Richard Barnum

“ So there, Uncle Elias!”
“Huh!” grunted the farmer, who was a hard and sometimes a cruel man.
“What do you want of a woodchuck, Uncle Elias?” asked Larry. “Do you want one to teach tricks to? If you do I’ll try to catch one for you in my trap.”
“Nonsense! As if I’d try to teach a woodchuck tricks!” snorted the old man, while his dog sniffed and snuffed at the wild smell and Winkie cowered down in her dark box. “If I had that ground-hog of yours—which I’m willing to pay a dollar for”—went on Mr. Tottle, “I’d turn her loose and set Buster on her! Woodchucks are no good!” ”

“ You know clover is what woodchucks like best of all.
“Clover!” laughed Winkie, tapping her brother playfully on his black nose. “If you eat any more clover, Blunk, it will run out of your ears, as grandma says.”
“Pooh! I never eat too much clover!” boasted Blunk. “And I’m going over to the field now and get some more. Do you girls want to come?” he asked. “I know where there’s some clover with red blossoms.”
“Oh, it’s too hot to move, especially with this thick fur we have to wear,” said Blinkie. “In the winter it isn’t bad; but now, with summer coming on, I wish I didn’t have so much fur.” ”

“ You are sort of running away, you know.”
“Yes, I ran away from that big noise,” admitted Winkie. “But what has that to do with it?”
“Running away always brings adventures,” answered Don. “At least it did to me. I was once a runaway dog. But I was glad to get back again, and I am very happy now.”
“Are you one of the farmer’s dogs that barked at my father and mother?” asked Winkie.
“No,” replied Don. “I never bark at woodchucks. I like them, and so does my master, who is very kind. But some men don’t like you ground-hogs, and they are always sending their dogs after you. ”

“ Only, she didn’t want to play alone!
“Please come on and slide with me,” begged Winkie of Blinkie.
“No, indeed!” answered the other woodchuck girl. “It’s too warm. I’m going to sleep.”
“Well, I’ll have to go by myself then,” said Winkie, a bit sadly. “Will you play after you wake up, Blinkie?”
“Maybe—maybe,” answered Blinkie, sleepily.
“Oh, I never saw such creatures!” murmured Winkie, as she ran along, giving a look toward her sister and a glance over into the next field where Blunk was nibbling clover. “All they think about is eating and sleeping! I’m going to do something! ”

“ But Uncle Elias didn’t know.
“Woodchuck!” he exclaimed. “Eating up everything a poor farmer can raise! I’ll kill that woodchuck of yours if I catch her out!”
“Well, you won’t catch her, for we aren’t going to let her out,” said Alice, and she and her brother felt bad because of the harsh words of Uncle Elias.
It is true, in some places, that woodchucks do harm when they are very numerous, and farmers don’t like them. But Larry and Alice did not see what harm poor little Winkie could do, especially if they kept her shut up in a pen. ”

“ Blunk, though slower witted than the wily Winkie, was not foolish, and did not need be warned of his danger.
Of course they talked in woodchuck language, just as dogs talk in their language and cats in theirs. Winkie and Blunk could not understand what the man said, though they understood some of the things he did. Nor could Farmer Tottle hear, much less understand, what the woodchucks said. Animals seem able to talk to one another, even if they are from different countries and are quite different one from the other.
Nearer and nearer came the heavy, tramping feet of the farmer. ”

“ Men are stupid creatures. It is only by accident that he could find this burrow.”
“Maybe his dog could,” suggested Winkie.
“Yes, a dog is smarter than a man when it comes to that,” said Mr. Woodchuck. “But don’t worry any more right away. Eat the good things I brought home, and I will think what is best to do.”
The three woodchuck children, Winkie, Blinkie, and Blunk, soon forgot their troubles in eating the sweet carrots and turnip. Even though Blunk had eaten so much clover he could hardly run, he was now ready for the good things his father had brought home. ”

“ Woodchuck was patting and tapping Winkie, Blinkie, and Blunk with his paws to make them run faster, and just as they were close to the front-door hole, there came another loud sound, and the earth trembled under the paws of the little animals. ”

“ But these footfalls were big and heavy.
“Maybe this is a farmer coming with a dog!” thought Winkie. “I guess I’d better hide!”
And hide she did, under a bush. It was well she did so, for, a little later, along came Uncle Elias with a big club in his hand. Uncle Elias [111] walked as softly as he could as he neared the house of his sister, in the yard of which he knew was Winkie’s pen.
“I’ll fix that woodchuck!” muttered the man. “It’s all right for children to have pets, but let ’em get a dog or a cat that doesn’t eat clover and gnaw vegetables. Woodchucks are pesky creatures! ”

