er became more shallow there were places in the little
brook that were hardly covered with water, and it was only in the deep
holes that the fish and crabs could swim at all.

And the cause of all this was Busy Beaver. Yes, sir. Busy Beaver was
building a dam across the Bubbling Brook.

Somehow he knew that winter was coming, when it would be all frozen
over. But he knew that if he built a dam across it, a little pond would
form where the water would be too deep to freeze clear down to the
bottom.

"I'll leave a little opening in the dam to let the water run out when it
gets high enough," said Busy Beaver to himself as he laid mud and stones
on top of a log.

If the Little People of the Sunny Meadow had only heard him they
wouldn't have been so worried. Little Jack Rabbit did, though, as he
came hopping down the Shady Forest Path.

"Good morning," said the little bunny.

Busy Beaver looked up from his work. He had almost finished a mighty
good job. First, he had cut down a tree, and then sawed it with his
sharp teeth into logs. These he had rolled into the water, weighting
them down with stones and mud until gradually he had built up a splendid
dam from the bottom of the pond.

"It's almost finished," said Busy Beaver. "It took me quite a long time,
for sometimes the logs would bob up and drift away, and I'd have to
begin all over again. But I kept at it, and now I've got a nice dam to
hold back the water."

"Why do you want deep water?" asked the little rabbit.

"Come over here and I'll show you," answered Busy Beaver, leading Little
Jack Rabbit around to the end of the dam nearest the Shady Forest.
"There, you see my house. Now the water must be deep enough so that when
it freezes my front door will always be below the ice. Otherwise I
wouldn't be able to swim in and out."

"How soon will the Bubbling Brook start running again?" asked the little
bunny.

"Pretty soon--maybe tonight," answered Busy Beaver.

"Hurrah! I'll tell my friend the little Fresh Water Crab!" and away
hopped the little rabbit to the Sunny Meadow.

GOOD NEWS

ALREADY the water was beginning to trickle over the pebbly bottom of the
Bubbling Brook.

All of a sudden a voice overhead shouted, "Good morning!" and there sat
Chatterbox, the Red Squirrel, in the Big Walnut Tree. "Why are you in
such a hurry?"

"I must tell all my friends in the Sunny Meadow the good news," replied
the little rabbit. "I can't wait a minute."