Omaha daily bee., 1899-07-02

/ nest in big pine not far of | had seen
him hiding some acorns there and at night
used to go there and see how they tasted,
and I thought IL / could get there by the
time the shine-b ball came out could get
little rest. Well. went to the pine and
crawled into the woodpecker's nest. But
it was very uncomfortable and had bad
smell. There was no soft bed in It, such
as had at home, and everything about it
was rough. The door Now l don't think
you ought TO eat all the good ones your
self and pick out the bad ones for me
Why, that last piece was black on one side"
This was addressed to Buster John, whose
appetite for barks had asserted itself
when he began to pick out the goodies"
for Fit.
"There-now, that's better said Fit,
with satisfied chirp. The door OF the
woodpeckers house looked towards the place
where the shine-ball comes from, and every
thing about it seemed to be wrong But
1t was the best ! could do / crept in and
curled up for such sleep as l could get in
such place. l went to sleep. too. for
was very tired How long slept don't
know, but when l woke / was hot. The
shine-ball was looking right In the door
and was nearly suffocated."
At this point Fit pretended to sneeze to
show how he suffered from the heat.
There was only one thing to do, and this
/ did. l crawled out and went half way
down the tree, where the trunk was large
enough to hide the shine-ball. There
stretched myself out on limb and tried
TO believe felt better. Did tell you the
tree was dead? Well, It was Outside OF
the woodpecker's home there wasn't hid
ing place in it. The pine was standing
alone, and the only way to reach the thick
woods where l lived was TO travel pa
OF the way on zig gag fence.
Now, / didn't like to do this. To be out
in the light is bad enough. but to travel on
fence with the shine-ball and everything
else looking at you is worse still. So l
stretched out on the big limb, not far from
the ground and tried TO be content
didn't know how long l lay there, but all
OF sudden l felt the wind rushing down on
me- and under the limb l went like a flash
and none too soon, for as l went under a
big hawk came swishing by so close that 1
could almost feel her feathers brush me-
Well, l was so frightened l began to pant
l had often heard Of hawks and had been
warned against them, but l never saw one
before. Did you ever see one? They are
terrible.
This hawk was not satisfied. She
swooped and circled as l do when / make
iOuB uylus JUMP LIOu lIte 10 ITees cue
circled upward and sailed around overhead.
1 couldn't see very well for the glare of
the shine-ball'
What de name er goodness is de shine
ball?' inquired Drusilla-
why, it's the sun. goosey." answered
Sweetest Susan.
IT couldn't sec very we'll" said Fit,
"and so l went on top Of the limb again;
but had hardly stretched out there, think
ing the hawk was gone. when / felt the
wind again, and this time she didn't miss
me more than hairs breadth. Up went
the hawk again, and thought
1t would be best for me to
stay under the limb But this didn't help me
much. The hawk began to call her mate
and in a very short time there were two
OF them sailing around. The biggest one
came slowly down and lit on the limb right
over me. She leaned forward and looked at
me-and OF all the horrible creatures you
ever saw she was the most horrible. She
breathed as loud 'possum snores.
Il came very near dropping from the
limb l moved toward the body OF the tree
and the hawk moved after me and tried to
reach me with her hooked beak. l made a
dash and went round the body OF the tree
and I did so the hawks mate came
swooping down. BY this time the other
hawk was on the wing and by the time I
darted on the other side she was ready TO
swoop. This wouldn't have lasted long.
Some one came along and said 'shoo' to the
hawks and they flew away, and then I felt
that same somebody take me from the tree
more dead than alive"
Where are your brothers and sisters?"
asked Sweetest Susan.
Well you know how It is in the woods
and fields; it is everybody for himself and
everything for itself Once out of the nest
you must look out for yourself AS for my
brothers and sisters, wouldn't know them
II / were to see them and they wouldn't
know me. Sometimes I see my mother and
she always has a hickory nut or a sweet
acorn to give me, but as for the rest !
know nothing about them. 1t is very COM
Portable here, where you have somebody to
clean out the hickory nuts for you, and I
SUPPOSE I'll never see any Of nv kind anv