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Speaker 1: Hello friends, and welcome to sleep Tight Stories for extra

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Speaker 1: bedtime stories, mindfulness activities, and sound and music for sleep.

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Speaker 1: Please consider subscribing to sleep Tight Premium. Visit sleep Tightpremium

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Speaker 1: dot com to start a free trial. Thank you. I'd

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Speaker 1: like to say hello to some friends. Hello to Cameron

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Speaker 1: Davy who is listening from Austin, Texas. And Hello to

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Speaker 1: Zach Bielman of Deval, Washington. Thank you for your support.

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Speaker 1: It means a lot to us. Today's story is about

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Speaker 1: some swimmers. Today in school, the other animals are going

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Speaker 1: to learn about two very good swimmers. Old Mother Nature

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Speaker 1: is ready to teach the class and is just waiting

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Speaker 1: for Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter to arrive, two

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Speaker 1: famous swimmers. The bank of the Smiling Pool was a

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Speaker 1: lovely place to hold school at that hour of the day,

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Speaker 1: which you know was just after sun up. Everybody who

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Speaker 1: could get there was on hand, and there were several

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Speaker 1: who had not been to school before. One of these

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Speaker 1: was Grandfather Frock, who was sitting on his big green

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Speaker 1: lily pad. Another was Jerry Muskrat, whose house was out

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Speaker 1: in the Smiling Pond. Spotty the Turtle was also there,

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Speaker 1: not to mention long legs the heron. You see, they

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Speaker 1: hadn't come to school, but the school had come to them,

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Speaker 1: for that is where they live or spend most of

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Speaker 1: their time. Good morning, Jerry Muskrat, said Old Mother Nature pleasantly,

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Speaker 1: as Jerry's brown head appeared in the Smiling pool. Have

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Speaker 1: you seen anything of Billy Mink or Little Joe Otter.

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Speaker 1: Little Joe went down to the Big River last night,

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Speaker 1: replied Jerry Muskrat. I don't know when he is coming back,

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Speaker 1: but I wouldn't be surprised to see him any minute.

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Speaker 1: Billy Mink was here last evening and said he was

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Speaker 1: going up the Laughing Brook fishing. He is likely to

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Speaker 1: be back any time. One never can tell when that

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Speaker 1: fellow will appear. He comes and goes continually. I don't

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Speaker 1: believe he can keep still for five minutes. Who can't

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Speaker 1: keep still for five minutes? Demanded a new voice, And

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Speaker 1: there was Billy Mink himself, just climbing out on the

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Speaker 1: big rock. Jerry was speaking of you, replied Old Mother Nature.

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Speaker 1: This will be a good chance for you to show

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Speaker 1: him that he is mistaken. I want you to stay

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Speaker 1: here for a while, and to stay right on the

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Speaker 1: big Rock. I may want to ask you a few questions.

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Speaker 1: Just then, Billy Mink dove into the smiling pool, and

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Speaker 1: a second later his brown head popped out of the water,

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Speaker 1: and in his mouth was a fat fish. He scrambled

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Speaker 1: back on the big rock and looked at Old Mother

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Speaker 1: Nature a bit fearfully as he laid his fish down. Ah,

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Speaker 1: I didn't mean to disobey, he mumbled. I saw that

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Speaker 1: fish and dove for him before I even thought. I

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Speaker 1: hope you'll forgive me, Mother Nature. I won't do it again.

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Speaker 1: Acting before thinking gets people into trouble, sometimes replied Old

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Speaker 1: Mother Nature. However, I will forgive you this time. The

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Speaker 1: fact is you have just shown your friends here something.

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Speaker 1: Go ahead and eat that fish and be ready to

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Speaker 1: answer questions. As Billy Mink sat there on the big Rock,

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Speaker 1: everybody had a good look at him. One glance would

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Speaker 1: tell any one that he was a cousin of Shadow

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Speaker 1: the Weasel. He was much larger than Shadow, but of

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Speaker 1: the same general shape, being long and slender. His coat

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Speaker 1: was a beautiful, dark brow darkest on the back. His

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Speaker 1: chin was white. His tail was round, covered with fairly

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Speaker 1: long hair, which was so dark as to be almost black.

