The Tale of Frisky Squirrel | Page 7

have a nice, tender, young gray
squirrel to eat than all the last year's corn in the world. You see, the
little forest-people have to think of many things--especially when they
walk out alone with a person like Uncle Sammy Coon.

IX
A Bag of Corn
When Frisky Squirrel and Uncle Sammy Coon arrived at Farmer
Green's place, the moon was just rising. It wasn't dark, but Uncle
Sammy said that they would have no trouble at all, because Farmer
Green's family would be in the house, eating their evening meal.
"There's the corn-house," he said, pointing to an old stone building.
"There's a hole in the wall up there under the roof. All you have to do is
to climb that tree, run out on that limb, crawl through the hole, and
there you are--inside. Then you can bring the corn up to the hole, drop
it out onto the ground, and I'll stay outside and pick it up and put it in
this sack and watch out for old dog Spot."
"You see," he went on, "I'll be doing most of the work, for I'll be doing

three things, while all you'll have to do will be to drop the corn out of
the hole in the wall.... But I don't mind doing more than my share."
Frisky Squirrel couldn't quite understand how Uncle Sammy would be
doing most of the work. But since the old gentleman said it was so,
Frisky supposed it was the truth. There was one thing, however, that
puzzled him still more.
"Have you brought a bag for my share of the corn?" he asked.
"Oh, we'll divide this bagful," said Uncle Sammy. "When we get over
the hill we'll sit down and divide it."
"All right!" said Frisky. And then he hurried up the tree. In no more
than a jiffy he was inside the old stone building; and pretty soon the
corn began to patter, patter, down upon the ground where Uncle
Sammy waited.
Frisky had been working steadily for some time. And he began to
wonder if the bag was not full. He thought he would just peep out of
the hole in the wall and see. So he stuck his head out. To his surprise,
Uncle Sammy had vanished. And as Frisky looked all around he caught
sight of Uncle Sammy Coon with the bag of corn on his back, hurrying
up the road. For an old gentleman with a lame knee he was going at a
very fast pace.
Frisky Squirrel wondered why he had run away. But he didn't wonder
long, for a dog barked; and the bark came from right underneath the
hole in the wall. Then Farmer Green came running up the path which
led to the corn-house. He had a gun in his hand, too.
Frisky didn't wait to see anything more. He whisked out of the hole,
and climbed the roof, and jumped into another tree on the other side of
the corn-house. And soon he too was running like mad along the
road--only he was going in exactly the opposite direction to that in
which Uncle Sammy had vanished.
He never stopped running until he had reached the woods. And since he

could not bring any corn home with him, he thought that there was
really no sense in telling his mother anything about his adventure.
The next day, as Frisky was playing in a tree-top, he came across Uncle
Sammy Coon sunning himself.
"Where's my corn?" asked Frisky Squirrel.
"Corn!" Uncle Sammy exclaimed, as if he had forgotten all about such
a thing. "Oh! you mean that corn that we got last night. Now, I'm sorry
to say that the bag was so heavy I had to drop it, because old dog Spot
was after me, you know. And when I went back to get it, later, it wasn't
there.... We'll have to try again, some other time," he added.
Frisky Squirrel began to see that the old fellow had tricked him. Uncle
Sammy's sides looked very plump, as if he had had an unusually good
meal. And he smiled so pleasantly that Frisky Squirrel became very
angry.
"You'll get your own corn next time," he snapped. And as he skipped
away he heard Uncle Sammy Coon laugh heartily--just as though
something had amused him.

X
Tails and Ears
Among all his friends, Frisky Squirrel liked to play with Jimmy Rabbit
best. You see, Jimmy never wanted to eat him. He was so fond of
tender young sprouts, and of Farmer Green's vegetables, that he
wouldn't have taken even the smallest bite out of Frisky. He would
have laughed at the very idea.
There was something else, too, about Jimmy Rabbit, that Frisky
Squirrel liked; he was always thinking of new