Arthur Scott Bailey

The Tale of Frisky Squirrel Arthur Scott Bailey

Frisky Squirrel was a lively little chap. And he was very bold, too. You see, he was so nimble that hefelt he could always jump right out of danger-no matter whether it was a hawk chasing him, or afox springing at him, or a boy throwing stones at him. He would chatter and scold at his enemiesfrom some tree-top. And it was seldom that he was so frightened that he ran home and hid insidehis mother's house. Mrs. Squirrel's house was in a hollow limb of a hickory tree. It was a very convenient place to live;for although the tree was old, it still bore nuts. And it is very pleasant to be able to step out of yourhouse and find your dinner all ready for you-simply waiting to be picked. Of course, Frisky Squirrel and his mother couldn't find their dinner on the tree the whole year'round-because it was only in the fall that there were nuts on it. But luckily there were other thingsto eat-such as seeds, of which there were many kinds in the woods. And then there was FarmerGreen's wheat-and his corn, too, which Frisky liked most of all. The woods where Mrs. Squirrel and her son lived were full of the finest trees to climb that anybodycould wish for. And Frisky loved to go leaping from branch to branch, and from tree to tree. He wasso fearless that he would scamper far out on the ends of the smallest limbs. But no matter howmuch they bent and swayed beneath his weight, he was never afraid; in fact, that was part of the fun.