A SQUIRREL-BACK RIDE.
Minnie had only half believed what the squirrel said, and was surprised
and almost frightened when she felt herself growing smaller in every
limb. Did you ever drop a kid glove into boiling water? It will keep its
former shape, but shrink together so as to be hardly large enough for a
doll. Thus Minnie's whole form shrank, until she was no taller than
squirrel himself, and not half so stout, and her hands were as tiny as
his paws.
"Now we'll have plenty of fun," said squirrel; and they started together
for the woods.
But Minnie walked so slowly, with her little feet, that her guide soon
lost his patience. He would dart on out of sight, and come back for her,
again and again; he would wait to eat nuts, and dig holes in the ground
to bury some against winter-time; and still Minnie, for all her
hurrying, lagged behind.
At last squirrel said, "This will never do; seat yourself on my back,
and I'll carry you faster than any steam-car that ever you saw. Here we
go!"
It was a pretty sight--the little rider and her frisky steed, bounding
so gracefully over the road. They had not gone far, however, when Minnie
called,
"O, squirrel, pray, pray stop!"
"What's the trouble now?"
"You go so fast it takes away my breath, and the underbrush all but
scratches my eyes out; and the grass is full of bugs and ugly
caterpillars, that stretch their cold claws to catch at me as I go
past."
"Is that all?" He darted by a post, along the fence-rails, and up the
trunk of a tree, and into the leafy boughs. But now it was the
squirrel's turn to complain.
"Don't pull at my ears so hard! Why, my eyes are half out of my head!
It is bad enough to carry such a load!"
"But, dear squirrel, I shall tumble off! Here we are, away up in the
air, higher than any house, and you skip and leap, and scramble so, it
frightens me out of my wits."
"Jump off a minute, then; I know a better way to carry you."
No sooner had Minnie obeyed, than he was out of sight. With one spring,
he had leaped to the bough of a taller tree;--and now would he ever come
back?
It made her dizzy to look down. It seemed further than ever to the
ground, now, she had grown so small. And the insects that crept and flew
around her looked so large! A great mosquito came buzzing about with his
poisoned bill, and then a hard-backed beetle trolled past, and two or
three fat ants. And a bird alighted on the bough, and began to sing.
Minnie drew down a broad leaf to hide her face, for she felt afraid that
the bird would think her some kind of bug, and eat her up. Perhaps he
meant to do so, for he kept hopping nearer and nearer as he sang.
"O, how I wish I were at home!" thought Minnie. "Perhaps my mother is
looking for me now; and Franky has been standing ever so long at the
fence, with the half of his cake that he promised to save for me. How
could that old squirrel be so wicked as to leave me here alone?"
Still the bird hopped nearer, and eyed her as he sang, and looked as if
his mouth were watering for a taste.
"I shall be killed and eaten up by ants and worms if I fall to the
ground," thought Minnie; "or, even if I reached it alive, I could never,
never find the way home, with these small, slow feet. Let the robin eat
me, then."
But now came a rustling amongst the leaves, and a chirping, chattering
sound, and, lo! her friend the squirrel frisked into sight. He seemed to
be quarrelling with the bird, for she half spread her wings, and
stretched her beak as if she could bite him; and squirrel chattered and
chuckled at her, and his bright brown eyes flashed with anger, till the
robin flew away.
"A moment later, Minnie, and you would have been changed into a song.
That saucy fellow meant to eat you for his luncheon," said squirrel.
"Now, don't complain that I went away; if you do, I shall go again. We
never allow any grumbling out here in the woods."
"Yet they allow quarrelling, and murder, and mischief of many kinds, I
see," thought Minnie; "but as I've come so far, I will not go home
without learning how birds and squirrels live."