ed, at last he forgot all about that danger. It was
late in the afternoon when a horrid call sent him scurrying off:

"_Whoo, hoo-hoo-hoo, whoo, whoo!_"

Billy Woodchuck was sure that the Great Horned Owl had found him at
last. He ran a little way as fast as he could; and then he crouched
down in the grass.

Again came that deep, long-drawn call. It sent Billy off on another
short run.

And after that had happened three times, he was so scared that he
thrust his head under a heap of dried leaves. So long as he
couldn't see the Great Horned Owl, he thought that the Great Horned
Owl couldn't see him.

Then Billy heard his mother's voice. She was calling him. And he
looked up quickly. There she was, right beside him!

"Did you drive him away, Mother?" he asked.

"Whom do you mean?" she inquired.

"Why, the Great Horned Owl!" Billy said.

"I was the only one that called," she told him. "I wanted to see
what you would do. And I must say, you behaved very foolishly.
Don't ever cover up your head like that. First, you must try to get
away. And if you should get caught, remember that your teeth are
sharp. But they won't be of any use to you with your head buried
under a pile of leaves."

Billy Woodchuck saw that he had a great deal to learn. But he was
glad that his mother had taught him that much, though he was
ashamed that he had been so silly.

V

BILLY STANDS GUARD

Old Mr. Woodchuck had a great deal of time on his paws. He was
always telling people how a stone once rolled off a wall on top of
him and hurt his back, so he was not strong enough to do much work.
On pleasant days he was usually to be found sunning himself. And
often when he leaned his lame back against a tree where the sun
fell squarely upon him he would fall asleep and stay there for
hours at a time.

Though he did no work at all, his appetite was always good. And
when he heard that there were ripe apples, or lettuce, or some
other dainty to be had, he always managed to get to the feast about
as early as anybody else. At such times he seemed to forget how
much his back hurt him.

There came a day when Mr. Woodchuck dashed home on a run. At first
his wife thought there must be a fox chasing him. But as soon as he
caught his breath (he was so fat that running always made him
puff), he told Mrs. Woodchuck that a party of his friends was going
to make a raid on Farmer Green's clover-field.

"I'm going with them," he said.

"Do yo