Winkie stood for a moment near the edge of the sloping hole that led down into the dark underground house. This hole was the front door of the little woodchuck’s home. The back door was around behind a big rock. The hole had been used so often by the woodchuck family when crawling in and out that the bottom of it was worn smooth. When it rained, and the earth became wet, the front entrance to the burrow was very slippery.
But the back door had been dug down through some earth that had in it many shale-rocks—that is rocks which were little flat pieces of smooth stone. On these it was almost as easy for a woodchuck to slide as it is for a boy or girl to slide or coast on the ice or snow. Winkie knew she did not need to wait until it rained to have a slide on the shale-covered back-door hole, and this she was now eager to do. Only, she didn’t want to play alone!
“Please come on and slide with me,” begged Winkie of Blinkie.
“No, indeed!” answered the other woodchuck girl. “It’s too warm. I’m going to sleep.”
“Well, I’ll have to go by myself then,” said Winkie, a bit sadly. “Will you play after you wake up, Blinkie?”
“Maybe—maybe,” answered Blinkie, sleepily.
“Oh, I never saw such creatures!” murmured Winkie, as she ran along, giving a look toward her sister and a glance over into the next field where Blunk was nibbling clover. “All they think about is eating and sleeping! I’m going to do something! I wish I could have some adventures! That’s what I wish—adventures!
“Flop Ear, the rabbit who used to live here before he went away, had lots of adventures. He told me so when he came here on a visit. Oh dear! I wonder if I’ll ever have any adventures?”
Had she only known it, Winkie was, even then, about to start some very wonderful adventures, which I will tell you about.