A LIFE OF FEAE 



As I sat looking from my window the other 

 morning upon a red squirrel gathering hickory- 

 nuts from a small hickory, and storing them up 

 in his den in the bank, I was forcibly reminded 

 of the state of constant fear and apprehension 

 in which the wild creatures live, and I tried to 

 picture to myself what life would be to me, or 

 to any of us, hedged about by so many dangers, 

 real or imaginary. 



The squirrel would shoot up the tree, mak- 

 ing only a brown streak from the bottom to the 

 top; would seize his nut and rush down again 

 in the most precipitate manner. Half way to 

 his den, which was not over three rods distant, 

 he would rush up the trunk of another tree for 

 a few yards to make an observation. No dan- 

 ger being near, he would dive into his den and 

 reappear again in a twinkling. 



Returning for another nut, he would mount 

 the second tree again for another observation. 

 Satisfied that the coast was clear, he would spin 

 along the top of the ground to the tree that bore 

 the nuts, shoot up it as before, seize the fruit, 

 and then back again to his retreat. 



Never did he fail during the half hour or 

 more that I watched him to take an observation 



