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The instant he saw Mr. and Mrs. Quack, a gleam of longing crept into his eyes and his mouth began to water. He stood motionless until both Mr. and Mrs. Quack had their heads under water as they searched for food in the mud in the bottom of the pond. Then like a red flash he bounded out of sight behind the dam of Paddy the Beaver.
'I will do that, said one of the little lads; 'I know old Paddy Doe well. Last Saint John's Eve we dropped a mouse down his chimney, but this is better than a mouse. 'I will go into the town of Sligo and sing it in the street, said another of the boys.
There were three spare horses, which followed the waggon, fastened by riems or thongs of hide, the general substitute for rope in the colony. Five dogs may also be counted as forming part of the expedition, rejoicing in the names of Spout, Growl, Pincher, Fangs, and Raff. The latter belonged to Denis, who so called the animal after the name of a countryman, Paddy Rafferty, who had given it to him.
The disturbance neared us with surprising speed. Suddenly I recalled that when the servant had retired after bringing food and drink I had neglected to again bar the door. I rushed for it, but I was all too late. I saw the latch raise. "Paddy!" I shouted wildly. "Mind yourself!" And with that I dropped to the floor and slid under the bed.
"Aye, well, good Master Paddy," replied Jem Bottles, oppressed and sullen, but still in a voice ironic from suspicion, "I never doubt me but what you are a regular clerk for deep learning, but you have not yet read a line from the paper, and I have been waiting this half-hour." "And how could I be reading?" cried Paddy in tones of indignation.
"Carew, that's a man," he said. "Quite likely," Carew assented. "Women don't usually wear khaki. Shall we go in search of Paddy?" They found him smoking tranquilly by the churchyard gate.
They both, pistol in hand, rushed into the cabin, expecting to have a desperate encounter with the fierce little Spaniard. The door gave way before them. "Hillo! the fellow is not here," cried Jack. "Then he's concealed somewhere," answered Paddy. "It's very unpleasant to feel that any moment he may be sending us up like rockets into the sky.
"I don't know," said Morgan; "Paddy said something about it being a good thing for us to get the captain of the school as head of our house." "Oh, ah a jolly good thing," said Pilbury; "jolly lookout for us if he's stuck here to pull us up whenever we have a lark." "Bless you, he can't pull a fellow up!" said somebody. "They said he used to now and then in the schoolhouse." "Not he.
As soon as the angry hunter with the terrible gun had disappeared among the trees of the Green Forest, and Lightfoot was sure that he had gone for good, Lightfoot came out from his hiding-place on top of the ridge and walked down to the pond of Paddy the Beaver for a drink.
It requires a great deal of patience and work, but patience is one of the first things a little Beaver learns, and honest work well done is one of the greatest pleasures in the world, as Paddy long ago found out for himself. So he kept at work on his bed for some time after all was still outside.
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