She stood up and gnawed the potatoes, cabbages, turnips and carrots in the basket, eating her fill. And even a small woodchuck has a large appetite. [Winkie ate so much she could hardly waddle], and then she went off into the wood a little distance, lay down in another hollow log, and went to sleep.
Daylight came. Uncle Elias came downstairs early, for he was going to take a load of vegetables to the city. He had packed them in baskets the night before and set them on the side porch. As he went to load them into his wagon he gave an angry cry.
“Look here! Look here!” he shouted. “Some pesky woodchuck has been here and sampled all my vegetables! Look here!”
“Oh, a woodchuck would hardly come right up to the house,” said his wife.
“But this one did!” cried Mr. Tottle. “I know the mark of a ground-hog’s teeth. And look, here are paw marks in the dirt! Yes, a woodchuck has been here. And I know which one it was!”
“Which one?” asked Mrs. Tottle.
“The pesky creature Larry and Alice keep for a pet! I was over last night—I mean I’m going over now,” and Uncle Elias corrected himself quickly. “I’m going over now and make ’em get rid of it!”
