hen
he was playing he had caught a bee in his little paws and had received a
sting, and he never forgot how sore his paws were and how they swelled
so that he was unable to climb for several days. Since that time he had
always made it a practice to move away when a bee came too close.

After the boys were gone and Farmer Jones had gone back to his house,
Coonie decided that he would go over to the field and see what the
inside of the bees' nest looked like.

As he approached the field where the battle had taken place, much to his
surprise, he saw his friend Woodchuck snooping around among the ruins.
When Coonie reached him, he sat up on his hind feet and began licking
his paws.

"Hello, Chuck," Coonie said. "What are you doing? Why, your face is a
sight. My, such a dirty face. Why, Chuck, I am surprised," and he
noticed the greedy look in Chuck's eyes.

"Yum! yum!" was the only reply he received and Chuck began picking
around in the grass.

[Illustration: "YUM, YUM, BUT IT IS FINE"]

"I say, Chuck," Coonie said again, "what are you doing?"

"Doing?" echoed Chuck. "Why, this is the best food I have had for a long
time, Coonie. My face may be a little sticky, but it can be washed, so I
don't care. Such a treat as I have had! I am sorry you missed it all. I
saw some boys capering and scampering around here this afternoon, and as
soon as they left I came over to see what it was all about, and this is
what I found," and Chuck held up a small yellow pod. "Just taste one,
Coonie, it is sweeter than any berry I ever tasted. Yum, yum, but it is
fine."

"Hum!" sniffed Coonie. "It may suit your taste, but honey is much too
sticky for me."

"Well, I'm glad you don't want any," Chuck replied. "You always were
rather particular, but I am only Chuck anyhow, and as some people call
me a hog--a ground-hog, you know--I might as well live up to my name."

"But, Chuck, just go down to the brook and look at your face."

Chuck, seeing that his supply of sweets was exhausted, did as Coonie
suggested and waddled toward the brook, Coonie accompanying him.

As Chuck was washing his face and paws, Coonie remarked that he knew
where there was plenty of the kind of honey Chuck had been feasting on.
"Only," he added, "it is much cleaner than what you have been eating."

"Oh, Coonie, tell me where it is, won't you, please?" cried Chuck,
stopping his toilet and catching up Coonie's paw. "I just dearly love
it, and I'll be your lifelong