Part 2 (1/2)

Little Joe darted over to the log and looked on the other side There was the fat trout, and there also was Little Joe's sreat thief and altogether bad Little Joe sprang at hirily, but Shadoas too quick and darted away Little Joe put the fish back on the log and waited This time he didn't take his eyes off it At last, when he was al towards the Laughing Brook Suddenly Buster stopped and sniffed One of the Merry Little Breezes had carried the scent of that fat trout over to hiht over to where the fish lay, his nose wrinkling, and his eyes twinkling with pleasure

”Noonder as so thoughtful as to leave this fine breakfast ready for me,” said he out loud

”Me,” said Little Joe in a rather faint voice ”I caught it especially for you”

”Thank you,” replied Buster, and his eyes twinkledto be friends”

”I--I hope so,” replied Little Joe

VII

FARMER BROWN'S BOY HAS NO LUCK AT ALL

Far ht-hearted, and he always feels light-hearted when he goes fishi+ng You see, he is just as fond of fishi+ng as is Little Joe Otter or Billy Mink or Buster Bear And noasBrook, sure that by the ti Pool he would have a fine lot of trout to take ho Brook where the trout love to hide, did Far when the trout should be hungry

So he whistled as he traood to hear

When he reached the first little pool he baited his hook very carefully and then, taking the greatest care to keep out of sight of any trout that an to fish Now Faro that to be a successful fisherh he didn't get a bite right away as he had expected to, he wasn't the least bit discouraged He kept very quiet and fished and fished, patiently waiting for a foolish trout to take his hook But he didn't get so much as a nibble ”Either the trout have lost their appetite or they have grown very wise,”time hehappened He was very patient, very, very patient, but his patience brought no reward, not so much as the faintest kind of a nibble Fared on to the next pool, and there was a puzzled frown on his freckled face Such a thing never had happened before He didn't knohat to ht before he had dreamed about the delicious dinner of fried trout he would have the next day, and noell, if he didn't catch some trout pretty soon, that splendid dinner would never be anything but a dream

”If I didn't know that nobody else co here, I should think that soht all the fish or else frightened theed on to the next little pool ”I never had such bad luck in all my life before hello! What's this?”

There, on the bank beside the little pool, were the heads of three trout Farmer Brown's boy scowled down at themhere, and they have had better luck than I have,” thought he He looked up the Laughing Brook and down the Laughing Brook and this way and that way, but no one was to be seen Then he picked up one of the little heads and looked at it sharply ”It wasn't cut off with a knife; it was bitten off!” he exclaimed ”I wonder now if Billy Mink is the scamp who has spoiled ns of Billy Mink, but though he found two or three ht no fish This puzzled him more than ever It didn't seem possible that such a little fellow as Billy Mink could have caught or frightened all the fish or have eaten soknown Billy to leave heads around that way Billy sometimes catches more fish than he can eat, but then he usually hides the Brook, the rew It made him feel very queer He would have felt still more queer if he had known that all the ti hi to themselves They were Little Joe Otter and Buster Bear

VIII

FARMER BROWN'S BOY FEELS HIS HAIR RISE

'Twas just a sudden odd surprise Made Far for hair to do--rise up all of a sudden--isn't it?

But that is just what the hair on Far in the Laughing Brook and had no luck at all There are just two things that er sometimes makes the hair on the back and neck of Bowser the Hound and of some other little people bristle and stand up, and you know the hair on the tail of Black pussy stands on end until her tail looks twice as big as it really is Both anger and fearthat can make the hair on the head of Farer, of course it must be fear

It never had happened before You see, there isn'tthat Farmer Brown's boy is really afraid of Perhaps he wouldn't have been afraid this time if it hadn't been for the surprise of what he found

You see when he had found the heads of those trout on the bank he knew right away that so, and that hy he couldn't catch any; but it didn't seem possible that little Billy Mink could have eaten all those trout, and Farmer Brown's boy didn't once think of Little Joe Otter, and so he was very, veryit all over in hiswhat it could mean, when he ca Brook, and there he saw soht out of his head, and it was right then that he felt his hair rise

Anyway, that is what he said when he told about it afterward What was it he saw? What do you think? Why, it was a footprint in the soft mud

Yes, Sir, that's what it was, and all it was But it was the biggest footprint Farmer Brown's boy ever had seen, and it looked as if it had been made only a few minutes before It was the footprint of Buster Bear