home. Besides, Paddy 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
Paddy 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 Muskrat, 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