THE WAY OF A WOODCHUCK 141 



Mr. Wardle's fat boy he might well have taken 

 him for a model. ''D— n that boy/' says Mr. 

 Wardle, "he's asleep again.'' That was when 

 he had ceased eating, and so it is with the wood- 

 chuck. In the early dawn when the dew is on 

 the lettuce, he takes his toll of the bed, seasoning 

 it with a radish and a snip at a leaf or two from 

 the herb bed. But such are mere appetizers for 

 the feast. The next course is the peas. He can 

 go down a row of peas that are about to set their 

 flat pods swelling to become fat pods and elimi- 

 nate everything but a stubble of tough butts that 

 have been shorn of their ladylike and smiling 

 greenness. Pea vines in the garden always seem 

 such gentle ladies, clad in a fabric of soft, semi- 

 transparent green, nodding and smiling, slender, 

 tall and sweet. But when the woodchuck romps 

 back up the row nothing is to be seen but the 

 smile. 



They returned from the ride 



With the lady inside, 



And the smile on the face of the tiger. 



I once heard a vigorous discussion amongst 

 men who know the woods and the ways of wild 

 creatures, as to whether or not a woodchuck 

 can climb a tree. The discussion ended rather 



