The Story of a Graysquirrel 



and reddish, with a big, thick stem on 

 the wrong side — a stem that was white, 

 like new-peeled wood. 



Bannertail had seen such growing in the 

 woods, once or twice ; little ones they were, 

 but his nose and his inner guide had said : 

 "Let them alone." And here was this 

 fiery little Redsquirrel dragging one off as 

 though he had a prize ! Sometimes he 

 lifted it bodily and made good headway, 

 sometimes it dragged and caught in the 

 growing twigs. At last it got fixed be- 

 tween two, and with the energy and fury 

 that so often go with red hair, the Red- 

 head jerked, shoved, and heaved, and the 

 brittle, red-topped toadstool broke in two 

 or three crisp pieces. As he sputtered 

 and Squirrel-cussed, there was a warning 

 Bluejay note. Redhead ran up the near- 

 est tree; as it happened, the one in which 

 was Bannertail, and in an instant the en- 

 emies were face to face. "Scold and 



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