WHICH TELLS HOW THE GRAY SQUIRRELS GET ON WHILE THEY REMAINED ON PIKE
ISLAND--HOW THEY BEHAVED TO THEIR POOR RELATIONS, THE CHITMUNKS--AND WHAT
HAPPENED TO THEM IN THE FOREST.
It was noon when the little squirrels awoke, and, of course, they were
quite ready for their breakfast; but there was no good, kind old mother
to provide for their wants, and to bring nuts, acorns, roots, or fruit
for them; they must now get up, go forth, and seek food for themselves.
When Velvet-paw and Silver-nose went to call Nimble-foot, they were
surprised to find his nest empty; but after searching a long while,
they found him sitting on the root of an up-turned tree, looking at
a family of little chitmunks busily picking over the pine-cones on
the ground; but as soon as one of the poor little fellows, with great
labour, had dug out a kernel, and was preparing to eat it, down leaped
Nimble-foot and carried off the prize; and if one of the little chitmunks
ventured to say a word, he very uncivilly gave him a scratch, or bit
his ears, calling him a mean, shabby fellow.
Now the chitmunks were really very pretty. They were, to be sure, not
more than half the size of the gray squirrels, and their fur was short,
without the soft, thick glossy look upon it of the gray squirrels'.
They were of a lively, tawny yellow-brown colour, with long black and
white stripes down their backs; their tails were not so long nor so
thickly furred; and instead of living in the trees, they made their
nests in logs and windfalls, and had their granaries and winter houses
too underground, where they made warm nests of dried moss and grass
and thistledown; to these they had several entrances, so that they
had always a chance of refuge if danger were nigh. Like the dormice,
flying squirrels, and ground hogs, they slept soundly during the cold
weather, only awakening when the warm spring sun had melted the snow.
[Footnote: It is not quite certain that the chitmunk is a true squirrel,
and he is sometimes called a striped rat. This pretty animal seems,
indeed, to form a link between the rat and squirrel.]
The vain little gray squirrels thought themselves much better than
these little chitmunks, whom they treated with very little politeness,
laughing at them for living in holes in the ground, instead of upon
lofty trees, as they did; they even called them low-bred fellows, and
wondered why they did not imitate their high-breeding and behaviour.
The chitmunks took very little notice of their rudeness, but merely
said that, if being high-bred made people rude, they would rather remain
humble as they were.
"As we are the head of all the squirrel families," said Silver-nose,
"we shall do you the honour of breakfasting with you to-day."
"We breakfasted hours ago, while you lazy fellows were fast asleep,"
replied an old chitmunk, poking his little nose out of a hole in the
ground.
"Then we shall dine with you; so make haste and get something good
for us," said Nimble-foot. "I have no doubt you have plenty of butter
and hickory-nuts laid up in your holes."
The old chitmunk told him he might come and get them, if he could.
At this the gray squirrels skipped down from the branches, and began
to run hither and thither, and to scratch among the moss and leaves,
to find the entrance to the chitmunks' grain stores. They peeped under
the old twisted roots of the pines and cedars, into every chink and
cranny, but no sign of a granary was to be seen.
[Illustration: THE GRAY SQUIRREL AND THE CHITMUNKS.]
Then the chitmunks said, "My dear friends, this is a bad season to
visit us; we are very poor just now, finding it difficult to get a
few dry pine-kernels and berries; but if you will come and see us after
harvest, we shall have a store of nuts and acorns."
"Pretty fellows you are!" replied Nimble, "to put us off with promises,
when we are so hungry; we might starve between this and harvest."
"If you leave this island, and go down the lake, you will come to a
mill, where the red squirrels live, and where you will have fine times,"
said one of the chitmunks.
"Which is the nearest way to the mill?" asked Velvet-paw.
"Swim to the shore, and keep the Indian path, and you will soon see
it."
But while the gray squirrels were looking out for the path, the cunning
chitmunks whisked away into their holes, and left the inquirers in the
lurch, who could not tell what had become of them; for though they did
find a round hole that they thought might be one of their burrows, it was
so narrow that they could only poke in their noses, but could get no
further--the gray squirrels being much fatter and bigger than the slim
little chitmunks.
"After all," said Silvy, who was the best of the three, "perhaps, if
we had been civil, the chitmunks would have treated us better."
"Well," said Nimble, "if they had been good fellows, they would have
invited us, as our mother did Cousin Blackie, and have set before us
the best they had. I could find it in my heart to dig them out of their
holes and give them a good bite." This was all brag on Nimble's part,
who was not near so brave as he wished Silvy and Velvet-paw to suppose
he was.
