So said Jerry Muskrat, as he settled himself comfortably on one end
of the new dam across the Laughing Brook deep in the Green Forest
and watched the dark shadows creep farther and farther out into the
strange pond made by the new dam.

"I'm going to find out who it is that built this dam, and who it is
that filled the hole I made in it! I'm going to find out if I have
to move up here and live all summer!" The way in which Jerry said
this and snapped his teeth together showed that he meant just what
he said.

You see Jerry had spent another long, weary day opening the hole
in the dam once more, only to have it closed again while he slept.
That had been enough for Jerry. He hadn't tried again. Instead he
had made up his mind that he would find out who was playing such a
trick on him. He would just watch until they came, and then if they
were not bigger than he, or there were not too many of them, he
would -- well, the way Jerry gritted and clashed those sharp teeth
of his sounded as if he meant to do something pretty bad.

Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter had given up in disgust and started
for the Big River. They are great travelers, anyway, and so didn't
mind so much because there was no longer water enough in the
Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool. Grandfather Frog and Spotty the
Turtle, who are such very, very slow travelers, had decided that the
Big River was too far away, and so they would stay and live in the
strange pond for a while, though it wasn't nearly so nice as their
dear Smiling Pool. They bad gone to sleep now, each in his own
secret place where he would be safe for the night.