SLICKO’S NEW HOME
Slicko, the jumping squirrel, found herself all huddled up in a heap
in the soft, dark place. She did not feel much like jumping just
then--indeed she could not have jumped if she had wished, for there was
no room.
Besides, her leg, that had been caught in the trap, hurt her quite a
lot, though not so much as it had at first.
“I--I wonder where I am,” thought Slicko, as she tried to look about
her. Soon she could see better than at first, and, as a squirrel’s eyes
are made to see in the dark, much as are the eyes of the owl-bird,
Slicko could soon make out where she was.
She was down inside a sort of bag, very soft and cozy, but even though
it was so soft, Slicko could not get out. She tried, but there was no
hole. Even the top, through which she had been put in, was tightly
closed.
Slicko tried her teeth on some of the soft stuff, but it tickled her
little red tongue, so she stopped.
“I wonder where I am,” thought Slicko, again.
And, though she did not know it, she was in the boy’s coat pocket, and
he had pinned the flap down over it, so the little squirrel could not
get out. Later on Slicko took many trips in that same pocket, and was
not afraid, but this time her little heart beat very fast, for she did
not know what was going to happen to her.
“Well, I don’t believe I’ll try to catch any more squirrels,” said the
boy. “I’ll take this trap home with me.”
“Ah, that’s good!” thought Slicko. “If he takes the trap away, no more
squirrels will be caught. That’s very good!”
“And I guess I’ll take some of these nuts home to feed my new
squirrel,” went on the boy, speaking out loud the way boys do
sometimes, especially if they have their dogs with them.
“Bow wow!” barked Rover, the dog. “Bow wow!” That was his way of saying
that he, too, thought it would be a good thing to take home some of the
nuts.
Slicko heard the nuts rattling into the other pocket of the boy who had
caught her, and then she felt him walking off with her. Through the
woods he went, as Slicko could tell, for she heard the rattle and crack
of the bushes, as the boy pushed his way through them.
After what seemed to Slicko a long time, she fell asleep in the boy’s
pocket, and, when she awoke, she was in such a bright light that it
made her eyes blink very fast. The boy had opened his pocket, and had
taken Slicko out in his hands.
“Oh, what have you got, Bob?” asked a small girl, one of the boy’s
sisters.
“A little squirrel,” he answered.
“Where did you get it?” asked another girl.
“I caught it in a trap in the woods, Sallie,” the boy answered.
“Oh, how cruel, to catch a poor little squirrel in a trap!” exclaimed
the first little girl.
“Oh, I didn’t hurt it,” said Bob. “And, when it gets tame I’m going to
teach it some tricks.”
“Are you going to put the squirrel in a cage with a wheel?” asked the
girl whose name was Mollie.
“Yes, as soon as papa gets me that kind of a cage,” the boy said. “But,
until then, I’ll let it stay in a box.”
“I hope it doesn’t get away like Squinty, your pig, did,” spoke Sallie.
“Oh, no, I won’t let the squirrel get away,” said the boy.
“Ha!” thought Slicko. “Squinty the pig! I wonder if this is the boy who
made a pet of Squinty. If it is the same one, I am sure he will be kind
to me.”
[Illustration: “Oh, how cruel, to catch a poor little squirrel in a
trap!” exclaimed the first girl.]
“Where do you suppose Squinty is now?” asked Sallie.
“Back in the pen with the other pigs,” the boy replied. “After he got
away, he grew too big to keep for a pet. But this squirrel won’t grow
too big.”
“I’m sorry for that,” thought Slicko. “For if I grew big enough I, too,
might be allowed to go back to my home. But I will wait and see what
will happen. I will be as good as I can, and learn all the tricks I
can, and the boy and his sisters will love me.”
“Oh, isn’t she cute!” cried one of the little girls, as she put her
finger on the soft fur of Slicko’s back.
“Look out, she might bite!” exclaimed the other little girl.
“Indeed I’ll not!” chattered Slicko. “I wouldn’t be so impolite as
that.”
That is what Slicko said, but of course the boy and his sisters could
not understand. But they could see that Slicko was very gentle, and, as
she lay there, in the boy’s warm hand, the two little girls petted her,
and loved Slicko.
