A DIGRESSION ON SQUIRRELS 



and all the chanticleers of the neighbor- 

 hood were having their autocratic say. 



But I was not long to remain in suspense. 

 The strange sounds soon reached me from 

 an adjoining room, the communicating 

 door of which was open. A double window 

 coming entirely within my range of vision 

 was here the scene of the supernatural visi- 

 tation. There were the moving slats, and 

 there, at last, in plain sight, was the cause 

 of all the disturbance a little red squirrel! 



No doubt he would have entered my 

 room at the first stirring of the shutters had 

 not a screen prevented him. Unfortunately 

 for the depredator, these defences against 

 flies and mosquitoes were at every window. 

 He had allowed himself to be vanquished 

 three times, but on this fourth occasion he 

 had evidently determined to conquer, for 

 he clattered up and down and all over the 

 screen, looking for a vulnerable point. 

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