"What is it?" they said, "Where! we do not see anything."
"Watch these fresh piles of dirt, and you will see something come out of them," said the Golden Hearted.
"Yes;" said one, "there are some rattlesnakes."
"And here are some owls," said another. "Is it possible that you have never seen these creatures before?" and the wise men laughed at the Golden Hearted and thought they had a good joke on him.
"Let us keep quiet for a while. I tell you there is something else in those burrows besides snakes and owls," he insisted seriously.
Not hearing any more noise, one after another of the little prairie dogs put its head up out of the hole, and then stole forth cautiously to talk the matter over with its next door neighbor. There were regular beaten pathways or lanes from one burrow to another and they were evidently on very friendly footing with each other.
"These are indeed curious little animals," said the wise men, now much interested. "They not only live in communities, but keep the peace with their brothers, the snake and the owl. There is certainly no greater source of knowledge than the book of nature. Here God puts before us the thing He wishes us to learn."
At the very first words of the wise men the prairie dogs scampered back into their holes; and before they showed themselves again a party of husbandmen came along on their way to a harvest field which they said was a day's journey ahead.
"Why do you linger in this desert?" they asked of the Golden Hearted. "There are habitations farther on where the earth is watered."
"We are seeking those who need our assistance and must only tarry where we are welcome," he answered.