They all looked around. And sure enough! there
was Sandy Chipmunk, hurrying along the top of the
wall, to get more nuts to store away for the winter.
“Wait a moment!” Mr. Crow called to him.
“I want to tell you something.”
Sandy Chipmunk came to a halt and sat up on top of
a stone, with his tail curled over his back.
“Talk fast, please!” he said. “I’m
in a great hurry. Winter will be here before
you know it. And I want to store away a great
many nuts before somebody else gathers them all.”
“I won’t keep you long,” Mr. Crow
told him. “It’s about your name—”
“I’ve no time to stop to explain,”
Sandy Chipmunk interrupted. “As I said,
I’m very busy to-day.” And he started
to scamper along the wall again.
Once more Mr. Crow stopped him.
“You don’t understand,” he said.
“I don’t want to ask you anything.
I want to tell you something.”
“Oh!” said Sandy. “That’s
different. What is it?”
“It’s quite a joke,” Mr. Crow said.
And he laughed loudly. “These young fellows
here have been trying to tell one another why you’re
called Sandy. One of ’em says it’s
because you like to dig in the sandy soil; and another
says it’s because of your color; and still another
claims it’s because you’re plucky.
But I tell ’em it’s because your real name
is Alexander. And of course I’m right,”
said old Mr. Crow.
Sandy Chipmunk smiled. And then he started off
again. And again Mr. Crow stopped him.
“Quite a joke on these youngsters—isn’t
it?” he inquired.
“You told me you didn’t want to ask
me anything,” Sandy Chipmunk reminded him.
“But I will say this—though I am in
a great hurry: So far as I know, you are all
of you right. And that’s a joke on you,
Mr. Crow.”
Then Sandy Chipmunk scampered off. And everybody
laughed—except Mr. Crow.
“Alexander Chipmunk is a very pert young man,”
he grumbled.
SOMETHING IN THE SKY
When Sandy Chipmunk was just a little chap his mother
began to teach him to take care of himself. She
told him that among other enemies he must always watch
out for foxes and minks and weasels—especially
weasels.
“They are very dangerous,” Mrs. Chipmunk
said.
“Well, I’ll always be safe if I climb
a tree—won’t I?” Sandy asked
her.
“Goodness, no!” his mother replied.
“There are many big birds—such as
hawks and owls and eagles—that would catch
you if they could.... But I’ll tell you
about them some other time, Sandy.”
Well, Sandy Chipmunk went out to play. But he
didn’t have what you would call a good time,
because he couldn’t help thinking of his mother’s
warning. He kept looking all around to see whether
a weasel or a mink or a fox might be trying to steal
up behind him. And he kept looking up to make
sure that no big bird was ready to swoop down upon
him.
