UNDER THE APPLE-TREES 



it, and having such a look of neatness and privacy 

 as coidd not have been given to it if it had been 

 made from without. How furtive and secretive it 

 looked ! Still the little miner kept at work, still the 

 fresh earth boiled up above the old entrance. He is 

 excavating his chamber, I thought; he requires a 

 den or vault down there, of several quarts' capacity, 

 in which to build his nest and store his food. 

 Whether or not he was then excavating his chamber 

 and storeroom, the next day I found two more new 

 holes in the turf, one a foot or more from the first 

 one, and the other three or more feet away in an- 

 other direction — both of them having the same 

 shy, elusive character. Why all these extra holes? 

 I asked. I have never before known of a chipmunk's 

 den with so many back or front doors. Are they 

 only for means of escape if robbers or miu-derers 

 gain an entrance.^ If so, they aiford another proof 

 of the provident cunning of our little striped friend. 

 It happened in this case that the squirrel brought 

 to the surface no stones too large for the new en- 

 trance, but his work-hole was so large and irregular 

 that he might easily have done so. 



My chipmunk was engaged for nearly three weeks 

 in his excavations. I knew when he had finished by 

 his boldly coming into my camp one morning, a 

 minute or two after he had seen me enter it. Look- 

 ing intently up in my face for a few seconds, he pro- 

 ceeded to stuff his mouth with the dry leaves most 



35 



