ot you into a _peck_ of
trouble, Mr. Crow, for I haven't eaten a peck of Farmer Green's corn.
I've had only a few kernels of it--not more than half a pint."

"Then you've got me into a half-pint of trouble, anyway," old Mr. Crow
insisted. "And that's too much, for a person of my age. You'll have to
keep away from my--ahem!--from Farmer Green's cornfield. And what's
more, Fatty Coon says the same thing."

At the mention of Fatty Coon's name Dickie Deer Mouse had to smile.

"Fatty Coon!" he echoed. "How he does like corn!"

"Yes! But he doesn't like you," Mr. Crow snapped. "You'd better look out
for him," he warned Dickie. "He'll come to call on you some night, the
first thing you know.

"By the way, where are you living now?" Mr. Crow inquired.

But Dickie Deer Mouse made no answer. Right before Mr. Crow's sharp eyes
he vanished among the roots of a tree. And it made the old gentleman
quite peevish because he couldn't discover where Dickie Deer Mouse had
hidden himself.

For a little while Mr. Crow stood like a black statue and peered at the
tangle where Dickie Deer Mouse had disappeared. But Mr. Crow couldn't
see him anywhere. And at last his patience came to an end.

"He never answered my question," Mr. Crow grumbled. "He wouldn't tell me
where he lived. But I'll find out. I'll ask my cousin, Jasper Jay; for
there isn't much that _he_ doesn't know."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

VII

NOISY VISITORS

Of course Jasper Jay knew where Dickie Deer Mouse lived. And he took
great pleasure in pointing out the exact spot to his curious cousin, old
Mr. Crow.

It was broad daylight when they visited the tree where Dickie's house
hung. The two rogues did not know that he was drowsing inside his snug
home, because he had been out late the night before.

No one that knew the two cousins would need to be told that they could
never talk together quietly. Perched close to Dickie's house, Mr. Crow
croaked in a hoarse voice, while Jasper Jay squalled harshly.

"This is it!" Jasper had announced, as soon as they arrived. "This is
his house. And isn't it a sight?"

"I should say so!" old Mr. Crow agreed. "It's got a roof on it--ha! ha!"

And the two visitors laughed loudly, as if they thought there was a huge
joke somewhere.

They made such a noise, from the very first, that Dickie Deer Mouse
awoke and heard almost everything they said. But he didn't mind their
remarks in the least--until he caught Fatty