182 RIVERBY 



came a very amusing pet, but it always protested 

 when handled, and always objected to confinement. 

 I should mention that the cat had a kitten about the 

 age of the chuck, and as she had more milk than 

 the kitten could dispose of, the chuck, when we 

 first got him, was often placed in the nest with the 

 kitten, and was regarded by the cat as tenderly as 

 her own, and allowed to nurse freely. Thus a friend- 

 ship sprang up between the kitten and the wood- 

 chuck, which lasted as long as the latter lived. 

 They would play together precisely like two kittens : 

 clinch and tumble about and roll upon the grass in 

 a very amusing way. Finally the woodchuck took 

 up his abode under the floor of the kitchen, and 

 gradually relapsed into a half- wild state. He would 

 permit no familiarities from any one save the kitten, 

 but each day they would have a turn or two at their 

 old games of rough-and-tumble. The chuck was now 

 over half grown, and procured his own living. One 

 day the dog, who had all along looked upon him 

 with a jealous eye, encountered him too far from 

 cover, and his career ended then and there. 



In July the woodchuck was forgotten in our in- 

 terest in a little gray rabbit which we found nearly 

 famished. It was so small that it could sit in the 

 hollow of one's hand. Some accident had probably 

 befallen its mother. The tiny creature looked spir- 

 itless and forlorn. We had to force the milk into 

 its mouth. But in a day or two it began to revive, 

 and would lap the milk eagerly. Soon it took to 

 grass and clover, and then to nibbling sweet apples 



