LETTEES FROM ALABAMA. 
133 
should be clinging to the bark of the tree. The 
first shot was a failure; the squirrel fell dead 
indeed, but it was pierced with the ball, which 
was not the object. Perhaps the creature had 
moved a little at the instant, or perhaps the planter 
had been too carelessly confident ; however, his 
mettle was up, and he took care that the second 
should be all right. The ball struck the trunk of 
the tree just beneath the belly of the animal, driv- 
ing off a piece of the bark as large as one’s hand, 
and with it the squirrel^ without a wound or a 
ruffled hair, but killed by the concussion. 
