while his stomach worked below and sent up 

 supplies to relieve the pressure. 



Slowly he slipped down as the stones 

 ^ __ began to lose their hard grip. A squirm, 

 nr &* a tvv 'i st ' a comfortable roll of his stomach, a 

 * sudden jounce and the thing was done. 



K'dunk w r as resting with* a paw on either 

 flagstone, his body safe below and his mouth, 

 still wide open above, holding its precious 

 contents, like an old-fashioned valise that 

 had burst open. Then he swallowed his 

 disturbed dinner down again in big gulps, 

 and with a last scramble disappeared into 

 his cool den. 



That night he did not come out, but the 

 second night he was busy in the garden as 

 usual. To our deep regret he deserted both 

 the door-step and the den with its narrow 

 opening under the flagstones. It may be 

 that in his own way he had pondered the 

 problem of what might have become of him 

 had the owl been after him when he came 

 home that morning; for \vhen I found him 

 again he was safe under the hollow roots 

 of an old apple-tree, where the entrance was 



