Then Buddy was happy again, and almost glad he had fallen down the big hole, because he had something good to take home to eat.

Now, in case I have cherry pie for supper and the juice doesn’t get on my red necktie and turn it green, I’ll tell you soon about a trick the groundhogs played.

STORY XXII

A TRICK THE GROUNDHOGS PLAYED

One day, oh, I guess it must have been about a week after Buddy Pigg fell down the groundhogs’ hole, he and Brighteyes were out walking in the woods.  They had been over to pay a visit to Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the two puppy dogs, you know, and were on their way back.

As they walked along, they both heard a queer little rustling sound in the bushes, but at first they didn’t pay any attention to it, but they kept on, talking about what a nice time they had had, when, all of a sudden, the noise sounded more plainly.  It was just as if some big animal had taken hold of the bushes in his teeth, and had shaken them—­shaken the bushes, I mean, of course, for he couldn’t shake his teeth unless they were false, and animals don’t have false teeth, thank goodness.

“My land sakes!  What’s that?” exclaimed Brighteyes.

“Maybe it’s a bad fox,” said Buddy, and he looked around for a stick or a stone with which to defend his sister, for Buddy was brave, let me tell you.

Then the noise seemed to sort of go away, just like when the teacher rubs the figures and sentences off the blackboard in school, and Buddy and Brighteyes weren’t so frightened.  So they kept on, and just as they were coming to the path that led to their pen, what did they hear but the rustling noise in the bushes again.  This time they were very much frightened, and Buddy picked up a stick, almost as large as himself.  Then Brighteyes said: 

“Oh, Buddy, I’m afraid to go home that way.  Let’s take the other path.”

“But that is so much longer,” objected her brother.

“No matter,” answered the little guinea pig girl, “it is better to take a longer path, than to go on a short one and be eaten up by a fox or a wolf,” and I suppose Brighteyes was right.  Anyhow they took the other path, and as they went along it, they heard a noise in the bushes as if some one was laughing, only they didn’t see how a fox could laugh.  So they hurried on.

Well, it wasn’t very long before they came to something.  I was going to let you guess what it was, but as it might take you some time to think, and then, maybe, you wouldn’t get it right, I have decided to tell you.

What Buddy and Brighteyes saw on the path in front of them was a small box—­the kind that soap comes out of, you know—­and it was standing up on one edge.  And sort of underneath the box were two, big toadstools, made into tables, and beside each table was a smaller toadstool for a seat.  And, would you believe me? on each toadstool-table there were a lot of nice things to eat!  Believe me, there was, really!  There were bits of cabbage, some red clover tops with marshmallow-chocolate on them, and candied cherries, and red raspberries with strawberry sauce, and oh, I don’t know what all!