-a-rum!" said he in his deep voice. "It's very strange to me how
little some folks know about their nearest neighbors." He looked up
and winked at jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun.

Striped Chipmunk, Johnny Chuck, Jimmy Skunk, and Danny Meadow Mouse
looked as though they felt very foolish, as indeed they did. You see,
all their lives Miner the Mole had been one of their nearest
neighbors, and yet they didn't know the first thing about him.

"It happened a long time ago," continued Grandfather Frog.

"When the world was young?" interrupted Danny Meadow Mouse.

"Of course," replied Grandfather Frog, pretending to be very much put
out at such a foolish question. Danny hung his head and resolved that
he would bite his tongue before he asked another question.

"In those days Miner's great-great-grandfather a thousand times
removed didn't live under ground," continued Grandfather Frog. "Nobody
did. He wasn't so very different from a lot of other animals. Food was
plenty, and everybody was on the best of terms with everybody else.
Mr. Mole lived just as the rest did. He went and came as he pleased,
and enjoyed the sunshine and took part in all the good times of his
neighbors. Everybody liked him, and whenever he made a call, he was
sure of a welcome. But one thing Mr. Mole never did; he never meddled
in other people's affairs. No, Sir, Mr. Mole never poked his nose in
where he had no business.

"For a long time everything went smoothly with all the people of the
Green Forest and the Green Meadows. Then came hard times. They grew
harder and harder. Food was scarce and kept growing more scarce.
Everybody was hungry, and you know how it is with hungry people--they
grow ugly and quarrelsome. Matters grew worse and worse, and then it
was that fear was born. The big people, like Old King Bear and Mr.
Wolf and Mr. Panther and Mr. Lynx, began to look with hungry eyes on
the little people, and the little people began to grow afraid and hide
from the big people, and all the time they were continually quarreling
among themselves and stealing from each other to get enough to eat.

"Now, as I said before, Mr. Mole never had meddled with other people's
business, and he didn't now. He went off by himself to think things
over. 'It isn't safe to run around any more,' said he. 'I met Mr. Wolf
this morning, and he looked at me with such a hungry look in his eyes
that it gave me the cold shivers. I believe he would have eaten me, if
I hadn't c