n the middle of it he heard the hunting-call
of Hooty the Owl. Then he looked out over the Green Meadows, and from
way over on the far side of them sounded the bark of Reddy Fox, and it
was answered by the deep voice of Bowser the Hound up in Farmer Brown's
dooryard. For some reason that last sound made Paddy the Beaver shiver
a little, just as the voice of Hooty the Owl made the smaller people of
the Green Forest and the Green Meadows shiver when they heard it. Paddy
wasn't afraid of Hooty or of Reddy Fox, but Bowser's great voice was new
to him, and somehow the very sound of it made him afraid. You see, the
Green Meadows were so strange and open that he didn't feel at all at
home, for he dearly loves the deepest part of the Green Forest.

"No," said Paddy the Beaver, "I can't possibly live here in the Smiling
Pool. It is a very nice pool, but it wouldn't do at all for me, Cousin
Jerry. I wouldn't feel safe here a minute. Besides, there is nothing to
eat here."

"Oh, yes, there is," Jerry Muskrat interrupted. "There are lily-roots
and the nicest fresh-water clams and--"

"But there are no trees," said Paddy the Beaver, "and you know I have to
have trees."

Jerry stared at Paddy as if he didn't understand. "Do--do you eat
trees?" he asked finally.

Paddy laughed. "Just the bark," said he, "and I have to have a great
deal of it."

Jerry looked as disappointed as he felt. "Of course you can't stay
then," said he, "and--and I had thought that we would have such good
times together."

Paddy's eyes twinkled. "Perhaps we may yet," said he. "You see I have
about made up my mind that I will stay a while along the Laughing Brook
in the Green Forest, and you can come to see me there. On our way down I
saw a very nice hole in the bank that I think will make me a good house
for the present, and you can come up there to see me. But if I do stay,
you and Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle must keep my secret. No
one must know that I am there. Will you?"

"Of course we will!" cried Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather Frog and Spotty
the Turtle together.

"Then I'll stay," said Paddy the Beaver, diving into the Smiling Pool
with a great splash.

And so one of Jerry Muskrat's greatest adventures ended in the finding
of his biggest cousin, Paddy the Beaver. Now Jerry has a lot of cousins,
and one of them lives on the Green Meadows not far from the Smiling
Pool. His name is Danny Meadow Mouse, and Danny is forever having
adven