should have promptly said that he was, but the truth
is, Whitefoot wasn't proud at all. You see, he was so surprised that
he hadn't yet had time to feel that they were really his. In fact, just
then he felt a wee bit jealous of them. It came over him that they would
take all the time and attention of little Mrs. Whitefoot. So Whitefoot
didn't answer that question. He simply sat and stared at those four
squirming babies.

Finally little Mrs. Whitefoot gently pushed him out and followed him.
"Of course," said she, "there isn't room for you to stay here now. You
will have to sleep in your old home because there isn't room in here for
both of us and the babies too."

Whitefoot's heart sank. He had thought that he was to stay and that
everything would be just as it had been before. "Can't I come over here
any more?" he asked rather timidly.

"What a foolish question!" cried little Mrs. Whitefoot. "Of course you
can. You will have to help take care of these babies. Just as soon as
they are big enough, you will have to help teach them how to hunt for
food and how to watch out for danger, and all the things that a wise
Wood Mouse knows. Why, they couldn't get along without you. Neither
could I," she added softly.

At that Whitefoot felt better. And suddenly there was a queer swelling
in his heart. It was the beginning of pride, pride in those wonderful
babies.

"You have given me the best surprise that ever was, my dear," said
Whitefoot softly. "Now I think I will go and look for some supper."

So now we will leave Whitefoot and his family. You see there are two
very lively little people of the Green Forest who demand attention and
insist on having it. They are Buster Bear's Twins, and this is to be the
title of the next book.

End of Project Gutenberg's Whitefoot the Wood Mouse, by Thornton W. Burgess

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