Page:St. Nicholas, vol. 40.1 (1912-1913).djvu/599

 1913] nothing. For the smart shot had come in his canoe, and carried off his victims.



“All day long, the two Little Furry Ones continued their search. But you would never have known them for the same creatures which had started out that morning. Then they had gone boldly and merrily, fearing no enemies. Now they stole along timidly, sniffing this way and that, and never showing their noses outside a thicket without first taking observations. For life was now a very different matter with them. They were all the time running into trails of mink, or weasel, or wildcat ; and it seemed to them that the world had suddenly become extraordinarily full of foxes.

“It was astonishing how quickly the news got around that the old otters were gone. That evening, when the two unhappy youngsters stole back to the den, they found mink tracks almost at their very door. The hair bristled on their necks with fear and anger. But they dived into their empty cave, and, after whimpering lonesomely awhile, curled themselves up close together and went to sleep. It had been a strange and dreadful day.

“Suddenly something woke them up; and they were instantly wide-awake. In a second, they had uncurled themselves from the ball in which they slept, and, crouching side by side, they were glaring savagely up the narrow passage that led to their back door.

“There they saw a pair of cruel eyes, small and flaming, and set very close together, which seemed to float slowly down toward them.

“The Little Furry Ones knew what it was. Of course they were a little frightened. But most of all they were in a rage at such an impudent intrusion. A vicious growl came from between their long, white teeth. And those creeping eyes halted. For half a minute, motionless, they studied the defiant youngsters. Then, very slowly, they withdrew, and presently disappeared. For the weasel, though the most courageous of assassins, is no fool. He saw that the children of the otter had grown too big for him.

“The youngsters were a good deal set up, of course; but there was no more thought of sleep for them. For a long time, they lay motionless by the edge of their watery front door, which now seemed to them safer than the back entrance. Their sensitive noses questioned anxiously every scent that drew in to them from the still woods outside. How long the night seemed! But at