THE CHIPMUNK 21 



big, yellow eyes fixed upon the chipmunk, and 

 there sat the chipmunk at the mouth of his den, 

 motionless, with his eyes fixed upon the cat. For 

 a long time neither moved. " Will the cat bind 

 him with her fatal spell ? " I thought. Sometimes 

 her head slowly lowered and her eyes seemed to 

 dilate, and I fancied she was about to spring. 

 But she did not. The distance was too great to 

 be successfully cleared in one bound. Then the 

 squirrel moved nervously, but kept his eye upon 

 the enemy. Then the cat evidently grew tired 

 and relaxed a little and looked behind her. 

 Then she crouched again and riveted her gaze 

 upon the squirrel. But the latter would not be 

 hypnotized ; he shifted his position a few times 

 and finally quickly entered his den, when the cat 

 soon slunk away. 



In digging his hole it is evident that the chip- 

 munk carries away the loose soil. Never- a grain 

 of it is seen in front of his door. Those pockets 

 of his probably stand him in good stead on such 

 occasions. Only in one instance have I seen a 

 pile of earth before the entrance to a chip- 

 munk's den, and that was where the builder had 

 begun his house late in November, and was prob- 

 ably too much hurried to remove this ugly mark 

 from before his door. I used to pass his place 

 every morning in my walk, and my eye always 



