The Van Buren press., 1893-04-22
FOOLISH SQUIRRELS.
Sad Fate That Befeil tho Two Delinquent
Nut Gatherers.

Nut Gathorers.
Aunt Ruth was not blind to the
faults of her little nephews and nieces,
but instead of chiding them she would
set forth the fault she wished to cor
rect in story. So this evening when
the half dozen little folks had gathered
around her chair she told them the fol-
lowing fable:
s'Oncc upon a time there lived in a
forest wise old squirrel, with his COM
panions and family of three squirrels.
One day, in early autumn, Father Squir-
rel called his family together, and in
squirrel language, said: From certain
signs which l have noticed lately, l
think the coming winter will be very
cold and will set in earlier than usual;
SO we had better begin to-day to gather
nuts, which Mother Squirrel will stow
away in good order as we bring them
to her And, children, take this ad-
vice: If you find tree hanging pretty
full OF huts, stick to it until you
have stripped it. Our neighbors are all
busy gathering their winters store.
and if you leave full tree to seek for
another, some of them will be sure to
take possession of it. And another
thing. weigh the nuts to be sure that
You only bring home good ones So
saying, away scampered the old squir-
rel, and was nimbly followed by the
youngest Of the brothers; but the other
two young squirrels took different di-
rection and began to look around for
good tree. They were hard to be suit
ed, and went some distance into the
forest before finding a tree on which
they thought the nuts hung thick
enough for them to begin to gather
Having at last begun, they seemed to
work steadily; but when night came, it
was found that they had not added
many nuts to the rows that mother
Squirrel had neatly piled up within the
hollow trunk of the tree, which had
been chosen for the storehouse and
many OF the nuts they had gathered
were rotten and had to be thrown
away. Father Squirrel was displeased,
and reproved them for going so far and
then bringing home so many bad nuts.
1.-The next day, before starting out,
he gave them some good advice as he
had given them the day before. The
youngest again went with the old
squirrel and steadily gathered the nuts
under his direction; but the other two
again started out on their own hook
and when they thought father Squirrel
could not see them, they made halt
and the eldest. sitting on his hind feet
and proudly throwing his bushy tail
over his back, exclaimed:
~ don't see it that way! Father
Squirrel, mean to gather nuts wher-
ever please. There is no stick to one
tree for mel"
"They then chased each other from
tree to tree, nibbling nuts when they
were hungry, but not taking any to
the nest. Thus they spent day after
day, until the trees were bare, and only
few nuts were left lying on the ground.
Some of these they gathered and hid in
the burrows they were forced to dig for
themselves. But their little store was
soon gone, and one morning when
about to go out to look for more nuts,
they found that the ground was
covered with snow. After this there
were no more warm days, but storm
quickly followed storm, and as they
shivered in the cold, they longed for
some of the good, sweet nuts which
they knew were in their parents
storehouse. Then they made desper-
ate effort to get TO the shcltering nest.
but overcome by cold and hunger, the
eldest cried out:
.. 4 can see now the good way that
father Squirrel tried to make me see.
but it is too late!'
"'Too late!' repeated his brother,
and too weak to go farther, they both
fell down in the pelting storm and
died.
"rheir brother, who had faithfully
helped the old squirrel, lived to happy
old age. and always had cosy nest of
his own, sheltered from storms and
filled with the best nuts that grew In
the forest.
"And the moral is" concluded Aunt
Ruth. "that those boys and girls and
the grown-up folks. as well, who waste
the opportunities right before them,
going here and there with no noble
purpose in life, seldom meet with any
better fate than that which befell the
two foolish squirrels in the story
Mary Ray Earle, in Christian Instructor.