and held him fast. Father Jay was in sore 
trouble, for no amount of fluttering or picking at 
the splinter served to release him. 
The squirrel came back and, sitting up 
straight on a fence post a dozen feet away, 
chattered and whisked his tail and watched as 
though this were the finest show he had seen in 
a long time. Other jays hearing the cries came 
up, and such a screaming, shrieking clamor 
arose that the rooster over in the chicken yard 
called in alarm to all the hens he knew. To add 
to Robin Hood’s terror, the old cat appeared. 
She climbed scratching to the top of the fence 
and crouched there intently watching the scene 
and slowly lashing her long tail from side to side. 
Then she began creeping forward along the top 
rail. 
It is almost certain that Robin Hood’s days 
would have come to an end then and there but 
for the arrival of Billy. He had not found his 
pet in the chestnut tree when he went to look for 
him, but hearing the outcry at the edge of the 
woods, he had run over to the fence just in time 
to save him. As Billy carried him to the house 
96 
