XII
HOW OLD MR. OTTER LEARNED TO SLIDE
Little Joe Otter was having the jolliest kind of a time. Little JoeOtter is a jolly little chap, anyway, and just now he was extra happy.You see, he had a brand new slippery-slide. Yes, Sir, Little Joe hadjust built a new slippery-slide down the steepest part of the bank intothe Smiling Pool. It was longer and smoother than his oldslippery-slide, and it seemed to Little Joe as if he could slide andslide all day long. Of course he enjoyed it more because he had built ithimself. He would stretch out full length at the top of theslippery-slide, give a kick to start himself, shoot down theslippery-slide, disappear headfirst with a great splash into the SmilingPool, and then climb up the bank and do it all over again.
Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck sat watching him from the bank on theother side of the Smiling Pool. Right down below them, sitting on hisbig green lily-pad, was Grandfather Frog, and there was a sparkle in hisbig, goggly eyes and his great mouth was stretched in a broad grin as hewatched Little Joe Otter. He even let a foolish green fly brush the tipof his nose and didn't snap at it.
"Chug-a-rum!" exclaimed Grandfather Frog to no one in particular. "Thatreminds me of the days when I was young and the greatest diver in theSmiling Pool. My goodness, it makes me feel young just to watch LittleJoe shoot down that slippery-slide. If I weren't so old, I'd try itmyself. Wheee!"
With, that, Grandfather Frog suddenly jumped. It was a great, long,beautiful jump, and with his long hind legs straight out behind him,Grandfather Frog disappeared in the Smiling Pool so neatly that he madehardly a splash at all, only a whole lot of rings on the surface of thewater that grew bigger and bigger until they met the rings made byLittle Joe Otter and then became all mixed up.
Half a minute later Grandfather Frog's head bobbed up out of the water,and for the first time he saw Johnny Chuck and Peter Rabbit.
"Come on in; the water's fine!" he cried, and rolled one big, goggly eyeup at jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun and winked it in the most comicalway, for he knew, and he knew that Mr. Sun knew, just how Johnny Chuckand Peter Rabbit dislike the water.
"No, thanks," replied Peter, but there was a wistful look in his bigeyes as he watched Little Joe Otter splash into the Smiling Pool. LittleJoe was having such a good time! Peter actually was wishing that he_did_ like the water.
Grandfather Frog climbed out on his big green lily-pad. He settledhimself comfortably so as to face Johnny Chuck and Peter and at the sametime watch Little Joe out of the corner of one big, goggly eye.
"Chug-a-rum!" said he, as once more Little Joe splashed into the SmilingPool. "Did you ever hear about Little Joe's family secret?" he asked inhis deep gruff voice.
"No," cried Peter Rabbit. "Do tell us about it! I just love secrets."There was a great deal of eagerness in Peter's voice, and it madeGrandfather Frog smile.
"Is that the reason you never can keep them?" he asked.
Peter looked a wee bit foolish, but he kept still and waited patiently.After what seemed a long, long time, Grandfather Frog cleared his throattwo or three times, and this is the story he told Johnny Chuck and PeterRabbit:
"Once upon a time when the world was young, thegreat-great-ever-so-great-grandfather of Little Joe Otter got into apeck of trouble. Yes, Sir, he certainly did get into a peck of trouble.You see, it was winter, and everything was covered with snow, so thatfood was hard to get. Most of the little forest and meadow people foundlittle to eat, and it took a great deal of hunting to find that little.Only those who, like old Mr. Squirrel, had been wise enough to lay up astore of food when there was plenty, and two or three others like Mr.Mink and Mr. Otter, who could go fishing in the spring-holes which hadnot frozen over, had full stomachs.
