Old Man Coyote looked as surprised as he felt. "Where were you?" he
demanded gruffly.

"Lying flat in the grass close by Johnny Chuck's house," replied Peter,
and grinned more broadly than ever.

"And to think I didn't know it!" sighed Old Man Coyote. "When I failed
to catch Johnny Chuck, I thought I had missed only one dinner, but it
seems I missed two. Next time I shall look around a little more sharply.
Do you know, the sight of Johnny Chuck always makes me homesick, he
reminds me so much of his cousin, Yap-Yap, and the days when I was
young."

"I didn't know that Johnny Chuck had a cousin until you mentioned it,"
said Peter. "Does he look like Johnny? Won't you tell me about him, Mr.
Coyote?"

"Seeing that I haven't anything in particular to do, I don't know but I
will," replied Old Man Coyote, who happened to be feeling very
good-natured. "Many and many a time I have chased Yap-Yap into his
house. Seems as if I can hear the rascal scolding me and calling me
names right this minute. He used to get me so provoked that it was all I
could do to keep from trying to dig him out."

"Why didn't you?" asked Peter.

"Because it would have meant a waste of time, sore feet, and nothing to
show for my trouble," retorted Old Man Coyote. "Yap-Yap never has
forgotten what his great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather learned when he