CHAPTER VII 



THE SUN SONG OF BANNERTAIL 



HE sun was rising in a 

 rosy mist, and glinting the 

 dew-wet overlimbs, as there 

 rang across the bright bare 

 ^^^-^^^ stretch of woodland a loud 

 " Qua, qua, qua, quaaaaaaal" Like a high 

 priest of the sun on the topmost peak of 

 the temple stood Bannertail, carried away 

 by a new-born inner urge. A full-grown 

 wildwood Graysquirrel he was now, the 

 call of the woods had claimed him, and 

 he hailed the glory of the east with an 

 ever longer "Qua, qua, quaaaaaaaaaal" 



This was the season of the shortest 

 days, though no snow had come as yet to 

 cover the brown-leaved earth. Few birds 



[41] 