After spending some time in hunting for acorns they made up their minds to
leave the island, and as it was not very far to the mainland, they decided
on swimming thither.
"Indeed," said Silver-nose, "I am tired of this dull place; we are
not better off here than we were in the little island in Stony Lake,
where our good old mother took care we should have plenty to eat, and
we had a nice warm nest to shelter us."
"Ah, well, it is of no use grumbling now; if we were to go back, we
should only get a scolding, and perhaps be chased off the island,"
said Nimble. "Now let us have a race, and see which of us will get
to shore first;" and he leaped over Velvet-paw's head, and was soon
swimming merrily for the shore. He was soon followed by his companions,
and in half an hour they were all safely landed. Instead of going into
the thick forest, they agreed to take the path by the margin of the
lake, for there they had a better chance of getting nuts and fruit;
but though it was the merry month of June, and there were plenty of
pretty flowers in bloom, the berries were hardly ripe, and our little
vagrants fared but badly. Besides being hungry, they were sadly afraid
of the eagles and fish-hawks that kept hovering over the water; and
when they went further into the forest to avoid them, they saw a great
white wood-owl, noiselessly flying out from among the close cedar swamps,
that seemed just ready to pounce down upon them. The gray squirrels
did not like the look of the owl's great round shining eyes, as they
peered at them, under the tufts of silky white feathers, which almost
hid his hooked bill, and their hearts sunk within them when they heard
his hollow cry, _"Ho, ho, ho, ho!" "Waugh, ho!"_ dismally sounding
in their ears.
It was well that Velvet-paw was as swift afoot as she was soft, for one of
these great owls had very nearly caught her, while she was eating a
filbert that she had found in a cleft branch, where a nuthatch had fixed
it, while she pecked a hole in the shell. Some bird of prey had scared
away the poor nuthatch, and Velvet-paw no doubt thought she was in luck
when she found the prize; but it would have been a dear nut to her, if
Nimble, who was a sharp-sighted fellow, had not seen the owl, and cried,
_"Chit, chit, chit, chit!"_ to warn her of her danger. _"Chit, chit, chit,
chit!"_ cried Velvet-paw, and away she flew to the very top of a tall
pine-tree, springing from one tree-top to another, till she was soon out
of the old owl's reach.
"What shall we do for supper to-night?" said Silver-nose, looking very
pitifully at Nimble-foot, whom they looked upon as the head of the
family.
"We shall not want for a good supper and breakfast too, or
I am very much mistaken. Do you see that red squirrel yonder, climbing
the hemlock-tree? Well, my dears, he has a fine store of good things
in that beech-tree. I watched him run down with a nut in his teeth.
Let us wait patiently, and we shall see him come again for another;
and as soon as he has done his meal, we will go and take ours."
The red squirrel ran to and fro several times, each time carrying off
a nut to his nest in the hemlock; after a while, he came no more. As
soon as he was out of sight, Nimble led the way and found the hoard.
The beech was quite hollow in the heart; and they went down through
a hole in the branch, and found a store of hazel-nuts, with acorns,
hickory-nuts, butter-nuts, and beech-mast, all packed quite close
and dry. They soon made a great hole in the red squirrel's store of
provisions, and were just choosing some nuts to carry off with them, when
they were disturbed by a scratching against the bark of the tree. Nimble,
who was always the first to take care of himself, gave the alarm, and
he and Velvet-paw, being nearest to the hole, got off safely; but poor
Silvy had the ill luck to sneeze, and before she had time to hide herself,
the angry red squirrel sprang upon her, and gave her such a terrible
cuffing and scratching, that Silvy cried out for mercy. As to Nimble-foot
and Velvet-paw, they paid no heed to her cries for help; they ran away,
and left her to bear the blame of all their misdeeds as well as her
own. Thieves are always cowards, and are sure to forsake one another
when danger is nigh.
The angry red squirrel pushed poor Silvy out of her granary, and she was
glad to crawl away and hide herself in a hole at the root of a
neighbouring tree, where she lay in great pain and terror, licking her
wounds and crying to think how cruel it was of her brother and sister to
leave her to the mercy of the red squirrel. It was surely very cowardly of
Nimble-foot and Velvet-paw to forsake her in such a time of need; nor was
this the only danger that befell poor Silvy. One morning, when she put her
nose out of the hole to look about her before venturing out, she saw
seated on a branch, close beside the tree she was under, a racoon, staring
full at her with his sharp cunning black eyes. She was very much afraid of
him, for she thought he looked very hungry; but as she knew that racoons
are very fond of nuts and fruit, she said to herself, "Perhaps if I show
him where the red squirrel's granary in the beech-tree is, he will not
kill me." Then she said very softly to him, "Good Mister Coon, if you want
a very nice breakfast, and will promise to do me no hurt, I will tell you
where to find plenty of nuts."
