The Tale of Frisky Squirrel, Page 3

  Mrs. Squirrel was not at home. And it was so long before she came inand found Frisky that he had begun to think he would never see heragain.

  "Whatever is the matter?" Mrs. Squirrel asked. Frisky was making adreadful noise, for he was crying as if he would never stop.

  "It's the end of the world!" Frisky sobbed. "I didn't think you werecoming back."

  Bit by bit Mrs. Squirrel managed to learn where Frisky had been andwhat had happened to him. And she smiled when she found out what hadfrightened him. Since it was quite dark inside their home in thehollow limb of the big hickory tree, Frisky could not see his mothersmiling. But her voice sounded very cheerful when she said--

  "Now stop crying, my son. There's nothing to cry about. The end of theworld hasn't come. And _that's_ something you and I don't need toworry about, anyhow."

  "What you heard was only the mill-wheels turning. You must havereached the gristmill before the miller had come to begin his day'swork. That was why everything was so still. I don't wonder you werefrightened when all that noise began. But gristmills are always likethat. They make a terrible noise when they grind the wheat."

  Frisky Squirrel stopped sobbing then. He was glad that his mother knewexactly what had happened. But he made up his mind that whenever hewanted any wheat-kernels to eat he would not go to the gristmill forthem. Luckily the gristmill had not _quite_ all the wheat in theworld.

  XIII

  Fun on the Milldam

  There was something about the dam across Swift River that FriskySquirrel simply couldn't keep away from--after he had forgotten,somewhat, his fright at the gristmill. Only a few days passed afterFrisky had run home from the mill in a panic, before he was backagain. He liked to run across the top of the dam and look down at hisreflection in the water on one side. Here and there a narrow streamspilled over the top of the dam. Frisky felt very brave as he leapedover those little rivulets. And he loved to watch them as they fell inthin, silvery cascades upon the rocks far below. It was great sport.

  One day when Frisky reached the dam he heard a dog bark not far away.It was the miller's dog. He had seen Frisky as he crossed the road.And he at once hurried toward him.

  Frisky Squirrel was annoyed. He had just been thinking what a goodtime he was going to have. But when that dog started to bark Friskyknew that his fun was spoiled. He wasn't frightened. Oh, no! But hewas sure that the dog would not go away until _he_ did.

  "Well, I'll just take one run across the dam," Frisky said to himself."I'll stay on the other side of the river until he grows tired ofwaiting. And then I'll come back."

  He hurried on to the bank of the river; and in a few moments he wasskipping along the dam. The dog was still barking. And Frisky lookedaround at him. To his great surprise, there was the dog following him,right along the top of the dam. But even then Frisky was notfrightened. He simply hurried a little faster. He had not dreamed thatthe miller's dog would chase him across Swift River. But there he was.And he was running fast, too.

  Then something happened that really frightened Frisky Squirrel. Atfirst he could hardly believe it. But it was true. It really wasanother dog that was barking--another dog that was waiting on the otherside of Swift River. And almost as soon as Frisky saw him, that otherdog started right across the dam, to meet Frisky!

  Fun on the mill dam]

  There was no time to lose. Frisky had to make up his mind veryquickly. He gave just one look at the deep mill pond. He could swim--ifhe had to. But he just hated to get wet. And he knew that the dogswere much faster swimmers than he was. So he looked away from thewater with a shudder. And he peeped over the steep side of the dam andgazed at the rocks below, where the water splashed into countlessdrops.

  Those rocks were a long way beneath him. But there was one thing aboutFrisky Squirrel--he never was the least bit dizzy, or afraid, when helooked down from high places. Perhaps there were too many other thingsto be afraid of--such as coons and foxes--and dogs.

  The miller's dog was drawing nearer now, because Frisky had stopped.And the dog from the other side of the river was only about six jumpsaway!

  Frisky Squirrel didn't wait another instant. He jumped right down theface of the dam. Where he had stood a moment before the two dogs cametogether with a bump. Probably they would have started to fight, ifthey had not been so interested in Frisky Squirrel. There they stood,with their necks stretched out over the edge of the dam, watchingFrisky as he went rolling and tumbling down to the bed of the river.And when they saw him pick himself up and go skipping from stone tostone until he reached the shore and scampered away, they looked veryfoolish indeed.

