in a loud voice, just as if he were talking to
nobody in particular. Everything was still. There wasn't so much as a
rustle after Paddy spoke. He chuckled again. He could just _feel_ ever
so many eyes watching him, though he didn't see a single pair. And he
knew that the reason his visitors were hiding so carefully was because
they were afraid of him. You see, Paddy was much bigger than most of the
little meadow and forest people, and they didn't know what kind of a
temper he might have. It is always safest to be very distrustful of
strangers. That is one of the very first things taught all little meadow
and forest children.

Of course, Paddy knew all about this. He had been brought up that way.
"Be sure, and then you'll never be sorry" had been one of his mother's
favorite sayings, and he had always remembered it. Indeed, it had saved
him a great deal of trouble. So now he was perfectly willing to go right
on working and let his hidden visitors watch him until they were sure
that he meant them no harm. You see, he himself felt quite sure that
none of them was big enough to do him any harm. Little Joe Otter was
the only one he had any doubts about, and he felt quite sure that Little
Joe wouldn't try to pick a quarrel. So he kept right on cutting trees,
trimming off the branches, and hauling the trunks down to the dam he
was building. Some of them he floated down the Laughing Brook. This
was easier.

Now when the little people of the Smiling Pool, who were the first to
find out that Paddy the Beaver had come to the Green Forest, had started
up the Laughing Brook to see what he was doing, they had told the Merry
Little Breezes where they were going. The Merry Little Breezes had been
greatly excited. They couldn't understand how a stranger could have been
living in the Green Forest without their knowledge. You see, they quite
forgot that they very seldom wandered to the deepest part of the Green
Forest. Of course they started at once as fast as they could go to tell
all the other little people who live on or around the Green Meadows, all
but Old Man Coyote. For some reason they thought it best not to tell
him. They were a little doubtful about Old Man Coyote. He was so big and
strong and so sly and smart that all his neighbors were afraid of him.
Perhaps the Merry Little Breezes had this fact in mind, and knew that
none would dare go to call on the stranger if they knew that Old Man
Coyote was going too. Anyway, they sim