ruck him an awful blow right on the top of his head.

"Ouch! What was that!" cried Little White Fox, peering about and rubbing
his head.

The seven strangers were standing still stiff in a straight row. Not a
word did they say, but they had moved quite a bit closer to Little White
Fox.

"I wonder," said Little White Fox. Then he began to roll the rock again.
Bing! something struck his head, harder than before. Little White Fox
whirled about quickly this time. One of the strangers was straightening
up.

"What has she been doing?" he said to himself. "I shouldn't wonder if
she had been hitting me with her ugly face. I have a great mind to bite
her! What business is it of hers if I come up here and roll these little
stones around? Don't all the stones in the world belong to anybody who
wants them?"

He gave the rock a vigorous push this time. It rolled over a small
ledge, gave a little squash! and broke in two in the middle. Little
White Fox could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the inside of the
stone spread out on the ground, all yellow and white! And _Ah-ne-ca!_
how strong it smelled! But the smell was the most delicious that Little
White Fox had ever sniffed.

"I'll just taste some of that good smelling stuff," said Little White
Fox happily, and was about to poke his small nose right into it, when
ouch! something hit him a terrible whack right on the top of his head.
My, how it hurt! It made his head ache so he could hardly think
straight. And this time he knew who had done it. It was one of those
ugly Parrot people.

"Now, I _will_ bite her!" cried Little White Fox, and straight at that
stiff row he dashed. And then at last the strangers found their
tongues. Such a screaming and chattering Little White Fox had never
heard before. But he found he couldn't bite them, after all, for every
time he jumped at one of them, she leaped right over his head and hit
him with her ugly face. So by and by Little White Fox was glad to run
away home and leave the strange rocks to the ugly little people who were
so savage and so bold.

Mother White Fox laughed and laughed when she heard of her son's strange
adventure.

"But, mother," said Little White Fox, looking very much puzzled, "What
did they care about those old rocks?"

"Care, child!" cried his mother, holding her sides, "those things were
not rocks; they were their eggs. And the ledge you were on was their
home. By and by those eggs will turn into little Sea P