“ At first Winkie was a bit timid about taking these chunks of carrot. But they smelled so good, and she was so hungry, that she at last ventured to nibble one. Then, finding no harm came to her, she grew bold and took more. She limped a little on the leg that had been caught [92] in the trap, but it was quickly getting over its soreness.
“Oh, isn’t Winkie cute!” cried Alice, as she watched the woodchuck eat.
“Yes,” agreed Larry. “And I want to teach her soon to eat out of my hand.”
“We want to be careful that she doesn’t bite us,” said his sister. “See what sharp teeth she has.” ”

“ You’re going to be ugly, are you?” exclaimed the boy. “Well, I can’t blame you. It isn’t any fun to be caught in a trap. I wouldn’t like it myself, and I’ll take you out if you don’t bite me.” For Larry knew that woodchucks can bite very severely when they are caught and when they fear they are in danger.
“I’ll go and get a bag to carry you in,” said Larry, still speaking aloud, as though Winkie could understand him. “I’ll get a bag, and then take you home. My sister Alice will like you. We’ll teach you tricks after we tame you. ”

“ Of course Winkie could not understand what the boy said, but if she thought anything at all she must have thought that she was very unlucky.
“It’s a nice fat woodchuck, too!” exclaimed Larry Dawson, which was the boy’s name. “It isn’t hurt, either. I’m glad it’s a smooth trap and not one with teeth! I set it to catch a skunk, but it caught a woodchuck instead. I guess she isn’t hurt much. A woodchuck’s fur isn’t any good, like a skunk’s. But I’ll take this ground-hog home, and maybe I can tame her and teach her tricks.” ”

“ Winkie, Blinkie, and Blunk had brought in bits of wood and stones with which they played. Their parents had carried in things to eat, and bits of these were stored in different places that Mrs. Woodchuck might call her cupboards.
But the woodchucks were to be driven from their home. In fact, they were very glad to get out, for, no matter how fine a house is, one never wants to be shut up there forever.
If some one closed all the doors and windows of your house tight, so that no air or sunshine [38] could get in, I think you would be as glad to find a way out as Winkie was. ”

“ Things in the woodchuck world, just as in your world and mine, very often [26] do not turn out the way they are expected to. For several days, however, after the game of tag and the shooting of the gun, nothing happened in the woodchuck home. For a time Winkie, Blinkie, and Blunk hardly poked their noses outside the back or front door. But as the days passed and no farmer with his gun and dog came, the children became bolder. ”

“ One day, when Larry and Alice came home from school, they ran out toward the woodchuck pen, for Larry had said he was going to teach Winkie a new trick. As brother and sister neared the pen they heard the loud barking of a dog, and the frightened whistling and teeth-clattering of the little ground-hog. ”

“ Tottle turned his team around and drove them back to the barn.
“The noise isn’t so loud now,” whispered Winkie, after a bit.
“No. Maybe nothing is going to happen after all,” said Blinkie.
But the danger was over only for a little while. The noise stopped as Farmer Tottle drove away, and, for a time, the ground-hogs thought everything was going to be all right. Ground-hog is another name for the woodchuck. ”

“ This is what wild animals always do when they hear or see anything strange. They stay quiet for just a moment or two before making up their minds what is best to do to save themselves from danger. And that danger was at hand Winkie, the wily woodchuck, felt sure. ”

“ However, almost any cat will arch up its back, hiss and, if it gets a chance, will run away from almost any dog. It was the same with Winkie, though she did not arch her back nor fluff out her tail—woodchucks don’t do that. But Winkie tried to run away as soon as she heard the bark of the dog.
Only she could not get out of the pen. But she did run and hide in her sleeping box, which was partly filled with hay.
“Oh, here comes Buster!” exclaimed Alice. “Don’t let Buster get the woodchuck!”
[87]
“No, indeed!” cried Larry. “Uncle Elias’s dog shan’t get my woodchuck!” ”

