THE MATING OF BROWNIE 191 
clad in their thick furs make overland journeys to 
other ponds and streams. Out on the snow their 
long bodies made a distinct trail, for their short 
legs sunk in so deep that their bellies dragged. 
Breaking trail was hard work, but those who fol- 
lowed the leader had less trouble, and coming 
home the trail had usually frozen and was easy to 
walk in. Wherever it led down hill, all Brownie 
had to do was to slide—real tobogganing, this 
time, on an icy chute! 
That winter the first tragedy occurred to the 
family. Brownie’s brother, swimming around 
alone under the ice, saw distant light, as if a new 
airhole had been made, and went toward it. As 
he drew near, he saw a small fish shining in the 
water in the descending shaft of light. He 
darted on it, and took it in at one mouthful. But, 
even as his jaws closed, he felt a sharp pain, and 
a second later, in spite of his most powerful ef- 
forts at resistance, he was pulled right up through 
the hole. Brownie and Pa Otter arrived just in 
time to see him mysteriously disappearing. 
Swimming around the hole in grief and perplex- 
ity, they heard sounds of human speech above, a 
