THE NUTCRACKERS OF NUTCRACKER LODGE. I/ 



ence, and feeling himself at liberty to quarrel with every 

 body and everything about him. Nobody understood him, 

 he said ; he was a squirrel of a peculiar nature, and 

 needed peculiar treatment, and nobody treated him in a 

 way that did not grate on the finer nerves of his feelings. 

 He had higher notions of existence than could be bounded 

 by that old rotten hole in a hollow tree ; he had thoughts 

 that soared far above the miserable, petty details of every 

 day life, and he could not and would not bring down these 

 soaring aspirations to the contemptible toil of laying up a 

 few chestnuts or hickory-nuts for winter. 



&quot;Depend upon it, my dear,&quot; said Mrs. Nutcracker sol 

 emnly, &quot;that fellow must be a genius.&quot; 



&quot; Fiddlestick on his genius ! &quot; said old Mr. Nutcracker ; 

 &quot;what does he do?&quot; 



&quot; O nothing, of course ; that s one of the first marks of 

 genius. Geniuses, you know, never can come down to 

 common life.&quot; 



&quot;He eats enough for any two,&quot; remarked old Nutcracker, 

 &quot;and he never helps gather nuts.&quot; 



&quot; My dear, ask Parson Too-whit ; he has conversed with 

 him, and quite agrees with me that he says very uncom 

 mon things for a squirrel of his age ; he has such fine 

 feelings, so much above those of the common crowd.&quot; 



&quot; Fine feelings be hanged ! &quot; said old Nutcracker. &quot; When 

 a fellow eats all the nuts that his mother gives him, and 

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