Bannertail 



eyes gave him a thrill of terror. He felt 

 that his only safety lay in flight. 



Now it was a race for the tall timber, 

 and a close one, but Bannertail's hops 

 were six feet long; his legs went faster 

 than the eye could see. The deep snow 

 was harder on him than on his ferocious 

 enemy, but he reached the great rugged 

 trunk of an oak, and up that, gaining 

 a little. The Weasel followed close be- 

 hind, up, up, to the topmost limbs, and 

 out on a long, level branch to leap for the 

 next tree. Bannertail could leap farther 

 than Fire-eyes, but then he was heavier 

 and had to leap from where the twigs were 

 thicker. So Fire-eyes, having only half 

 as far to go, covered the leap as well as 

 the Squirrel did, and away they went as 

 before. 



Every wise Squirrel knows all the leaps 

 in his woods, those which he can easily 

 make, and those which will call for every 



[60] 



