

/ 



Bannertail 



clutched the harder and hoped each that 

 the other would be the one to land on 

 the under side. Squirrels have a dif- 

 ferent way. Sensing the fall, at once 

 they sprang apart, each fluffed his great 

 flowing tail to the utmost — it is nature's 

 own " land-easy" — they landed gently, 

 wide apart, and quite unshaken even by 

 the fall. Overhead was the Lady of 

 the tourney, in plain view, and the two 

 stout knights lost not a moment in dart- 

 ing up her tree; again they met on a 

 narrow limb, again they clutched and 

 stabbed each other with their chisel teeth, 

 again the reckless grapple, clutch, and 

 the drop in vacant air — again they shot 

 apart, one landed on the solid ground, 

 but the other — the echo voice — went 

 splash, plunge into the deepest part 

 of the creek ! In ten heart-beats he 

 was safely on the bank. But there is 

 such soothing magic in cold water, such 



At, ■< I 80 1 

 {'I, 



