Chapter Nine (cont.)

"What's he doing?" asked Jennifer.

"He's talking to them," said the horse.

"He sure must like pennies a lot," said Jamie.

"The way a pig likes mud. He wallows in them," said the horse. "You don't believe me? Just watch this!"

The horse glanced casually over at the side of the road and suddenly pretended great surprise.

"Is that a penny I see shining in the dirt?" he asked.

"Where!" cried the porcupine. He put aside the jar and looked frantically around on either side of the wagon.

"There!" said the horse and he kicked out a pebble.

The porcupine gave a cry of delight and dove off the wagon. There was a cloud of dust and some loud scuffling, then the porcupine climbed back into the wagon again.

"False alarm," he told them sheepishly.

"Nobody can like pennies that much," said Rachael.

"He does," said the horse.

"My shouldn't I?" asked the porcupine. "Pennies are dependable, you can count on them any number of times! I used to want those new-moon stones just the way you do now. But did I ever find any? No, I never did!"l

'Maybe if you tried to find one," suggested Jennifer.

"But just think of all the pennies I'll miss if I do, you have no idea what I go through sometimes. Pennies, I even dream of them. I sometimes dream of a big metal room all full of pennies and lines of people just waiting to take them away! How I wish those pennies were mine!" cried the porcupine and he sniffed a little because he knew that they weren't. Then he suddenly sat up straight and sniffed again. Then he smiled. "Smells like there's pennies right here in the wagon!"

"I've got a few in my pocket," admitted Jennifer.

"You do? Let me see them! Let me have them!" The porcupine tried to stick his paws into Jennifer's pocket, but she managed to push him away.

"You can't just take them!" Rachael told him.

"I can't?" asked the porcupine in surprise.

"No," said Jamie. "That'd be stealing!"

"Oh," said the porcupine. "Let's trade something then."

He reached under the seat and pulled out a pair of eye glasses. They were rather old and had only one lens. The porcupine held them up for Jennifer to see.

"They're just what you need to look for new-moon stones," he explained. "Used by a mole who stayed in his hole and took naps. Lots of looking still left in these."

"Get serious!" said Rachael. "They're half missing!"

"Nothing wrong with these glasses," said the porcupine. "Do you think I'd trade you something that wasn't up to sniff? Something past the mustard or under the hill?"

"Oh, I'm sure you wouldn't," said Jennifer quickly.

"I'm not," said the horse. "He definitely would."

"I have the other lens you know," said the porcupine. "I have it in the back of the wagon somewhere. I could get it too if you wanted, but you don't have to see it to know what it's like. It's the same as the other one and you can see that right here anytime you like."

"How many pennies do they cost?" asked Jennifer.

"How many pennies have you got?" asked the porcupine and he licked his lips expectantly.

"Three I think," said Jennifer and she took them out.

The porcupine gave a squeal of delight and grabbed them. "Pennies!" he chortled to himself "Beautiful pennies!"

He was licking his lips even more than before and he was almost beside himself with glee.

"Disgusting!" snorted the horse. "Now you see why he never finds any new-moon stones. Commerce my tummy! If that's commerce then my mummy's a mule!"