last. At just that very minute a harsh scream rang out right over his head. It was Sammy Jay who had silently followed him all the way. Patty the beaver didn't stop to even look around. He knew what that scream meant and he scrambled down his little path to the water as he never had scrambled before. And as he dived with a great splash Old Man Coyote landed with a great jump on the very edge of the pond. The Adventures of Patty Beaver by Thornton W. Burgess Chapter 19 Patty and Sammy Become Friends Patty the beaver floated in his pond and grinned in the most provoking way at Old Man Coyote who had so nearly caught him. Old Man Coyote fairly danced with anger on the bank. He had felt so sure of Patty that time that it was hard work to believe that Patty had really gotten away from him. He bared his long, cruel teeth and he looked very fierce and ugly. Come on in! The water's fine! called Patty. Now, of course this wasn't a nice thing for Patty to do, for it only made Old Man Coyote all the angrier. You see, Patty knew perfectly well that he was absolutely safe and he just couldn't resist the temptation to say some unkind things. 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 make for winter. So he told Old Man Coyote just what he thought of him and that he wasn't as smart as he thought he was or he never would have left a footprint in the mud to give him away. When Sammy Jay, who was listening and chuckling as he listened, heard that, he flew down where 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 some people say that Sammy's tongue is hung in the middle and wags 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 Patty that you were trying to catch him and that was why you failed to find him at work at night and all the time you had warned him yourself. Scream Sammy. I used to think you were smart, but I know better now. Patty 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 not of the kind. Mr. Coyote is stupid and blind. He can't catch a flea on his ear. Patty the beaver laughed till the tears came at Sammy's foolish verse but it made Old Man Coyote angrier than ever. He was angry with Patty for escaping from him and he was angry with Sammy terribly angry 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 saw it was of no use to stay there to be laughed at so muttering and grumbling he started for the green meadows. As soon as he was out of sight Patty turned to Sammy Jay. Mr. Jay said he knowing how it pleased Sammy to be called Mr. Mr. Jay you have done me a mighty good turn today and I am not going to forget it. You can call me what you please and scream at me all you please but you won't get any satisfaction out of it because I simply won't get angry. I will say to myself Mr. Jay saved my life the other day and then I won't mind your tongue. Now this made Sammy feel very proud and very happy. You know it is very seldom that he hears anything nice said of him. He flew down on the stump of one of the trees Patty had cut. Let's be friends said he with all my heart replied Patty. End of chapter 19 Chapter 20 Sammy Jay offers to help Patty. Patty sat looking thoughtfully at the aspen trees he would have to cut to complete his store of food for the winter all those near the edge of his pond had been cut the others were scattered about some little distance away. I don't know said Patty out loud. I don't know. What don't you know asked Sammy Jay who now that he and Patty had become friends was very much interested in what Patty was doing. Why replied Patty, I don't know just how I am going to get those trees now that old man Coyote is watching for me it isn't safe for me to go very far from my pond. I suppose I could dig a canal up to some of the nearest trees and then float them down to the pond but it is hard to work and keep sharp warts for enemies at the same time. I guess I'll have to be content with some of these alders growing close to the water but the bark of aspens is so much better than I I wish I could get them. What's a canal? asked Sammy abruptly. A canal? Why, a canal is a kind of ditch in which water can run, replied Patty. Sammy nodded. I've seen far my brown dig one over on the green meadows but it looked like a great deal of work. I didn't suppose that anyone else could do it do you really mean that you can dig a canal Patty? Of course I mean it replied Patty in a surprised tone of voice I have helped in lots of canals you ought to see some of them back where I came from I'd like to replied Sammy I think it is perfectly wonderful I don't see how you do it It's easy enough when you know how replied Patty if I dare to I'd show you Sammy had a sudden idea it almost made him gasp I tell you what you work and I'll keep watch he cried you know my eyes are very sharp Will you? cried Patty eagerly that would be perfectly splendid you have the sharpest eyes of anyone whom I know and I would feel perfectly safe with you on watch but I don't want to put you to all that trouble Mr. J Of course I will replied Sammy and it won't be any trouble at all I'll just love to do it you see it made Sammy feel very proud to have Patty say that he had such sharp eyes When will you begin? Right away if you will just take a look around and see that it is perfectly safe for me to come out on land Sammy didn't wait to hear more he spread his beautiful blue wings and started off over the green forest straight for the green meadows Patty watched him go with a puzzled and disappointed air That's funny, thought he I thought he really meant it and now off he goes without even saying goodbye In a little while back came Sammy all out of breath It's all right he patted You can go to work just as soon as you please Patty looked more puzzled than ever How do you know? he asked I haven't seen you looking around I did better than that replied Sammy If old man Coyote had been hiding somewhere on the green forest it might have taken me some time to find him but he isn't you see I flew straight over to his home in the green meadows to see if he is there and he is he is taking a sunbath and looking as cross