self. So did Grandfather Frog. So did Jerry
Muskrat, who had been listening. Of course this made Little Joe angrier
than ever. He said a lot of unkind things about Buster Bear and about
Billy Mink and Grandfather Frog and Jerry Muskrat, because they had
laughed at the smartness of Buster.

"He's nothing but a great big bully and thief!" declared Little Joe.

"Chug-a-rum! He may be a bully, because great big people are very apt to
be bullies, and though I haven't seen him, I guess Buster Bear is big
enough from all I have heard, but I don't see how he is a thief," said
Grandfather Frog.

"Didn't he catch my fish and eat them?" snapped Little Joe. "Doesn't
that make him a thief?"

"They were no more your fish than mine," protested Billy Mink.

"Well, _our_ fish, then! He stole _our_ fish, if you like that any
better. That makes him just as much a thief, doesn't it?" growled
Little Joe.

Grandfather Frog looked up at jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun and slowly
winked one of his great, goggly eyes. "There comes a foolish green fly,"
said he. "Who does he belong to?"

"Nobody!" snapped Little Joe. "What have foolish green flies got to do
with my--I mean _our_ fish?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," replied Grandfather Frog mildly. "I was just
hoping that he would come near enough for me to snap him up; then he
would belong to me. As long as he doesn't, he doesn't belong to any one.
I suppose that if Buster Bear should happen along and catch him, he
would be stealing from me, according to Little Joe."

"Of course not! What a silly idea! You're getting foolish in your old
age," retorted Little Joe.

"Can you tell me the difference between the fish that you haven't caught
and the foolish green flies that I haven't caught?" asked Grandfather
Frog.

Little Joe couldn't find a word to say.

"You take my advice, Little Joe Otter," continued Grandfather Frog, "and
always make friends with those who are bigger and stronger and smarter
than you are. You'll find it pays."

[Illustration: "You take my advice, Little Joe Otter," continued
Grandfather Frog. _Page 26._]

VI

LITTLE JOE OTTER TAKES GRANDFATHER FROG'S ADVICE

Who makes an enemy a friend,
To fear and worry puts an end.

Little Joe Otter found that out when he took Grandfather Frog's advice.
He wouldn't have admitted that he was afraid of Buster Bear. No one ever
likes to admit being afraid, least of all Little Joe Otter. And really
Little Joe has a