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