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Speaker 1: His face was like that of Shadow the weasel. His

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Speaker 1: legs were rather short. As he sat eating that fish,

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Speaker 1: his back was arched. Old Mother Nature waited until he

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Speaker 1: had finished his feast. Now, then, Billy, she said, I

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Speaker 1: want you to answer a few questions. Which do you

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Speaker 1: like best? Night or day? Doesn't make any particular difference

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Speaker 1: to me, replied Billy, I just sleep when I feel

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Speaker 1: like it, whether it be night or day, and then

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Speaker 1: when I wake up, I can hunt. It all depends

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Speaker 1: on how I feel. When you go hunting, what do

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Speaker 1: you hunt, asked Old Mother Nature. Billy grinned anything that

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Speaker 1: promises a good meal. He said, I'm not very particular.

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Speaker 1: A fat mouse, a tender rabbit, a chipmunk, a frog, tadpoles, chickens, eggs, birds, fish,

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Speaker 1: whatever happens to be easiest to get suits me. I

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Speaker 1: am rather fond of fish, and that's one reason that

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Speaker 1: I live along the la Laughing Brook and around the

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Speaker 1: Smiling Pool. But I like a change of fair and

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Speaker 1: so often I go hunting in the green forest. Sometimes

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Speaker 1: I go up to Farmer Brown's for a chicken in

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Speaker 1: the spring. I hunt for nests of birds on the

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Speaker 1: ground in winter. If Peter Rabbit should happen along here

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Speaker 1: when I was hungry, I might be tempted to sample Peter.

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Speaker 1: Billy snapped his bright eyes wickedly, and Peter shivered. If

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Speaker 1: Jerry Muskrat were not my friend, I'm afraid I might

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Speaker 1: be tempted to sample him too, continued Billy Mink. Ugh said,

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Speaker 1: Peter Rabbit, you wouldn't dare tackle Jerry Muskrat, wouldn't, I

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Speaker 1: replied Billy. Just ask Jerry how he feels about it.

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Speaker 1: One look at Jerry's face showed everybody that Jerry, big

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Speaker 1: as he was, was afraid of Billy Mink. How do

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Speaker 1: you hunt when you are on land, asked Old Mother Nature.

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Speaker 1: The way every good hunter should hunt? With eyes, nose,

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Speaker 1: and ears, replied Billy. There may be folks with better

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Speaker 1: ears than I've got, but I don't know who they are.

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't swap noses with anybody. As for my eyes, well,

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Speaker 1: they are plenty good enough for me. In other words,

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Speaker 1: you hunt very much as does your cousin, Shadow the Weasel,

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Speaker 1: said Old Mother Nature. Billy nodded, I suppose I do.

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Speaker 1: He said. You all saw how Billy catches fish, said

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Speaker 1: Old Mother Nature. Now Billy, I want you to swim

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Speaker 1: over to the farther bank and show us how you run.

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Speaker 1: Billy obeyed. He slipped into the water, dove, swam underwater

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Speaker 1: for a distance, then swam with just his head out.

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Speaker 1: When he reached the bank, he climbed out and started

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Speaker 1: along it. He went by a series of bounds, his

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Speaker 1: back arched sharply between each leap. Then he disappeared before

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Speaker 1: their very eyes, only to reappear as suddenly as he

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Speaker 1: had gone. So quick were his movements that it was

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Speaker 1: impossible for one of the little people watching to keep

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Speaker 1: their eyes on him. It seemed sometimes as though he

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Speaker 1: must have vanished into the air. Of course he didn't.

