El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-29
CIoudcrOft Sketches
By Ruth Moore Norris

SHARP Ears. do you see that woman
on the porch peeling apples?" said
Bright Eyes. the chipraGnk, as ne and
his sister sat on a limb Of the big
spruce. -Don't :hey smell good2 1
know there will lie cores with big
b-own seeds I nope she viii leave
some where we can get them
Even If she did leave them on the
porch we wouldn't be sure OF getting
them, some body might chase US away,
or there might be a trap that would
catch u.s." said Sharp Eyes, the tinld-
The chattering caused their friend
on the porch to look up, and seeing
how longingly they gazed at the ap-
pies she threw them a core Bright
Eyes scurried after the dainty, and ate
it in a surprising hurry, after which
he remarked: Sister, you should have
tasted il, IL was finer
At that moment another core was
thrown. and Sharp Ears, encouraged
, by her brothers success, scampered
from the tree after il, but her willy
brother stopped her. exclaiming. You
go straight home" With that he chased
his poor sister up the tree and him
self ate the whole core.
Then that remcrseless chipmunk ran
across the porch and sat on the arm
Of the bench beside the apple core
woman. where he stayed until she
threw another core. He held this in
his forepaws and daintily nibbled the
seeds, seeming TO say, Goodbye, III
be back another time-if there be any
more apples"
John Muir says that the chipmunk
lives on wild berries, grass seeds and
pine nuts, but the Cloudcroft chipmUnk
has other foods beside these. He par
tfcularly enjoys orange peel, apple
cores, potatoes and bits Of bread He
nibbles the housekeeper's smoking
cherry pies and carries off peaches and
squash seeds The little creatures are
often seen sitting on stumps nibbling
some stolen dainty. A hammock IS
never safe when they are around, they
Will chew holes all through it. They
seem very fond Of fringe. and one cot
tager who lives a few miles from
Cloudcroft has to tuck up the fringe
on her portieres when she leaves
home or the chipmunks bite it off
The squirrels also keep a weather
eve open for the housekeeper'S good
les One day, net Ions ago, they saw
a basket full OF peaches on a porch
They quietly waited until nobody was
about and then carried the peaches
away one by one. When the family
came out there were only a few left
in the basket
you saucy squirrel. you'd better
run. If I catch you, you'll be sorry,
scolded the tiny wren to the fat SOUR
rel she was chasing You squirrels
think that you can steal our food, but
III teach you better.
The squirrel evidently believed she
would carry out her threat and sour
ried up tree, but the bird Tapped and
pecked at him until he had to hide
under branch for safety.
Still Jenny Wren kept after him.
Come on. Robin. and help me catch this
greedy rascal Of squirrel, who tried
TO run off with biscuit I was ready
TO eat chirped Jenny Wren. Robin
came. and between them the squirrel
was driven from one side Of the trunk
to the other bit at last he made
great dash for his nest and reached
it safely. leaving the two scolding
birds outside.
This same Jenny Wren. a bird Of a
fingers length. has built her nest in
one of the Cloudcroft woodsheds. She
scolds and chirps so, whenever the
cottager goes for wood that the gentle
woman. not wishing to bother the bird.
bought another load Of wood and piled
it apart from the wren's headquarters
in order not to disturb the little moth
er and her nest and young
a CIOudcrOft Sunset.
Soft masses of gray cloud cover the
sky. hanging so low overhead that
they form a great dome They cast a
shadow over everything. making the
dark pines darker still. and softening
the brighter green's The clouds ex-
tend over a great distance and can
even be seen, far over hills and val
leys. above the distant White Sands
and the mountains behind them.
Across the plains and over the noun
tains an amber light streams through
the clouds. tinging their edges with
gold and coloring the whole western
sky II tints the gray mountains with
blue and the plains with hay purple,
and makes the lakes on them sparkle
and glisten- What a contrast this light
and color is to the dark sky above US
and the somber pinest
Then gradually the color changes
from orange to pink. throwing a rosy
light over the sands and the far off
mountains Above this golden banded
light the clouds form two great arches
lined with gold Lavender mists COW
er the sky. the mountains and the
plains, and the red sun sinks behind
a distant globe-like peak