Bannertail 



Brownhead, and Nyek-nyek — inspired 

 by his example, all doing as he did, work- 

 ing like beavers, seizing, husking, weigh- 

 ing, marking, digging, dig-dig-digging 

 and burying nuts all day long. Hundreds 

 of these little graves they dug, till the 

 ground under every parent tree was a liv- 

 ing, crowded burying-ground of the tree's 

 own children. Morning, noon, and eve- 

 ning they worked, as long as there was 

 light enough to see. 



A cool night and another drying day 

 brought down another hickory shower. 

 And the Graycoats worked without ceas- 

 ing. They were tired out that night. 

 They had driven off a score of robbers, 

 they had buried at least a thousand nuts, 

 each in a separate hole. The next day 

 was an even more strenuous time. For 

 seven full days they worked, and then the 

 precious nut harvest was over. Acorns — 

 red and white and yellow — might come 



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