The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-02-01
---------- A WALK IN THE OW.

A few days ago there dawned white
 morning; such a one as we get perhaps twice or thrice in a winter The snow
 had been falling the whole night,
 through a perfectly still but not very
 cold air, and the large moist flakes had
 alighted upon every branch and twig,
 converting each shrub and clump of
 weeds into an object of mysterious
 beauty The storm, if such a gentle
 down. floating of feathery flakes may be
 called a storm, had ceased, and there
 was silence such as is observed only in
 the presence of unbroken snow. And
 went out, soon after the sun was up, to
 enjoy it all. How beautifully clean eve
 rything was; not an unsightly object of
 any kind to be seen. And the air was
 so cool and fresh, and tasted of the snow in which 1t had been washed. The first sound heard was the cav
 ing of crow. far away on the other side of pond, and the next was the
 merry little voice of chickadee, on a white birch by the road side. The
 white birch is a great favorite with this
 little titmouse; he seems to enjoy twist
 ing and turning and hanging head
 downward amongst the fine twigs, and
 even when the tree Is dead and broken
 off at the top perhaps, Chickadee will
 build his nest in the decayed stump.
 And when it is observed how we'll the
 black and white plumage of the little
 bird matches the bark, it is not difficult
 to guess one reason for the selection of
 this pretty nesting site. The chickadee
 whose voice l had heard was not alone,
 but with several companions, all busy gleaning their breakfast of insects eggs and larvae from the aXils of the twigs and crevices of the bark. meanwhile scattering the snow in tiny showers with their huttering wings I took from my pocket some broken hickory nuts, and held them out upon the palm of my hand. One of the little fellows became interested at once, and ceased his acrobatic performances that he might better inspect my offering. Then he flew to twig avove me, and after a questioning "Ch- day day day" he be- gan to descend towards my hand When within foot he paused and turned his head, and with his knowing little eyes peering from beneath his black velvet cap, he looked me square in the face. 'Is it all right?' that look seemed to say? "It may be, but is 1t? Is it now? Honest Injun?" My an- swerng look treasured him, for he came hop nearer, and I believe he would have alighted on my hand, but at that moment a snow blow lurched round the | corner, hauled by two laundering ;,Ir and were gone. So I.wedged the bits of | nut into the bark that my small &C., quaintances might know. when they re- turned, that I had been acting in good | faith.
 Then I struck into the woods, where I | found that I was not the first to break | the surface of the snow. The first foot prints I came upon were those of red squirrel. They extended in straight lines from tree to tree, and were ar ranged in pairs which followed each other at regular intervals.
 Presidently I caught a glimpse of a bit of red fud disappearing round the gray trunk of buternut tree, and the next moment the saucy, comically ser- ous face of red squirrel appeared over the edge of a branch. I had evil dently interrupted him at some busi- ness of his own, and now he was watch ing me anxiously to see whether I in tended to make nuisance of myself by remaining or whether I would go on about my own affairs. I decided to stay for "a while at least, just to give him lesson in patience. one of the many virtues in which every healthy red squirrel is woefully lacking. The little animal before me was no excep- ion, and the moment he realized my intention he began to express his disap- oroval in anything but a well-bred manner, First of all his lower jaw be- gan to trerble and he gave vent to scv- eral discontented grunts and squeaks. md finally dashed off long string of profanity, which, reduced to writing, might read ''Uh, uh. squeak squeak, r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r squeak squeak, -r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r, and ending | Il a series of mystical sputters and queaks which threatened to shake him rom his perch During this trade his | gestures were quite as expressive as his | anguage. for he stamped upon the | park with his paws, throwing his body onward in spasmodic little jerks, re i ninding me somewhat of the move l = nents of balky horse, while his tail l lept Tipping the air in perfect time to