“Nuts?” said Uncle Sammy. “I
have some fine nuts.”
“Let me see a sample,” Sandy said.
But Uncle Sammy never stirred.
“There they are, right on the shelf!”
he said. “Look at them all you want to.”
“I’ll eat one and see how I like it,”
said Sandy Chipmunk.
But Uncle Sammy shook his head.
“No!” he replied. “That’s
the old-fashioned way of keeping a store. I don’t
give away any samples.”
When Sandy heard that he was angrier than ever.
And he wished he had never given Uncle Sammy any samples
of his wheat. But he knew there was no use of
appearing angry. So he smiled and asked:
“What is the price of your beechnuts?”
“For one handful, you will have to pay me an
ear of corn,” Uncle Sammy said.
“I’ll take a handful,” said Sandy.
Still the old fellow never stirred.
“Where’s your ear of corn?” he inquired.
“Oh! I’ll give you that the next
time I pass this way,” said Sandy. And
he made up his mind that he would take good care to
keep away from Uncle Sammy’s house.
But Uncle Sammy Coon was too sharp.
“That won’t do at all,” he said.
“I must have the corn before I give you the
nuts.”
So Sandy Chipmunk stepped to the door.
“I’ll come back soon,” he said.
And he ran all the way to Farmer Green’s cornfield,
to get an ear of green corn. And then he ran all
the way back to Uncle Sammy’s house.
“There!” Sandy said. “There’s
your ear of corn!” He laid it upon the table.
“Now give me a handful of beechnuts.”
“Step right in and help yourself,” Uncle
Sammy answered.
“No!” said Sandy. “You give
me the nuts.” He knew that Uncle Sammy’s
hands were much bigger than his own and would hold
more nuts.
“I should think you might get them,” the
old scamp grumbled. “I’ve a lame
knee, you know.”
“But I said a ’handful’—not
a ‘kneeful,’” Sandy answered.
“Of course, if you don’t want this juicy
ear of corn, there are others that would like it.”
He started to pick the ear of corn off the table when
Uncle Sammy rose quickly.
“All right!” he cried. “But
it’s the old-fashioned way; and I don’t
like it.” Then he gave Sandy a small handful
of beechnuts.
Sandy Chipmunk ate them right on the spot. And
he began to feel very happy. He had noticed that
Uncle Sammy tossed the ear of corn into a basket which
stood beneath the table. And the basket was full
of corn. Sandy could reach it just as easily
from the front of the table as Uncle Sammy could from
behind it.
And Sandy Chipmunk had thought all at once of a way
to get a good many nuts away from Uncle Sammy, to
pay for all the wheat Uncle Sammy had eaten.
THE BASKET OF CORN
“What are those nuts on the top shelf?”
Sandy Chipmunk asked Uncle Sammy Coon.
