Bannertail 



were left of the summer merrymakers. 

 The Crow, the Nuthatch, the Chickadee, 

 and the Woodwale alone were there, and 

 the sharp tang of the frost-bit air was 

 holding back their sun-up calls. But Ban- 

 nertail, a big Graysquirrel now, found 

 gladness in the light, intensified, it 

 seemed, by the very lateness of its com- 

 ing. 



"Qua, qua, qua, quaaaaaa" he sang, 

 and done into speech of man the song 

 said: "Hip, hip, hip, hurrahhh!" 



He had risen from his bed in the hol- 

 low oak to meet and greet it. He was 

 full of lusty life now, and daily better 

 loved his life. "Qua, qua, qua, quaaaaV 

 — he poured it out again and again. The 

 Chickadee quit his bug hunt for a moment 

 to throw back his head and shout: "Me, 

 too!" The Nuthatch, wrong end up, an- 

 swered in a low, nasal tone: "Hear, hear, 

 hear!" Even the sulky Crow joined in at 



[42] 



