want to, and I do sometimes, but prefer the ground."

"Go on, Peter," said Old Mother Nature.

"He seems to like old stone walls and rock piles," continued Peter,
"and he is one of the brightest, liveliest, merriest and the most
lovable of all my friends."

"Thank you, Peter," said Striped Chipmunk softly.

"I never have been able to find his home," continued Peter. "That is
one of his secrets. But I know it is in the ground. I guess this
is all I know about him. I should say the chief difference between
Striped Chipmunk and the Tree Squirrels is that he spends all his
time on the ground while the others live largely in the trees."

"Very good, Peter," said Old Mother Nature. "But there are two
very important differences which you have not mentioned. Striped
Chipmunk has a big pocket on the inside of each cheek, while his
cousins of the trees have no pockets at all."

"Of course," cried Peter. "I don't see how I came to forget that.
I've laughed many times at Striped Chipmunk with those pockets
stuffed with nuts or seeds until his head looked three times bigger
than it does now. Those pockets must be very handy."

"They are," replied Striped Chipmunk. "I couldn't get along without
them. They save me a lot of running back and forth, I can tell you."

"And the other great difference," said Old Mother Nature, "is