let you dig a while," he said generously.

Mr. Coyote thanked him. But he answered that he couldn't think of
accepting Benny Badger's offer.

"I know you would be disappointed not to do the digging yourself," he
explained. "And besides, you're a better digger than I am. So I'll let
you tear this tunnel open, while I go around to the back door and
watch. . . . You know, I have a very sharp eye."

Benny Badger looked at Mr. Coyote narrowly. It occurred to him that
_both_ Mr. Coyote's eyes were very sharp. Furthermore, his nose was
sharp, too. And so were his teeth. Yes! on the whole, Benny thought, Mr.
Coyote appeared to be an exceedingly sharp person.

"Very well!" Benny told him at last. "I'll do the digging, gladly--for I
need the practice that it will give me. You see, I haven't dug more than
a half-dozen holes to-night."

Then he thrust his head into the opening he had already made. But before
he had begun to throw more dirt behind him he pulled his head out again
and called to his helper, who had moved a few steps away.

"If the Ground Squirrel comes out through his back door, please call me
at once!" he cried.

Mr. Coyote nodded his head over his shoulder and smiled.

"I will," he agreed. "And I'll ask you not to forget to dig hard,
because you know I'll be watching hard. And it wouldn't be fair for one
of us to do less work than the other."

Benny Badger replied that in his opinion Mr. Coyote's statement was in
every way reasonable.

And then he began to dig.

Benny would have made better time had he not stopped every few minutes
to listen; for he did not want to miss hearing Mr. Coyote's call.

But his ears caught nothing more than a chuckle from the spot where Mr.
Coyote sat on his haunches in the grass, watching.

[Illustration: Mr. Owl greets Benny very coldly.]

"I can stand his chuckling--if only he won't sing!" Benny said to
himself.

IX

A CARELESS HELPER

Stopping often to listen, Benny Badger did not reach the Ground
Squirrel's chamber half as quickly as he could have had he done nothing
but dig.

And when he thrust his nose into the underground bedroom he found nobody
at home. The Ground Squirrel had fled, leaving his nest so warm that
Benny Badger knew he could not have been gone long.

Benny turned away. But he was not so disappointed as he might have been,
for he remembered that Mr. Coyote was watching the back door. And
certainly no Ground Squirrel could escape his s