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Speaker 1: He was simply showing them his wonderful ability to take

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Speaker 1: advantage of every little stick, stone and bush. Billy is

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Speaker 1: a great traveler, said old Mother Nature. He really loves

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Speaker 1: to travel up and down the Laughing Brook, even for

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Speaker 1: long distances, wherever there is plenty of driftwood and rubbish.

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Speaker 1: Billy is quite at home, being so slender. He can

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Speaker 1: slip under kinds of places and into all sorts of

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Speaker 1: holes quick as he is on land. He is not

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Speaker 1: so quick as his cousin's shadow and good swimmer as

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Speaker 1: he is, he isn't as good as his bigger cousin,

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Speaker 1: Little Joe Otter, But being equally at home on land

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Speaker 1: and in water, he has an advantage over his cousins.

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Speaker 1: Billy is much sought after for his fur and being.

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Speaker 1: This has made him very key witted missus. Billy makes

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Speaker 1: her home nest in a hole in the bank, or

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Speaker 1: under an old stump, or under a pile of driftwood,

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Speaker 1: and you may be sure it is well hidden there.

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Speaker 1: The babies are born, and they stay with their mother

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Speaker 1: all summer. Incidentally, Billy can climb readily. Billy is found

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Speaker 1: all over this great country of ours. When he lives

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Speaker 1: in the far north, his fur is finer and thicker

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Speaker 1: than when he lives in the south. I wish little

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Speaker 1: Joe Otter were here. I hoped he would be here.

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Speaker 1: He comes now, cried Jerry Muskrat. I rather expected he

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Speaker 1: would be back. Jerry pointed towards where the Laughing Brook

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Speaker 1: left the Smiling Pond on its way to the Big River.

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Speaker 1: A brown head was moving rapidly towards them. There was

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Speaker 1: no mistaking that head. It could belong to no one

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Speaker 1: but little Joe Otter straight on to the big rock

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Speaker 1: he came and climbed up. He was big, being one

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Speaker 1: of the largest members of his family. He was more

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Speaker 1: than three feet long, but no one looking at him

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Speaker 1: could mistake him for anyone but a member of the

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Speaker 1: weasel family. His legs were short, very short for the

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Speaker 1: length of his body. His tail was fairly long and broad.

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Speaker 1: His coat was a rich brown all over, a little

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Speaker 1: lighter underneath than on the back. What's going on here,

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Speaker 1: asked little Joe Otter, with eyes bright with interest. We

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Speaker 1: are holding a session of school here today, explained Mother Nature.

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Speaker 1: And we were just hoping that you would appear. Hold

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Speaker 1: up one of your feet and spread your toes, little Joe.

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Speaker 1: Little Joe Otter obeyed, though there was a funny puzzled

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Speaker 1: look on his face. OoOE, exclaimed Jerry, his toes are webbed,

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Speaker 1: like those of Patty the Beaver. Of course they're webbed,

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Speaker 1: said little Joe. I could never swim the way I

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Speaker 1: do if they weren't webbed. Can you swim better than

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Speaker 1: Patty the beaver? Asked Jerry. I should say I can.

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Speaker 1: If I couldn't, I guess I would go hungry most

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Speaker 1: of the time. Replied little Joe. Why should you go hungry?

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Speaker 1: Patty doesn't, retorted Jerry. Patty doesn't live on fish, replied Joe.

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Speaker 1: I do, and that's the difference. I can catch a

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Speaker 1: fish in a tail end race, and that's going some

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Speaker 1: You might show us how you can swim, suggested Old

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Speaker 1: Mother Nature. Little Joe slipped into the water. The Smiling

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Speaker 1: pool was very still, and the little people sitting on

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Speaker 1: the bank could look right down and see nearly to

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Speaker 1: the bottom. They saw Little Joe as he entered the water,

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Speaker 1: and then saw little more than a brown streak. A

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Speaker 1: second later, his head popped out on the other side

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Speaker 1: of the swimming pool. Phew, I'm glad I'm not a fish,

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Speaker 1: exclaimed Jerry, and everybody laughed. You may well be glad,

