UNDER THE APPLE-TREES 



second apple-tree, and pauses as before, quickly 

 glancing round; then in a few leaps he is at home, 

 and in his den. Returning, he usually pursues the 

 same course. He leaves no trail, and is never off his 

 guard. No baseball runner was ever more watchful. 

 Apparently while in the open he does not draw one 

 breath free from a keen sense of danger. I have 

 tempted him to search my coat pockets for the nuts 

 or cherry-pits that I have placed there, and, when he 

 does so, he seems to appreciate at what a disadvan- 

 tage his enemy might find him — his eyes are for 

 the moment covered, his rear is exposed, his whole 

 situation is very insecure; hence he seizes a nut and 

 reverses his position in a twinkling; his body palpi- 

 tates; his eyes bulge; then he dives in again and 

 seizes another nut as before, acting as if he thought 

 each moment might be his last. When he goes into 

 the tin cocoa-box for the cherry -pits, he does it with 

 the hurry of fear; his eyes are above the rim every 

 second or two; he does not stop to clean the pits as 

 he does when on my table, but scoops them up with 

 the greatest precipitation, as if he feared I might 

 clap on the lid at any moment and make him pris- 

 oner. In all the hundred and one trips he has made 

 from my camp to his den he has not for one moment 

 forgotten himself; he runs all the bases with the same 

 alertness and precaution. Coming back, he emerges 

 from his hole, sits up, washes his face, then looks 

 swiftly about, and is off for the base of supplies. 



13 



