who doth the law of safety heed

will not be influenced by greed.

              little joe otter.

the young otter, who had left a toe behind in a trap, was so happy to be free again that he hardly gave the loss of that toe a thought. the cold water was good for the sore foot, and as the young otter was healthy, his foot healed rapidly. in fact, in two or three days his foot was practically well. but the young otter didn’t forget his dreadful experience. he never would forget it. he had learned a lesson that he would remember as long as he lived. all his life he would be suspicious of traps and on the watch for them. never again would that young otter be caught in a trap.

of course, the trapper found that toe in his trap. such a disappointed trapper as he was! “there won’t be a chance of catching that otter again,” said he. “i must have been careless in setting that trap. it should have caught him by the whole foot and not just by a toe. probably those other otters know all about it now.”

when he discovered the new slippery slide he knew that his traps at the old slippery slide had been found. he set another trap at the foot of the new slide, but he didn’t have much hope of catching any one in it. he understood perfectly that little joe otter and mrs. joe were wise in the ways of trappers. “i guess,” muttered the trapper, “that my best chance of getting one of those otters will be to hide for a chance to shoot one of them. to-morrow i’ll spend the day over here with my gun.”

so he spent all the next day hidden near the slippery slide, watching with his terrible gun. but he didn’t have a chance to use it. he didn’t get so much as a glimpse of a sleek, brown head. and the reason was that little joe otter and his family were far away down the brook. they had started early the night before. they were on their way down to the big river.

little joe and mrs. joe had talked the matter all over. “it isn’t safe to stay here any longer,” declared little joe. “i don’t like to leave the good fishing, for we may not find another place where it is so easy to get plenty of fish. but that terrible two-legged creature will give us no peace. there is a trap now at the foot of our new slippery slide.”

“you are quite right, my dear,” replied mrs. otter. “i am worried to death for fear, in spite of all their watchfulness, one of the children will get caught in a terrible trap and be killed. i think the sooner we move along the better. safety is the most important thing.”

so once more little joe and his family went traveling. there was a crust on the snow now, and they had a lot of fun sliding. moreover, they didn’t leave a trail as when they had left the laughing brook in the soft snow. they followed the big brook on its way towards the big river. now and then they came to open places where the water was swift and hadn’t frozen. there they stopped to fish. sometimes they swam for quite a distance under the ice.