in danger there is good excuse

for putting any tongue to use.

           little joe otter.

the foolish little otter, who hadn’t minded his father and mother but had remained behind on the bank of the little pool in the laughing brook, didn’t have time to even squeal before old man coyote had him. old man coyote didn’t kill him at once, as he might have done with one crunch of his great jaws. he wanted to play with him a little first.

now, though old man coyote thought that no one saw him, some one did. it was sammy jay. sammy had been following the otter family, keeping very still and taking the greatest pains to keep out of sight himself. you see, he was very much interested in those otter children and he thought it great fun to watch them having their first lessons in fishing. so he was right where he could see perfectly what happened. the instant old man coyote sprang from his hiding-place sammy knew that the little otter hadn’t a chance in the world unless he could do something. right away he remembered farmer brown’s boy fishing just a little farther down the laughing brook. “perhaps,” thought sammy, “if i scream loud enough and long enough, he will come to see what all the fuss is about.”

so sammy opened his mouth and began to scream at the top of his lungs. “thief! thief! thief!” he screamed, flying down just over old man coyote’s head.

old man coyote looked up and snarled angrily. “stop your noise!” he snapped. “this is none of your business.”

“thief! thief! thief!” screamed sammy louder than ever.

now the very instant that sammy began to scream little joe otter and mrs. joe, who were just around a turn in the laughing brook, knew that an enemy was near. for the first time they missed the little otter who had remained behind. little joe didn’t wait a second. he started back as fast as he could swim, which is very fast indeed. mrs. joe followed as soon as she had seen that the other little otter was in a safe hiding-place.

old man coyote was still snarling at sammy jay when he saw little joe coming, and behind him mrs. joe. he knew then that he was to have a fight, but he had no intention of giving up that little otter. he backed away, dragging the little otter with him and showing all his great teeth in ugly snarls. meanwhile sammy jay kept up his screaming. of course farmer brown’s boy heard it. he stopped fishing to listen. he knows the ways of sammy jay, does farmer brown’s boy.

“something going on back there,” he muttered. “wonder what it is. sammy doesn’t scream like that unless he is terribly excited. guess i’ll have to see what it all means.”

he laid his rod down, leaving the bait in the water. very carefully he tiptoed back to where sammy was making such a racket. he was just in time to see little joe and mrs. joe rushing at old man coyote, who was growling and snarling, while with his two fore feet he held down the whimpering little otter. farmer brown’s boy didn’t stop to think. he just opened his mouth and yelled. then picking up a stick he rushed forward.

old man coyote didn’t wait for him to get there. at the sound of that yell he jumped as if he had been shot. then he turned and vanished like a shadow in the brush. little joe otter and mrs. joe had been almost as much frightened as old man coyote, and they ran too. but they didn’t run far. oh, my, no! their love was too strong for that. they dived into the little pool, but almost at once their brown heads appeared again, as they turned to see what new danger threatened their darling.

as for the latter, he was too badly frightened to move. he growled feebly in a very frightened way as farmer brown’s boy picked him up.

“you poor little thing,” said farmer brown’s boy gently. “i wouldn’t hurt you for the world.”

but the little otter couldn’t understand a word and just shivered with fear. at first farmer brown’s boy thought that he would take the little fellow home for a pet. then he looked down into the little pool straight into the eyes of mrs. joe, and he saw there such a look of anxious love and longing that he marched straight down to the edge of the water and gently put his little captive in it. then he laughed and the laugh was good to hear as the little fellow dived and swam out to join his parents as fast as ever he could, and all three promptly disappeared. when he got back to where he had left his rod something was tugging at the line. it was the biggest trout he ever had caught.

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