148 RIVERBY 



same objects, clearing at a bound the same pile of 

 leaves. There was no variation in his manner of 

 proceeding all the time I observed him. 



He was alert, cautious, and exceedingly methodi- 

 cal. He had found safety in a certain course, and 

 he did not at any time deviate a hair's breadth from 

 it. Something seemed to say to him all the time, 

 " Beware, beware ! " The nervous, impetuous ways 

 of these creatures are no doubt the result of the life 

 of fear which they lead. 



My chipmunk had no companion. He lived all 

 by himself in true hermit fashion, as is usually the 

 case with this squirrel. Provident creature that he 

 is, one would think that he would long ago have 

 discovered that heat, and therefore food, is econo- 

 mized by two or three nesting together. 



One day in early spring, a chipmunk that lived 

 near me met with a terrible adventure, the memory 

 of which will probably be handed down through 

 many generations of its family. I was sitting in 

 the summer-house with Nig the cat upon my knee, 

 when the chipmunk came out of its den a few feet 

 away, and ran quickly to a pile of chestnut posts 

 about twenty yards from where I sat. Nig saw it, 

 and was off my lap upon the floor in an instant. I 

 spoke sharply to the cat, when she sat down and 

 folded her paws under her, and regarded the squir- 

 rel, as I thought, with only a dreamy kind of inter- 

 est. I fancied she thought it a hopeless case there 

 amid that pile of posts. "That is not your game, 

 Nig," I said, "so spare yourself any anxiety." 



