Before you boast be sure you know  
That you have got the fish to show.
 
                 Little Joe Otter¹.
 
At the place where the big brook², down which Little Joe Otter and his family had traveled, enters the Big River, the latter never freezes over. Little Joe Otter knew this. You see, he had been there before more than once. He knew that there was good fishing in the Big River, and that if no trapper discovered them they would not be disturbed. No men lived near that part of the Big River. There was green forest on both banks. There were snug³, dry, hiding-places, and Little Joe knew them all. They would stay until spring and then work down the Big River and so return to the Laughing Brook from which they had started.
 
The young Otters⁴ liked this place. They soon had a fine slippery slide on which to play when they were not sleeping or fishing. It was fun to explore under the ice along the banks of the Big River. It was fun to catch a fish and climb out on the ice to eat it. There was nothing to worry about. There were no enemies to fear. By day as well as by night they felt perfectly⁵ safe.
 
One day the young Otter who had lost his toe caught an extra big fish. It was the biggest fish he ever had caught. He was very proud of it as he climbed out on the ice. Now he had caught that fish more for the fun of catching⁶ it than because he was hungry. The fact is, he wasn’t hungry. Fish were plentiful⁷, and he had already eaten about all he could. So he merely took a couple of bites from what he considered the best part—............