XVIII
A CROWDED HOUSE
Old dog Spot never once guessed that there was a back door to the Woodchuck family's home in the pasture. He had chased Mrs. Woodchuck into her house. He had likewise hunted her son Billy into the same front door through which his mother had scrambled only a short time before.
"There must be more of these fat folks about the pasture," Spot thought. "I'll range around a bit and see if I can't surprise another."
So he began running about the pasture in big circles. And he was lucky enough, before long, to come upon Mr. Woodchuck himself, who had dined so heartily on clover heads that he had decided to go to his chamber and take a nap.
Spot was unlucky enough to lose him. Mr. Woodchuck had been feeling quite sleepy. But when he suddenly found himself pursued by a dog he was wide awake in an instant and running like a youngster.
He reached his home just in time.
"Well, that makes the third one that's inside the house," Spot muttered, shortly afterward, as he paused to get his breath.
Little did he know how mistaken he was. There wasn't even one of the Woodchuck family at home; for Mr. Woodchuck had at once hurried out the back way, because he wanted to find his wife and his son and tell them to keep away from old dog Spot.
Soon Spot took a few more turns around the pasture. And this time he ran across Mrs. Woodchuck again.