  In fact, they felt foolish, too. And without saying one word theyturned about and each crept back to his own side of Swift River.

  XIV

  Mrs. Squirrel Has a Visitor

  Fatty Coon was very hungry. And he stole along through the woods veryquietly, hoping to find something to eat. To his great joy, it was notlong before he discovered Mrs. Squirrel's home. He crept up to thenest silently; for he hoped to catch Mrs. Squirrel and Frisky inside.But Mrs. Squirrel and her son were both away.

  Fatty was disappointed. But he made up his mind to go into the houseanyhow, to see what he could find there. So he pushed through thenarrow doorway. It was a tight squeeze; but Fatty managed to getinside. And there he found a fine lot of beechnuts, which Mrs.Squirrel had brought home and stored, in order to have something toeat during the winter.

  Fatty Coon just loved beechnuts. And he squatted down on the floorand began to eat. He ate and ate until he was half-buried inbeechnut-shells. And he never stopped until he had finished the verylast beechnut. He wished there had been more, though you would think hehad had quite enough, for Fatty's sides bulged out so that he wasrounder than ever. He smiled as he thought of the surprise Mrs. Squirrelwould have when she came home and found her winter food all gone. Andthen he stood up, shook the shells out of his coat, and started to climbthrough the doorway.

  Fatty was still smiling as he stuck his head through the opening inthe tree. But all at once his smile faded away. You remember that hehad had hard work to squeeze through the narrow doorway when heentered the house? Well, now his sides stuck out so far that hecouldn't get through it at all. He tried and tried; but though hestruggled hard, Fatty found that he simply could not squeeze through.He had stuffed himself so full of beechnuts that he was too big to getout of the hole. And there he was--caught fast by his own greediness!Yes! Fatty Coon was a prisoner.

  Fatty had smiled because he thought Mrs. Squirrel would be surprisedwhen she came home. And he had not been mistaken about that. When Mrs.Squirrel and her son Frisky scampered up the tree about sundown thatevening they had the surprise of their lives--though not just the sortof surprise Fatty had expected.

  They looked in through their doorway and scolded. And they orderedFatty to get out of their house at once.

  He would have been glad enough to leave, you may be sure. But hecouldn't go just then. And at last Frisky Squirrel and his mother hadto go and spend the night in the house of a friend.

  When they came back to the old hickory tree the next morning FattyCoon had gone. He had tried the whole night long to get through thedoorway. And at last--just as the sun was rising--he managed to slipout.

  Mrs. Squirrel knew that Fatty had had a hard time, because he had lefta good deal of his fur behind him. It clung to the sides of thedoorway. And Mrs. Squirrel spent half the day picking it off andthrowing the beechnut-shells out of her house. She was a very neathousekeeper; and she was quite annoyed to find her house upset.

  As for Frisky, he began to bring home another store of nuts that veryday. After what had happened neither he nor his mother had any fearthat Fatty Coon would ever trouble them again.

  XV

  Helpful Mr. Crow

  Frisky Squirrel's mother had often told him not to have anything to dowith Mr. Crow. "He's such a tricky old fellow!" she said. "He seems tohave nothing to do but get folks into trouble. Don't go near him, anddon
't have anything to say to him."

  Now, I'm sure Frisky Squirrel wanted to mind his mother. But hecouldn't help feeling that she was mistaken about Mr. Crow. He was sosolemn, and he always looked so like a preacher--for he usually woreshiny, black clothes--that Frisky Squirrel thought him a very nice oldgentleman. And he told such interesting stories, too! Frisky couldlisten to him by the hour.

  So, in spite of his mother's warnings, whenever he met Mr. Crow FriskySquirrel would always stop and ask the old gentleman how his cold was.You see, Mr. Crow's voice was never what you would call _clear_. Youmight say that there was a decided croak in it. And very often, evenon hot summer days, he would have a muffler wound about his throat.

  It happened that one day when Frisky came across Mr. Crow in thewoods, something reminded Mr. Crow that he knew where there wereplenty of butternuts--just waiting to be eaten.

  "Is that so?" Frisky exclaimed. "Have you had some of them?"

