Bannertail 



From the elm he swung to a basswood, 

 and finished his meal off basswood buds. 

 Keeping one eye on the beast, he 

 scrambled to an open platform nest that 

 he had made a month ago, where he lazed 

 in the sun, still keeping eyes and ears 

 alert for tidings from the disturber below. 



The huge brute prowled around and 

 found the fresh scent up the elm, and 

 barked at it, too, but of course he was 

 barking up the wrong tree, and presently 

 went off. Bannertail watched him with 

 some faint amusement, then at last went 

 rippling down the trunk and through the 

 woods like a cork going down a rushing 

 stream. 



He was travelling homeward by the 

 familiar route, on the ground, in undu- 

 lated bounds, with pauses at each high 

 lookout, when again the alarm of ene- 

 mies reached him — a dog, sniffing and 

 barking, and farther off a hunter. Ban- 



[46] 



