The Story of a Graysquirrel 



nertail made for the nearest big tree, and 

 up that he went, keeping ever the trunk 

 between. Then came the dog — a Squirrel 

 Hound — and found the track and yelped. 

 Up near the top was a "dray," or plat- 

 form nest, one Bannertail had used and 

 partly built, and in this he stretched out 

 contentedly, peering over the edge at the 

 ugly brutes below. The dog kept yelp- 

 ing up the trunk, saying plainly: "Squir- 

 rel, squirrel, squirrel, up, up, up!'* And 

 the hunter came and craned his neck till 

 it was cricked, but nothing he saw to 

 shoot at. Then he did what a hunter 

 often does. He sent a charge of shot 

 through the nest that was in plain view. 

 There were some heavy twigs in its make- 

 up, and it rested on a massive fork, or the 

 event might have gone hard with Banner- 

 tail. The timber received most of the 

 shock of the shot, but a something went 

 stinging through his ear tip that stuck 



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