The Tale of Frisky Squirrel, Page 4

  In and out and about these strange wagons were as many as a dozen men,and one boy--each of them as busy as he could be. And as for the boy,Johnnie Green, he was busier than anybody else. He seemed to beeverywhere at once, and in everybody's way. And Frisky couldn't seethat he was doing anything at all. But he noticed that Johnnieappeared to be having a fine time.

  As Frisky Squirrel looked down upon this unusual sight from his perchin the tree he saw that Farmer Green's wagons--the kind Frisky hadoften seen before--were bringing up sheaves of wheat. And prettysoon--and this made Frisky's eyes almost pop out of his head--he saw aman lead a pair of horses up that short, steep walk and tie them tothe bar at the top of it.

  Then the horses began to walk. Now, probably you wouldn't think therewas anything strange about that. But there was. The odd thing aboutthat was that although the horses walked, they didn't get anywhere atall. So far as Frisky Squirrel could see, they just walked and walked,and that was all there was to it. After they had walked for a longtime they still stayed right in the same place, tied fast to thewooden bar in front of them.

  Now, when the horses were walking, the other wagon began to set up agreat noise. It reminded Frisky of the time the gristmill began togrind, when he thought the world was coming to an end. Those queerwheels on the wagon began to turn, too. But Frisky didn't pay muchattention to them. What caught his eye and kept him puzzling was thosetwo horses, always walking, but never going anywhere.

  Frisky Squirrel stayed in his tree as long as he could, until at lasthe simply had to hurry home and beg his mother to come over to thefield with him.

  As it happened, Mrs. Squirrel was not very busy that day, so shedropped her knitting, or whatever it was that she was doing, andpretty soon she and Frisky were up in the tree that he had climbedbefore.

  "Oh! they're threshing!" Mrs. Squirrel said, after she had takenone good look at what was going on. "They're threshing out thewheat-kernels, so the miller can grind them into flour."

  "But those horses--" said Frisky. "Why is it that they don't walk rightagainst that bar, and break it, and tumble off onto the ground?"

  "That's a horse-power," Mrs. Squirrel explained. "The path the horsesare treading on moves, and that's why they stay right in the sameplace. The path moves 'round and 'round all the time, like a broadchain. That's what makes the wheels turn on the threshing-machine."

  "It must be fun," said Frisky Squirrel. "I wish I could be a horse,and make that horse-power turn like that."

  "Nonsense!" said his mother. "You'd soon grow tired of it."

  But Frisky Squirrel knew better.

  Caught in the attic]

  XIX

  Frisky's Prison

  Frisky Squirrel simply couldn't keep away from the field where thewheat was being threshed. He was on hand before the men came in themorning, and he was the last to leave the place at night. He ate allhis meals right on the spot, and went home only to sleep.

  Now, it was not long before Johnnie Green spied Frisky Squirrelloitering about the field. And he made up his mind that that youngsquirrel was altogether too bold. So Johnnie Green rigged up a trap,which he made from an old box, a few sticks, and a bit of string. Andone noon, while the men were eating their lunch under some trees alittle way from the threshing-machine, Frisky Squirrel was justreckless enough to steal up and try to get his luncheon too, by eatingsome of the wheat-kernels. He noticed a tempting little heap ofkernels, right beside a little box. And he had just stopped to eatthem when all at once the box toppled over on him, and there hewas--caught!

  When Johnnie Green discovered that he had captured that young squirrelhe was just as glad as Frisky was sorry and frightened. That, you see,is just the difference between _catching_ and _being caught_. It makesa great difference whether you are outside the trap, or in it. AndFrisky Squirrel was in it. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn'tget away.

  He made up his mind that if anybody tried to lift him out of the boxhe would bite him. But Johnnie Green had caught squirrels before. Hepulled on a pair of heavy gloves, and all Frisky's biting did nogood--or harm--at all.

  When Johnnie reached home he put his prize into a neat little wirecage. As soon as Frisky found himself inside it he looked all around,to see if there wasn't some opening big enough to squeeze through. Andsure enough! there was a little door. And in a twinkling Frisky hadpopped himself through it and had started to run.

