mud pile in the middle couldn't be seen. It was completely
covered with sticks, and they were cunningly fastened together at
the tops.



CHAPTER XII Jerry Muskrat Learns Something

If you think you know it all
You are riding for a fall.
Use your ears and use your eyes,
But hold your tongue and you'll be wise.

Jerry Muskrat 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, Paddy the Beaver, was building his
house. No, Sir, Jerry wasn't so careful then. He though he knew
more about building a house than Paddy did. He was sure of it
when he watched Paddy 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 Muskrat'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