T HANK Goodness," chuckled Racky Raccoon, "that Old Dog Sandy has gone back to the city, and I can get down on the ground and stretch my legs in the daytime if I want to.

"He's been snooping around here all summer, so that nearly I didn't get in this book at all.

"But better late than never, and it's been worth being up a tree all summer, to get in here with Buddy Jim and all the rest of the Little Neighbors.

"But hungry! I haven't had a bite since twelve o'clock by the moon last night, and I see that Old Bob the gardener has thoughtfully left some nice yellow pumpkins on the hillside for me. You didn't know I liked pumpkins? No more do I; only the seeds.

"How do I get the pumpkins open? Say, what do you s'pose my claws are for?

"And after I get the seeds I have to take them to the brook and wash 'em. What for? O, my mother told me never to eat anything without first washing it.

"S'long! See you later."