But at last they reached Billy’s home. And there they found his mother, sweeping the floor as spryly as if she had never known a sick day in her whole life.
“I see you’re feeling better,” said Aunt Polly. “Your son told me you were ill and I came right over.”
Mrs. Woodchuck thanked her. And then she sent all the children out to play. As soon as they had left the room she said to Aunt Polly:
“I wasn’t ill at all. I am ashamed to say that I was just angry. And since you are a near relation of ours, I’ll tell you the reason. I’ll tell you what happened.
Billy Carried Her Basket of Herbs
“Yesterday Johnnie Green dropped a big stone through our front door. It almost filled the end of my hall, so I could hardly squeeze past it. And this morning I asked Mr. Woodchuck to help me dig around the stone. But he said his rheumatism was so bad that he couldn’t do a bit of work. And then he went off and stayed away all the rest of the day.
“After I had done the work myself I went out to get a little fresh air and a bite to eat. And over in the meadow, what do you suppose I saw? There was a baseball game going on. And Mr. Woodchuck was playing so hard that he never noticed me at all.... Do you wonder I was angry?”
Old Aunt Polly said it was a shame. And she found a bit of celery in her basket, which she gave to Billy’s mother.