In the Forest; Or, Pictures of Life and Scenery in the Woods of Canada Part 3

"I begin to wish we were safe back again in our old one," whined Silvy, who was much frightened by the danger she had just escaped.

"Pooh, pooh, child; don't be a coward," said Nimble, laughing.

"Cousin Blackie never told us there were hawks and c.o.o.ns on this island,"

said Vehret-paw.

"My dear, he thought we were too brave to be afraid of hawks and c.o.o.ns,"

said Nimble. "For my part, I think it is a fine thing to go out a little into the world. We should never see anything better than the sky, and the water, and the old oak-tree on that little island."

"Ay, but I think it is safer to see than to be seen," said Silvy, "for hawks and eagles have strong beaks, and rac.o.o.ns sharp claws and hungry-looking teeth; and it is not very pleasant, Nimble, to be obliged to look out for such wicked creatures."

"Oh, true indeed," said Nimble; "if it had not been for that famous jump you made, Silvy, and, Velvet, your two admirers, the hawk and rac.o.o.n, would soon have hid all your beauties from the world, and put a stop to your travels."

"It is very well for brother Nimble to make light of our dangers,"

whispered Velvet-paw, "but let us see how he will jump if a big eagle were to pounce down to carry him off."

"Yes, yes," said Silvy; "it is easy to brag before one is in danger."

The squirrels thought they would now go and look for some partridge-berries, of which they were very fond, for the pine-kernels were but dry husky food after all.

There were plenty of the pretty white star-shaped blossoms, growing all over the ground under the pine-trees, but the bright scarlet twin-berries were not yet ripe. In winter the partridges eat this fruit from under the snow; and it furnishes food for many little animals as well as birds. The leaves are small, of a dark green, and the white flowers have a very fine fragrant scent. Though the runaways found none of these berries fit to eat, they saw some ripe strawberries among the bushes; and, having satisfied their hunger, began to grow very merry, and whisked here and there and everywhere, peeping into this hole and under that stone. Sometimes they had a good game of play, chasing one another up and down the trees, chattering and squeaking as gray squirrels only can chatter and squeak, when they are gambolling about in the wild woods of Canada.

Indeed, they made such a noise, that the great ugly black snakes lifted up their heads, and stared at them with their wicked spiteful-looking eyes, and the little ducklings swimming among the water-lilies gathered round their mother, and a red-winged blackbird perched on a dead tree gave alarm to the rest of the flock by calling out, _Geck_, _geck_, _geck_, as loudly as he could. In the midst of their frolics, Nimble skipped into a hollow log--but was glad to run out again; for a porcupine covered with sharp spines was there, and was so angry at being disturbed, that he stuck one of his spines into poor Nimble-foot's soft velvet nose, and there it could have remained if Silvy had not seized it with her teeth and pulled it out. Nimble-foot squeaked sadly, and would not play any longer, but rolled himself up and went to sleep in a red-headed woodp.e.c.k.e.r's old nest; while Silvy and Velvet-paw frisked about in the moonlight, and when tired of play got up into an old oak which had a large hollow place in the crown of it, and fell asleep, fancying, no doubt, that they were on the rocky island in Stony Lake; and so we will bid them good night, and wish them pleasant dreams.

Lady Mary had read a long while, and was now tired; so she kissed her nurse, and said, "Now, Mrs. Frazer, I will play with my doll, and feed my squirrel and my dormice."

The dormice were two soft, brown creatures, almost as pretty and as innocent as the squirrel, and a great deal tamer; and they were called Jeannette and Jeannot, and would come when they were called by their names, and take a bit of cake or a lump of sugar out of the fingers of their little mistress. Lady Mary had two canaries, d.i.c.k and Pet; and she loved her dormice and birds, and her new pet, the flying squirrel, very much, and never let them want for food, or water, or any nice thing she could get for them. She liked the history of the gray squirrels very much, and was quite eager to get her book the next afternoon, to read the second part of the adventures and wanderings of the family.

PART II.

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 gra.s.s 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 b.u.t.ter 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 c.h.i.n.k and cranny, but no sign of a granary was to be seen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 sh.o.r.e first;" and he leaped over Velvet-paw's head, and was soon swimming merrily for the sh.o.r.e. 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 s.h.i.+ning 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 sh.e.l.l. 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 h.o.a.rd.

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, b.u.t.ter-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 rac.o.o.n, 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 rac.o.o.ns 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 c.o.o.n, 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."