THE CHIPMUNK 153 



friend had come forth with him, for there were 

 two tracks leading from this doorway. I fol- 

 lowed them to a third humhle entrance, not far 

 off, wliere the tracks were so numerous that I 

 lost the trail. It was pleasing to see the evi- 

 dence of their morning sociability written there 

 upon the new snow. 



One of the enemies of the chipmunk, as I 

 discovered lately, is the weasel. I was sitting 

 in the woods one autumn day when I heard a 

 small cry, and a rustling amid the branches of 

 a tree a few rods beyond me. Looking thither 

 I saAv a chipmunk fall through the air, and 

 catch on a limb twenty or more feet from the 

 ground. He appeared to have dropped from 

 near the top of the tree. 



He secured his hold upon the small branch 

 that had luckily intercepted his fall, and sat 

 perfectly still. In a moment more I saw a 

 weasel — one of the smaller red varieties — 

 come down the trunk of the tree, and begin 

 exploring the branches on a level with the 

 chipmunk. 



I saw in a moment what had happened. The 

 weasel had driven the squirrel from his retreat 

 in the rocks and stones beneath, and had pressed 

 him so closely that he had taken refuge in the 

 top of a tree. But weasels can climb trees too, 

 and this one had tracked the friglitened chip- 

 munk to the topmost branch, M'here lie had tried 

 to seize him. Then the squirrel liad, in liorror, 

 let go his hold, screamed, and fallen through 

 the air, till he struck the blanch as just described. 



