It would not have been surprising if Mr. Coyote had flown into a great rage. But he did not. Instead, he pretended to wipe a tear away from each of his eyes. "It"s a pity"--he sighed--"it"s a pity that you don"t understand music. Some time I will teach you to sing--with the help of my six brothers."
Benny Badger showed no joy over that promise. But he felt relieved when Mr. Coyote agreed not to sing that night. And then Benny set out alone to look for a fresh Ground Squirrel"s hole, leaving Mr. Coyote with his face hidden in his pocket-handkerchief.
VIII
A WATCHER AND A WORKER
Benny Badger searched for some time before he found a Ground Squirrel"s hole that looked as if its owner had finished it only a day or two before.
The place was so far from the spot where Benny had left Mr. Coyote that he did not believe he could call loudly enough for his helper to hear him.
For a few moments Benny thought that perhaps he ought to go back and tell Mr. Coyote that he had found a good place to dig. But he soon changed his mind.
"I"ll just begin digging and say nothing," he remarked to himself. "And perhaps I can catch this Ground Squirrel without Mr. Coyote"s help."
So he set to work. But he hadn"t dug very far into the hole before he heard Mr. Coyote"s voice close behind him. That sly fellow had been following him all the time.
"I hope the owner of this hole is at home," Mr. Coyote ventured.
At those words Benny Badger backed out of the hole and turned around.
"I"ll let you dig a while," he said generously.
Mr. Coyote thanked him. But he answered that he couldn"t think of accepting Benny Badger"s offer.
"I know you would be disappointed not to do the digging yourself," he explained. "And besides, you"re a better digger than I am. So I"ll let you tear this tunnel open, while I go around to the back door and watch. . . . You know, I have a very sharp eye."
Benny Badger looked at Mr. Coyote narrowly. It occurred to him that _both_ Mr. Coyote"s eyes were very sharp. Furthermore, his nose was sharp, too. And so were his teeth. Yes! on the whole, Benny thought, Mr.
Coyote appeared to be an exceedingly sharp person.
"Very well!" Benny told him at last. "I"ll do the digging, gladly--for I need the practice that it will give me. You see, I haven"t dug more than a half-dozen holes to-night."
Then he thrust his head into the opening he had already made. But before he had begun to throw more dirt behind him he pulled his head out again and called to his helper, who had moved a few steps away.
"If the Ground Squirrel comes out through his back door, please call me at once!" he cried.
Mr. Coyote nodded his head over his shoulder and smiled.
"I will," he agreed. "And I"ll ask you not to forget to dig hard, because you know I"ll be watching hard. And it wouldn"t be fair for one of us to do less work than the other."
Benny Badger replied that in his opinion Mr. Coyote"s statement was in every way reasonable.
And then he began to dig.
Benny would have made better time had he not stopped every few minutes to listen; for he did not want to miss hearing Mr. Coyote"s call.
But his ears caught nothing more than a chuckle from the spot where Mr.
Coyote sat on his haunches in the gra.s.s, watching.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Mr. Owl greets Benny very coldly.]
"I can stand his chuckling--if only he won"t sing!" Benny said to himself.
IX
A CARELESS HELPER
Stopping often to listen, Benny Badger did not reach the Ground Squirrel"s chamber half as quickly as he could have had he done nothing but dig.
And when he thrust his nose into the underground bedroom he found n.o.body at home. The Ground Squirrel had fled, leaving his nest so warm that Benny Badger knew he could not have been gone long.
Benny turned away. But he was not so disappointed as he might have been, for he remembered that Mr. Coyote was watching the back door. And certainly no Ground Squirrel could escape his sharp eyes.
Hurrying as fast as his short legs would carry him, Benny joined Mr.
Coyote, who still sat comfortably on his haunches.
To Benny"s surprise, his helper"s eyes were closed, instead of being fixed on the Ground Squirrel"s back door.
"Have you seen anything of the Ground Squirrel?" Benny demanded anxiously.
Mr. Coyote started, and opened his eyes.
"Somebody came out a few moments ago," he replied. "But he disappeared in no time."
"That"s too bad!" Benny Badger wailed. "He got away!"
"Are you sure?" Mr. Coyote inquired.
"Why, yes!" Benny cried. "It"s as plain as the nose on your face."
"I won"t dispute you," said Mr. Coyote.
"You"d better not!" Benny Badger snapped. "You have been very careless.
I don"t believe you watched carefully enough. When I came up just now you had your eyes shut."
"I won"t dispute you," said Mr. Coyote again. He was most polite--so polite, in fact, that Benny Badger was ashamed to appear rude or quarrelsome.
But Benny couldn"t help being disappointed over losing the Ground Squirrel. And when, after he had dug to the end of three more tunnels that night, the same accident happened three times more, he decided that something would have to be done. It was clear that Mr. Coyote"s eyes were not sharp enough. He was not nearly so helpful as Benny had expected him to be. "We"ll have to change about," Benny announced at last. "You must dig, while I watch."
But Mr. Coyote promptly made a number of objections to that plan. He said, with something quite like a sneer, that he had much sharper eyes than any member of the Badger family that ever lived, and that he was quicker than a hundred Badgers put together. And as if he hadn"t given reasons enough for disagreeing with Benny, he declared that he simply couldn"t do any digging that night because he had a sore paw.