<div><h1 id='ch20'>CHAPTER XX<br/> <span class='sub-head'>A VERY MEEK YOUNG OTTER</span></h1></div>
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<p class='line0'>The wise will never scorn retreat</p>
<p class='line0'>When facing swift and sure defeat.</p>
<p class='line0'>               <span class='it'>Little Joe Otter.</span></p>
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<p class='pindent'><span class='sc'>Yes</span>, Sir, it certainly looked bad
for that young Otter fighting with
Yowler the Bobcat. It looked very
much as if in the end Yowler would
have that dinner of tender, young
Otter for which he was fighting.
Such a snarling and spitting! Such
a thrashing about in the snow, as
they rolled over and over! Never
had Yowler fought harder.</p>
<p class='pindent'>But though he was so busy with
teeth and claws, he never once
forgot to keep his ears open. He
never once forgot to listen for
sounds that might warn him of the
approach of Little Joe Otter or
Mrs. Joe. He knew that they
were not so far away but that they
might hear that fight. So it was
with a sudden wrench he tore himself
free, and with a screech of
disappointment and anger bounded
to the nearest tree and climbed
it.</p>
<p class='pindent'>He was just in time and that
was all. Snarling, her eyes blazing
with anger, Mrs. Joe plunged down
the trail, and behind her came
Little Joe Otter. Had they succeeded
in reaching Yowler, the
Green Forest would have known
him no more.</p>
<p class='pindent'>Mrs. Joe paid no attention to
him. She rushed straight to the
young Otter and began to lick her
wounds and try to comfort her.
She examined her all over to see
how badly she was hurt, as only
an anxious mother could. But
Little Joe made straight for the
tree up which Yowler had climbed.
At the foot of it he glared up and
dared Yowler to come down.
Yowler was licking a badly bitten
paw. Between licks he snarled
and growled and spit at Little
Joe. But he didn’t come down.
No, Sir, Yowler didn’t come down.
He was far too wise to do that.
And so all that Little Joe could
do was to snarl and spit back at
him and tell him what he would
do to him if ever he had the
chance.</p>
<p class='pindent'>It didn’t take Mrs. Joe long
to find that the young Otter was
not badly hurt. Her coat was torn
in places and she was very, very
sore, but she was not seriously
hurt. As soon as Mrs. Joe was
sure of this she called to Little
Joe, and regretfully Little Joe left
the foot of that tree and once more
led the way along the trail. This
time Mrs. Joe was the last one.
She kept behind the two young
Otters. She didn’t intend to give
them a chance to get into more
trouble.</p>
<p class='pindent'>As for the young Otter, never
was there one more meek. She had
had a lesson she would never forget.
She smarted and ached, but
she knew that she deserved it.
She knew that it was wholly because
of her wilfulness and disobedience.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“I’ll never, never disobey again,”
she kept saying over and over to
herself. “I’ll never, never disobey
again. I guess I don’t know as
much about the Great World as I
thought I did. Ouch! That fellow’s
teeth and claws were sharp.
I—I—I wish I hadn’t thought
myself so smart. I wonder who
that fellow is, anyway.”</p>
<p class='pindent'>Before this she had been too
busy to even wonder who she had
been fighting with. But now she
wanted to know who this enemy
was. And so at the first chance
she asked her mother.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“That was Yowler the Bobcat,”
replied her mother. “He is the
greatest sneak in the Green Forest.
He wouldn’t have dared to touch
your father or me. I wish we
had been in time to catch him.
There are a lot of people who
would have been thankful to us
if we had.”</p>
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