When it was quite finished Benny Badger brushed the dirt off himself and turned to Mr. Deer Mouse.
"Come inside and see if my new house isn't the finest one you ever saw!" he said.
For some reason Mr. Deer Mouse did not seem eager to enter. To be sure, he thanked Benny for the invitation, but he backed away a few steps and said that he thought he'd better not look at the new house that morning. "I—I haven't the time to spare," he mumbled.
Benny Badger couldn't understand that remark. The white-footed gentleman had had plenty of time to spend while watching him dig the den. And Benny said as much, too.
"That's exactly the point," said the deer mouse. "I've spent so much time already that I've used it all up."
Well, Benny Badger couldn't understand that either.
"Used up all the time!" he cried scornfully. "Isn't there plenty more where the other time came from?"
"Oh, to be sure—to be sure!" said the deer mouse, who seemed ready to agree to anything—except to Benny's invitation. "But there is another reason why I mustn't visit your new home this morning: I'm hungry. I haven't had my breakfast yet."
Suddenly Benny Badger remembered that he was hungry himself.
And as he stared at plump Mr. Deer Mouse a certain idea came into his head. And he looked Mr. Deer up and down before he spoke.