STORY OF THE SQUIRREL. 
People who are not intimately acquainted with the squirrel are apt to 
regard him as a timid little creature. He is one of the friskiest little animals 
in creation, but he is not timid by any means. Considering his size and 
means of defense he is one of the most courageous of wild creatures. 
One day with my dog and gun, I was awaiting the approach of a flock of 
wild fowl, but a little villain of a squirrel, on the bough of a tree close to me, 
seemed determined that I should not rest in quiet, for he sputtered and 
chattered with so much vehemence that he attracted the attention of my 
dog, whom I could scarcely control. The vagrant inattention of my dog 
was truly mortifying; he kept his eyes fixed upon the squirrel, now so noisy 
as to be quite intolerable. With my hand, I made a motion to threaten him, 
but the little beast actually set up his back, and defied me, becoming even 
more passionate and noisy than before, till all of a sudden, as if absolutely 
on purpose to alarm the game, he let himself drop down to the ground plump 
within a couple of yards of Rover’s nose. This was too much for any four- 
footed animal to bear, so he gave a bounce and sprang at the impertinent 
squirrel, who, in one second, was safe out of his reach, cocking his tail, and 
showing his teeth on the identical bough where he had sat before. Away 
flew all the wild fowl, and my sport was completely marred. My gun went 
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