  He ran and ran. But strange to say, all his running took him nowhereat all. At first he couldn't discover what was the matter. But after awhile he saw that he was inside a broad wheel, made of wire. And whenhe ran the wheel simply spun 'round and 'round.

  He stopped running then. For he thought of the horses that made thehorse-power go. He was in just the same fix that they were in. Hecould run as fast as he pleased, but he would still stay right thereinside the wheel.

  Poor Frisky Squirrel crept back into his cage. He remembered what hismother had said, when he wished he could be a horse, and make thetread-mill go. "You'd soon grow tired of it," she had told him.

  At the time, Frisky hadn't believed her. But now he knew that hismother was wiser than he was. And he wondered if he was ever going tosee her again.

  XX

  Johnnie Green Forgets Something

  Although Johnnie Green took good care of Frisky Squirrel, that oncelively young chap did not like his new home in the wire cage at all.His young master gave him plenty to eat--nuts and grain--all the thingsthat Frisky had always liked before. But now nothing tasted the same.Frisky never felt really hungry. He just sat in his cage and moped andsulked.

  Once in a great while he would go out into his wheel, and run and rununtil he was so tired that he was ready to drop. Whenever JohnnieGreen saw him running inside the wheel that young man would laughaloud--he was so pleased.

  But nothing ever pleased Frisky Squirrel any more. He grew peevish andcross and sulky. Being cooped up in that little wire prison day afterday made an entirely different squirrel of him. He longed to be freeonce more--free to scamper through the tree-tops, and along thestone-walls and the rail-fences. And at night he dreamed of hunting forbeechnuts, and chestnuts, and hickorynuts, on which he would feast tohis heart's content--in his dreams. But in the daytime, when his youngmaster put some of those very same nuts into his cage, Frisky wouldhardly touch them. He lost his plumpness. His smooth coat grew rough.And his tail--that beautiful tail that Jimmy Rabbit had tried to cutoff--alas! it was no longer beautiful. It was thin and ragged-looking.

  At last Johnnie Green began to be worried about his pet squirrel. Andone day when Frisky refused to eat a single nut Johnnie Green thoughtthat he must be really ill. So he opened the door of the cage, whichhe always kept carefully fastened, and forgetting all about his thickgloves he put his hand inside the little wire house, picked Frisky upby the back of his neck, just as if he were a kitten, and lifted himout of his prison.

  Johnnie wanted to see if he could find out what was the trouble withthe little fellow. He thought that perhaps he had a bad tooth, whichprevented his eating. And Johnnie tried to look inside of Frisky'smouth.

  At first Frisky kept perfectly still. He could hardly believe that hewas outside that horrid, cramped cage. But it was true! And whenJohnnie Green began to poke at his mouth with a bare finger FriskySquirrel thought that it was high time for him to do something.

  So he did it. He didn't wait another second. Quick as a flash he sankhis sharp teeth into Johnnie Green's finger.

  Poor Johnnie Green! He gave such a yell that you could have heard himfar away on the other side of Swift River. That was the first thing hedid. And the next thing that Johnnie did was to drop Frisky right onthe ground.

  That was exactly what Frisky wanted. He no sooner touched the groundthan he was away like a shot. It was not at all like running inside thewheel. Every leap carried him further away from Farmer Green's house.And he had crossed the road and disappeared behind the stone-wall beforeJohnnie Green knew what had happened.

  For sever
al days after that Johnnie Green had to keep his finger boundup in a bandage. And he felt very sad at losing his pet squirrel.

  But Frisky Squirrel was not sad at all. And neither was his mother. Atfirst, when Frisky tumbled inside her house she hardly knew him. For along time she had almost stopped believing he would ever come homeagain. And now that he had come he was so changed that she couldscarcely believe it was he.

  The first thing that Mrs. Squirrel did was to set before Frisky somechoice seeds which she had gathered that very day. And Frisky ateevery one of them. You see, he had found his appetite again.

