everyone he met that Paddy the Beaver was making a foolish
mistake in building his house, and that Jerry Muskrat, who ought
to know, said so.

So whenever they got the chance, the little people of the Green
Forest and Green Meadows would steal up to the shore of Paddy's
new pond and chuckle as they looked out at the great pile of
sticks and mud which Paddy 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 Paddy which
they had had since he built his wonderful dam.

Jerry and Peter sat in the moonlight talking it over. Paddy 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 Paddy's new
house. He wrinkled his brows trying to think what Paddy could be
doing. Presently Paddy 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 Paddy would come up for air and 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 Paddy.

"Hello, Cousin Jerry!" said he. "I was just going to invite you