A HERMIT'S WILD FRIENDS 



nest in a near-by pine, and lives in it at this 

 time. The past two winters Tiny made his 

 nest in my summer house. Why he did not 

 (Fiism occupy the house this winter is a mystery. 



xTd Perhaps he heard me say that I should take 



down this house and put it into a new log- 

 cabin that I had in contemplation. 



Tiny is a widower, and childless. His wife 

 and children were shot to death by the gun- 

 ners that swarm through the magnolia woods. 



I think Bismarck is dead. In cold weather 

 he made it a practice to sly up to the cabin, 

 just at dusk, for a doughnut or a bit of 

 bread. For some time I have missed him. 

 I went to his nest, to find it shot to pieces. 

 Still farther away I found Mrs. Bismarck's 

 nest in ruins, and silence reigned in that part 

 of the woods. 



Tiny is now an orphan, a widower, and is 

 also childless. He occupies in squirrel life 

 the same relative position that the hermit 

 occupies in human life. Tiny's misfortune 

 has brought the man and squirrel a little 

 nearer together. 



246 



