Deeper and deeper Tiny wandered into the heart of the jungle. It was
very damp and chilly as well as ghostly. His hunting bag was heavy, but
he did not lose heart.
He had heard that fairy princesses with torches often came to the aid
of good squirrels that were in trouble. He wished that they would come
to help him. But the dark trees and bushes looked like frightful hiding
places for foxes and other mischievous animals. He grew more and more
alarmed. Finally he halted at the foot of a pine tree.
“I will spend the night here,” he said to himself. “I shall be out of
danger in this great tree. What a lonesome place it is! This is one of
the gloomiest valleys I ever saw. I’ll hide my acorns under the tree
and find a place in which to rest.”
Hardly had he spoken these words, when a terrible growl fell upon his
ears. At the same time a great black object rose between himself and
the tree. It was the largest creature Tiny had ever seen.
“It is the black giant that Mr. Owl told me about,” chattered Tiny,
dropping his hunting bag. “Oh, what shall I do?”
The giant, which was really a black bear, growled louder than before
and tried to strike Tiny with his great paw. The red squirrel, quick
as a flash, attacked the giant with his dart, but only broke it into
several pieces. Then, as fast as his legs could carry him, he scurried
up the pine tree. The bear, shaking with rage, attempted to climb the
tree, too, but he was so heavy that a bough gave way, and he fell
clumsily to the ground.
[Illustration: HE WAS SO HEAVY THAT A BRANCH GAVE WAY AND HE FELL
CLUMSILY TO THE GROUND.]
“You may be a great fighter on the ground, but you can’t climb trees,”
laughed Tiny in spite of his recent fright.
“You shall stay in that tree till your beard turns gray,” growled the
bear, “for I intend to see that you do not escape.”
Tiny hid himself in one of the thick branches and remained quiet for
a long time. He feared to go to sleep, lest he might fall upon Mr.
Bruin’s upturned nose. In the meantime, the bear fell into a deep
slumber.
Finally the thought struck Tiny that he might be close to Squirreltown.
He quickly ascended to the topmost branch and looked all about him.
Less than two miles away he saw a wonderful sight. It seemed to him
that millions of bright stars clustered together over the top of a tall
tree in the east. They circled briskly about, sparkling and flashing
like diamonds in an immense crown.
“The good owl prophet has told me the truth from first to last,”
said Tiny, his heart almost bursting from joy. “I recognize the dear
old oak where I was born, although it is a long distance away.
Squirreltown stands under that crown of heavenly bodies. Never before
have I seen that kind of stars. Those rays are as bright as these
anxious eyes of mine. Hurrah for home and mother! How strange it is
that all my difficulties have helped me to find the right way home!”
He hastened down to the lowest branch of the tree, but Bruin was still
sleeping, with his head against its massive trunk. Tiny, whose mother
had taught him the lesson of prudence, did not dare to venture down,
lest the big black bear should seize him. So he went back to his
resting place, and soon fell asleep.
In the early gray dawn, he awoke and peeped from his cozy shelter. The
birds were leaving their green roofs to find food for their families.
The daisies in the woods and valleys were beginning to spread their
white and crimson-tipped stars. The leaves trembled in the early
breezes. Old Bruin was not far from the tree. He had found a hollow
stump, and was rooting around it with his long nose.
Soon there was a buzzing sound that swelled into an angry roar. Old
Bruin, in trying to steal some honey, had gotten into trouble with the
bees. The swarm was very angry. Hundreds of bees poured from the stump
and alighted on his head, in his eyes, ears, and nostrils.
[Illustration: CRAZED WITH PAIN THE BEAR DASHED AWAY.]
Crazed with pain, the bear dashed away, bellowing at the top of his
voice. Tiny, although very kind-hearted and forgiving, could not keep
from laughing at the plight of the bear. His cries sounded like the
mingled shrieks of many different animals, for the sting of each bee
was like the cut of a knife.
Tiny scurried down the tree to find his hunting bag, and what was his
delight to find other delicacies that would make his winter store
complete.