“Now I’ll put her in a box,” the boy said, “and give her some nuts to
eat and some water to drink.”
“That will be fine!” thought Slicko, for she was very thirsty and
hungry.
A little later she found herself in a small wooden box. In one corner
were some nuts, in another a dish of water, and in a third corner some
nice soft cotton, almost like the kind that comes on the inside of the
pods of the milkweed plant.
“Well, this isn’t like my home-nest in the tree, nor like Aunt Whitey’s
nest,” thought Slicko, “but as long as I have to stay here, I might as
well make the best of it. I can eat and drink, anyhow. I shall not be
hungry or thirsty.”
Slicko took up a hickory nut in her paws, that were like little hands,
and, sitting up on her hind legs, with her tail spread out over her
like an umbrella, she began to eat the meat of the nut.
“Oh, look!” cried one of the girls, who was watching. “Come and see the
squirrel eat, Sallie!”
“Ha! It isn’t so wonderful--just to eat,” thought Slicko. “I wonder how
those girls would like it, if I came to look on every time _they_ ate!”
Slicko could not get away, so she had to eat with the boy’s sisters
looking on. Not that Slicko minded very much, for she was beginning to
like her new home, and she felt sure that she would be in no danger
from dogs, or other animals. And if she got enough to eat, water to
drink, and had a nice, warm place to sleep in, what more could a
squirrel ask?
Slicko’s leg hurt her a little bit, but it was getting better all the
while, and she was feeling happier and happier every minute. True,
she would have been very glad if her papa and mamma and her sister
and brothers had been with her, but then she knew she could not have
everything she wanted.
“And it’s just wonderful that the same boy who has me had Squinty, the
comical pig, for his pet,” thought Slicko. “Squinty said the boy was
good and kind, and I’m sure he’ll teach me some nice tricks. I shall
love to learn tricks.”
For two or three days Slicko stayed in the box where the boy had first
put her. Every day she was given fresh water, and this was what she
needed almost more than she did nuts to eat. All animals need water,
especially in hot weather, so if ever you have a squirrel, or any other
pets, see to it that they have all the cool, clean water they wish to
drink.
“I wonder when my new cage is to come, whatever a cage is,” thought
Slicko, after she had been in the box about a week. “I am anxious to
see it, and I wonder what that wheel is the boy spoke about.”
Slicko was soon to know, however.
One day, when Slicko was eating nuts in her box, she looked up at the
top, over which had been fastened a bit of wire so she could not get
out, and, looking down at her, Slicko saw the boy’s big dog staring in.
“Bow wow!” barked the dog.
“Chatter-chat! Chit-chat-chatter-r-r-r-r-r-r!” went Slicko.
That was her way of saying: “How do you do?”
She did not feel afraid, for she knew the dog could not get at her in
the box.
“Oh, Bob! The dog is after your squirrel!” suddenly called Mollie.
“Yes, come quickly!” shouted Sallie.
“Bow wow!” barked the dog. And he seemed to say:
“Don’t worry! I wouldn’t hurt that little squirrel for the world. I
just want to look at her.”
“Oh, Rover won’t hurt Slicko,” said the boy, who had given his new
pet the same name as had the squirrel’s mamma. In fact, Slicko was so
smooth and slick, and so clean, that it would have been hard to get any
other name to fit her as well as did Slicko.
“See, the dog and squirrel will be good friends,” said the boy. With
that he reached in and lifted Slicko out of the box, holding her close
to Rover.
Rover put out his red tongue and touched Slicko with it. And Slicko put
out her tiny-paw and touched Rover. That was her way of shaking hands.
“See, they are friends!” said the boy. “Soon, when Slicko gets a little
tamer, I’m going to let her run out of the cage, and go all over the
house.”
“She may run away, like Squinty, the comical pig,” said Mollie.
“Oh, I don’t believe she will,” answered the boy.
Just then some one called:
“Bob! Bob! Where are you? Come here! The new cage for your squirrel has
come!”
“Oh, it’s my new home!” thought Slicko. “I wonder what it is like.”