"We carry home nuts in our cheek pouches, four at a time (Why four? Because five would be one too many, of course!), and we are much too sensible, as you might have guessed, to hurt ourselves by those sharp points. We bite them off tidily before we push them into our mouths with our fore-paws, as you will see if you watch us one day. It is fine to be a ground Squirrel, and much safer than living in trees. Down here we are safe from all our enemies--or almost all," he added in a whisper. Then his expression changed, and his sharp ears pointed forward. "Hark!" he cried. "_Chip-munk-chip-munk!_" The call was echoed through the galleries, and the Hackee's merry eyes were full of anger. "How dare he come here!" he cried, "and calling me in that familiar way too! I'll let him know who is master in this burrow!" The second Hackee came joyously down the passage, heedless of offence. "Hallo," he cried, looking at Phil, "whom have we got here? That Nature child? To be sure. I--" But Hackee the First interrupted him. "You have no business to come down here uninvited," he said, fiercely. "I would have you know--" Before he could finish, the other had flown at him. Their slender tails--Phil was not at all astonished when he heard afterwards that these sometimes were snapped across in battle--whirled round like Catherine wheels; two small furry bodies darted backward and forward; gleaming white teeth tried to take savage bites at soft pink noses. It was a wonder that the Hackees found room to turn as they did in that narrow tunnel. Phil tried in vain to come between them; they pushed him aside as if he were a bundle of grass, and in a second were at each other again. He was afraid that, like the Otters, they would fight to the death. But the pugnacious Hackees' rage was spent as suddenly as it had arisen. While Phil imagined they were only gathering their breath for another attack, they had both calmed down. "I've just been showing him round," said Hackee the First, twisting his tail in Phil's direction. "Seems a nice boy," said Hackee the Second, feeling Phil's nose anxiously. "I thought I might have bitten it off just now when you got in my way," he said to Phil with much relief, finding it was still there. "Never come between fighting creatures, boy--it's a thankless task." Phil was quite sure that if he had been his usual size the Hackee would not have chucked him under the chin in that off-hand way, but he did not mind a bit. They were all three sitting before the storehouse, the best of friends, when both chipping Squirrels sprang to their feet in terrified accord, standing for a second as if paralysed with fear. For their keen sense of smell had told them of the approach of the one enemy they dreaded--the soft-footed, silent Stoat.