OCR Text |
Show eyes, that's all," retorted Short-Tall. Short-Tall. "I've seen you more times than 1 can remember, and occasionally occasion-ally you've seen me, but like n great many other people, you've caught just a glimpse of me and thought I was n Mouse. You've seen my tracks In the snow lots of times, and you've thought they were the tracks of a Mouse. Of course 1 try to keep out of sight as much as possible. pos-sible. 1 have to do a great deal of my hunting among the leaves under the snow, beeouse that Is where most of the Insects that sleep all winter are to be found. Then I find a lot In the rotted centers of old stumps. 1 just love to dig around In those." "And Is that nil you nave to eat, the sleeping bugs and things you can find under the leaves and In old .. - em-win V to we something V""S' nrioslty will ' Jf" Ir.lf tilery- So. V ' S "ke 4 !onB tim0' ' ..nttv rl-'lit where 'f left l etor m , 16 1 "about Short-Tail. , " u what Short-Tall MtErtored up food for -,M certainly r Vtliing 1 store l,p-'frte l,p-'frte things, Peter , fUs when Short- i Chouse must be quite a H LS ere'snid he. "What kiK J, grinned. I wouldu t 1 1 usWtloo for some folks," ' I don't mind answering splosi,, valise you might hunt 's V. of vour life and not find Irs. Pi some little tunnels In e.j and off of these I have r .e storehouses. In one of putting all the snails I ,', ion have no idea how 1 taste in the middle of ien a fellow has to run his n,," enough to eat." Short-u-ked his lips. I 'i think such a little fellow "twaldhave to sleep all wln-, wln-, ,'S freeze to death," said t Meadow Mouse doesn't ...j he doesn't freeze, does .'jned Short-Tail, rather "Xo, sir, I'm just as active .. as I am in summer. In '-a a little more active, if ..because it Is harder work I .-oagh to eat, and I have to i because food makes heat, 1 1, and without plenty of c " -i-tainly would freeze." (jj haven't I seen you In . ' persisted Peter, looking t puzzled as he felt. . -,-e yon haven't nsed your stumps?" exclaimed Peter. "I should think you would have to hustle." "No," confessed Short-Tail, "that isn't all. If 'Reddy Fox or Shadow the Weasel or any other of the hunters hunt-ers about here make a kill I usually usu-ally know it and have many a good feast on the scraps which trey leave, and by picking the bones. Then, I eat beechnuts and some seeds. In fact, I can eat almost anything when I have to. I've never starved yet, and I don't intend to in the future. Excuse me. I'm getting hungry again. I'll, be back again soon." With this, Short-Tail darted away. Watching him, Peter had an uncomfortable uncom-fortable feeling that in his movements move-ments he was very much tike Shadow the Weasel. , 1933. by T. W. Burgess. WNTJ Service. |