She followed him through the front door that he had made, walked to the end of the tunnel, and into the tiny chamber.
Once inside that room Mrs. Woodchuck took one quick look all around. And then she turned and ran out as fast as her short legs would carry her, calling all the time to Billy to hurry. When she reached the open air Mrs. Woodchuck had to sit down and fan herself, she was so excited.
“Why did you come out so soon—and so fast?” Billy asked her.
“That’s nothing but a trap,” his mother said. “You haven’t built any back door. And if a weasel or a mink or a snake should come in after you, there you’d be, with no way to escape.... I haven’t had such a fright for years.”
Billy Woodchuck looked foolish. He had never once thought about a back door. But after that he never forgot to build one. He saw that a back door was something that every house ought to have.
XVII
BILLY BRINGS THE DOCTOR
Billy Woodchuck was alarmed. His mother had come home very ill. At least, that was what Billy thought. It was a warm summer’s day; but Mrs. Woodchuck seemed to be freezing with cold. Her teeth chattered so hard that the sound filled the whole house. And when Billy asked her what was the matter with her she did not say a word.