After his strange meeting with the queen bee, Tiny wondered what would
happen next. He remembered what the owl prophet had said concerning
the dangers he would meet. As he sped onward, his little heart began
to beat less bravely, for, like any young squirrel that had lived in
a comfortable home without a care or a worry, he dreaded to face an
uncertain future.
“I am frightened,” he said, with a shudder, as he stopped at the edge
of a clump of cedars to find a place in which to spend the night. “The
day and the twilight are gone. No moon or star is in the sky. I wish I
were at home with mother.”
Then came a crash. Tiny thought for a moment that it was hailing. He
was about to hide in the grass when a bright green light flashed forth,
so brilliant that he could see all about him. He soon learned that the
crash was caused by a multitude of acorns that the wind had shaken from
a tree. Never before had he seen such splendid acorns.
“I will fill my hunting-bag, although such a large load will cause me
to travel more slowly,” he said. “A bagful of acorns is a nice thing to
have. How happy mother will be to get them!”
He began helping himself to the acorns. Suddenly he saw an ogre emerge
from the ground, with a thousand darts all pointed straight at him.
Never before in all his life had Tiny been so frightened.
“Hist!” cried the ogre, advancing slowly towards the poor, trembling
squirrel, his sharp teeth showing in a ghastly manner. “One of the
squirrels of the forest enters my realm. What shall I do with him?”
[Illustration: “HIST!” CRIED THE OGRE, ADVANCING SLOWLY TOWARD THE
POOR, TREMBLING SQUIRREL.]
A hundred voices cried out in reply:
“Master Ogre, friend so true,
He has come to steal from you.
See the bag he carries there!
Seize him by his auburn hair;
Put him in the bag, and then
Hide him in your gloomy den!”
Poor Tiny could only stand and shiver, awaiting his dreadful fate. The
green light became brighter and brighter, and soon he saw that he was
surrounded by a circle of glow worms. The ogre was a fierce porcupine.
Tiny had never before seen such a terrible creature.
“Every soldier in my army is loyal to me!” shouted the porcupine
boisterously. “Each comes with a lantern to help me. They will aid me
to tie you, place you in that bag, and hang you in my den deep down in
the cold ground.”
“I did not come to rob you,” mumbled Tiny, shaking violently. “I am
lost, and am trying to find my way home. This is my hunting bag in
which I gather my winter store. Please let me go unharmed.”
“Neither you nor your hunting bag has any right to be on my castle
grounds,” growled the porcupine. “Either the woodchuck or the rabbit
has told you that I have many priceless valuables hidden in my
storeroom.”
“I have never met the woodchuck, nor have I seen the rabbit for many
weeks,” wailed Tiny. “In my hunting bag are acorns and beech-nuts. I
halted underneath this tree to gather a few of these fine acorns.”
“Guilty creature!” cried the porcupine, bristling still more. “Do not
these acorns belong to me, also the tree they grow upon? Confess now
that you were going to burrow into my storeroom and carry off the
precious carrots and cabbage leaves I have stored away for a rainy day.”
“You are mistaken,” said Tiny, almost dead from fright, while the glow
worms circled still more closely about him.
Just then he remembered what the owl prophet had told him to do. As the
porcupine attempted to seize him, Tiny leaped forward and caught one
of the sharp darts and gave him a hard jab, which made the porcupine
shriek at the top of his voice. Moaning with pain, the ferocious
creature disappeared into the ground. The glow worms vanished.
[Illustration: “I HAVE CONQUERED THE OGRE!” CRIED TINY IN DELIGHT,
WHIRLING THE SWORD ABOUT IN THE AIR.]
“I have conquered the ogre!” cried Tiny in delight, whirling the dart
about in the air. “I am glad that I took the wise owl’s advice.”
Still carrying the dart, or quill, that he had wrested from the
porcupine, he groped his way back to the path.
Soon the rays of the moon made everything as bright as day. He had not
gone far when he saw to the left a deep, dark jungle, concerning which
the owl prophet had spoken.
“It is a dismal place after night,” he said, “but I must go into the
jungle as I have promised to do. I shall use the dart to protect
myself.”
With some difficulty he entered the damp place, without thought of the
terrible fright that awaited him.