PREFACE 



tain I have got to the end of, and that is the vexed 

 question of the animal mind. Whether the dog, the 

 cat, and the cockroach reason or not, shall trouble 

 me (and them) no more. While I write these lines 

 in my outdoor study, a chipmunk whose den is near 

 by, comes in and eageriy selects the hard, diy 

 kernels of pop-corn from the soft unripe kernels of 

 sweet corn which I have sprinkled upon the floor at 

 my feet, stuffs his cheek pockets with them and hur- 

 ries away to his den as if he knew that the dry corn 

 would keep in his retreat, and that the green would 

 not. After he has collected all the diy kernels, he 

 falls to eating the green ones. I also sprinkle choke- 

 cherries among the corn. These he finally proceeds 

 to strip of their pulp and skins, and stuff his pockets 

 with their pits, and rushes off to his den — thus 

 putting no perishable food in his winter retreat. 

 Does the pretty little rodent reason about all this? 

 Ah! my reader, ask some one else! As for me, I will 

 content myself with his companionship as he runs 

 along my study table, pokes his nose into the arch 

 made by my hand, under which the kernels lie, and 

 even climbs to the crown of my head. He sets me 

 to thinking, and I, if I do not set him to thinking, 

 at least aid him in adding to his winter supplies. 

 We are both learning something; day unto day 

 uttereth knowledge, and even a chipmunk shares 

 a little of the wisdom that pervades the universe. 



