fond of work. He had a lot rather that some one else should do the
work for him, and he is smart enough to fix it so that usually some
one else does.

But getting ready to receive his family was different. No one else
could arrange things to suit him. This was Unc' Billy's own job, and
he tended right to it every minute of the day. First of all he had to
clean house. He had been keeping bachelor's hall so long in the big
hollow tree that things were not very tidy. So Unc' Billy cleaned
house, and while he worked he whistled and sang. Peter Rabbit, passing
that way, overheard Unc' Billy singing:

"Mah ol' woman is away down Souf--
Come along! Come along!
Ain't nothin' sharper than the tongue in her mouf--
Come along! Come along!
She once was pretty, but she ain't no mo',
But she cooks mah meals an' she sweeps mah flo';
She darns mah stockings an' she mends mah coat,
An' she knows jes' how mah chillun fer to tote--
Come along! Come along!

"Mah pickaninnies am a-headin' dis way--
Come along! Come along!
Daddy am a-watchin' fo' 'em day by day--
Come along! Come along!
Mah ol' haid aches when Ah thinks ob de noise
De's boun' to be wid dem gals an' boys,
But Ah doan care if it busts in two
If de good Lord brings dem chillun troo--