was quite large with a big heap of sand out in front of it. Down a little way the tunnel grew smaller and then remained the same size all the rest of the way. Way down at the farther end was a nice little bedroom with some grass in it. There were one or two other little rooms, and there were two branch tunnels leading up to the surface of the ground, making side or back doorways. There was no sand around either of these, and they were quite hidden by the long grass hanging over them. I don't understand how Johnny made those doorways without leaving any sand on the doorsteps.”
“Huh!” interrupted Johnny Chuck. “That was easy enough. I pushed all the sand out of the main doorway so that there would be nothing to attract the attention of any one passing near those back doorways. Those back doorways are very handy in time of danger.”
“Do you always have three doorways?” asked Happy Jack.
“No,” replied Johnny Chuck. “Sometimes I have only two and once in a while only one. But that isn't really safe, and I mean always to have at least two.”
“Do you use the same house year after year?” piped up Striped Chipmunk.
Johnny shook his head. “No,” said he. “I dig a new hole each spring. Mrs. Chuck and I like a change of scene. Usually my new home isn't very far from my old one, because I am not fond of traveling. Sometimes, however, if we cannot find a place that just suits us, we go quite a distance.”
“Are your babies born down in that little bedroom in the ground?” asked Jumper the Hare.
“Of course,” replied Johnny Chuck. “Where else would they be born?”
“I didn't know but Mrs. Chuck might make a nest on the ground the way Mrs. Peter and Mrs. Jumper do,” replied Jumper meekly.
“No, siree!” replied Johnny. “Our babies are born in that little underground bedroom, and they stay down in the ground until they are big enough to hunt for food for themselves.”
“How many do you usually have?” inquired Chatterer the Red Squirrel.
“Six or eight,” replied Johnny Chuck. “Mrs. Chuck and I believe in large families.”
“Do you eat nuts like the rest of our family?” inquired Striped Chipmunk.
“No,” replied Johnny Chuck. “Give me green food every time. There is nothing so good as tender sweet clover and young grass, unless it be some of those fine vegetables Farmer Brown grows in his garden.”
Peter Rabbit nodded his head very emphatically as if he quite agreed.
“I suppose you are what is called a vegetarian, then,” said Happy Jack, to which Johnny Chuck replied that he supposed he was. “And I suppose that is why you sleep all winter,” added Happy Jack.
“If I didn't I would starve,” responded Johnny Chuck promptly. “When it gets near time for Jack Frost to arrive, I stuff and stuff and stuff on the last of the good green things until I'm so fat I can hardly waddle. Then I go down to my bedroom, curl up and go to sleep. Cold weather, snow and ice don't worry me a bit.”
“I know,” spoke up Striped Chipmunk. “I sleep most of the winter myself. Of course I have a lot of food stored away down in my house, and once in a while I wake up and eat a little. Do you ever wake up in the winter, Johnny Chuck?”
“No,” replied Johnny. “I sleep right through, thank goodness. Sometimes I wake up very early in the spring before the snow is all gone, earlier than I wish I did. That is where my fat comes in handy. It keeps me warm and keeps me alive until I can find the first green plants. Perhaps you have noticed that early in the spring I am as thin as I was fat in the fall. This is because I have used up the fat, waiting for the first green things to appear.”
“Do you have many enemies?” asked Peter Rabbit, who has so many himself that he is constantly thinking of them.
“Not many, but enough,” growled Johnny Chuck. “Reddy Fox, Old Man Coyote, men and Dogs are the worst. Of course, when I was small I always had to be watching out for Hawks, and of course, like all the rest of us little folks, I am afraid of Shadow the Weasel. Reddy Fox has tried to dig me out more than once, but I can dig faster than he can. If he ever gets me cornered, he'll find that I can fight. A small Dog surprised me once before I could get to my hole and I guess that Dog never will tackle another Woodchuck.”
“Time is up,” interrupted Old Mother Nature. “Johnny Chuck has a big cousin out in the mountains of the Great West named Whistler, and on the prairies of the Great West he has a smaller cousin named Yap Yap. They are quite important members of the Marmot family, and to-morrow I'll tell you about them if you want me to. You need not come tomorrow, Johnny Chuck, unless you want to,” she added.
Johnny Chuck hung his head, for he was a little ashamed that he had been so unwilling to come that morning.
“If you please, Mother Nature,” said he, “I think I'll come. I didn't know I had any close relatives, and I want to know about them.”
So it was agreed that all would be on hand at sun-up the next morning, and then everybody started for home to think over the things they had learned.
Chapter VIII
Whistler and Yap Yap
Johnny Chuck was the first one on hand the next morning. The fact is, Johnny was quite excited over the discovery that he had some near relatives. He always had supposed that the Woodchucks were a family by themselves. Now that he knew that he had some close relatives, he was filled with quite as much curiosity as ever Peter Rabbit possessed. Just as soon as Old Mother Nature was ready to begin, Johnny Chuck was ready with a question. “If you please,” said he, “who are my nearest relatives?”
“The Marmots of the Far West,” replied Old Mother Nature. “You know, you are a Marmot, and these cousins of yours out there are a great deal like you in a general way. The biggest and handsomest of all is Whistler, who lives in the mountains of the Northwest. The fact is, he is the biggest of all the Marmot family.”
“Is he much bigger than Johnny Chuck?” asked Peter Rabbit.
“Considerably bigger,” replied Old Mother Nature, nodding her head. “Considerably bigger. I should think he would weight twice as much as Johnny.”
Johnny's eyes opened very wide. “My!” he exclaimed, “I should like to see him. Does he look like me?”
“In his shape he does,” said Old Mother Nature, “but he has a very much handsomer coat. His coat is a mixture of dark brown and white hairs which give him a grayish color. The upper part of his head, his feet and nails are black, and so are his ears. A black band runs from behind each ear down to his neck. His chin is pure white and there is white on his nose. Underneath he is a light, rusty color. His fur is thicker and softer than yours, Johnny; this is because he lives where it is colder. His tail is larger, somewhat bushier, and is a blackish-brown.”
“If you please, why is he called Whistler?” asked Johnny Chuck eagerly.
“Because he has a sharp, clear whistle which can be heard a very long distance,” replied Old Mother Nature. “He sits up just as you do. If he sees danger approaching he whistles, as a warning to all his relatives within hearing.”
“I suppose it is foolish to ask if he lives in a hole in the ground as Johnny Chuck does,” spoke up Peter Rabbit.
“He does,” replied Old Mother Nature. “All Marmots live in holes in the ground, but Whistler lives in entirely different country. He lives up on the sides of the mountains, often so high that no trees grow there and the ground is rocky. He digs his hole down in between the rocks.”
“It must be a nice, safe hole,” said Peter. “I guess he doesn't have to worry about being dug out by Reddy fox.”
“You