as two sticks I don't think he'll be back here this morning but I'll keep a sharp watch while you work Patty made Sammy a low bow You certainly are smart Mr. J said he I wouldn't have thought of going over to old man Coyote's home to see if he was there I feel perfectly safe with you on guard Now I'll get to work End of Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Patty and Sammy J work together Jerry Musgrat had been home at the smiling pool for several days but he couldn't stay there long oh my no he just had to get back to see what his big cousin Patty the beaver was doing so as soon as he was sure that everything was all right at the smiling pool he hurried back up the Laughing Brook to Patty's pond deep in the green forest as soon as he was inside of it he looked eagerly for Patty at first he didn't see him then he stopped and gazed over at the place where Patty had been cutting aspen trees for food something was going on there something queer he couldn't make it out just then Sammy J came flying over What's Patty doing? Jerry asked Sammy J dropped down to the top of an alder tree and fluffed out all his feathers in a very important way oh said he Patty and I are building something You, Patty and you Patty and you building something Jerry laughed Yes me snapped Sammy angrily That's what I said Patty and I are building something Jerry had begun to swim across the pond by this time and Sammy was flying across Why don't you tell the truth Sammy say that Patty is building something and you are making him all the trouble you can called Jerry Sammy's eyes snapped angrily and he darted down at Jerry's little brown head It is true he shrieked You ask Patty if I'm not helping Jerry ducked underwater to escape Sammy's sharp bill when he came up again Sammy was over in the little grove of aspen trees where Patty was at work then Jerry discovered something what was it why a little water path led right up to the aspen trees and there at the end of the little water path was Patty the beaver hard at work he was digging and piling the earth on one side very neatly in fact he was making the water path longer Jerry swam right up the little water path to where Patty was working Good morning cousin Patty said he What are you doing Oh replied Patty Sammy Jay and I are building a canal Sammy Jay looked down at Jerry in triumph and Jerry looked at Patty as if he thought that he was joking Sammy Jay What Sammy Jay got to do about it? demanded Jerry A whole lot replied Patty You see he keeps watch while I work if he didn't I couldn't work and there wouldn't be any canal Old man Coyote has been trying to catch me and I wouldn't dare work on shore if it wasn't that I am sure that the sharpest eyes in the green forest are watching for danger Sammy Jay looked very much pleased indeed and very proud so you see it takes both of us to make this canal I dig while Sammy watches so we are building it together concluded Patty 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 Airely What do you think of our canal? I think it is wonderful replied Jerry and indeed it was a very fine canal straight, wide and deep enough for Patty to swim in and float his logs out to the pond Yes indeed, it was a very fine canal End of Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Patty finishes his harvest Sharp his tongue and sharp his eyes Sammy guards against surprise If it were not for Sammy Jay I could do no work today When Sammy Jay overheard Patty the beaver say that to Jerry Musgrat 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 straight way forgot all the mean things he had said to Patty when he first saw him how he had called him a thief because he had cut the aspen trees he needed He forgot all about this He forgot how Patty had made him the laughing stock 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 Patty 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 Patty could say and he thought that Patty was the finest fellow in the world Jerry Musgrat 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 Patty worked away just as if he hadn't a fear in the world The way you make people want to be trusted is to trust them said he to himself If I show Sammy Jay that I don't really trust him he will think it is of no use to try and will give up But if I do trust him and he knows that I do he'll be the best watchman in the green forest and this shows that Patty the beaver has a great deal of wisdom for it was just as he thought Sammy was on hand bright and early every morning He made sure that old man Coyote was nowhere in the green forest and then he settled himself comfortably in the top of a tall pine tree where he could see all that was going on while Patty the beaver worked Patty had finished his canal and a beautiful canal it was leading straight from his pond up to the Aspen trees As soon as he had finished it he began to cut the trees As soon as one was down he would cut it into short lengths and roll them into the canal then he would float them out to his pond and over to his storehouse He took the larger branches on which there was sweet tender bark in the same way for Patty is never wasteful After a while he went over to his storehouse which you know was nothing but a great pile of Aspen logs and branches in his pond close by his house He studied it very carefully then he swam back and climbed up on the bank of his canal Mr. J. said he I think our work is about finished What? cried Sammy Aren't you going to cut the rest of those Aspen trees? No, replied Patty Enough is always enough and I've got enough to last me all winter I want those trees for next year Now I am fixed for the winter I think I'll take it easy for a while Sammy looked disappointed You see he had just begun to learn that the greatest pleasure in the world comes from doing things for other people For the first time since he could remember someone wanted him around and it gave him such a good feeling down deep inside End of chapter 22 and end of section 6 and end of The Adventures of Patty Beaver Recording by John Leader Bloomington, Illinois