AN ACCOUNT WITH NATURE 119 



f '.has the nature-lover with the human man? What^ 



'shadow of doubt as to his choice between the chip-v^ 



\J* v* 



; muuks and the strawberries? ^ *r 



^ I had no gun and no time to go over to my neigh- < 



|bor's to borrow his. So I stationed myself near by 



^with a fistful of stones, and waited for the thieves 



^ to show themselves. I came so near to hitting one of 



(them with a stone that the sweat started all over me. 



^ After that there was no danger. I had lost my nerve. 



< \. The little scamps knew that war had been declared, 



\ and they hid and dodged and sighted me so far off 



' Miat even with a gun I should have been all summer 



* 'killing the seven of them. 



Meantime, a good rain and the warm June days' 

 f \. were turning the berries red by the quart. They had 

 *Jmore than caught up to the chipmunks. I dropped 

 my stones and picked. The chipmunks picked, too; 

 so did the toads and the robins. Everybody picked. 

 ^It was free for all. We picked them and ate them, 

 ~ jammed them, and canned them. I almost carried 

 .some over to my neighbor, but took peas instead. 

 v 'J)-' The strawberry season closed on the Fourth of 

 * July ; and our taste was not dimmed, nor our natural 

 love for strawberries abated; but all four of the 

 small boys had hives from over-indulgence, so boun 

 tifully did Nature provide, so many did the seven 

 chipmunks leave us ! 



Peace between me and the chipmunks had been 

 signed before the strawberry season closed, and th 



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