A HERMIT'S WILD FRIENDS 



I think his keen scent was the secret. By the 

 sense of smell he could tell a wormy from a 

 sound nut. So could I after the nut was 

 smashed, but not before. 



After the hazelnuts, beechnuts were gath- 

 ered. But right here competition was too 

 great for the squirrels. The blue jays haunted 

 the beech groves, and could load up with from 

 twelve to eighteen nuts, then could use their 

 wings against the squirrels' legs, so the latter 

 were usually short on beechnuts. 



The acorn followed the beechnut crop, and 

 as the woods of Cape Ann are made up mostly 

 of oak-trees, there were usually nuts enough 

 for Bismarck's family and to spare. 



Besides being a hard worker, Bismarck 

 proved to me, in many ways, that he was 

 quick-witted and resourceful. A sweet acorn- 

 tree near my cabin was loaded with nuts. 

 Beneath the h'mbs on the south side was a 

 carpet of pine-needles, while under the limbs 

 on the north side grew a dense mass of bram- 

 bles and catbriers. Bismarck did not drop 

 a nut into the mass of briers, but carried 



