The Tale of Benny Badger Read online

  At that Mr. Coyote shot a swift look at him. Was that a shadow ofdisappointment about Benny's mouth?

  "Did he get away from you?" Mr. Coyote inquired.

  Benny Badger had to admit that that was exactly the case. He explainedhow he had found the Ground Squirrel's bed warm, but empty, when hereached the snug bedroom.

  "I don't see how it happened," he told Mr. Coyote mournfully.

  That crafty fellow gave a short laugh. He rather believed he knew wherethe trouble lay. And he said to himself--under his breath--that BennyBadger was even more stupid than he had supposed.

  "Did you keep an eye on the Ground Squirrel's back door?" he inquired.And he was so amused by something or other that he began to giggle.

  Benny Badger was afraid that Mr. Coyote was going to burst into songagain. And he couldn't help shuddering.

  "Are you going to sing?" he asked hastily.

  "I hadn't intended to," Mr. Coyote answered. "But of course if you wantme to----"

  "No! no!" Benny cried. "Please don't!"

  "Very well!" his musical friend replied. And then he returned to hisquestion. "What about the back door? Did you watch it carefully?" heinquired.

  "How could I?" Benny demanded, with a snort of anger. "I can't dig awayat a Ground Squirrel's hole, with my head buried in it, and watch hisback door at the same time. If I stopped digging, and went around to theback door, he'd be almost sure to run out through the front one. So I'dbe no better off. In fact, I'd be worse off; for I'd lose not only theGround Squirrel, but the fun of digging, too."

  Mr. Coyote turned his head away and smiled a wide, wide smile. It wassome moments before he could trust himself to speak without laughingright in Benny Badger's face.

  "It's plain," he said at last, "that you need help. So I'm coming hereevery night to assist you in the business of catching GroundSquirrels."

  VI

  STRANGE PARTNERS

  Mr. Coyote's plan for helping him catch Ground Squirrels did not pleaseBenny Badger in the least. Up to that time he had always had fair luckhunting alone. And he said as much to Mr. Coyote, in none too friendly atone.

  Though Benny thought he had made his feelings plain enough, it seemed asif Mr. Coyote couldn't take a hint. So far was he from guessing thatBenny did not care for his scheme that he even suggested that it mightbe a good idea if he brought a half dozen of his brothers along withhim. He was very cheerful about the whole affair--was Mr. Coyote.Indeed, he appeared quite ready to arrange Benny Badger's business,without ever a "By your leave," or "If you don't mind."

  But Benny Badger was no person to stand quietly by and let a scamp likeMr. Coyote spoil his whole life. He shook his head in a most obstinatefashion, giving his visitor fair warning not to go too far.

  "For goodness' sake, don't bring any of your brothers here!" BennyBadger shouted. "I never could stand a crowd of your relations. It's badenough to have to listen to your six brothers when they're half a mileaway."

  Mr. Coyote took no offence at that remark.

  "Very well!" he replied. "No doubt they'd want to sing if they came hereto help you. And certainly their singing would interfere with yourdigging--for of course you'd want to stop and listen to it."

  Benny Badger's only comment sounded somewhat like "Humph!" But Mr.Coyote must have thought that Benny agreed with him. At least, he noddedhis head. And he went on to say that he would be glad to help Bennyalone, without calling on his brothers.

  Benny Badger made no further objection. To be sure, having one of theCoyote family with him every night would be bad enough. But it was somuch better than having seven of them that he began to feel almostpleased. Perhaps he was lucky, after all! And besides, he thought thatwhen Mr. Coyote came to help him catch Ground Squirrels thatgood-for-nothing scamp would soon tire of digging.

  And then a terrible uproar broke the silence. It sounded as if ahundred wolves--or maybe a thousand dogs--had fallen to quarreling amile away, growling and howling in the distance.

  As soon as he heard the noise Mr. Coyote pricked up his ears and sprangto his feet. "I must leave you now," he said. "There are my sixbrothers! They're going to have a sing. And I promised that I'd jointhem. . . . Don't forget!" he added, as he flung a sly smile in BennyBadger's direction. "I'll be here soon after dark to-morrow night."

  And the next moment he was gone.

