u think you ought to?" she asked. "Isn't it too far? Isn't
your back too lame?"

Mr. Woodchuck clapped his hands to his back and groaned a bit.

"They say there's nothing better for my trouble than tender young
clover-heads," he replied. "So I think I ought to go.... What I
came home for is this: We want some spry young fellow to come along
with us and be a sentinel. And I'm going to take Billy. He's old
enough now to make himself of some use."

"I don't want him to go," Mrs. Woodchuck said. "He's only a child."

"He has ears, hasn't he? And eyes?" her husband replied. "It's time
he helped me a little, after all I've done for him."

Billy Woodchuck was sure that he wanted to go. He was listening to
every word.

"What's a sentinel?" he asked.

"A sentinel is a guard," his father told him. "It is his duty to
sit upon a knoll and watch for men and dogs, while his friends eat
the clover. And if he sees or hears a man or a dog--or any other
enemy--he whistles as loud as he can. That's the danger signal. And
just as soon as they hear it, all the other chucks run away."

"Please let me go, Mother!" Billy begged.

"It's very dangerous," Mrs. Woodchuck objected.

"No danger at all!" Mr. Woodchuck said. "Come on!"

And off they went, though Mrs. Woodchuck was far from pleased.

Mr. Woodchuck hurried over to a big oak, where his friends were
waiting for him. There were almost a dozen of them--fat, elderly
gentlemen. But they were very spry about reaching the clover-field.

Billy felt proud as a peacock when they left him alone on a knoll
at the edge of the clover-patch and told him to keep a sharp ear
out.

"And remember! At the first sign of danger, you must give a loud,
shrill whistle," his father warned him. Then Mr. Woodchuck hurried
away.

Billy could see his father and the others eating clover-tops as
fast as they could pull them off. And he soon began to think that
they were having more fun than he was. He grew tired of sitting
still in one place. And just a little distance away he noticed a
clump of fine clover. As the tops waved gently in the breeze they
seemed to beckon to him.

Soon Billy was eating clover, too. And it was so good that he
forgot all about being a sentinel. He forgot all about listening
for danger. And then all at once he heard a cry:

"Sick him, Spot!"

It was Johnnie Green calling to his dog.

VI

BILLY FORGETS TO WHISTLE

When Billy Woodchuck turned around he saw t