Little Joe Otter stopped swimming and stared up at Jerry Muskrat.
"They look all right to me," said he, as he started to climb up on
the Big Rock.

"Of course they look all right," replied Jerry, "but what I want to
know is if they see all right. Look over at that bank."

Little Joe Otter looked over at the bank. He stared and stared, but
he didn't see anything unusual. It looked just as it always did.
He told Jerry Muskrat so.

"Then it must be my eyes," sighed Jerry. "It certainly must be my
eyes. It looks to me as if the water does not come as high up on the
bank as it did yesterday."

Little Joe Otter looked again and his eyes opened wide. "You are
right, Jerry Muskrat!" he cried. "There's nothing the matter with
your eyes. The water is as low as it ever gets, even in the very
middle of summer. What can it mean?"

"I don't know," replied Jerry Muskrat. "It is queer! It certainly
is very queer! Let's go ask Grandfather Frog. You know he is very
old and very wise, so perhaps he can tell us what it means."

Splash! Jerry Muskrat and Little Joe Otter dived into the Smiling
Pool and started a race to see who could reach Grandfather Frog first.
He was sitting among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool,
for the lily-pads were not yet big enough for him to sit on comfortably.