"Good morning, Mother Wa-poose," said little Luke; "don't be afraid, I only want to take a look at your babies."
"Oh, I'm not afraid," said Mother Wa-poose. "None of us are afraid of you any more. Look all you want to. But don't come any nearer. I am afraid you will open a path for Kee-wuk the Red Fox, or for Old Boze the Hound. Both of them have been around here several times. They know that I and my babies are here, but they can't get in. Old Boze tried it the other day, but went back to the house with a pair of bloody ears for his pains."
"Yes, I noticed his ears," said little Luke, "and wondered what he had been up to."
The little boy sat down as comfortably as he could and looked at Mother Wa-poose and her babies.
"Mother Wa-poose," said he after a while, "what makes you wriggle your nose so?"
"Oh," said Mother Wa-poose, "I do that to keep my smeller clear. You see we have so many enemies that we have to be on the watch all the time, and I can smell a fox or a dog almost as far as I can see them. You see I always sit with my nose to the wind, and my ears in the other direction. My nose tells me who is coming in front; my ears tell me who is coming from behind; and my eyes keep watch on both sides. I sleep most of the day, but my eyes, my ears, and my nose are always awake. Why, I knew you were coming almost half an hour ago. My nose told me. It is only in such a place as this that my three sentinels ever get any rest.
"When I haven't any babies to care for, I like to sit in a more open place in the sun. So long as I have a chance to run each way, I am not much afraid of anybody. And if it wasn't for the men with their dreadful fire-sticks, we of the Wa-poose family would have a pretty safe and easy time of it."
Just then the deep bay of a hound was heard. "There," said Mother Wa-poose, "there's Old Boze now. Would you like to see how I can fool him?"
"I would indeed," said little Luke, "if you are not afraid. Old Boze is a wise, old hound, and he may catch you."
"Oh, I'm not afraid of that," said Mother Wa-poose. "You just sit here where you can see, and I'll go down there and give Old Boze the time of his life. I think he must be trailing me now by the sound. I was down in the garden last night after a meal of cabbage leaves, and I suppose he has found my track."