but once to a mountain squirrel, and Chickaree 

 was excited. How was he to hide this big piece °? 

 Yes, hide it ; for it was plain to us that he meant 

 no other squirrel to share his luck, or even 

 know about it, else why his silence, excitement, 

 and hurry 1 



Tilting the loaf up, he fixed his long teeth into 

 the top crust, and by dint of backing and pulling 

 got out of the gully, landing the loaf in time 

 upon the top of a flat rock. Unable to raise his 

 load clear, he came round behind it in order to 

 push. It was slow, hard work. Becoming more 

 and more anxious, he forgot that the rock, in 

 the direction he was going, ended abruptly with 

 a sheer fall of ten feet. 



On he struggled across the rough, lichened 

 surface, inch by inch, until, catching a good foot- 

 hold, he gave a mighty shove and went over, 

 he and his loaf together, striking with a beauti- 

 ful splash in a little pool of water below. 



We took a bit of wicked pleasure in his fall, 

 as we saw him scramble out unhurt. He came 

 out, however, still holding to his loaf. But it 

 was thoroughly soaked now,— a condition that 

 was evidently new to Chickaree,— and as he 

 [240] 