  Benny Badger stood and watched him as he loped off across the moonlitplain. And not long afterward a terrific racket--twice as loud as theone before--made Benny bury his head in the place where he had beendigging.

  "Mr. Coyote has joined his six brothers," he said to himself.

  VII

  MR. COYOTE REMEMBERS

  The next evening, just at dusk, Benny Badger left his den and set forthon his usual nightly ramble.

  By way of exercise, and for the sake of the fun it gave him, and toimprove his appetite, he dug a few holes. And by the time it was dark hewas hungry as a bear and ready to look once more for fresh holes made byGround Squirrels.

  He had decided not to wait for Mr. Coyote to join him, before beginninghis search. And he even hoped that Mr. Coyote had forgotten all abouthis promise to meet him and help him hunt.

  But Benny Badger was to have no such good fortune as that. It was notlong before he heard Mr. Coyote calling to him. And though he made noanswer, thinking that Mr. Coyote might not be able to find him, in a fewminutes that sharp-faced gentleman came bounding up at top speed.

  "Here I am!" he cried, as soon as he spied Benny Badger. "I see youstarted out without waiting for me. You didn't think I'd disappoint you,did you?"

  "I was afraid you wouldn't," Benny answered--a remark that Mr. Coyoteseemed not to understand. For a moment or two he looked somewhatpuzzled. But he decided, evidently, that Benny _meant_ to be pleasant,but didn't know how to be.

  "Now, then," Mr. Coyote said, while Benny Badger shuddered at his harshvoice, "now then, where do you think we'd better look for a hole?"

  "For pity's sake, don't howl so loud!" Benny Badger besought him."You'll waken all the Ground Squirrels in the neighborhood if you're sonoisy."

  "Pardon me!" said Mr. Coyote very meekly, lowering his voice, butpromptly raising it again. "Do you know of any fresh holes around here?"

  Benny Badger said that he didn't.

  "Then you'd better hunt for one at once," Mr. Coyote declared, sittingdown on his haunches as if he hadn't the slightest notion of doing anyof the searching himself. "While you're looking, I'll sing a littlesong," he announced.

  "You needn't trouble yourself to do that," Benny Badger told himhastily.

  "Oh, it's no trouble at all, I assure you," Mr. Coyote replied.

  "Well--don't you do it, anyhow," Benny warned him. "If you sing, you'llspoil everything, because I shall not be able to look for any hole."

  "I see," said Mr. Coyote, looking more than pleased. "You'd want to stopand listen to me, of course."

  "It's not that," Benny Badger corrected him. "I may as well tell youthat I don't like your songs at all."

  "I have some that you've never heard," Mr. Coyote explained.

  "I don't want to hear them," Benny Badger informed him. "I may as welltell you that your songs drive me almost crazy."

  It would not have been surprising if Mr. Coyote had flown into a greatrage. But he did not. Instead, he pretended to wipe a tear away fromeach of his eyes. "It's a pity"--he sighed--"it's a pity that you don'tunderstand music. Some time I will teach you to sing--with the help ofmy six brothers."

  Benny Badger showed no joy over that promise. But he felt relieved whenMr. Coyote agreed not to sing that night. And then Benny set out aloneto look for a fresh Ground Squirrel's hole, leaving Mr. Coyote with hisface hidden in his pocket-handkerchief.

  VIII

  A WATCHER AND A WORKER

  Benny Badger searched for some time before he found a Ground Squirrel'shole that looked as if its owner had finished it only a day or twobefore.

  The place was so far from the spot where
Benny had left Mr. Coyote thathe did not believe he could call loudly enough for his helper to hearhim.

  For a few moments Benny thought that perhaps he ought to go back andtell Mr. Coyote that he had found a good place to dig. But he soonchanged his mind.

  "I'll just begin digging and say nothing," he remarked to himself. "Andperhaps I can catch this Ground Squirrel without Mr. Coyote's help."

  So he set to work. But he hadn't dug very far into the hole before heheard Mr. Coyote's voice close behind him. That sly fellow had beenfollowing him all the time.

  "I hope the owner of this hole is at home," Mr. Coyote ventured.

  At those words Benny Badger backed out of the hole and turned around.