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Speaker 1: said old Mother Nature. You wouldn't stand much chance with

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Speaker 1: little Joe around. Like Billy Mink. Little Joe is a

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Speaker 1: great traveler, especially up and down the Laughing Brook and

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Speaker 1: the Big River. Sometimes he travels over land, but he

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Speaker 1: is so heavy and his legs are so short. A

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Speaker 1: traveling on land is slow work. When he does cross

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Speaker 1: from one stream or pond to another, he always picks

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Speaker 1: out the smoothest going. Sometimes in winter he travels quite

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Speaker 1: a bit, then when he comes to a smooth hill,

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Speaker 1: he slides down it on his stomach. By the way,

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Speaker 1: little Joe, haven't you a slippery slide somewhere around here?

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Speaker 1: Little Joe nodded, I've got one down the Laughing Brook,

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Speaker 1: where the bank is steep, he said. Missus Otter and

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Speaker 1: I and our children slide every day. What do you

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Speaker 1: mean by a slippery slide? Asked happy Jack Squirrel, who

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Speaker 1: was sitting in the big hickory tree which grew on

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Speaker 1: the bank of the smiling pond. Old Mother Nature smiled.

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Speaker 1: Little Joe Otter and his family are quite as fond

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Speaker 1: of play as any of my children, she said. They

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Speaker 1: get a lot of fun out of life. One of

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Speaker 1: their ways of playing is to make a slippery slide

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Speaker 1: where the bank is steep and the water deep. In

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Speaker 1: winter it is made of snow, but in summer it

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Speaker 1: is made of mud. There they slide down, splash into

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Speaker 1: the water, then climb up the bank and do it

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Speaker 1: all over again. In winter, they make their slippery slide

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Speaker 1: where the water doesn't freeze, and they get just as

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Speaker 1: much fun in winter as they do in summer. I

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Speaker 1: suppose that means that Little Joe doesn't sleep in winter

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Speaker 1: as Johnny Chuck does, said Jerry. I should say not,

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Speaker 1: exclaimed little Joe. I like the winter too. I have

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Speaker 1: such a warm coat that I never get cold. There

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Speaker 1: are always places where the water doesn't freeze. I can

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Speaker 1: swim for long distances under ice, so I can always

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Speaker 1: get plenty of food. Do you eat anything but fish,

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Speaker 1: asked Jerry, Oh, sometimes, replied Little Joe. Once in a while,

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Speaker 1: I like a little fresh meat for a change, And

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Speaker 1: sometimes when fish are scarce, I eat frogs. But I

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Speaker 1: prefer fish, especially salmon and trout. How many babies do

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Speaker 1: you have at one time, asked Happy Jack Squirrel. Usually

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Speaker 1: one to three, replied Little Joe, and only one family

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Speaker 1: a year. They are born in my comfortable house, which

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Speaker 1: is a burrow in the bank. There, Missus Otter makes

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Speaker 1: a large soft nest of leaves and grass. Now, if

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Speaker 1: you don't mind, I think I will go on up

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Speaker 1: the laughing brook. Missus Otter is waiting for me up there.

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Speaker 1: Old Mother Nature told little Joe to go ahead, and

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Speaker 1: he disappeared. She sighed, Ah, I'm rather fond of little

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Speaker 1: Joe Otter, she said, and It distresses me greatly that

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Speaker 1: he is sought after as he is. That fur coat

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Speaker 1: of his is valuable, and man is forever looking for it.

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Speaker 1: The otters were once numerous all over this great country,

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Speaker 1: but now they are very scarce, and I am afraid

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Speaker 1: that the day isn't far away when there will be

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Speaker 1: no more Little Joe Otter. I think this will do

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Speaker 1: for today. There are two other members of the weasel family,

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Speaker 1: and these like little Joe and Billy Mink, and I

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Speaker 1: will tell you about them another day. School is dismissed,

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Speaker 1: said old mother Nature. Bye for now, good night, sleep tight,