to eager youth ’tis vain to preach;

experience alone can teach.

                little joe otter.

rough brother north wind and jack frost had been down from the far north for some time now. the pond of paddy the beaver, the smiling pool, and the laughing brook, excepting where it ran swiftly, were covered with ice. the green meadows and the green forest and the old pasture were deep with snow. only those who, like johnny chuck and nimble heels the jumping mouse and striped chipmunk and bobby coon, were asleep in their snug homes, or, like paddy the beaver and jerry muskrat, had plenty to eat close by their houses, had nothing to worry about. those who had to hunt for their food were having a hard time of it. they always do in winter.

little joe otter and his family had cause for worry. you know they live on fish. but now they were having to work as they never had before to get enough to eat. you see, they had been fishing so long in the smiling pool and along the laughing brook that fish were becoming scarce. it was the morning after the coasting party that little joe and mrs. otter went without breakfast that the two young otters might eat.

“my dear,” said little joe, “this is the poorest fishing i have ever known. so much of the laughing brook is frozen over that only a few places are left in which we can fish. and we have already caught most of the fish in those places. we have got to do something about it.”

“i’ve been thinking that very thing,” replied mrs. otter. “shall we take the youngsters down to the big river?”

“i know of another brook, a bigger brook than this, which has deep spring holes in it, and many places where the water is swift and does not freeze. we might go there first,” said little joe.

“is it far from here?” asked mrs. otter.

little joe admitted that it was very far from there. “but what of it?” said he. “it will give the youngsters a chance to see something of the great world, and that will be good for them. when we reach that brook we can stay there as long as there is good fishing, and then follow it down to the big river. then we can come down the big river and so back here to the laughing brook.”

mrs. otter thought this over for a few minutes. “wouldn’t such a journey over land be dangerous?” she asked.

“are you afraid?” asked little joe.

“not for myself,” snapped mrs. otter rather sharply. “it is the children i am thinking of.”

“they’ve never been in any real danger,” said little joe. “it would be a good thing for them to make a journey on which they must watch out all the time. it would teach them how to take care of themselves.”

mrs. otter scratched her nose thoughtfully. “when do we start?” she asked very suddenly.

“to-night,” replied little joe promptly. “it will be moonlight to-night. besides, the sooner we start, the sooner we’ll get a good meal.”

“you’re sure you know the way?” asked mrs. otter a bit doubtfully.

“of course,” replied little joe. “do you think i would propose going if i didn’t know the way?”

so it was decided that the otter family would start on a journey that very night.