  "I'll let you dig a while," he said generously.

  Mr. Coyote thanked him. But he answered that he couldn't think ofaccepting Benny Badger's offer.

  "I know you would be disappointed not to do the digging yourself," heexplained. "And besides, you're a better digger than I am. So I'll letyou tear this tunnel open, while I go around to the back door andwatch. . . . You know, I have a very sharp eye."

  Benny Badger looked at Mr. Coyote narrowly. It occurred to him that_both_ Mr. Coyote's eyes were very sharp. Furthermore, his nose wassharp, too. And so were his teeth. Yes! on the whole, Benny thought, Mr.Coyote appeared to be an exceedingly sharp person.

  "Very well!" Benny told him at last. "I'll do the digging, gladly--for Ineed the practice that it will give me. You see, I haven't dug more thana half-dozen holes to-night."

  Then he thrust his head into the opening he had already made. But beforehe had begun to throw more dirt behind him he pulled his head out againand called to his helper, who had moved a few steps away.

  "If the Ground Squirrel comes out through his back door, please call meat once!" he cried.

  Mr. Coyote nodded his head over his shoulder and smiled.

  "I will," he agreed. "And I'll ask you not to forget to dig hard,because you know I'll be watching hard. And it wouldn't be fair for oneof us to do less work than the other."

  Benny Badger replied that in his opinion Mr. Coyote's statement was inevery way reasonable.

  And then he began to dig.

  Benny would have made better time had he not stopped every few minutesto listen; for he did not want to miss hearing Mr. Coyote's call.

  But his ears caught nothing more than a chuckle from the spot where Mr.Coyote sat on his haunches in the grass, watching.

  Mr. Owl greets Benny very coldly.]

  "I can stand his chuckling--if only he won't sing!" Benny said tohimself.

  IX

  A CARELESS HELPER

  Stopping often to listen, Benny Badger did not reach the GroundSquirrel's chamber half as quickly as he could have had he done nothingbut dig.

  And when he thrust his nose into the underground bedroom he found nobodyat home. The Ground Squirrel had fled, leaving his nest so warm thatBenny Badger knew he could not have been gone long.

  Benny turned away. But he was not so disappointed as he might have been,for he remembered that Mr. Coyote was watching the back door. Andcertainly no Ground Squirrel could escape his sharp eyes.

  Hurrying as fast as his short legs would carry him, Benny joined Mr.Coyote, who still sat comfortably on his haunches.

  To Benny's surprise, his helper's eyes were closed, instead of beingfixed on the Ground Squirrel's back door.

  "Have you seen anything of the Ground Squirrel?" Benny demandedanxiously.

  Mr. Coyote started, and opened his eyes.

  "Somebody came out a few moments ago," he replied. "But he disappearedin no time."

  "That's too bad!" Benny Badger wailed. "He got away!"

  "Are you sure?" Mr. Coyote inquired.

  "Why, yes!" Benny cried. "It's as plain as the nose on your face."

  "I won't dispute you," said Mr. Coyote.

  "You'd better not!" Benny Badger snapped. "You have been very careless.I don't believe you watched carefully enough. When I came up just nowyou had your eyes shut."

  "I won't dispute you," said Mr. Coyote again. He was most polite--sopolite, in fact, that Benny Badger was ashamed to appear rude orquarrelsome.

  But Benny couldn't help being disappointed over losing the GroundSquirrel. And when, after he had dug to the end of three more tunnelsthat night, the same accident happened three times more, he decided thatsomething would have to be done. It was clear that Mr. Coyote's eyeswere not sharp enough. He was not nearly so helpful as Benny hadexpected him to be. "We'll have to change about," Benny announced atlast. "You must dig, while I watch."

  But Mr. Coyote promptly made a number of objections to that plan. Hesaid, with something quite like a sneer, that he had much sharper eyesthan any member of the Badger family that ever lived, and that he wasquicker than a hundred Badgers put together. And as if he hadn't givenreasons enough for disagreeing with Benny, he declared that he simplycouldn't do any digging that night because he had a sore paw.

  To prove his statement, Mr. Coyote held up one of his paws for Benny tosee.

