How Animals Work. 



plenty of food and water, for a Squirrel loves a drink 

 of clear water. In the quietude of my study he be- 

 came less frantic in his efforts to escape, but if any one 

 approached the cage suddenly he would dash about 

 and reopen the wound on his nose. However, his 

 confinement was not to last long, for the following 

 week I went down to stay for a while in the ,New Forest, 

 and took Master Squirrel with me. Needless to say, 

 the noise and bustle of the train journey nearly drove 

 him frantic, and I thought it best to give him a couple 

 of days' rest to recover his nerve ere setting him free; 

 and these two days were devoted on my part to the 

 careful selection of a suitable and remote spot for his 

 liberation, for I knew if he was let out in a wood already 

 the home of several Squirrels, he would probably be 

 at once attacked as an interloper. A pleasant belt of 

 woodland, with beech, fir, and oak trees, and a little 

 tinkling stream running through it, was selected, and 

 on the third morning we set forth with the cage wrapped 

 up in a cloth, and Master Squirrel pounding about 

 excitedly inside. Although nearly ten long years have 

 passed away since that bright July morning, the scene 

 comes back to me as vividly as if it were but yester- 

 day the sweet hot smell of the heather as we crossed 

 a stretch of bogland, the fragrance of honeysuckle on 

 the edge of the wood, and then the quiet peace within, 

 broken only by the gentle murmur of the soft summer 

 breeze among the branches and the half-sleepy cooing 

 of a pair of wood pigeons. Arrived safely, the cage was 

 set down and the cloth removed. The Squirrel at 

 first wildly dashed about, startled by his journey and 

 the removal of the cloth ; then with little hands pressed 



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