  "No! I don't care for butternuts," Mr. Crow said, with a slight cough."I've always considered them bad for my throat. I've made it a rulenever to eat them. You don't happen to like them, do you?"

  Now, if there was one thing that Frisky Squirrel liked a little betterthan anything else, it was butternuts. And when he answered Mr. Crow'squestion he was so excited that his voice shook just the least bit.

  "I'm _very_ fond of them," he said.

  "Well, well!" Mr. Crow exclaimed. "I'm glad I happened to mention thematter. They're there--heaps of 'em--great brown piles of 'em--thousandsof 'em!"

  "_Where_ are they?" Frisky asked him eagerly.

  "Oh--I thought I told you," Mr. Crow said. "Why--they're in FarmerGreen's attic. His boy put them up there to dry. I saw them throughthe window, this very day."

  Frisky Squirrel was disappointed.

  "I mustn't go to Farmer Green's house," he said.

  "Pooh! Why not?" asked Mr. Crow.

  "It isn't safe. I went there once to get some cake, and I nearly lostmy life in the kitchen."

  "Ah! But this is different," Mr. Crow explained. "You don't have to gointo the kitchen at all. All you have to do is to climb that big treeclose by the house. And you can hop right through the attic window.There's nobody upstairs in the daytime. In fact, I should call it oneof the safest places to go that I know of."

  When Mr. Crow said that, Frisky believed him. Mr. Crow was so old, andso wise, and so solemn, that Frisky thought that anything he said mustbe true.

  "I'm going past Farmer Green's house right now," Mr. Crow told Frisky."I have a little matter to attend to over in the cornfield. And if youwant to come along with me I don't mind stopping to show you where thebutternuts are. But of course if you're afraid--" Mr. Crow stopped tocough. He buttoned his coat closer around his throat. And then helooked sideways at Frisky Squirrel.

  "Afraid!" Frisky exclaimed. "I'm not afraid at all."

  "Good!" said Mr. Crow. "Now, then, young fellow! You skip along overto Farmer Green's and I'll be waiting for you down the road a bit."

  Old Mr. Crow flapped himself away then. And Frisky Squirrel hurriedoff in a straight line for the farmhouse.

  XVI

  Caught in the Attic

  Long before Frisky Squirrel reached Farmer Green's place, he began toworry for fear Mr. Crow had grown tired of waiting for him. To besure, he knew that the butternuts were up in the attic. But to tellthe truth, Frisky felt uneasy about visiting the farmhouse. And hehoped that Mr. Crow would show him just how to get through the atticwindow, as he had promised.

  Just as he came in sight of the farmhouse Frisky heard Mr. Crowcalling to him from a tall tree close by the road. He was glad to hearthe old gentleman's husky voice. And he couldn't help thinking howkind Mr. Crow was, and how mistaken his mother had been to believethat Mr. Crow liked to get folks into trouble.

  "Come on!" said Mr. Crow, as Frisky paused beneath the tall tree. "I'mgoing to fly over to that tree right next the farmhouse. You run alongthe stone-wall and climb up beside me."

  "Now, then!" said Mr. Crow a few minutes later, when Frisky had joinedhim. "There's the window--wide open. And there are the butternuts,lying on the floor."

  Frisky could see great heaps of nuts. And without another word hecrept out on a limb that brushed the window-sill and in another momenthe was inside Farmer Green's attic. Frisky forgot to thank Mr. Crow.He never once thought of that, he was in such a hurry to taste thosenuts.

  He just ate and ate and ate; and he was so busy cracking the nuts andpicking out the meats that he never noticed that it was growing dark.

  At last, to his astonishment, the attic door opened. Frisky leapedbehind a pile of butternuts and hid, while someone walked across thefloor. Then there was a bang. And Frisky shivered when he heard it.But the person left the attic at once and went downstairs.

  Frisky Squirrel breathed easily again. And he stole out from behindthe pile of nuts. Somehow, he did not care to eat any more. He wantedto get out of the house. So he went to the window. And then FriskySquirrel was really frightened. The window was shut!

  You see, while Frisky was so busy eating butternuts, a storm wasgathering. And it grew so dark, and the wind howled so shrilly, thatFarmer Green's wife thought she had better shut the attic window, tokeep the rain from beating in.

