Camping With Old Ben 255 



" Well, the wood thrush soon flew away, 

 and the squirrel felt so ashamed that he didn't 

 even squeak again that morning. 



" Pretty soon, along came Blue Jay and he 

 says to Mr. Red Squirrel, ' What a rusty old 

 red coat you have got, Mr. Squirrel. If I was 

 you I think I would visit the tailor and get a 

 new suit, your old one is really quite dull. 

 Why don't you have a suit like mine? ' and 

 Blue Jay flashed his bright blue uniform in 

 the sunlight. 



" Then Mr. Red Squirrel saw that he not 

 only had no voice, but that his coat, upon 

 which he had prided himself, was quite dull 

 compared with that of the blue jay. 



" In those far off times Mr. Red Squirrel's 

 tail was not the fine brush that it is now, but a 

 smooth tail like that of the rat. So he really 

 had nothing to be proud of. 



" Well, Mr. Red Squirrel felt so bad about 

 it that he finally went to the wood nymph. 



' ' Dear Wood Nymph/ he said, ' I am 

 very sad. I have no fine voice like Wood 

 Thrush, and I have no gay coat like Blue 



