n the villages of the prairie dogs, and the little
owls sitting on the tops of the hillocks which are on the roofs of the
prairie dogs' houses, and the rattlesnakes coiled up here and there in
the hot, sunny hollows. There were lots and lots of the prairie dogs,
millions and millions of them, Bill said."

"There'd have been still more if it hadn't been for the little owls,"
said Uncle Andy with a grin. But seeing a grieved look on the Child's
face, and remembering that he himself was none too fond of having his
narratives broken in upon, he hastened to add politely, but pointedly,
"I beg your pardon for interrupting. Please go on!"

"Well, as I was going to say," continued the Child, in quite his
Uncle's manner, "Bill saw--he saw them himself, with his own
eyes--these millions and thousands of prairie dogs, and quite a lot of
the little owls, and only just a very few of the rattlesnakes. So, you
see, it looks as if the owls must have eaten some of the snakes, and,
anyhow, I think Bill was telling the truth _this_ time."

"Well," said Uncle after puffing at his pipe for a few complimentary
moments of reflection, "there's one important thing which Bill appears
to have neglected. He doesn't seem to have inquired the views of the
prairie dogs on the subject. Now, if he'd got _their_ opinion--"

"But how _could_ he?" protested the Child reproachfully. He was always
troubled when Uncle Andy displayed anything like a frivolous strain.

"To be sure! To be sure! You _couldn't_ have expected that of Bill,"
agreed Uncle Andy. "Still, you know, the opinion of the prairie dogs
would have been interesting, wouldn't it? Well, I'll tell you a story
just as soon as I can get this old pipe to draw properly, and then you
can judge the opinion of the prairie dogs as to whether the Little
Burrowing Owl is 'good' or not. If their opinion does not agree with
Bill's, why you can choose for yourself between the two."

"Prairie Dog Village was of considerable size, covering as it did
perhaps a dozen acres of the dry, light prairie soil. Its houses were
crowded together without any regard to order or arrangement, and so
closely as to suggest that their owners imagined land was scarce in the
neighborhood. It wasn't. For hundreds of miles in every direction the
plains stretched away to the dim horizon. There was room everywhere,
nothing much, in fact, _but_ room, with a little coarse grass and
plenty of clear air. But the po