<div><h1 id='ch32'>CHAPTER XXXII<br/> <span class='sub-head'>THE LIVING HEAP OF SNOW</span></h1></div>
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<p class='line0'>Don’t think, but make quite sure you <span class='it'>know</span></p>
<p class='line0'>A thing is thus or mayhap so.</p>
<p class='line0'>                   <span class='it'>Little Joe Otter.</span></p>
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<p class='pindent'><span class='sc'>Of</span> all the puzzled people in all
the Great World none was more
puzzled than was the young Otter
whose big fish had disappeared.
He had certainly killed that fish,
He had even taken two big bites
out of the choicest part of it. So
he knew that the fish couldn’t
have flopped off the ice into the
water while he was away. He
had been gone only a few minutes,
just long enough to get his sister
and bring her over to see that big
fish. He had boasted that it was
bigger than any fish she ever had
caught. Now there wasn’t a trace
of it anywhere.</p>
<p class='pindent'>His sister tossed her head. “I
don’t believe you caught a big fish
at all,” said she.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“But I tell you I did,” protested
her brother. “I caught him and
I left it right here.”</p>
<p class='pindent'>“Then where is it?” demanded
his sister.</p>
<p class='pindent'>But this the young Otter
couldn’t say. He wished he could.
He had a queer and most uncomfortable
feeling. It made him
uneasy. Actually it made him
afraid. He didn’t know what he
was afraid of, but he was afraid.
So when his sister disgustedly
plunged into the water and swam
back to the slippery slide on the
bank, he followed her.</p>
<p class='pindent'>But somehow he couldn’t enjoy
that slippery slide. He kept
thinking about that lost fish. To
make matters worse, his sister kept
teasing him about it. She called
him a boaster. It was clear that
she didn’t believe he had caught
that big fish he had boasted about.
So after going down the slippery
slide a few times, he swam back to
the place where he had left the big
fish. He climbed out on the ice
and once more looked around
everywhere for signs of some one
who might have stolen that big
fish. But not a sign could he
find.</p>
<p class='pindent'>A little way off on the ice was
a little heap of snow. At least
the young Otter thought it was
a heap of snow. He looked at it
carelessly two or three times. But
he didn’t go over to it. He
wasn’t interested in heaps of snow.
The only thing of interest to him
just then was what had become
of that fish. It was very mysterious.
He didn’t like a mystery.
His uneasiness increased, so after
awhile he once more swam away.
He wanted to ask his father or his
mother what could have become
of that fish, but he didn’t. He
was afraid he would be laughed
at. He was afraid that they
wouldn’t believe he had caught
it any more than his sister believed
it.</p>
<p class='pindent'>Now hardly had that young
Otter disappeared when what he
had taken for a little heap of
snow disappeared too. It disappeared
without a sound. You
see, it was alive. It really wasn’t
a heap of snow at all. If the
young Otter had seen it go, he
might possibly have guessed what
had become of his big fish. But
he didn’t see it go, and the next
time he visited that place he
didn’t even notice that that little
white heap was no longer there.</p>
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<ANTIMG src='images/illo184.png' alt='' id='illo184' style='width:80%;height:auto;'/>
<p class='caption'><span class='sc'>“Well, son,” said he, “what did you see?”</span><br/> <span class='it'><SPAN href='#t196'>Page 196</SPAN>.</span></p>
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