Twinkle felt a little ashamed.
"We have to sell the clover and the vegetables to earn our living," she explained; "and if the animals eat them up we can't sell them."
"We don't eat enough to rob you," said the woodchuck, "and the land belonged to the wild creatures long before you people came here and began to farm. And really, there is no reason why you should be so cruel. It hurts dreadfully to be caught in a trap, and an animal captured in that way sometimes has to suffer for many hours before the man comes to kill it. We don't mind the killing so much. Death doesn't last but an instant. But every minute of suffering seems to be an hour."
"That's true," said Twinkle, feeling sorry and repentant. "I'll ask papa never to set another trap."
"That will be some help," returned Mister Woodchuck, more cheerfully, "and I hope you'll not forget the promise when you wake up. But that isn't enough to settle the account for all our past sufferings, I assure you; so I am trying to think of a suitable way to punish you for the past wickedness of your father, and of all other men that have set traps."
"Why, if you feel that way," said the little girl, "you're just as bad as we are!"
MRS. WOODCHUCK AND HER FAMILY
"How's that?" asked Mister Woodchuck, pausing in his walk to look at her.
"It's as naughty to want revenge as it is to be selfish and cruel," she said.