THE SQUIRREL'S JOKE. 179 



cried. It was the exact tone of a young baby, 

 a naive and innocent cry. What could it be? 

 Was some tramp mother hidden behind the 

 bushes? Was it a new bird with this unbird- 

 like cry? I was startled. But my friend was 

 smiling at my dismay. She pointed to the crotch 

 of a tree, and there a saucy gray squirrel lay 

 sprawled out flat, uttering his sentiments in this 

 abominable parody on the human baby cry. I 

 believe the first squirrel learned it from some 

 deserted infant, and handed it down as a choice 

 joke upon us all. At any rate this performer 

 was not suffering as his tones would indicate ; 

 for seeing that he had an audience more inter- 

 ested than he desired, he pulled himself together, 

 whisked his bushy tail in our faces, and disap- 

 peared behind the trunk, from whence, in one 

 instant, his head was thrust on one side and his 

 tail on the other. And so he remained as long 

 as we were in sight. 



This absurd episode changed our mood, and 

 soon we tramped gayly back over the soft leaf- 

 covered paths, fording the newly formed brooks, 

 shaking showers upon ourselves from the sap- 

 lings, and arriving at last, dripping but happy, 

 on the veranda, where, after donning drier cos- 

 tumes, we spent the rest of the day watching 

 the birds that came to the trees on the lawn. 



