132 
WILD AMERICANS 
been in our lunch! The food has been nibbled and 
moved about!" 
Everyone looked. The sandwiches had been tom. 
Pieces of cake had been bitten off. A big sack of 
peanuts, which mother had put in for the children, 
was almost empty. Even the sack had been nibbled. 
“Aha ! 11 exclaimed Uncle Ely then. “I have an idea 
who is guilty. There's a thief in the woods . 11 
“A thief ? 11 Buck was excited about it. 
“Yes! Look up into this tree carefully, and I think 
we shall see the thief, maybe several of them. Up 
there on the trunk, with only his head peeping 
around at us? That's the thief!" 
“It's a squirrel!" said Ginger. 
“That's right," said Uncle Ely. “Look, children, 
I see two more. See them scampering along the high 
limbs? See their great bushy tails?" 
“Yes, sir, but I didn't know squirrels would take 
things from picnic baskets," Ginger added. “I never 
saw one outside of a zoo before. Are these really wild 
squirrels, Uncle Ely?" 
“Surely. They run wild in the forest here. But 
they may not be very much afraid of people, if they 
haven't been shot at. Let's move off a little way to 
eat what they have left for us. Then, if we put some 
