“I wouldn’t let you go for the world,” Mother Chipmunk said; and then, very quietly, she slipped out at the back door and climbed up on the stump. But the minute she got up on the stump she nearly fell off backward, she was so scared. You see, Mother Chipmunk’s near neighbor climbed up on her stump at the very same time, and they were both so surprised to see each other that they were dreadfully frightened.
“My sakes alive!” Sophy Woodchuck’s voice trembled. “How you did frighten me, Neighbor Chipmunk! I suppose we all are pretty easily frightened at this time. One never knows when that terrible Ki-yi Coyote will spring out and make an end of us!”
“I have great faith in Doctor Rabbit,” Mother Chipmunk said. She had overheard what Doctor Rabbit had promised the day before. “He told us yesterday,” she continued, “that he will drive Ki-yi Coyote clear out of the Big Green Woods and clear out of the Wide Prairie.”
“I wonder how in the world he will do it!” Sophy Woodchuck said.
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” her neighbor replied.
“Well,” Sophy Woodchuck said, “we don’t care how he does it, so long as the thing is done.”
“No, indeed!” Mother Chipmunk exclaimed. “If only Ki-yi Coyote is driven away.”