e no difference at all to Cuffy. So long as he
liked what he was eating the name of it never troubled him. The only
thing that annoyed Cuffy now was that the pot was not bigger. There were
still a few beans which clung to the bottom; and try as he would, Cuffy
could not reach them, even with his tongue.

He was sitting on the ground, with the pot between his legs, and his
nose stuck into it as far as Cuffy could get it. But still he could not
reach those beans in the bottom. And pretty soon Cuffy began to lose his
temper. He stood up and gave a good, hard push against the ground. And
so he managed to squeeze his nose a little further into the bean-pot.
And now, to his huge delight, he could just reach the bottom of the pot
with his long under-lip. In a twinkling Cuffy had all the beans in his
mouth. And he would have grinned--he felt so happy--if his nose hadn't
been wedged so tightly into the pot that he couldn't even smile.

Since there were no more beans to be had out of _that_ pot, Cuffy lifted
his head. And to his great astonishment the bean-pot came right up off
the ground too, almost as if it were alive. It startled Cuffy, until he
saw that it was he who lifted the pot, on his own nose.

He seized the bean-pot and pulled. But his paws were so greasy with
butter that he couldn't get a good grip on it. The pot still stuck on
his nose as fast as ever.

Cuffy grunted. He couldn't really have said anything, with his mouth
deep in the iron pot. So he just grunted in a pouting sort of way; and
then he gave the pot a sharp rap against a rock. That hurt his nose. And
this time he growled--as well as he could. But all his grunting and
growling didn't frighten the bean-pot the slightest bit. There it
stayed, perched on his nose just as if it would never come off.

All this time the mowing-machine kept up a _click-clack-click-clack_!
And Cuffy thought that he had better get out of sight. So he plunged
into the forest and started toward home. He felt very uncomfortable, for
he began to wonder whether he would ever get rid of that troublesome
pot. What puzzled him most was this thought: How would he ever be able
to eat again, with that horrid thing over his nose? Cuffy was very fond
of riddles; but here was one that he did not like at all.

When he reached home his father and mother and Silkie all laughed so
hard at the sight of him that Cuffy began to whimper. And a big tear
rolled from each eye, ran down the bean-pot, a