He tried to see where he was, but, my goodness sakes alive! he might as well have tried to look through the blackboard at school, for all he could see was just nothing.

"I--I guess I must have fallen all the way through to China!" whispered Buddy, as he lay there in the darkness, and then he happened to remember that if he was in China he would see some little Chinese boys and girls, and he could not see any, so he knew he wasn't in China.

"Oh, dear!" cried Buddy again. "Where am I, anyhow?"

Then, all of a sudden, out of the darkness, there sounded a voice, and when Buddy heard it he trembled.

"Who are you?" cried the voice, "and what are you doing in here?"

"If you please," answered the little guinea pig boy, "I am Buddy, and I fell down this hole. Whose is it?"

"It belongs to us," said two voices at once. "We are groundhogs, and you must get right out of here!"

"Groundhogs!" exclaimed Buddy, and then he remembered the two who had teeter-tautered Brighteyes up and down on the plank bridge, and wet her dress, and he was frightened for fear they would harm him.

"Oh, please, Mr. Groundhogs!" went on Buddy, "I didn't mean to come here! I fell in when I was looking for something to eat. Please help me out, and I'll never come again. I was looking for something to take home to Brighteyes, my sister."

"What! Is Brighteyes Pigg your sister?" cried the two groundhogs, rustling around in the dark hole, and when Buddy said she was, they said they were very sorry for having frightened her on the plank. They were only playing a joke, they said, and they promised never to bother her again.

"And besides," went on the larger groundhog, "we'll give you something to eat, and help you out of this hole."

So they went and got their lantern, which was a bottle filled with fireflies, and they showed Buddy where there was another hole leading up out of their underground house, and he crawled out, after they had given him some clover preserved in mola.s.ses candy, and they promised to come and play with him and Brighteyes some day.

Then Buddy was happy again, and almost glad he had fallen down the big hole, because he had something good to take home to eat.

Now, in case I have cherry pie for supper and the juice doesn't get on my red necktie and turn it green, I'll tell you soon about a trick the groundhogs played.

STORY XXII

A TRICK THE GROUNDHOGS PLAYED

One day, oh, I guess it must have been about a week after Buddy Pigg fell down the groundhogs' hole, he and Brighteyes were out walking in the woods. They had been over to pay a visit to Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the two puppy dogs, you know, and were on their way back.

As they walked along, they both heard a queer little rustling sound in the bushes, but at first they didn't pay any attention to it, but they kept on, talking about what a nice time they had had, when, all of a sudden, the noise sounded more plainly. It was just as if some big animal had taken hold of the bushes in his teeth, and had shaken them--shaken the bushes, I mean, of course, for he couldn't shake his teeth unless they were false, and animals don't have false teeth, thank goodness.

"My land sakes! What's that?" exclaimed Brighteyes.

"Maybe it's a bad fox," said Buddy, and he looked around for a stick or a stone with which to defend his sister, for Buddy was brave, let me tell you.

Then the noise seemed to sort of go away, just like when the teacher rubs the figures and sentences off the blackboard in school, and Buddy and Brighteyes weren't so frightened. So they kept on, and just as they were coming to the path that led to their pen, what did they hear but the rustling noise in the bushes again. This time they were very much frightened, and Buddy picked up a stick, almost as large as himself.

Then Brighteyes said:

"Oh, Buddy, I'm afraid to go home that way. Let's take the other path."

"But that is so much longer," objected her brother.

"No matter," answered the little guinea pig girl, "it is better to take a longer path, than to go on a short one and be eaten up by a fox or a wolf," and I suppose Brighteyes was right. Anyhow they took the other path, and as they went along it, they heard a noise in the bushes as if some one was laughing, only they didn't see how a fox could laugh. So they hurried on.

Well, it wasn't very long before they came to something. I was going to let you guess what it was, but as it might take you some time to think, and then, maybe, you wouldn't get it right, I have decided to tell you.

What Buddy and Brighteyes saw on the path in front of them was a small box--the kind that soap comes out of, you know--and it was standing up on one edge. And sort of underneath the box were two, big toadstools, made into tables, and beside each table was a smaller toadstool for a seat. And, would you believe me? on each toadstool-table there were a lot of nice things to eat! Believe me, there was, really! There were bits of cabbage, some red clover tops with marshmallow-chocolate on them, and candied cherries, and red raspberries with strawberry sauce, and oh, I don't know what all!

"Why!" exclaimed Brighteyes, "that is a regular little play-party, Buddy."

"To be sure it is," he answered. "And look, there is a sign fastened to the box. Let's go closer, and read what it says on it." So they went a little closer, watching on all sides to make sure there was no danger, and they read the sign. This is what it said:

"Come in and eat whate'er you wish.

Taste each dainty in the dish.

Make a bow, and wipe your feet, Fold your napkins nice and neat."

"Come on," cried Buddy to his sister. "Let's go in and eat."

"Do you s'pose it's meant for us?" asked Brighteyes.

"Of course," was his answer. "Come on! See, there's a mat to wipe your feet on, and there are napkins at each plate. There is a table for you, and one for me."

So Buddy and Brighteyes, thinking no harm, went in and, after making their very best double-jointed bows, and wiping their feet until there was no more mud on them than on a postage stamp, they sat down to the tables and tucked in their napkins around their necks.

Then they began to eat, and oh, how good everything tasted! Just like when you go visiting to the country, you know, and eat, and eat, and keep on eating. Well, that's just the way it was, believe me, if you please.

Now, something is going to happen. I can't help it, and it's not my fault. You see that box, with the nice things to eat on the toadstool tables, was only a trap. No sooner had the two guinea pigs begun eating than some one hiding in the bushes pulled on a long string, and the string snapped out a piece of wood that was holding up the box, and the box fell down, and Brighteyes and Buddy were caught under it--prisoners--just like a mouse in the trap.

They stopped eating pretty quickly then, let me tell you. Buddy was just going to have a second helping of marshmallow-chocolate clover when the box fell over, and it was so dark inside that he couldn't find his mouth.

"Oh, dear!" cried Brighteyes. "What has happened?"

"We're in a trap!" shouted Buddy. "The bad fox has us in a trap! Come, we must get out!"

They jumped down from the toadstool seats and upset the toadstool tables, and the dishes fell on the floor, but they didn't care. Then the two guinea pig children tried to lift up the box, but they couldn't, and they tried to dig under it, but they couldn't, and they didn't know how in the world they were going to get out.

Then, all of a sudden they heard some one whispering outside the box.

Buddy thought it was the fox, so he cried: "You had better let us out of here, Mr. Fox, or we'll have you arrested!"

"Why, that's Buddy Pigg!" cried the voice, and all of a sudden the box was lifted and there stood the two groundhog boys; Woody and Waddy Chuck were their names. "We didn't mean to catch you," said Woody. "We were only going to play a joke on our big brother, but you got in the box by mistake. We're very sorry."

But they couldn't help laughing, and I really think the groundhog boys meant to play a joke on Buddy and Brighteyes and had followed them through the woods and hid in the bushes and put the things under the box and all that just on purpose; I really do.

But, anyhow, Buddy and Brighteyes weren't hurt a bit, and Woody and Waddy gave them all the good things they could eat before the guinea pigs ran home.

Now, in case it should happen that all the ice in our refrigerator isn't melted, so we can fry some for pancakes, I'll tell you next about Buddy in the berry bush.

STORY XXIII