CHOOSING THE KING 21 



to speak just what he thought, and no hard feel 

 ings afterward.&quot; 



Carcajou pulled his long, curved claws through 

 his whiskers reflectively. &quot; What s the use of 

 wrangling like this we re as silly as a lot of 

 Men. Last Winter when I was down at Grand 

 Rapids I sat up on the roof of a Shack listening 

 to those two-legged creatures squabbling. They 

 were all arguing fiercely about the different ways 

 of getting to Heaven. According to each one 

 he was on the right road, and the rest were all 

 wrong. Fresh Meat ! but it was stupid ; for I 

 gathered from what they said that the one way to 

 get there was to be good ; only each had a differ 

 ent way.&quot; 



&quot; What place did you say ? &quot; queried the Jay. 



&quot; Grand Rapids.&quot; 



&quot; No, no ! the place they all wanted to go to.&quot; 



&quot; Heaven.&quot; 



&quot;Where s that?&quot; 



&quot; I don t know, and you need n t bother ; for 

 the Men said it was a place for the good, only.&quot; 



Beaver s fat sides fairly shook as he chuckled 

 delightedly over the snub Carcajou had given Jack. 



&quot; Ha, ha ! &quot; roared Bear ; &quot; Sweet Berries ! but 

 Humpback is too many for you, Birdie,&quot; and the 

 woods echoed with his laughter. 



&quot; Rats ! &quot; screamed the Jay ; &quot; that s the sub- 



