Peter was delighted to air his knowledge. “The last one I was in,” said he, “was a long tunnel slanting down for quite a distance and then straightening out. The entrance was quite large with a big heap of sand out in front of it. Down a little way the tunnel grew smaller and then remained the same size all the rest of the way. Way down at the farther end was a nice little bedroom with some grass in it. There were one or two other little rooms, and there were two branch tunnels leading up to the surface of the ground, making side or back doorways. There was no sand around either of these, and they were quite hidden by the long grass hanging over them. I don't understand how Johnny made those doorways without leaving any sand on the doorsteps.” “Huh!” interrupted Johnny Chuck. “That was easy enough. I pushed all the sand out of the main doorway so that there would be nothing to attract the attention of any one passing near those back doorways. Those back doorways are very handy in time of danger.” “Do you always have three doorways?” asked Happy Jack. “No,” replied Johnny Chuck. “Sometimes I have only two and once in a while only one. But that isn't really safe, and I mean always to have at least two.” “Do you use the same house year after year?” piped up Striped Chipmunk. Johnny shook his head. “No,” said he. “I dig a new hole each spring. Mrs. Chuck and I like a change of scene. Usually my new home isn't very far from my old one, because I am not fond of traveling. Sometimes, however, if we cannot find a place that just suits us, we go quite a distance.” “Are your babies born down in that little bedroom in the ground?” asked Jumper the Hare. “Of course,” replied Johnny Chuck. “Where else would they be born?” “I didn't know but Mrs. Chuck might make a nest on the ground the way Mrs. Peter and Mrs. Jumper do,” replied Jumper meekly. “No, siree!” replied Johnny. “Our babies are born in that little underground bedroom, and they stay down in the ground until they are big enough to hunt for food for themselves.” “How many do you usually have?” inquired Chatterer the Red Squirrel. “Six or eight,” replied Johnny Chuck. “Mrs. Chuck and I believe in large families.” “Do you eat nuts like the rest of our family?” inquired Striped Chipmunk. “No,” replied Johnny Chuck. “Give me green food every time. There is nothing so good as tender sweet clover and young grass, unless it be some of those fine vegetables Farmer Brown grows in his garden.” Peter Rabbit nodded his head very emphatically as if he quite agreed. “I suppose you are what is called a vegetarian, then,” said Happy Jack, to which Johnny Chuck replied that he supposed he was. “And I suppose that is why you sleep all winter,” added Happy Jack.