  How Frisky Squirrel did wish he had minded his mother and kept awayfrom old Mr. Crow! Poor Frisky looked out through the little squarepanes of glass. His friend Mr. Crow was nowhere to be seen. Frisky hadhoped that the old gentleman would be waiting for him, and that sinceMr. Crow had told him how to get inside the attic he would be able totell him how to get out again.

  The wind swept the branches of the tall tree back and forth across thewindow. How easy it would have been--if the window had been open--to hopout upon one of those swaying limbs! Frisky pressed his soft littlebody close against the glass and pushed as hard as he could. But hecouldn't break out of his prison. It was a queer thing--that glass! Hecould see through it just as if there was nothing there; and yet itheld him fast. Frisky could not understand it.

  XVII

  Farmer Green's Cat

  There were plenty of nuts in the attic of Farmer Green's house, whereFrisky Squirrel found himself a prisoner. And you might think that hewouldn't have felt so unhappy to be there. But Frisky was unhappy. Hewas so frightened that he crept into a corner and stayed there,shivering, for a long time. And he couldn't have eaten a single one ofthose nuts if he had tried. He wanted to be free. He wanted to be outof doors. He wanted to go home.

  After a time the storm passed. The wind stopped blowing. And the sunshone again. But nobody came to the attic to open the window. When itgrew quite light Frisky did not feel so frightened. And at last hecrept out of his corner and went nosing about the room, hoping to finda hole big enough to squeeze through.

  Now, you must not think Frisky Squirrel was stupid, when I tell youthat the door was open all this time. It was open just the smallestcrack, for Farmer Green's wife hadn't quite closed it when she wentdownstairs. Frisky had been too frightened to notice it. Besides, theattic had been dark, you know.

  Well, when Frisky found that crack he was the happiest little fellowyou ever saw. It was only a narrow opening; but he slipped through it.And there he was, right at the head of the stairs! So downstairs hehurried. The door below was wide open. And in less time than it takesto tell the story, Frisky was in Farmer Green's kitchen. He rememberedthat room very well, for he had been there when he came to taste thatwhite-frosted cake.

  But this time Frisky did not stop to look for any cake. He justscampered across the floor toward the wide doorway. And as he boundedacross the room something sprang out from behind the stove and startedafter him.

  Frisky Squirrel saw that some animal had leaped at him. He didn't stopto take a good look; but he supposed that it was a small dog that hadbeen drying himself by the fire. Frisky knew that dogs couldn't climbtrees. So he sprang through the door, never touching the big stonedoorstep at all, and hurried toward a tree in Farmer Green's ya
rd. Helaughed as he scurried up the tree-trunk. And then he looked down athis enemy.

  Then Frisky Squirrel's heart almost stood still. That small animal wascoming right up the tree after him! Of course, it wasn't a dog at all.It was Farmer Green's cat. Frisky had never seen a cat before and hebegan to wonder whether the small creature could fly, as well as climbtrees. He scampered to the top of the tree; and then he leaped upon abranch of another tree close by.

  No! The small animal could not fly. She climbed as high as she dared.And then she stopped. Her eyes glared fiercely; and her tail grew asbig as Frisky's own. But that didn't help her at all. She could onlysit there and watch Frisky Squirrel as he dropped from branch tobranch, until she lost sight of him among the leaves.

  XVIII

  The Threshing-machine

  One day, late in the summer, Frisky Squirrel saw something that causedhim great excitement. Right into the center of one of Farmer Green'sfields he saw Farmer Green's horses drag a queer sort of wagon. It wasbigger than any other wagon he had ever seen, and had wheels upon itin all sorts of strange places, instead of just at the four corners,like all the wagons he had ever noticed before.

  Frisky climbed a tree, in order to get a better view of what washappening. As he watched, he saw still another odd wagon hauled uponthe field alongside the first one. This wagon carried a broad walkwhich led from the back and went right up what you might call a hill,to the front of the wagon. And there it stopped, with a wooden barblocking the way. Frisky Squirrel thought that that was the strangestpath he had ever seen, for it seemed to lead to nowhere, and why itshould have a bar at the top, to keep anyone from going nowhere atall, was more than even his lively mind could puzzle out.