e in the tree. If he hadn't had that
tree to help him he'd never have dared say what he did.

"To tell the truth, I am a bit out of patience with that beech tree,"
Grunty confessed. "It played me a mean trick. And I hope there'll be a
raging wind to-night that will rob it of every bur it has.... I'd uproot
the beech," he added, "if I didn't like beechnuts so much."

"Well, you _are_ an odd one," said Frisky Squirrel.

"If everybody was as odd as I am there'd be fewer Jasper Jays in the
world," Grunty Pig declared.

XXIII

MOSES MOUSE'S WAY

One day when Grunty Pig was at home, in the pigpen, a squeaky voiced
piped "Good morning!" to him. Looking up, Grunty saw a plump little
gentleman clinging to the top board on one side of the pen.

"Good morning!" Grunty answered. "May I inquire what your name is?"

"I'm Moses Mouse," his caller replied.

"Do you live in the piggery?--or in the barn?" Grunty asked him.

"Neither!" said Moses Mouse. "I live in the farmhouse. My wife and I
have a nest in the wall.... The cat's away," he explained. "That's why
I decided to stroll across the yard and visit you folks out here."

"Some people," said Grunty Pig, "have all the luck. You live in the
farmhouse. Miss Kitty Cat lives in the farmhouse--when she's at home.
And old dog Spot spends a good deal of his time there--especially in
cold weather. It must be pleasant to have your home where there's always
plenty to eat, whenever you happen to feel hungry."

"Miss Kitty Cat and old dog Spot always fare well," Mr. Mouse admitted.
"But I've often gone to bed half starved. Maybe you didn't know that
Mrs. Green is terribly neat. She doesn't leave much food around for us
Mice."

"Well," Grunty remarked, "it's an honor, anyhow, to live in the
farmhouse. You ought not to complain about the food, even if it is a
bit scarce at times. I'd be glad to live there. And I dare say I'd find
a plenty to eat. The farmhouse is where the sour milk comes from."

"If you feel like that," said Moses Mouse, "why don't you join us? Why
don't you come to the farmhouse for the winter, anyhow?"

Grunty Pig shook his head.

"No!" he said, half to himself. "No! I can't do it."

"Why not?" Mr. Mouse wanted to know.

"I've never been invited," Grunty told him, with something like a frown.

Moses Mouse surprised him with a merry laugh.

"Ho!" he exclaimed. "Neither have I. If I had waited for an invitation I
wouldn't be living in the farmhous