“ If we leave Winkie in her pen, Buster may come over to-morrow when we’re at school and bite her.”
“I’m going to get daddy to speak to Uncle Elias about his dog,” said the boy. “I like Buster, and he’s a good dog; but we can’t have him chasing over here and scaring our woodchuck. I’m going to make him stop.”
[102]
That night Mr. Dawson spoke to his brother-in-law about Buster, telling the farmer how the dog had nearly caught the woodchuck.
“I wish Buster really had caught that ground-hog!” exclaimed the uncle. “Woodchucks are a nuisance. They spoil my clover crop. ”

“ This is no time for sitting down and biting one’s paws. We must look for a way out! Come, Blunk, you and I will try the back-door again. And, Mother, you take Winkie and Blinkie and try the front-door. Maybe there is a little hole which we can dig larger, and so get out through it. ”

“ Winkie did not really care as much about bark as did Toto the beaver, for ground-hogs live mainly on clover, grass, and other soft plants. But when a woodchuck is hungry, as Winkie was, it will eat almost anything in the vegetable line. ”

“ Slowly, because she was now very fat, Winkie sat up on her hind quarters. This is easy for woodchucks to do, since they often sit that way outside their burrows to watch for danger.
“Look! She’s begging!” laughed Larry. “And here’s your piece of turnip!” he added. “Isn’t that a good trick, Alice?”
“A lovely one! I wish I could teach Winkie some tricks!”
“Maybe you can,” said Larry. “Here, see if she’ll beg for you.” And Winkie, who was standing with all four feet on the ground, again stood up as Alice held out a bit of carrot and told her to “beg!” ”

“ Of course they did not know the farmer had gone after his dog, but the woodchuck children knew they had been in danger; and where there is danger once for an animal, there may be danger a second time.
“Come on, Winkie!” said Blunk in a low voice, as the footsteps of the farmer died away in the distance. “Let’s run!” ”

“ Look here!”
“Oh, a woodchuck would hardly come right up to the house,” said his wife.
“But this one did!” cried Mr. Tottle. “I know the mark of a ground-hog’s teeth. And look, here are paw marks in the dirt! Yes, a woodchuck has been here. And I know which one it was!”
“Which one?” asked Mrs. Tottle.
“The pesky creature Larry and Alice keep for a pet! I was over last night—I mean I’m going over now,” and Uncle Elias corrected himself quickly. “I’m going over now and make ’em get rid of it!”
[115]
Winkie ate so much she could hardly waddle. ”

“ Nearly always when the woodchuck children played a game of tag, or any other running game, [14] Blunk would easily catch Winkie or Blinkie. For, being a boy woodchuck and strong, he could go faster than the girls. And this time Blunk thought he would have no trouble in tapping Winkie with his paw, tagging her and making her “it.” ”

“ I really oughtn’t to have come out, but I get tired of staying shut up so much, and, once in a while, I root my way out with my rubbery nose. But I’m going back now before I am caught in the storm, and you, also, had better find a place of shelter. ”

“ Woodchuck. “Catch hold of your mother by her front paws [42] and give her a pull. We’ll have to help her out of the hole.”
By pulling and hauling, they managed to get Mrs. Woodchuck up and out. Then the little animal family stood together outside the new hole that had been dug. Down below them was their burrow, no longer of any use, for the two door holes had been closed by the fall of rocks and earth, caused by Mr. Tottle’s blasting.
“Well, we haven’t any home now,” said Mrs. Woodchuck, giving herself a little shake to get rid of the dirt that clung to her fur. ”

“ And thank you for telling me about the hollow tree.”
“Don’t mention it!” chattered the squirrel. “We animals must be kind to one another. I hope you’ll rest well. I have my nest higher up in this same tree.”
“Then we shall be company for each other in the night,” said Winkie.
She found the hollow tree to which Slicko had pointed. Inside were some dried leaves, which would make a soft bed for the woodchuck girl. When night came Winkie crawled in and went to bed, and up higher in the tree she could see [67] Slicko crawling into a hole where the squirrel’s nest was made. ”

“ Blunk asked sadly.
“Make a new home, of course!” answered his father cheerfully.
“But where can we stay to-night?” Blinkie wanted to know.
“Oh, we shall do very well!” replied Mrs. Woodchuck. “This is the warm summer time, and we really don’t need an underground house now. We can stay in a hollow log in the woods.”
“What is the woods?” asked Winkie. Though the woodland trees grew not far from the burrow house, Winkie had never been in the forest.
“Come with your mother and me and we’ll show you,” her father answered. “Follow me!”
[43]
By pulling and hauling they managed to get Mrs. ”