Coyote has a crafty brain;
His wits are sharp his ends to gain.
There is nothing in the world more true than that. Old Man Coyote
has the craftiest brain of all the little people of the Green
Forest or the Green Meadows. Sharp as are the wits of old Granny
Fox, they are not quite so sharp as the wits of Old Man Coyote.
If you want to fool him, you will have to get up very early in
the morning, and then it is more than likely that you will be the
one fooled, not he. There is very little going on around him that
he doesn't know about. But once in a while something escapes him.
The coming of Paddy the Beaver to the Green Forest was one of
these things. He didn't know a thing about Paddy until Paddy had
finished his dam and his house, and was cutting his supply of
food for the winter.
You see, it was this way: When the Merry Little Breezes of Old
Mother West Wind first heard what was going on in the Green Forest
and hurried around over the Green Meadows and through the Green
Forest to spread the news, as is their way, they took the
greatest pains not to even hint it to Old Man Coyote because they
were afraid that he would make trouble and perhaps drive Paddy
away. The place that Paddy had chosen to build his dam was so
deep in the Green Forest that Old Man Coyote seldom went that
way. So it was that he knew nothing about Paddy, and Paddy knew
nothing about him for some time.
But after awhile Old Man Coyote noticed that the little people of
the Green Meadows were not about as much as usual. They seemed to
have a secret of some kind. He mentioned the matter to his
friend, Digger the Badger.
Digger had been so intent on his own affairs that he hadn't
noticed anything unusual, but when Old Man Coyote mentioned the
matter he remembered that Blacky the Crow headed straight for the
Green Forest every morning. Several times he had seen Sammy Jay
flying in the same direction as if in a great hurry to get
somewhere.
Old Man Coyote grinned. "That's all I need to know, friend
Digger," said he. "When Blacky the Crow and Sammy Jay visit a
place more than once, something interesting is going on there. I
think I'll take a stroll up through the Green Forest and have a
look around."
With that, off Old Man Coyote started. But he was too sly and
crafty to go straight to the Green Forest. He pretended to hunt
around over the Green Meadows just as he usually did, all the
time working nearer and nearer to the Green Forest. When he
reached the edge of it, he slipped in among the trees, and when
he felt that no one was likely to see him, he began to run this
way and that way with his nose to the ground.
"Ha!" he exclaimed presently, "Reddy Fox has been this way
lately."
Pretty soon he found another trail. "So," said he, "Peter Rabbit
has been over here a good deal of late, and his trail goes in the
same direction as that of Reddy Fox. I guess all I have to do now
is to follow Peter's trail, and it will lead me to what I want to
find out."
So Old Man Coyote followed Peter's trail, and he presently came
to the pond of Paddy the Beaver. "Ha!" said he, as he looked out
and saw Paddy's new house. "So there is a newcomer to the Green
Forest! I have always heard that Beaver is very good eating. My
stomach begins to feel empty this very minute." His mouth began
to water, and a fierce, hungry look shone in his eyes.
It was just then that Sammy Jay saw him and began to scream at
the top of his lungs so that Paddy the Beaver over in his house
heard him. Old Man Coyote knew that it was of no use to stay
longer with Sammy Jay about, so he took a hasty look at the pond
and found where Paddy came ashore to cut his food. Then, shaking
his fist at Sammy Jay, he started straight back for the Green
Meadows. "I'll just pay a visit here in the night," said he, "and
give Mr. Beaver a surprise while he is at work."
But with all his craft, Old Man Coyote didn't notice that he left
a footprint in the mud.