What other use do you have for those claws, Johnny?"
"They help me to climb," replied Johnny promptly.
"Climb!" exclaimed Peter Rabbit. "Who ever heard of a Woodchuck
climbing?"
"I can climb if I have to," retorted Johnny Chuck indignantly. "I've
climbed up bushes and low trees lots of times, and if I can get a good
run first, I can climb up the straight trunk of a tree with rough bark
to the first branches--if they are not too far above ground. You ask
Reddy Fox if I can't; he knows."
"That's quite true, Johnny," said Old Mother Nature. "You can climb
a little, but as a real climber you are not much of a success. You
are better as a digger."
"He certainly is all right as a digger," exclaimed Peter Rabbit.
"My, how he can make the sand fly! Johnny Chuck certainly is right
at home when it comes to digging."
"You ought to be thankful that he is," said Old Mother Nature, "for
the holes he has dug have saved your life more than once. By the
way, Peter, since you are so well acquainted with those holes,
suppose you tell us what kind of a home Johnny Chuck has."
Peter was delighted to air his knowledge. "The last one I was in,"
said he, "was a long tunnel slanting down for quite a distance and
then straightening out. The entrance was quite large with a big
heap of sand out in front of it. Down a little way the tunnel
grew smaller and then remained the same size all the rest of the way.
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