THE RED SQUIRRELS BEGIN HOUSEKEEPING
The first thing that Mr. Red Squirrel did after coming to the forest andmeeting the Gray Squirrel was to look for something to eat. It was not agood season for a stranger who had no hidden store of nuts and seeds todraw upon. The apples and corn were not ripe, and last year's seeds andacorns were nearly gone. What few remained here and there had lost theirsweet and wholesome taste. Poor Mr. Red Squirrel began to wish that hehad eaten breakfast before he ran away. He even went to the edge of theforest and looked over toward the farmhouse, where his open cage hung inthe sunshine. He knew that there were nuts and a fresh bit of fruitinside of it, and his mouth watered at the thought of them, but he was asensible young fellow, and he knew that if he went back to eat, the cagedoor would be snapped shut, and he would never again be free to scamperin the beautiful trees.
"I will starve first!" he said to himself, and he was so much in earnestthat he spoke quite loudly.
The words were hardly out of his mouth when "Pft!" a fat acorn came downat his feet. He caught it up with his forepaws before looking around. Itwas smooth and glossy, not at all as though it had passed a long winteron an oak branch. He took a good nibble at it and then looked up to seeif there were more on the tree above him. You can think how surprised hewas to find himself sitting beneath a maple, for in all the years sincethe world began no maple has ever borne acorns.
"There are no more to come," he said. "I must take small bites and makeit last as long as I can." And he turned it around and around, clutchingit tightly with his long, crooked claws, so that not the tiniest bitcould be lost. At last it was all eaten, not a crumb was left, and then"Pft!" down came a walnut. This hit him squarely on the back, but he wastoo hungry to mind, and he ate it all, just stopping long enough to say:"If this maple bears such fruit as acorns and walnuts, I should like tolive in a maple grove."
Next came a hazelnut, then a butternut, and last of all a fat kernel ofyellow corn. He knew now that some friend was hidden in the branchesabove, so he tucked the corn in one of his cheek-pockets, and scamperedup the maple trunk to find out who it was. He saw a whiskingreddish-brown tail, and knew that some other Red Squirrel was there. Butwhoever it was did not mean to be caught, and such a chase as he had!Just as he thought he had overtaken his unknown friend, he could seenothing more of her, and he was almost vexed to think how careless hemust have been to miss her. He ran up and down the tree on which he lastsaw her, and found a little hollow in one of its large branches. Helooked in, and there she was, the same dainty creature whom he had sooften watched from his cage. He could see that she was breathless fromrunning so fast, yet she pretended to be surprised at seeing him.Perhaps she now thought that she had been too bold in giving him food,and so wanted him to think that it had been somebody else.
"Good morning!" said he. "Thank you very much for your kindness."
"What do you mean?" said she.
"As though you didn't know!" he answered. "I never heard of a maple treethat bore acorns, nuts, and corn, and that in the springtime."
"Oh, well," said she, tossing her pretty head, "you have lived in a cageand may not know what our forest trees can do."
That was a rather saucy thing to say, but Mr. Red Squirrel knew her kindheart and that she said it only in mischief. "How do you know I havelived in a cage?" he asked.
"I--I thought you looked like the Squirrel at the farmhouse," she said;and then forgetting herself, she added, "You did look so surprised whenthat walnut hit you."
"Where were you then?" he asked quickly.
"Oh! I was on a branch above you," she answered, seeing that he nowknew all about it. "You looked so hungry, and I had plenty of foodstored away. You may have some whenever you wish. It must have beendreadful in that cage."
Now Mr. Red Squirrel had loved his little friend ever since the firsttime he saw her on the rail fence, but he had never thought she wouldcare for him--a tired, discouraged fellow, who had passed such asorrowful life in prison. Yet when he heard her pitying words, and sawthe light in her tender eyes, he wondered if he could win her for hiswife.
"I shall never be able to do anything for you," said he. "You are youngand beautiful and know the forest ways. I am a stranger and saddened bymy hard life. I wish I could help you."
"The Blue Jays! The Blue Jays!" she cried, starting up. "They have foundmy hidden acorns and are eating them."
