Mother West Wind When" Stories"

as Miner. When Peter would leave the dear Old Briar-patch he seldom went far without coming to a little pile of fresh earth. These little piles of earth had puzzled Peter a great deal for a

e would be one or two or maybe half

earth piles, "where there is a pile of earth like that, there must b

good deal of time wondering who could make them. Then one day, as he was hopping along across the Green Meadows, the ground right in front of him began to move. It so startled Peter that his first thought was to run. Then he decided that it would be foolish to run until there was something to run from. So he sat perfectly still and watched that spot where the ground was moving. Earth, loose earth, was pushed up from underneath, and even as Peter sat there staring, with eyes popping out of his h

one thing was the discovery that Grubby has the biggest pockets in his cheeks that Peter has ever seen. And another thing about those pockets-they are on the outside of Grubby's cheeks instead of being inside, as is the case with Striped Chipmunk. "When Peter discovered this, he became curious at once. Of course. Who wouldn't be curio

have pockets in his chee

ywhere else," replied Jimmy with a twinkle in his eye

said he, speaking eagerly, "if you'll tell me about those queer pockets of Grubb

ain. Then he grinned good-naturedly. You know, Jimmy really is one of the best-natured little people in th

had their beginnings then, so far as I can see. Of course Grubby got those pockets from his father, and h

hich was just in its beginning and told to make the best of life as they found it. No doubt they would need things which they hadn't got, but first they must find out what the

to go around, and the biggest and strongest creatures would get all there was, leaving the smaller and weaker ones to starve. Not long after this he discovered certain of his big neighbors had begun to look at him in a way that made him most uncomforta

particularly well. What could he do? Somehow he had a feeling that Old Mother Nature had given him some special advantage. What could it be? He sat down and studied himself. Then he noticed for the first time that his hands were different from the hands of thos

While he was studying over this, He started a little tunnel just for the fun of digging, for he liked to dig, did Mr. Gopher. Presently he came to a root in his path. He decided to cut it and get it out of his way. Now when he began to cut it he made another discovery, one that tickled him half to death. That

dug in making his tunnel, filling up the opening as soon as he had pushed out all the dirt. In this way he kept his tunnels clear, so that he could run back and forth through them. So he lived v

he tried it, he found it slow, hard work. You see, he could carry so little at a time, and had to carry it so far, that it was very discouraging. He had forgotten all about Old Mo

l about it,' said she. 'Why do you want pockets,

learned to live underground and how lately he had been tr

he didn't say so. 'I'll think it over,' said she and left him. But the very next time Mr. Gopher brus

all the world that he could ask for to make him any happier. It is just the same way with Grubby to-day. He is perfectly

r so much. Now I'll help you fin