narratives broken in upon, he hastened to add politely, but pointedly,
"I beg your pardon for interrupting. Please go on!"

"Well, as I was going to say," continued the Child, in quite his
Uncle's manner, "Bill saw--he saw them himself, with his own
eyes--these millions and thousands of prairie dogs, and quite a lot of
the little owls, and only just a very few of the rattlesnakes. So, you
see, it looks as if the owls must have eaten some of the snakes, and,
anyhow, I think Bill was telling the truth _this_ time."

"Well," said Uncle after puffing at his pipe for a few complimentary
moments of reflection, "there's one important thing which Bill appears
to have neglected. He doesn't seem to have inquired the views of the
prairie dogs on the subject. Now, if he'd got _their_ opinion--"

"But how _could_ he?" protested the Child reproachfully. He was always
troubled when Uncle Andy displayed anything like a frivolous strain.

"To be sure! To be sure! You _couldn't_ have expected that of Bill,"
agreed Uncle Andy. "Still, you know, the opinion of the prairie dogs
would have been interesting, wouldn't it? Well, I'll tell you a story
just as soon as I can get this old pipe to draw properly, and then you
can judge the opinion of the prairie dogs as to whether the Little
Burrowing Owl is 'good' or not. If their opinion does not agree with
Bill's, why you can choose for yourself between the two."


"Prairie Dog Village was of considerable size, covering as it did
perhaps a dozen acres of the dry, light prairie soil. Its houses were
crowded together without any regard to order or arrangement, and so