CHAPTER XIII
THE HOME UNDER THE ROCK
BUT what of the babies left behind, when Mother Chipmunk rode away in the Ranger’s pocket?
From an entrance hole under a rock just large enough to let her in, and not large enough for a weasel, Mother Chipmunk had built a branching tunnel that led for many feet under the pine needles of the forest floor. Three feet under-ground was the nursery cave, as big around as a dinner plate, all softly lined with dry leaves and moss.
Out of the main tunnel opened a smaller cave in which refuse was placed. There were also three storage caves or pantries, where in winter Mother Chipmunk kept her nuts and berries, dried grasshoppers andother delicacies for the long months when it is white and cold out of doors.
Just now the nursery cave was occupied by four of the most cunning baby chipmunks that ever were,—helpless at this age, without teeth. When Mother Chipmunk washed them, she would stand on her hind legs and take one up on her arms so that she could smooth its fur with her tongue.
Now these helpless babies would starve to death, she told herself. She must find a way to escape, if her life depended on it. And she must find it quickly, or she could never travel back all those miles the Ranger was taking her.
She struggled and struggled, there in the Ranger’s pocket. But he had fastened it shut. On they went, jogging slowly down the rocky trail. She couldn’t see a thing, but she felt the rhythmic jolting at each step of the horse. At last it seemed as if she must be standing on her head. The Ranger had leapt to the ground, and was stooping to drink at a spring. As he bent, the pocket came unbuttoned. Out she squeezed, straight into the icy water.
“Well, I never!” exclaimed the Ranger, as she struck out with all her might, swimming across the pool till she could scramble to shore. Hiding under a stone till she was sure he had gone, she started racing back along the way she had come. She reached home to find her babies crying for her.
Chipmunks are easy to tame, if one does not try to keep them prisoner. Before the summer was over, the children had Chuck and Chipper so that they came around every meal time for something good to eat, and if the window was left open, they would come right into the cabin for it. Once they nearly buried themselves by jumping into the cold ashes of the fireplace.
They used to drink from the water pail when it was full enough for them to reach the water from the rim. One day Chipper reached too far, fell in, and had to swim for it. But when he reached the side of the granite pail, it was too smooth for his claws and he could not get out. The children found him near drowning.
Now Fuzzy had a real grievance, for always before, anything the children had intheir pockets to eat was for him. Now Chuck and Chipper searched them first. Fuzzy was more eager than ever to catch the impudent rascals.