"I don't know," said Jerry Muskrat sadly. "I don't see what we can
do about it. Of course you are big and strong and can do just as you
please, but it doesn't seem right that we who have lived here so
long should have to move and go away from all that we love so just
because you, a stranger, happen to want to live here. I tell you
what!" Jerry's eyes sparkled as a brand new thought came to him.
"Couldn't you come down and live in the Smiling Pool with us?
I'm sure there is room enough!"

Paddy the Beaver shook his head. "No," said he, and Jerry's heart sank.
"No, I can't do that because down there there isn't any of the
kind of food I eat. Besides, I wouldn't feel at all safe in the
Smiling Pool. You see, I always live in the woods. No, I couldn't
possibly come down to live in the Smiling Pool. But I'm truly sorry
that I have made you so much worry, Cousin Jerry, and I'm going to
prove it to you. Now you sit right here until I come back."

Before Jerry realized what he was going to do, Paddy the Beaver
dived into the pond, and as he disappeared, his broad tail hit the
water such a slap that it made Jerry jump. Then there began a great
disturbance down under water. In a few minutes up bobbed a stick,
and then another and another, and the water grew so muddy that Jerry
couldn't see what was going on. Paddy was gone a long time. Jerry
wondered how he could stay under water so long without air. All the
time Paddy was just fooling him. He would come up to the surface,
stick his nose out, nothing more, fill his lungs with fresh air, and
go down again.

Suddenly Jerry Muskrat heard a sound that made him prick up his