THE ROMANCE OF THE WHEAT KERNEL 83 



Rooster, the big prairie chicken, awakened him one 

 morning by his terrible scratching and kicking of 

 dust. 



"Can't you let a fellow sleep? All you do is to 

 fly down here at daybreak, strut around, make a 

 lot of noise, and wake everybody up. What right 

 have you anyway in this field?" grumbled Wheatlet. 



"Now don't get so riled up, young feller. Some 

 folks don't know when they are well off. If I hadn't 

 wakened you when I scratched that grub worm out 

 of the ground, he would soon have been working on 

 you, and you would never have seen the light of 

 another day. However, you are young and inexpe- 

 rienced, so I wUl overlook your shortcomings, but 

 remember that I am about the best friend you have 

 and time will prove it." Saying this, Mr. Rooster 

 strutted off, entirely dismissing the incident, and 

 the angry words of Wheatlet. 



Several days after this conversation took place, 

 Wheatlet noticed that a stranger had taken up his 

 home just a few feet away, so one morning he asked 

 Mr. Rooster who he was. 



"That's Frisky Gray the prairie squirrel," Mr. 

 Rooster informed him. "He burrows in the ground, 

 and has his home down below you about two feet. 

 Farmer Good will kill him if he ever gets the chance, 



