CHAPTER XII: A Hunt For Trouble

Ol' Mistah Buzzard, sailing high in the blue, blue sky, looked down
on a funny sight. Yes, Sir, it certainly was a funny sight. It was a
little procession of five of his friends of the Smiling Pool. First
was Billy Mink, who, because he is slim and nimble, moves so quickly
it sometimes is hard to follow him. Behind him was Little Joe Otter,
whose legs are so short that he almost looks as if he hadn't any.
Behind Little Joe was Jerry Muskrat, who is a better traveler
in the water than on land. Behind Jerry was Grandfather Frog, who
neither walks nor runs but travels with great jumps. Last of all was
Spotty the Turtle, who travels very, very slowly because, you know,
he carries his house with him. And all five were headed up the
Laughing Brook, which laughed no more, because there was not water
enough in it.

Now Ol' Mistah Buzzard hadn't been over near the Smiling Pool for
some time, and he hadn't heard how the Smiling Pool had stopped
smiling, and the Laughing Brook had stopped laughing. When he looked
down and saw how the water was so nearly gone from them that the
trout and the minnows had hardly enough in which to live, he was so
surprised that he kept saying over and over to himself:

"Fo' the lan's sake! Fo' the lan's sake!"

Then, when he saw his five little friends marching up the Laughing
Brook, he guessed right away that it must be something to do with
the trouble in the Smiling Pool. Ol' Mistah Buzzard just turned his
broad wings and slid down, down out of the blue, blue sky until he