Without even looking up Father Thrift knew who it was. "A friend in
need," he said to himself.
Then he called to the woodpecker that was doing the knocking. "I wish
to talk with you," he said.
Woodpecker flew down, and Father Thrift told him all about Little Gray
Squirrel.
"Oh, we will help him gather a fresh store of nuts," said Mr.
Woodpecker. "Indeed, we will help!" And he flew away.
Within a very short time a whole flock of woodpeckers was flying
toward Little Gray Squirrel's home.
Soon Little Gray Squirrel's troubles were over, for the woodpeckers
filled his winter storeroom full of the choicest nuts. Now he was sure
of having plenty to eat all winter for himself and his family. And how
thankful he was!
But that is not all.
When the woodpeckers were through filling the squirrel's storeroom
with nuts, did they stop?
No, indeed! One woodpecker who was older than the others got up on the
topmost branch of the tree and said:
"Dear brothers, do you realize now how foolish we have been all our
lives?
"In the summer we feed on bugs and beetles and ants and seeds.
"Then in the winter, because we know no better, some of us go South.
Some of us go hungry, and some of us die, because we cannot find
enough to eat.
"Why cannot we, too, store up nuts and have food for the winter as the
squirrels do?"
"The very thing!" cried the other woodpeckers.
So they all began gathering acorns and beechnuts and storing them in
the bark of the trees.
Some of the nuts they would drop beneath the bark of the tree. And
some they would drive with their strong bills into cracks and holes
which they found here and there.
The trees which were old and worm-eaten were, of course, the easiest
into which to drive the nuts. Knotholes, too, were good places in
which to store food.
When the woodpeckers had many, many nuts stored away, one of them
said:
"Isn't it strange that we didn't think of this before! We need not go
South to find a new home this winter. We can stay right here and still
have plenty to eat."
And that is what they did.
So, while the woodpeckers helped Little Gray Squirrel out of his
trouble, they helped themselves into the good habit of learning to
save. And they have not forgotten it to this day.