  Benny looked at it. He couldn't discover that it was any different fromMr. Coyote's three remaining paws. And he had just started to say so,too, when Mr. Coyote interrupted him with an enormous yawn.

  "I'm getting sleepy," Mr. Coyote remarked. "It will be daylight beforewe know it. And I'm going home to take a nap."

  So saying, he sprang up and stretched himself. And then he trotted off.But he stopped before he had gone far and looked back at Benny Badger.

  "I'll be on hand to help you again after sunset," he said.

  X

  THE SORE PAW

  Sure enough! Just as Mr. Coyote had promised, he was on hand the nextnight to "help" Benny Badger catch Ground Squirrels.

  Benny regarded Mr. Coyote somewhat coldly, as the two met in themoonlight.

  "How's your sore paw?" he asked Mr. Coyote.

  Now, Mr. Coyote had just come trotting up without the least sign oflameness. But all at once he began to limp.

  "My poor paw's no better," he told Benny, as a look of pain crossed hisface.

  "Let me see it!" Benny said.

  And Mr. Coyote promptly held out one of his paws.

  Benny Badger snorted. He seemed quite disgusted.

  "This is not the same paw you showed me last night," he cried.

  "My mistake!" said Mr. Coyote easily. And he pulled back that paw andthrust forth another.

  Benny Badger bent over it for a moment.

  "It _looks_ all right," he grumbled.

  "I can't help that," Mr. Coyote snarled. "It couldn't hurt me any more,no matter what happened to it."

  To Mr. Coyote's surprise, Benny Badger seized his paw in his powerfuljaws and held it in a viselike grip.

  "Ouch!" Mr. Coyote wailed, pulling back quickly--a move which onlycaused him greater pain.

  "Your paw doesn't feel any worse, does it?" Benny Badger asked him aswell as he could, with his mouth so full.

  "Yes, it does!" Mr. Coyote howled.

  "Then you must have been mistaken when you said what you did only amoment ago," Benny told him.

  "I must have been," Mr. Coyote admitted. . . . "Let me go!" he begged.

  But Benny Badger's jaws only closed the tighter.

  "I'll bite you if you don't stop that!" Mr. Coyote threatened.

  "My skin is very, very tough," Benny said. "And I can hurt you much morethan this if I want to."

  Mr. Coyote believed what Benny told him. So he made no more threats, butbegan to whine piteously.

  "If you'll let me go I'll do anything you say," he promised.

  "Will you agree to keep away from me?" Benny Badger asked him.

  "Yes! Yes!" Mr. Coyote cried. "I promise!"

  "Good!" said Benny Badger. "I don't need your 'help,' as you call it,any longer. And if you ever come near me again when I'm hunting forGround Squirrels, I'll----"

  Benny Badger never finished what he was saying, because he let go of Mr.Coyote just then. And
the moment Mr. Coyote felt himself free he leapedaway and tore off on three legs as if he were in a terrible hurry to getsomewhere else.

  "Much help I'd ever get from him!" Benny Badger grumbled to himself."He's too lazy to dig. But he isn't too lazy to grab the GroundSquirrels that somebody else drives out for him."

  XI

  BIRDS' EGGS

  Though Benny Badger never cared much for foxes, he was willing, usually,to stop and talk with one of that family--provided he wasn't too busydigging to take the time for gossip.

  There was one fox who often strolled about the neighborhood. And thoughBenny had many a chat with this gentleman, somehow Benny never learnedmuch from him.

  He was so sly that he let Benny do most of the talking, while helistened. And when he did say anything, he preferred to ask questions.

  In time Benny Badger noticed that his chats with Mr. Fox were veryone-sided. And he made up his mind at last that when he next met thatcrafty fellow he would ask him plenty of questions. He would make himtalk, or he would know the reason why.

  It happened that early on the following morning, when he was hunting forGround Squirrel's holes, he found himself face to face with Mr. Fox. AndBenny noticed that Mr. Fox was himself looking with great interest at afresh Ground Squirrel's hole. "Hullo!" Benny Badger exclaimed. "I hopeyou haven't come here after Ground Squirrels."

  Mr. Fox looked much surprised.

  "No, indeed!" he said. "I'm only hunting for birds' eggs."