shall watch, and I will eat.'

'That sounds a good plan,' replied the jackal; and they set off
together.

But when they reached the farmhouse the jackal said to the hedgehog: 'Go
in and fetch the pots of butter and I will hide them in a safe place.'

'Oh no,' cried the hedgehog, 'I really couldn't. They would find out
directly! And, besides, it is so different just eating a little now and
then.'

'Do as I bid you at once,' said the jackal, looking at the hedgehog so
sternly that the little fellow dared say no more, and soon rolled the
jars to the window where the jackal lifted them out one by one.

When they were all in a row before him he gave a sudden start.

'Run for your life,' he whispered to his companion; 'I see the woman
coming over the hill!' And the hedgehog, his heart beating, set off
as fast as he could. The jackal remained where he was, shaking with
laughter, for the woman was not in sight at all, and he had only sent
the hedgehog away because he did not want him to know where the jars of
butter were buried. But every day he stole out to their hiding-place and
had a delicious feast.

At length, one morning, the hedgehog suddenly said:

'You never told me what you did with those jars?'

'Oh, I hid them safely till the farm people should have forgotten all
about them,' replied the jackal. 'But as they are still searching for
them we must wait a little longer, and then I'll bring them home, and we
will share them between us.'

So the hedgehog waited and waited; but every time he asked if there was
no chance of getting jars of butter the jackal put him off with some
excuse. After a while the hedgehog became suspicious, and said:

'I should like to know where you have hidden them. To-night, when it is
quite dark, you shall show me the place.'

'I really can't tell you,' answered the jackal. 'You talk so much that
you would be sure to confide the secret to somebody, and then we should
have had our trouble for nothing, besides running the risk of our necks
being broken by the farmer. I can see that he is getting disheartened,
and very soon he will give up the search. Have patience just a little
longer.'

The hedgehop said no more, and pretended to be satisfied; but when some
days had gone by he woke the jackal, who was sleeping soundly after a
hunt which had lasted several hours.

'I have just had notice,' remarked the hedgehog, shaking him, 'that my
family wish to have a banquet to-morrow, and