Hutchinson gazette., 1901-07-18

Dorothy lived with her grandpar-
ents on little farm among the noun.
tains, Sc loved animals, and was
never without pet Of some kind, One
day as Dorothy's grandfather was
taking the COW to pasture, he noticed
three little creatures playing near a
large rock, He thought they were
young foxes, and he started TO catch
one; but before he could reach the
place, two of the little fellows had
tumbled into their hoe. The other was
about half way In when Dorothy's
grandfather grabbed him. II was not
a fox, but baby woodchuck-a queer,
fuzzy, little ball OF fur, with beady
black eyes, stumpy tail, and big vel.
low teeth. The baby woodchuck bit
and scratched and struggled to get
away. But at last he was tied In q
handkerchief, and then he was carried
to Dorothy. Dorothy was delighted
with this new strange pet; and though
her grandfather said woodchucks rare
ly became tame she was sure this one
would, She named him Fuzzy" and
then took down her old squirrel cage,
and lined 1t with soft hay and placed
him In 1t, with some fresh-cut clover
and n little dish Of water. For few
days Fuzzy was very wild. He be-
haved very badly He insisted on
spilling his water, and he would snap
and bite whenever his little mistress
replaced It, But by-and-by he saw
that Dorothy did not mean to hurt
him. Then he gave up biting, In two
weeks he would drink from his dish
without upsetting It, and would nibble
clover from Dorothys hand, and let
her scratch his funny little head. In
month Fuzzy had grown to twice his
size, and had become 80 tame that no
would let Dorothy take him In her
arms and carry him about. One day
little Dorothy forgot to fasten the
cage door and Fuzzy walked out. But
he did not go far, and went back to
his cage OF his own accord. The door
was never fastened again, and all day
long Fuzzy would play about the ver-
anda or nibble grass In front Of the
house, but he always returned to his
wire house for the night.
One day Dorothy's grandmother was
baking cookies, and she gave one to
Fuzzy 1t was funny to see the little
woodchuck taste 1t then taste again,
as II he were not quite able to make
up his mind whether he liked It or not.
Finally he decided that he did like
1t and he ate 1t all. From this time,
cookies were his favorite food. AS
soon as Dorothy's grandmother began
to bake he would run to the kitchen,
and sit on his launches in the door
way and wait patiently until his
cooky was given him; then he would
scamper off to one Of his grassy hooks
and eat 1t at his leisure. Several times
during the summer Fuzzy wandered
off to the woods and spent the day
At last one cool October day Fuzzy
went off and did not return. Dorothy
was afraid some one had killed him
All winter long she mourned for
Fuzzy. One fine morning in April as
Dorothy was walking down the road
with her grandfather they espied q big
red woodchuck sitting on a stump in
a field. "0h, grandpa!" cried Doro-
thy, "see that woodchuck, doesn't he
look Just like my dear old Fuzzy?"
perhaps 1t is Fuzzy" said her grand
father. Call him and see." Stepping
to the side Of the road, Dorothy waved
her hands and called, Fuzzy! Fuzzyl
come here, Fuzzyl" And what do
you think happened? Why, the big
red woodchuck first looked at Doro-
thy for minute, with his head on one
side, and then came running across
the fleld--and 1t was her dear old
Fuzzy, coming back to her aftor his
long winter sleep.
Dorothy took the great red fellow
in her arms and hugged and kissed
him. Fuzzy seemed to share her de-
light. He rubbed his nose against her
cheek and grumbled down in his
throat as woodchucks do when they
are pleased.
OF course Dorothy carried Fuzzy
home and fed and petted him, to make
up for all the time he had been away.
That afternoon Dorothys grandma got
out her baking tins and rolling pin.
And the moment Fuzzy heard the
he started up and ran to the
kitchen door, and took his place
again, to wait for his cooky. During
his long winter sleep he had not for
gotten about the cookies. One day