116 BEYOND THE PASTURE BARS 



he railed. After one terrible minute he came 

 back to us, coughing and husky and sore in his 

 throat. 



When he reached the box, how quickly his spirit 

 changed! No April sky ever broke more sud- 

 denly into rainy sunshine than Chickaree on pick- 

 ing up one of the molasses cookies. He was sur- 

 prised and delighted. Never had he tasted cook- 

 ies before! Birch catkins and beechnuts! They 

 were flat! Even the tender terminal buds of the 

 pine would be tasteless now. And stale acorns! 

 Dreadful ! 



All this we saw in his countenance as he took 

 the first mouthful and bolted with the cooky. He 

 bolted, but he stopped short for another bite. 

 Then on he went, only to stop short for a third 

 bite ; started again, but came to a dead stop on the 

 end of the log, and finished the cooky then and 

 there. 



I now went after him to see if I could find where 

 he had hidden the bread. As I stepped upon the 

 log, he turned and came down it toward me. 



He drew near ; walked over my foot and smelled 

 of me. Cookies! Where? He sniffed and 

 sniffed; then catching the odor of the cookies on 

 the hand hanging at my side, he stood up to get a 



