Now you will understand why
I called Paddy an engineer. What do you do with your logs and
branches, Paddy?"
"Put them in my food-pile, out there where the water is deep near
my house," replied Paddy promptly. "The bark I eat, and the bare
sticks I use to keep my house and dam in repair. In the late fall
I cut enough trees to keep me in food all winter. When my pond is
covered with ice I have nothing to worry about; my food supply
is below the ice. When I am hungry I swim out under the ice, get
a stick, take it back into my house and eat the bark. Then I take
the bare stick outside to use when needed on my dam or house."
"How did you come to make this fine pond? " asked Old Mother Nature.
"Oh, I just happened to come exploring up the Laughing Brook and
found there was plenty of food here and a good place for a pond,"
replied Paddy. "I thought I would like to live here. Down where
my dam is, the Laughing Brook was shallow--just the place for
a dam."
"Tell us why you wanted a pond and how you built that dam,"
commanded Old Mother Nature.
"Why, I had to have a pond, if I was to stay here," replied Paddy,
as if every one must understand that. "The Laughing Brook wasn't
deep or big enough for me to live here safely. If it had been, I
would have made my home in the bank and not bothered with a house
or dam.
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