When facing swift and sure defeat.
Little Joe Otter1.
Yes, 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 snarling3 and spitting! Such a thrashing about in the snow, as they rolled over and over! Never had Yowler fought harder.
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 wrench4 he tore himself free, and with a screech5 of disappointment and anger bounded to the nearest tree and climbed it.
He was just in time and that was all. Snarling, her eyes blazing with anger, Mrs. Joe plunged6 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.
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 snarled7 and growled8 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
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