  For several days after that Frisky Squirrel did very little excepteat. And it was surprising--the way he began to grow fat. His sidessoon stuck out more than they ever had before, and his coat began togrow sleek and shiny. And as for his tail--though it took longer for_that_ to look beautiful again, in the course of time it became justas thick and handsome as ever. Mrs. Squirrel was very glad of that.For Frisky reminded her of his father once more.

  XXI

  That Disagreeable Freddie Weasel

  Almost everybody liked Frisky Squirrel, he was such a happy littlefellow. But there were a few of the forest-people with whom Friskynever was able to make friends. _They_ were the disagreeable, selfishkind, who never liked anyone except themselves.

  Freddie Weasel was one of the few with whom Frisky Squirrel nevercould have a good time. Frisky often tried to play with him. But theirgames always ended in trouble; and I must say that it was not Frisky'sfault.

  Now, Frisky had often heard it said among his neighbors that no onehad ever caught Freddie Weasel asleep. Indeed, Jimmy Rabbit claimedthat Freddie Weasel never slept at all.

  That seemed very strange to Frisky. He could hardly believe it. And hemade up his mind that he would watch Freddie Weasel and see whether itwas really true.

  So one evening, just after sundown, when Frisky met Freddie Weasel inthe woods, he thought it would be a good time to spy upon him. Ofcourse it wasn't at all a polite thing to do. But Frisky was verycurious. And anyhow, he meant no harm.

  "Hello, Freddie!" he said, as he came face to face with the sly, slimchap.

  "Hello, yourself!" said Freddie Weasel in a disagreeable tone.

  "Where you going?" Frisky inquired pleasantly enough.

  "Never you mind," Freddie Weasel answered. "And you'd better keep outof my way, or I'll bite your head off."

  Frisky Squirrel didn't know what to say. Very few people--except JasperJay and one or two other quarrelsome forest-folk--had ever spoken tohim like that. So he just stood still and stared.

  That seemed to make Freddie angrier than ever. He darted toward Friskyand tried to bite his neck. But Frisky was quick, too. He ran up a treebefore Freddie Weasel could catch him, and smiled at the bad-temperedfellow.

  "You'd better go home and take a nap," Frisky told him. "You'recrosser than ever to-day."

  Freddie looked up at Frisky as if he would just like to get hold ofhim for about one second.

  "I never sleep," he said. "I'm always awake. And some night whenyou're dreaming, I'm coming to your house and I'm going to eat you."And then he hurried away.

  Frisky Squirrel ran down the tree and dashed after Freddie. He didn'tmake any noise at all. And he was careful not to let Freddie see him.He was going to find out for himself whether Freddie stayed awake allnight.

  Mrs. Squirrel was worried because Frisky didn't come home. Of coursehe ought to have let her know what he was about. But he felt that hemustn't lose sight of Freddie. And he saw no one at all by whom hecould send word to his mother as to where he was and what he wasdoing.

  Frisky had the busiest sort of time following Freddie. It grew so darkthat it was very hard to see Freddie Weasel as he sneaked alongthrough the bushes, hunting for small birds that build their nests onthe ground.

  Freddie Weasel caught several sleeping birds. And Frisky could nothelp being sorry for them. He began to feel very guilty for havingteased them, and for having eaten their eggs.

  Finally it grew so dark that Frisky had just about decided that hewould have to give up spying on Freddie and hurry home, when he sawFreddie slip into a hole in a bank and vanish.

  Was Freddie Weasel at last going to bed and to sleep?

  XXII

  Catching Freddie Weasel Asleep

  When Frisky Squirrel saw Freddie Weasel disappear in the hole in thebank he became greatly excited. He forgot all about going home. Andthough he had begun to feel somewhat sleepy, he was wide awake againin no time. He sat right down, a little way from the hole, and henever once took his eyes off it.

  Frisky hoped that perhaps he would hear Freddie snoring in there, ifhe waited long enough. But no such thing happened. There seemed to bebut one way to discover whether Freddie was asleep, and _that_ was tocreep into the hole himself and find out.

