For it was astonishing how quickly the news got around that the old otters were dead.

Toward sunset that evening, when the two lonely youngsters, puzzled and miserable, stole back to their old den under the bank, they found that a mink had dared to kill a big trout in their own pool.

There were the remains, and the presumptuous intruder's tracks, almost at their very door.

They were indignant, and the thick hair bristled on their necks.

But, realizing suddenly how hungry they were, they did not scorn to eat the stranger's leavings.