“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.
CHAPTER XVI
THE FUN OF TRAVELING
Who travels much will wiser be,
Provided he has eyes to see.
Little Joe Otter.
Gentle Mistress Moon, peeping down though the tops of the trees of the Green Forest, saw a queer procession going up the Laughing Brook to the pond of Paddy the Beaver, deep in the Green Forest. They were Little Joe Otter, Mrs. Otter, and the two nearly grown young Otters. Little Joe was leading, the others following in single file.
When they reached the pond of Paddy the Beaver they found it covered with smooth ice. The snow had fallen before the pond had frozen over. Little Joe made three or four jumps and then threw himself flat on his stomach and away he slid on the smooth ice. As soon as he stopped sliding he scrambled to his feet and did the same thing again. The others did just as he did. They squealed with delight. It was great fun. And it was surprising how fast they went across the pond of Paddy the Beaver. When they got to the other side the young Otters didn’t want to leave that pond. They wanted to slide some more.