THE DOUGLAS SQUIEEEL 239 



serve. In a few moments down came the Douglas. 

 The breakfast-burs he had cut off had rolled on 

 the gently sloping ground into a clump of cea- 

 nothus bushes, but he seemed to know exactly 

 where they were, for he found them at once, ap 

 parently without searching for them. They were 

 more than twice as heavy as himself, but after 

 turning them into the right position for getting a 

 good hold with his long sickle-teeth he managed to 

 drag them up to the foot of the tree from which 

 he had cut them, moving backward. Then seating 

 himself comfortably, he held them on end, bottom 

 up, and demolished them at his ease. A good deal 

 of nibbling had to be done before he got anything 

 to eat, because the lower scales are barren, but 

 when he had patiently worked his way up to the 

 fertile ones he found two sweet nuts at the base of 

 each, shaped like trimmed hams, and spotted purple 

 like birds' eggs. And notwithstanding these cones 

 were dripping with soft balsam, and covered with 

 prickles, and so strongly put together that a boy 

 would be puzzled to cut them open with a jack- 

 knife, he accomplished his meal with easy dignity 

 and cleanliness, making less effort apparently than 

 a man would in eating soft cookery from a plate. 



Breakfast done, I whistled a tune for him before 

 he went to work, curious to see how he would be 

 affected by it. He had not seen me all this while; 

 but the instant I began to whistle he darted up 

 the tree nearest to him, and came out on a small 

 dead limb opposite me, and composed himself to 

 listen. I sang and whistled more than a dozen airs, 

 and as the music changed his eyes sparkled, and 



