The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-10-11

a room there that Is about SIN iee'
wide and eight feet long. Ills n'o,ho,
has promised to let him pu' art ",'" san
I'm IL and make a nice house io' tue
gcphers. ,.o vo
Sure enough, In day or TWO we
were bundled off again and were WI "c'
loose in one OF the most beautiu' spo'o
you ever saw. All around US, ehecpone
on on eside that was closed Win ne'-
ling and had little door In H. were
smooth. white walls. with big wlnoo"
for the sunlight. Right In the center
Of the room was a pile OF sand that rose
nearly halfway up To the window IN,
der this was some OF the sweetest anu
clcancst sandy black dirt you ever saw.
over In a corner where II could have the
sunlight was little clump OF WHO"
bushes. and there were towering plants
as well as fresh green grass. in announcer
corner was "A pan Of water. ana AZ the
FOO, of the knoll was wonderful collec-
ton Of grains. nuts and vegetables
noticed cabbage. celery. apples. peanuts
corn. wheat. dried fruit, and many other
things.
well. the first thing we did was TO iinc
how deep the earth was. SO our pest
dicgers went to work and dug hole
almost stra irht down, and we foun1 'he
soil was deeper than We ever 20. 1hen
we began to quarrel about where each
should burrow. for everybody out me
wanted TO dig hole by the clump OF
Willows had been selected as the
head Of the colony. ana had already
begun nv bnrrow at the base OF the
knoll. Fi-ally. after lighting and squeal-
ing for hour without settling anything.
IL was left for me TO decide who should
1--we under the willows You may guess
that ] explained how delicate Bright
Eyes was and how much she needed the
sunshine. and / gave her the place ana
heired her dig her hurrow.
"ThireS went or quietly enough for "A
lons time. / acted az sentinel, ana sat
On top Of The knoll. and gave warning
when any body came. The hoy George
can rave Us esh water daily ana kept
Us well supplied with food lie seemci
50 arxicus = lie friendly and cid %
much for us hat I soon decided not 70
give any signal when he came and We
became very friendly With him. Then
he Toy Clarence came often ana win
MIN tre sweet gill who haG admired
Bright Eyes. and al Of as got 50 well
acquainted that We often took food from
their hands. ara wherever | SAW them ]
you'd stand on the peak OF the knoil
and bark my loudest.
"One sunny afts rnO0n. While we were
all eating lunch at tie foot of The Knoll.
"a norst:Ous cat dropped on US fror the
sky and carried away ore OF our Old
settlers From that Cay on W. had no
pace. A, any moment We were likely
10 be pcunced Upon. az / we hardly dared
TO leave our burrows. one after an
other our family vent. until at last all
that were left we're Bright Eyes and me
George CAL and the cher siils ana boys
would come and look AT MS ami wonde-
where tn rest we've. Oh. how we lognel
to tell them about that awful cat
81 decided Il at something must be done
and. after digging down TO the floor, be
San go rnaw through one OF the boards
Th's was slow work. for. as you inow
our teeth are not as sharp as those OF
our cousins the wood squirrels. but final
~ the hole was all but finished, and
Bright T., Is and / had made all our
pans 10 20. We decided We would wait
to say goodbye TO George call and his
friends. and thea leave the place for
ever. While we were sitting chatting
and waiting for George / looked at the
willows and saw "a long. gaunt shadow
on them Then / glanced at the win
dow. and there was crawling that awfu
cat, with her big. greedy green eyes
glaring al Bright Eyes. I tried to bark
but / could not. And while ] watched
he cat sprung toward Bright Eyes.
AT that moment ] jumped. expecting
never TO see Bright Eyes again. but when
] ran through the door she was there
behind me-werent you. Bright Eyes
and Father Marmot turned to veneer
al le ground squirrel who sat behind him
Indeed ] Was. she answered. "and
every word that Father Marmot has told
YOU is true