Bannertail 



was not one that would take the war- 

 path against him." 



The distant voice replied no more, and 

 Bannertail set about foraging for his 

 morning meal. 



The oak-tree in which he had slept was 

 only one of the half-a-dozen beds he now 

 claimed. It was a red oak, therefore its 

 acorns were of poor quality; and it was 

 on the edge of the woods. The best 

 feeding-grounds were some distance away, 

 but the road to them well known. Al- 

 though so much at home in the trees, 

 Bannertail travelled on the ground when 

 going to a distance. Down the great 

 trunk, across an open space to a stump, 

 a pause on the stump to fluff his tail and 

 look around, a few bounds to a fence, 

 then along the top of that in three-foot 

 hops till he came to the gap ; six feet across 

 this gap, and he took the flying leap with 

 pride, remembering how, not so long ago, 



[44] 



