"Did you keep an eye on the Ground Squirrel"s back door?" he inquired.
And he was so amused by something or other that he began to giggle.
Benny Badger was afraid that Mr. Coyote was going to burst into song again. And he couldn"t help shuddering.
"Are you going to sing?" he asked hastily.
"I hadn"t intended to," Mr. Coyote answered. "But of course if you want me to----"
"No! no!" Benny cried. "Please don"t!"
"Very well!" his musical friend replied. And then he returned to his question. "What about the back door? Did you watch it carefully?" he inquired.
"How could I?" Benny demanded, with a snort of anger. "I can"t dig away at a Ground Squirrel"s hole, with my head buried in it, and watch his back door at the same time. If I stopped digging, and went around to the back door, he"d be almost sure to run out through the front one. So I"d be no better off. In fact, I"d be worse off; for I"d lose not only the Ground Squirrel, but the fun of digging, too."
Mr. Coyote turned his head away and smiled a wide, wide smile. It was some moments before he could trust himself to speak without laughing right in Benny Badger"s face.
"It"s plain," he said at last, "that you need help. So I"m coming here every night to a.s.sist you in the business of catching Ground Squirrels."
VI
STRANGE PARTNERS
Mr. Coyote"s plan for helping him catch Ground Squirrels did not please Benny Badger in the least. Up to that time he had always had fair luck hunting alone. And he said as much to Mr. Coyote, in none too friendly a tone.
Though Benny thought he had made his feelings plain enough, it seemed as if Mr. Coyote couldn"t take a hint. So far was he from guessing that Benny did not care for his scheme that he even suggested that it might be a good idea if he brought a half dozen of his brothers along with him. He was very cheerful about the whole affair--was Mr. Coyote.
Indeed, he appeared quite ready to arrange Benny Badger"s business, without ever a "By your leave," or "If you don"t mind."
But Benny Badger was no person to stand quietly by and let a scamp like Mr. Coyote spoil his whole life. He shook his head in a most obstinate fashion, giving his visitor fair warning not to go too far.
"For goodness" sake, don"t bring any of your brothers here!" Benny Badger shouted. "I never could stand a crowd of your relations. It"s bad enough to have to listen to your six brothers when they"re half a mile away."
Mr. Coyote took no offence at that remark.
"Very well!" he replied. "No doubt they"d want to sing if they came here to help you. And certainly their singing would interfere with your digging--for of course you"d want to stop and listen to it."
Benny Badger"s only comment sounded somewhat like "Humph!" But Mr.
Coyote must have thought that Benny agreed with him. At least, he nodded his head. And he went on to say that he would be glad to help Benny alone, without calling on his brothers.
Benny Badger made no further objection. To be sure, having one of the Coyote family with him every night would be bad enough. But it was so much better than having seven of them that he began to feel almost pleased. Perhaps he was lucky, after all! And besides, he thought that when Mr. Coyote came to help him catch Ground Squirrels that good-for-nothing scamp would soon tire of digging.
And then a terrible uproar broke the silence. It sounded as if a hundred wolves--or maybe a thousand dogs--had fallen to quarreling a mile away, growling and howling in the distance.
As soon as he heard the noise Mr. Coyote p.r.i.c.ked up his ears and sprang to his feet. "I must leave you now," he said. "There are my six brothers! They"re going to have a sing. And I promised that I"d join them. . . . Don"t forget!" he added, as he flung a sly smile in Benny Badger"s direction. "I"ll be here soon after dark to-morrow night."
And the next moment he was gone.
Benny Badger stood and watched him as he loped off across the moonlit plain. And not long afterward a terrific racket--twice as loud as the one before--made Benny bury his head in the place where he had been digging.
"Mr. Coyote has joined his six brothers," he said to himself.
VII
MR. COYOTE REMEMBERS
The next evening, just at dusk, Benny Badger left his den and set forth on his usual nightly ramble.
By way of exercise, and for the sake of the fun it gave him, and to improve his appet.i.te, he dug a few holes. And by the time it was dark he was hungry as a bear and ready to look once more for fresh holes made by Ground Squirrels.
He had decided not to wait for Mr. Coyote to join him, before beginning his search. And he even hoped that Mr. Coyote had forgotten all about his promise to meet him and help him hunt.
But Benny Badger was to have no such good fortune as that. It was not long before he heard Mr. Coyote calling to him. And though he made no answer, thinking that Mr. Coyote might not be able to find him, in a few minutes that sharp-faced gentleman came bounding up at top speed.
"Here I am!" he cried, as soon as he spied Benny Badger. "I see you started out without waiting for me. You didn"t think I"d disappoint you, did you?"
"I was afraid you wouldn"t," Benny answered--a remark that Mr. Coyote seemed not to understand. For a moment or two he looked somewhat puzzled. But he decided, evidently, that Benny _meant_ to be pleasant, but didn"t know how to be.
"Now, then," Mr. Coyote said, while Benny Badger shuddered at his harsh voice, "now then, where do you think we"d better look for a hole?"
"For pity"s sake, don"t howl so loud!" Benny Badger besought him.
"You"ll waken all the Ground Squirrels in the neighborhood if you"re so noisy."
"Pardon me!" said Mr. Coyote very meekly, lowering his voice, but promptly raising it again. "Do you know of any fresh holes around here?"
Benny Badger said that he didn"t.
"Then you"d better hunt for one at once," Mr. Coyote declared, sitting down on his haunches as if he hadn"t the slightest notion of doing any of the searching himself. "While you"re looking, I"ll sing a little song," he announced.
"You needn"t trouble yourself to do that," Benny Badger told him hastily.
"Oh, it"s no trouble at all, I a.s.sure you," Mr. Coyote replied.
"Well--don"t you do it, anyhow," Benny warned him. "If you sing, you"ll spoil everything, because I shall not be able to look for any hole."
"I see," said Mr. Coyote, looking more than pleased. "You"d want to stop and listen to me, of course."
"It"s not that," Benny Badger corrected him. "I may as well tell you that I don"t like your songs at all."
"I have some that you"ve never heard," Mr. Coyote explained.
"I don"t want to hear them," Benny Badger informed him. "I may as well tell you that your songs drive me almost crazy."