"Now an empty stomach almost always makes a short temper. It is hard,very hard indeed to be hungry and good-natured at the same time. So asmost of the people of the Green Forest were hungry all the time, theywere also short-tempered all the time. Mr. Otter knew this. When any ofthem came prowling around the spring-hole where he was fishing, he wouldtease them by letting them see how fat he was. Sometimes he would bringup a fine fish and eat it right before them without offering to share somuch as a mouthful. He had done this several times to Mr. Lynx, andthough Mr. Lynx had begged and begged for just a bite, Mr. Otter hadrefused the teeniest, weeniest bit and had even made fun of Mr. Lynx fornot being smart enough to get sufficient to eat.
"Now it happened that one fine morning Mr. Otter took it into his headto take a walk in the Green Forest. It was a beautiful morning, and Mr.Otter went farther than he intended. He was just trying to make up hismind whether to turn back or go just a little farther, when he heardstealthy footsteps behind him. He looked over his shoulder, and what hesaw helped him to make up his mind in a hurry. There, creeping over thefrozen snow, was Mr. Lynx, and the sides of Mr. Lynx were very thin, andthe eyes of Mr. Lynx looked very hungry and fierce, and the claws of Mr.Lynx were very long and strong and cruel looking. Mr. Otter made up hismind right away that the cold, black water of that open spring-hole wasthe only place for him, and he started for it without even passing thetime of day with Mr. Lynx.
"Now Mr. Otter's legs were very short, just as Little Joe's are, but itwas surprising how fast he got over the snow that beautiful morning.When he came to the top of a little hill, he would slide down, becausehe found that he could go faster that way. But in spite of all he coulddo, Mr. Lynx traveled faster, coming with great jumps and snarling andspitting with every jump. Mr. Otter was almost out of breath when hereached the high bank just above the open spring-hole. It was verysteep, very steep indeed. Mr. Otter threw a hasty glance over hisshoulder. Mr. Lynx was so near that in one more jump he would catchhim. There wasn't time to run around to the place where the bank waslow. Mr. Otter threw himself flat, gave a frantic kick with his hindlegs, shut his eyes, and shot down, down, down the slippery bank so fastthat he lost what little breath he had left. Then he landed with a greatsplash in the cold, black water and was safe, for Mr. Lynx was afraid ofthe water. He stopped right on the very edge of the steep bank, where hegrowled and screeched and told Mr. Otter what dreadful things he woulddo to him if ever he caught him.
"Now in spite of his dreadful fright, Mr. Otter had enjoyed thatexciting slide down the steep bank. He got to thinking about it afterMr. Lynx had slunk away into the Green Forest, and when he was restedand could breathe comfortably again, he made up his mind to try it oncemore. So he climbed out where the bank was low and ran around to thesteep place and once more slid down into the water. It was great fun,the greatest fun Mr. Otter ever had had. He did it again and again. Infact, he kept doing it all the rest of that day. And he found that themore he slid, the smoother and more slippery became the slippery-slide,for the water dripped from his brown coat and froze on the slide.
"After that, as long as the snow lasted, Mr. Otter spent all his time,between eating and sleeping, sliding down his slippery-slide. He learnedjust how to hold his legs so that they would not be hurt. When gentleSister South Wind came in the spring and took away all the snow, Mr.Otter hardly knew what to do with himself, until one day a bright ideapopped into his head and made him laugh aloud. Why not make aslippery-slide of mud and clay? Right away he tried it. It wasn't asgood as the snow slide, but by trying and trying, he found a way to makeit better than at first. After that Mr. Otter was perfectly happy, forsummer and winter he had a slippery-slide. He taught his children, andthey taught their children how to make slippery-slides, and ever sincethat long-ago day when the world was young, the making ofslippery-slides has been the family secret of the Otters."
"And it's the best secret in the world," said Little Joe Otter, swimmingup behind Grandfather Frog just then.
"I wish--I wish I had a slippery-slide," said Peter Rabbit wistfully.
"Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog. "Chug-a-rum! Be content with theblessings you have got, Peter Rabbit. Be content with the blessings youhave got. No good comes of wishing for thin
gs which it never was meantthat you should have. It is a bad habit and it makes discontent."
XIII
HOW DRUMMER THE WOODPECKER CAME BY HIS RED CAP