“Ooh! They’ll drown!” squealed Twinkly Eyes, as Mrs. Porcupine went under water with her babies on her back. But they didn’t! It had come so gradually, for one thing, that they weren’t the least bit frightened. Mrs. Porcupine has simply flattened her quills down smooth and taken them on her back while she swam out for lily pads. They had nibbled the pads and thought they were having the finest kind of ride. As Mrs. Porcupine went deeper into the water and the babies got their feet wet, they scarcely noticed, so warm was the water in the little pond and so sure were they that Mother was right there. When she sank till they were all half under, they only thought it fun. They had no idea of what was going to happen before they reached dry land again. Had they known what was going to happen, they would have been dreadfully frightened. In fact, they wouldn’t have ventured out at all, even on their mother’s back. It is often that way with people. If they knew just what was going to happen next, they would lose their nerve entirely. Yet generally when it does happen, it isn’t nearly so bad as they feared. Sometimes it isn’t bad at all. If the baby porcupines had had any idea that their mother was going to dive clear under water with them, they never in this world would have ventured one foot from shore. But that was one of the things Mrs. Porcupine kept to herself. She was very good at keeping things to herself, was Mrs. Porcupine, and it saved her a lot of trouble. At any rate, from being in the warm pond water with their feet safely planted on Mother’s back, the babies suddenly found themselves in the water with nothing under their feet but water, and Mother coming up away on the other side of the pond. The two cubs, watching from the bracken, smiled from ear to ear, their little black eyes dancing with enjoyment. “Come!” said Mrs. Porcupine, swimming about just out of reach. And the three baby porcupines simply had to strike out for themselves. To their own very great surprise they found that their hollow quills floated them beautifully. In fact, it is easier for a porcupine to swim than it is for almost any other animal. “What do you think of that?” Mother Black Bear asked her cubs. “Pretty slick,” said Woof. “Gee, I wish you’d taught me that way,” said Twinkly Eyes. “I’m going to teach you something else now,” said Mother Black Bear, “Come!” and she started up a water maple that grew hard by. “Oo—ee! I can’t climb,” Twinkly was just beginning, when he heard a curious rustling in the grass behind him. Turning his head he spied Writho, the Black Snake, making straight toward him! [Illustration: “He found himself staring straight at Writho the black snake.” —Page 23 ] VIII WRITHO, THE BLACK SNAKE Now Twinkly Eyes had been perfectly certain a moment before that he could never climb that tree after his mother.