  Now, Frisky Squirrel was no coward, as you know. But he did not likethe idea of crawling into that narrow, dark place. He knew thatFreddie Weasel's teeth were very sharp. And he knew that Freddie wasquick to use them, too.

  Frisky was trying hard to think of some good way to catch Freddieasleep, when who should come strolling along but Henry Skunk! Friskyalways supposed that he was called "Henry" because he was so fond of_hens_--for he visited Farmer Green's hen-house oftener than any otherof the forest-people--but whether _that_ was why he was so named Ishould really not want to say.

  "Well, well! You're out pretty late," Henry Skunk called, as soon ashe saw Frisky.

  Frisky Squirrel held a paw to his mouth, so Henry Skunk would not talktoo loudly.

  "What's going on?" Henry Skunk asked, with growing interest. "Youhaven't seen a hen around here, have you?"

  Frisky shook his head.

  "It's Freddie Weasel--" he explained, pointing at the hole. "He's inthere; and I'm trying to catch him asleep."

  Henry Skunk came nearer.

  "Why don't you go inside?" he asked.

  Frisky shook his head again.

  "I don't see very well in the dark," he said, "and I'd rather not."

  Henry nodded.

  "I can see first rate at night," he told Frisky. "I'll find out foryou if Freddie Weasel is asleep. And if he is, I'll come right backand tell you, and then you can go in with me and see for yourself."

  "Good!" said Frisky. "That's very kind of you, I'm sure."

  So Henry Skunk walked up to the hole. It was entirely too small forhim to enter.

  "I'll have to make it bigger," he remarked.

  "Won't Freddie hear you?" Frisky Squirrel inquired.

  "I'll be very quiet about it," Henry Skunk replied. "So if he's asleepI hardly think I'll disturb him." And at that Henry set to work.

  Now, in order to dig, he had to stick his head into the hole. But heknew he could see Freddie Weasel if Freddie tried to bite his nose; soHenry was not afraid. How he did make the dirt fly! Frisky wished thathe could dig like that. He thought it must be great fun. And hewatched Henry so closely that he never saw that slim, sneaking formthat crept up behind him. And when Frisky felt something jump right ontop of him, and when a terrible, sharp pain seized his shoulder, hewas scared half out of his wits.

  It was Freddie Weasel! He had left his home through another hole,which Frisky knew nothing about.

  Frisky Squirrel called for help. He shouted Henry Skunk's name againand again, as he rolled over and over on the ground, trying to shakeFreddie off his back.

  But how could Henry Skunk hear him, with his head buried inside thehole? _He_ didn't know what was happening. And if Frisky and Freddiehadn't rolled right upon him he probably would never have lookedaround until it was too late.

  But when Henry felt that rolling, tumbling, fighting pair bump againsthim he drew his head out of the hole in a hurry. And as soon as he sawwhat was happening he sunk his own sharp teeth deep into FreddieWeasel's back.

  Freddie let go of Frisky Squirrel at once. And he gave Henry Skunk'snose such a savage nip that Henry just had to squeal--it hurt him so.In order to sq
ueal, of course he had to open his mouth. And when heopened his mouth he had to let go of Freddie Weasel.

  That was exactly what Freddie Weasel wanted. He sprang up and dashedinto the bushes. He was not afraid of Frisky Squirrel. But Henry Skunkwas altogether too big. Freddie did not enjoy fighting _him_.

  Well! Frisky, with his aching shoulder, and Henry Skunk, with his sorenose, went off together. They didn't say a word to each other, untilthey reached the hickory tree where Frisky lived. And then all theysaid was "Good-night!"

  Frisky never spied on anybody again. He had learned that it is betternot to meddle in other people's private affairs. So, after all,perhaps it was a good thing that he tried, just once, to catch FreddieWeasel asleep.

  THE END

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  Transcriber's Notes

  1. Punctuation has been normalized to contemporary standards. 2. Frontispiece illustration relocated to after copyright notice. 3. Roman numerals in original Table of Contents retained and applied at chapter headings. 4. Typographic errors corrected in original: p. 12 Friskly to Frisky ("Frisky simply had") p. 49 like to liked ("Frisky Squirrel liked to play")