“Why!” exclaimed Brighteyes, “that is a regular little play-party, Buddy.”

“To be sure it is,” he answered.  “And look, there is a sign fastened to the box.  Let’s go closer, and read what it says on it.”  So they went a little closer, watching on all sides to make sure there was no danger, and they read the sign.  This is what it said: 

  “Come in and eat whate’er you wish. 
  Taste each dainty in the dish. 
  Make a bow, and wipe your feet,
  Fold your napkins nice and neat.”

“Come on,” cried Buddy to his sister.  “Let’s go in and eat.”

“Do you s’pose it’s meant for us?” asked Brighteyes.

“Of course,” was his answer.  “Come on!  See, there’s a mat to wipe your feet on, and there are napkins at each plate.  There is a table for you, and one for me.”

So Buddy and Brighteyes, thinking no harm, went in and, after making their very best double-jointed bows, and wiping their feet until there was no more mud on them than on a postage stamp, they sat down to the tables and tucked in their napkins around their necks.

Then they began to eat, and oh, how good everything tasted!  Just like when you go visiting to the country, you know, and eat, and eat, and keep on eating.  Well, that’s just the way it was, believe me, if you please.

Now, something is going to happen.  I can’t help it, and it’s not my fault.  You see that box, with the nice things to eat on the toadstool tables, was only a trap.  No sooner had the two guinea pigs begun eating than some one hiding in the bushes pulled on a long string, and the string snapped out a piece of wood that was holding up the box, and the box fell down, and Brighteyes and Buddy were caught under it—­prisoners—­just like a mouse in the trap.

They stopped eating pretty quickly then, let me tell you.  Buddy was just going to have a second helping of marshmallow-chocolate clover when the box fell over, and it was so dark inside that he couldn’t find his mouth.

“Oh, dear!” cried Brighteyes.  “What has happened?”

“We’re in a trap!” shouted Buddy.  “The bad fox has us in a trap!  Come, we must get out!”

They jumped down from the toadstool seats and upset the toadstool tables, and the dishes fell on the floor, but they didn’t care.  Then the two guinea pig children tried to lift up the box, but they couldn’t, and they tried to dig under it, but they couldn’t, and they didn’t know how in the world they were going to get out.

Then, all of a sudden they heard some one whispering outside the box.  Buddy thought it was the fox, so he cried:  “You had better let us out of here, Mr. Fox, or we’ll have you arrested!”

“Why, that’s Buddy Pigg!” cried the voice, and all of a sudden the box was lifted and there stood the two groundhog boys; Woody and Waddy Chuck were their names.  “We didn’t mean to catch you,” said Woody.  “We were only going to play a joke on our big brother, but you got in the box by mistake.  We’re very sorry.”