The Preposterous Adventures of Swimmer Read Online Free PDF

preserve. Anyway, I always spring every trap I can find, and I’d throw it away if I could. Only, he makes sure every trap is chained to something. Usually to a metal stake, and they’re terribly hard to pull out of the ground.”
    She paused and added in a low voice, “Mr. Sykes caught me trying to pull one loose last fall, and gave me an awful licking. I—I almost ran away.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you?”
    â€œI didn’t have any place to go. And besides, I hated to leave my friends. Scruff and Ripple and Willow are the best in the world. They’re on the move a lot, but they spend most of their time here. A person has to have friends. So I decided I’d just tough it out a while and maybe something good would happen.” All at once she smiled happily and clapped her hands. “And it did! You came along. Now, I’ve got a friend who can really talk to me and help me understand the others. I think it’s wonderful.”
    Swimmer did too. He grasped her hand and practically purred.
    Penny said, “I’ll call the others in a minute, but first let’s see what I can do about your bell and harness.”
    She took the pliers from the sack and began working at one of the heavy links on his shoulder. Her mouth tightened as she began to pull and twist.
    â€œI—I can’t do a thing with one pair of pliers,” she admitted finally. “I’ll have to get a second pair to hold the chain, or else use a hacksaw. But maybe, if I help, you can sort of wiggle out of it.”
    They tried. Swimmer squirmed and twisted and did his utmost to get one leg through the harness. It was impossible.
    â€œDon’t worry,” Penny assured him. “I’ll get it off tomorrow, somehow. Tomorrow’s Sunday, so there’s no telling when I can slip away, but I’ll come just as soon as I can. Now, let’s see if I can find Ripple and Willow.”
    She crept down to the water’s edge, found a small round stone, and began tapping it sharply on the side of a half submerged boulder. She would tap three times, wait a few seconds, and tap three times again. In spite of the rushing water the sound could be heard for a long distance.
    Presently, when there was no response to her signal, she climbed back beside him. “They must be downstream,” she said. “Let’s go down past the bend to the old beech tree. I think they’ve got a secret den under the tree where they sleep, but I’m not sure. Anyway, they’re bound to be near there.” Then she glanced at his bark-encircled leg and exclaimed, “Oh, my goodness! Maybe you don’t feel like going anywhere.”
    To tell the truth, Swimmer didn’t. It was the hour when broken bones always begin to ache and weary bodies long for rest. But these matters became as nothing beside the electrifying thought of actually meeting some of his own kind again. Swimmer trembled with sudden anticipation.
    â€œLet’s go,” he said eagerly.
    It would have been much easier for him to swim the distance, but he wouldn’t have had the fun of being with her and talking. So he went limping painfully along at her side while Scruff trotted ahead, a guard ever on the alert for danger.
    It took only a few minutes to reach the mouth of the branch that drained the pools at the trout farm. After they had crossed it on stepping-stones, Swimmer paused and studied it almost longingly, for it reminded him of the pleasant waters he had played in as a pup. The branch came down through the rocky tangle in a series of enticing little falls that begged to be explored.
    â€œWow!” Swimmer exclaimed. “What a place for crawfish!”
    â€œAnd traps, ” Penny reminded him tartly. “Weaver’s pa, he’s as sly as anything about setting a trap. You can’t see it, and he hides it right where you’d put your foot. You’ll never get Willow in there