196 



my head," said the old gentleman. But Joe's 

 mother said the squirrel must be shut in its cage. 

 It was getting to be too troublesome. 



So Dicky was kept a prisoner until grandfather 

 went away. After that he was allowed to run 

 free again. 



Joe used to bring nuts home to the squirrel and 

 hide them about the room. He liked to see Dicky 

 hunt them out. As soon as the squirrel found one, 

 he would race away with it to some high place. 

 Then he would sit up and eat it, holding it daintily 

 in his fore paws as though they were little hands. 



One of Dicky's great amusements was getting 

 into the empty water pitcher in the guest chamber 

 and racing round and round in it after his tail. 

 Round and round and round he would go. Then 

 he would stop to listen, and with a bound would 

 be at the top of the pitcher, holding himself up by 

 curling his little paws over the edge so that he 

 could look out. If everything was quiet, he would 

 drop back into the pitcher and begin chasing his 

 tail again. 



This habit of playing in the pitcher was almost 

 the cause of Dicky's death. 



One day Joe's mother had come to the guest 