“What a glorious jungle this is!” he cried. “I am glad I followed the
advice of the owl prophet, for no squirrel has ever before been so
fortunate. The ground is covered with pine cones, the seeds of which
are delicious. Across the way is a large quantity of beech-nuts, and
all around me are blackberry bushes. There is nothing else so delicious
as dried blackberries.”
In the midst of his joy, the queen bee that he had rescued from the
brook lit upon a purple crow-foot growing by the stump, and cried out:
“Good morning, my four-legged friend. You are the squirrel that saved
my life.”
“I am glad to see you again, your majesty,” said Tiny with his polite
bow. “I wish you had happened to come sooner, for that dreadful black
giant made me stay in yonder pine tree all night long.”
“The impudent creature tried to get into our new home in the stump,”
said the queen. “My soldiers will chase him and his companions so far
away that they will never find their way back here.”
“You have done me a great service,” said Tiny, with a second bow. “I
thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
“A kind act always brings its reward,” said the queen cheerfully.
“But how can a tiny bee scare such a monstrous creature as a bear?”
asked the squirrel.
“One bee couldn’t scare anything,” laughed the queen. “You must
remember that bees work together. When hundreds and hundreds of bees
attack a bear, he is sure to make good use of his legs.”
“Isn’t it rather unpleasant to live in a stump, after having been queen
of the City Wonderful?” asked Tiny, after a moment of silence.
“No, I rather enjoy the change,” returned the queen bee, with a merry
buzz. “I hear that my oldest daughter, the princess, is now queen of
the City Wonderful, but that she is uneasy all the time, as her next
younger sister is almost ready to leave her nursery and fight for the
crown. Occasionally there is strife in the City Wonderful, for as
soon as a princess leaves her nursery, she wants to rule. I am quite
content to live here with my twenty thousand faithful followers. It is
better to live peaceably in a stump than with a quarrelsome daughter in
a fine palace.”
“I wish you much happiness,” said Tiny, with still another bow.
“Thank you,” replied the queen, testing her gauzy wings. “I learned
yesterday from one of my workers that Squirreltown is but a short
distance away. Follow the path leading eastward, and you will be there
in time for dinner.”
“And what a dinner I shall take to my good mother!” exclaimed Tiny,
looking about him.
There was his hunting bag filled with choice acorns. Fully two bushels
of beech-nuts and three barrels of pine cones were scattered over the
ground. On the blackberry bushes, some of which were five feet high,
were at least a dozen gallons of dried berries.
“I warn you that all is not well at Squirreltown,” continued the queen.
“They are having a dreadful famine there, and your poor mother may have
starved by this time. Fear, want, and anxiety are terrible companions
with which to live.”
“What caused the famine?” asked Tiny in alarm.
“Acorns and all the other queer food that squirrels eat are very scarce
in Squirreltown just now,” explained the queen; “and, to make it all
the worse, the squirrels there were annoyed by a host of bears that
took up their abode in the city. As a result, all the inhabitants were
afraid to leave their homes. The poor creatures were hungry enough to
eat one another.”
“Are there many bears about here?” asked Tiny.
“Quite a number of them came to the jungle, because there are so many
acorns. They intended to hibernate here. I remembered how kind you had
been to me, so I sent messengers to all the bees for miles around to
drive the bears out of Squirreltown. We intend to keep them out of this
jungle. We will watch your city every day and woe betide the bear that
enters! Should one attempt to pass the city limits, an alarm will be
sent out, and at least a thousand bees will chase him until he falls
down exhausted. Bears, deer, and buffaloes are cowards. However, they
do look very dreadful to small creatures like us.”
“I can never repay you for your courtesies,” said Tiny, this time
bowing so low that his bushy tail looked like a canopy over his head.
“Now run along home before my army returns,” continued the queen. “All
the citizens of Squirreltown know that you are coming, and that you are
their deliverer. I will send a few of my messengers to guide you, and
to conduct your friends back to the jungle where they can eat all they
want, and store things for winter use. Goodby.”
The queen bee flew back into the stump, buzzing happily. Tiny laughed,
cried, chattered, and sang for joy. After helping himself to a few
berries and pine cones, he picked up his bunting bag and trudged along
to Squirreltown, as happy as a king.