The coon eyed her with a sly grin, and said, "If I can get anything more
to my taste than a pretty gray squirrel, I will take it, my dear, and not
lay a paw upon your soft back." "Ah, but you must promise not to touch me,
if I come out and show you where to find the nuts," said Silvy.
"Upon the word and honour of a coon!" replied the racoon, laying one
black paw upon his breast; "but if you do not come out of your hole,
I shall soon come and dig you out, so you had best be quick; and if
you trust me, you shall come to no hurt."
Then Silvy thought it wisest to seem to trust the racoon's word, and
she came out of her hole, and went a few paces to point out the tree
where her enemy the red squirrel's store of nuts was; but as soon as
she saw Mister Coon disappear in the hollow of the tree, she bade him
good-bye, and whisked up a tall tree, where she knew the racoon could
not reach her; and having now quite recovered her strength, she was
able to leap from branch to branch, and even from one tree to another,
whenever they grew close and the boughs touched, as they often do in
the grand old woods in Canada, and so she was soon far, far away from
the artful coon, who waited a long time, hoping to carry off poor Silvy
for his dinner.
Silvy contrived to pick up a living by digging for roots and eating such
fruits as she could find; but one day she came to a grassy cleared spot,
where she saw a strange-looking tent, made with poles stuck into the
ground and meeting at the top, from which came a bluish cloud that spread
among the trees; and as Silvy was very curious, she came nearer, and at
last, hearing no sound, ran up one of the poles and peeped in, to see what
was within side, thinking it might be one of the fine stores of grain that
people built for the squirrels, as her cousin Blackie had made her
believe. The poles were covered with sheets of birch-bark and skins of
deer and wolves, and there was a fire of sticks burning in the middle,
round which some large creatures were sitting on a bear's skin, eating
something that smelt very nice. They had long black hair and black eyes
and very white teeth. Silvy felt alarmed at first; but thinking they must
be the people who were kind to squirrels, she ventured to slip through a
slit in the bark, and ran down into the wigwam, hoping to get something to
eat; but in a minute the Indians jumped up, and before she had time to
make her escape, she was seized by a young squaw, and popped into a birch
box, and the lid shut down upon her; so poor Silvy was caught in a trap,
and all for believing the artful black squirrel's tales.
Silver-nose remembered her mother's warning now when it was too late;
she tried to get out of her prison, but in vain; the sides of the box
were too strong, and there was not so much as a single crack for a
peep-hole. After she had been shut up some time, the lid was raised
a little, and a dark hand put in some bright, shining hard grains for
her to eat. This was Indian corn, and it was excellent food; but Silvy
was a long, long time before she would eat any of this sweet corn,
she was so vexed at being caught and shut up in prison; besides, she
was very much afraid that the Indians were going to eat her. After
some days, she began to get used to her captive state; the little squaw
used to feed her, and one day took her out of the box and put her into
a nice light cage, where there was soft green moss to be on, a little
bark dish with clear water, and abundance of food. The cage was hung
up on the bough of a tree near the wigwam, to swing to and fro as the
wind waved the tree. Here Silvy could see the birds flying to and fro,
and listen to their cheerful songs. The Indian women and children had
always a kind look or a word to say to her; and her little mistress
was so kind to her, that Silvy could not help loving her. She was very
grateful for her care; for when she was sick and sulky, the little
squaw gave her bits of maple-sugar and parched rice out of her hand.
At last Silvy grew tame, and would suffer herself to be taken out of
her house to sit on her mistress's shoulder or in her lap; and though
she sometimes ran away and hid herself, out of fun, she would not have
gone far from the tent of the good Indians on any account. Sometimes
she saw the red squirrels running about in the forest, but they never
came very near her; but she used to watch all day long for her brother
Nimble-foot, or sister Velvet-paw, but they were now far away from
her, and no doubt thought that she had been killed by the red squirrel,
or eaten up by a fox or racoon.
[Illustration: THE PET SQUIRREL]
* * * * *
"Nurse, I am so glad pretty Silvy was not killed, and that the good
Indians took care of her." "It is time now, my dear, for you to put down
your book," said Mrs. Frazer, "and to-morrow we will read some more."
* * * * *