Little Joe Otter/Chapter 22
CHAPTER XXII
THE CLEVER TRAPPER
The trapper knows his wits must match
The wits of those whom he would catch.
The trapper who had tried to run down Little Joe Otter and his family and kill them with a club was not one to give up easily. Of course, he was disappointed at his failure to get one of those Otter coats. But he was not at all discouraged. As soon as Little Joe Otter and his family had disappeared in the open water at one end of that pond, the trapper stopped running. He was glad to stop, for he was quite out of breath.
"Those Otters won't stay in this pond long," said he to himself. "They know that I know they are here, so they will move on as soon as they think they safely can. I can guess just where they are bound for. They are bound for the big brook where there is a lot of swift water that doesn't freeze, and where they will be sure of good fishing. They will stay there for some time. That will be the place to set some traps. The thing for me to do is to leave them alone for awhile so that they will not be at all suspicious. Then I'll set some traps. Their fur is in the best of condition now, and if I can get two or three of their skins they will pay me several times over for all the trouble I may take to get them."
So the trapper turned back and tramped home. He didn't go back to that pond for two days. When he did go back he found just what he expected to find, and he chuckled when he found it. It was a trail in the snow leading away from that pond in the direction of the big brook. He followed it. As he approached the big brook he was careful to keep out of sight. He could see that the trail led straight to the water. For a long time he remained hidden, patiently watching. At last he saw a brown head out in the water. A moment later one of the young Otters with a fish in his mouth climbed out on a big, flat rock and ate the fish.
"They are there," chuckled the trapper, "and they will stay, for there are plenty of fish there. I won't worry them for awhile, but I will study their habits and find out where they are in the habit of going and what their favorite places are. They will be sure to have a slide. That will be one place for a trap. I'll put it right at the foot of the slide. I'll find out where they are in the habit of climbing out on the bank to go up to the top of the slide and I'll put a trap there. Perhaps I can discover the den where they sleep. That will be another place for a trap. I suspect that those old Otters (he meant Little Joe and Mrs. Joe) have learned a lot about traps, and it will not be easy to catch them. But I ought to be able to catch those two young Otters without much trouble."
So for a week that trapper spent most of his time watching the place where Little Joe and his family were living, and studying the signs to learn all he could about their habits. But all the time he took the greatest care that they shouldn't know he was about. He knew that if he should be seen by one of them, Little Joe Otter would at once become suspicious. When at last he felt he had learned all he could he selected a dozen cruel, steel traps and went over to set them.