And sure enough, a pair of those handsome robbers were pulling acornafter acorn out of a tree-hollow near by, and eating them as fastas they could. You should have seen Mr. Red Squirrel then! Heleaped from branch to branch until he reached the Blue Jays; thenhe stood by the hole where the acorns were stored, and scolded them."Chickaree-chickaree-quilch-quilch-chickaree-chickaree!" he said; andthat in the Red Squirrel language is a _very_ severe scolding. He jumpedabout with his head down and his tail jerking, while his eyes gleamedlike coals of fire. The Blue Jays made a great fuss and called "Jay!Jay!" at him, and made fun of him for being a stranger, but they left atlast, and Mr. Red Squirrel turned to his friend.
"What would I have done without your help?" she said. "I was sodreadfully frightened. Don't you see how my paws are shaking still?" Andshe held out the prettiest little paws imaginable for him to see.
Then Mr. Red Squirrel's heart began to thump very fast and hard beneaththe white fur of his chest, and he sighed softly. "I wish I might alwayshelp you and protect you," he said; "but I suppose there are betterfellows than I who want to do that." And he sighed again.
"Yes, they might want to," she said, looking away from him and acting asthough she saw another Blue Jay coming.
"You wouldn't be my little wife, would you?" he asked, coming nearer toher.
"Why--I--might!" she answered, with a saucy flirt of her tail, and shescampered away as fast as she could. Do you think Mr. Red Squirrelstopped then to eat his fat kernel of yellow corn? Or do you think hewaited to see whether the Blue Jays were around? No, indeed! He followedas fast as his legs could carry him from tree to tree, from branch tobranch, and it was not until he had reached the top of a tall beech thathe overtook his little sweetheart. They were still there when the GraySquirrel happened along in the afternoon.
"Ah!" said he, squinting at Mr. Red Squirrel, for his eyes were poor."You are getting acquainted, are you? Pleasant society here. TheSquirrel set is very select. You must meet some of our young people.Suppose you will begin housekeeping one of these days?"
"I have done so already, sir," answered Mr. Red Squirrel, although hiswife was nudging him with one paw and motioning him to keep quiet. "Mrs.Red Squirrel and I will build our round home in the top fork of thistree. We shall be pleased to have you call when we are settled."
"Is that so?" exclaimed the Gray Squirrel. "I did not know that youwere married. I thought you came alone to the forest."
"This is my wife, sir," said Mr. Red Squirrel, and the Gray Squirrelmade his very best bow and looked at her as sharply as his poor eyeswould let him.
"I think I must have seen you somewhere," he said; "your face is veryfamiliar." And he scratched his poor old puzzled head with one claw.
"Why, Cousin Gray Squirrel, don't you know Bushy-tail?" she cried. "Youlived the next tree to mine all winter."
"To be sure!" he exclaimed. "But isn't your marriage rather sudden?"
"No," she said, blushing under her fur. "We have always liked eachother, although we never spoke until this morning. I used to scamperalong the rail fence to see Mr. Red Squirrel in his cage."
"Did you truly come for that?" asked her husband, after their caller hadgone.
"I truly did," she answered, "but I never expected anybody to know it.You poor fellow! I felt so sorry for you. I would have given every nut Ihad to set you free."
They were a very happy couple, and the next fall the Gray Squirrelwatched them and their children gathering nuts for their winter stores.Mr. Red Squirrel, as the head of the family, planned the work, yet eachdid his share. The nuts were not yet ripe, and they g
nawed off thestems, then came to the ground, filled their cheek-pockets with thefallen nuts, and scampered off to hide them in many places. They werestored in tree-hollows, under the rustling leaves which strewed theground, in the cracks of old logs, beneath brush-heaps, and in holes inthe ground.
"Don't stop to think how many you need," said the little mother to herchildren. "Get every nut you can. It may be a very long winter."
"And if you don't eat them all," said their hard-working father with atwinkle in his eyes, "you may want to drop a few down to some poorfellow who has none. That was your mother's way."
"When was it her way? What makes you smile when you say it? Mother, whatdoes he mean?" cried the young Red Squirrels all in a breath.
"I gave some nuts to a hungry Squirrel once," she said, "and he was sograteful that he drove the Blue Jays away when they tried to rob me."But she looked so happy as she spoke that the children knew there wasmore to the story. They dared not tease her to tell, so they whisperedamong themselves and wondered what their father meant.
As they gathered nuts near the Gray Squirrel, he motioned them to comeclose. "S-sh!" said he. "Don't tell it from me, but I think the poorhungry fellow was your father, and it was a lucky thing for you thatshe had enough to give away."
"Do you suppose that was it?" the young Red Squirrels whispered to eachother. "Do you really suppose so?"