try to catch me then," thought Paddy, "so I'll do my working on
land now and fool him."

The tree he was cutting began to sway and crack. Paddy cut out one
more big chip, then hurried away to a safe place while the tree fell
with a crash.

"Thief! thief! thief!" screamed a voice just back of Paddy.

"Hello, Sammy Jay! I see you don't feel any better than usual this
morning," said Paddy. "Don't you want to sit up in this tree while I
cut it down?"

Sammy grew black in the face with anger, for he knew that Paddy was
laughing at him. You remember how only a few days before he had been so
intent on calling Paddy bad names that he actually hadn't noticed that
Paddy was cutting the very tree in which he was sitting, and so when it
fell he had had a terrible fright.

"You think you are very smart, Mr. Beaver, but you'll think differently
one of these fine days!" screamed Sammy. "If you knew what I know, you
wouldn't be so well satisfied with yourself."

"What do you know?" asked Paddy, pretending to be very much alarmed.

"I'm not going to tell you what I know," retorted Sammy Jay. "You'll
find out soon enough. And when you do find out, you'll never steal
another tree from our Green Forest. Somebody is going to catch you,
and it isn't Farmer Brown's boy either!"

Paddy pretended to be terribly frightened. "Oh, who is it? Please tell
me, Mr. Jay," he begged.

Now to be called Mr. Jay made Sammy feel very important. Nearly
everybody else called him Sammy. He swelled himself out trying to look
as important as he felt, and his eyes snapped with pleasure. He was
actually making Paddy the Beaver afraid. At least he thought he was.

"No, Sir, I won't tell you," he replied. "I wouldn't be you for a great
deal though! Somebody who is smarter than you are is going to catch you,
and when he gets through with you, there won't be anything left but a
few bones. No, Sir, nothing but a few bones!"

"Oh, Mr. Jay, this is terrible news! Whatever am I to do?" cried Paddy,
all the time keeping right on at work cutting another tree.

"There's nothing you can do," replied Sammy, grinning wickedly at
Paddy's fright. "There's nothing you can do unless you go right straight
back to the North where you came from. You think you are very smart
but--"

Sammy didn't finish. Crack! Over fell the tree Paddy had been cutting
and the top of it fell straight into the alder in which Sammy was
sitting. "Oh! Oh! Help!" shrieked Sammy, spreading his