Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-10-04


Thinks Boys are
| Stupid
] Robert 80 lived to read that, al
though he was only in the second
reader class, he had read his sisters
third reader almost through. This
was what he had in hand the day Aunt
Anna came down from her city home
for . little vacation In the country
town where Robert lived.
Suppose yoa read to me. Robert"
said Aunt Anna, and he read . story
called What Mrs. Squirrel Thinks. .
This IL the story:
! The old apple-tree In the corner BY
the lane 10 hollow. There Is a hole In
the trunk Of the tree near the top.
Here lives little family Of squirrels.
One day Mr.. Squirrel ran up the
tree as fast as he could.
my dear" said he to his wife, when
he was safe in the hole again, II was
afraid should never reach home
alive"
Have those boys been throwing
stones at you again?" asked Mrs.
Squirrel.
"stones?" repeated Mr.. Squirrel
with an angry whisk Of his tail.
They were rocks! They were AZ big
as apples"
"Rocks are bigger than apples -
said Mrs. Squirrel. "still, must say
It Is a shame. You have never done
anything to hurt those boys
They don't think Of that" said
Mr.. Squirrel, who was really angry.
"And our dear little ones are not
yet big enough to hunt nuts!" said
Mrs. Squirrel. "They might starve II
you never came home"
| "Boys don't think Of that" said her
husband.
"You are so little and they are so
big" said Mrs. Squirrel.
"They don't think Of that said Mr..
Squirrel.
"Don't they know how to Think
asked his wife. Perhaps they are
stupid, after all" .
"They think 1t is fun to see me rum =
said Mr.. Squirrel. And that seems
to be all the thinking that they are
able to do" ry @
"That is like a baby, said Mrs.
Squirrel, gravely. ut is very sad to
grow to be stupid am glad our chill
dren know more than that"
Mr.. Squirrel whisked his tail over
his head and took up nut from q
pile in the corner.
| But Mrs. Squirrel was not thinking
about her dinner. Poor boys!" said
she. How dreadful to be SO stupid
as not to be able to Think
Robert sat in silence a moment,
then he said: Boys are not stupid.
Aunt Anna. They do think. Mrs.
Squirrel lived where they were the
wrong kind Of boys. There are no
squirrels around our school-house, but
bluebird built her nest and Matched
her eggs right in stump,-a little,
! low stump, Aunt Anna, where we could
nearly all look in. She didn't mind 1t
(one BIT" Roberts eyes were shining.
mot one of us touched her. When
Jimmy Gray first came to town. he
didn't think, and he reached his hand
in for an egg. But Charlie Smith (you
know that great, big boy we saw this
morning: he's going on thirteen) took
Jimmy by the seat of his trousers, and
lifted him right away" Robert laugh
ed merrily at the recollection. He
told him he'd better let our bird atone,
and you bet he did He said he didn't
know she was ours. We have H1a-
watha club. You know, HiaWatna
flowed all the birds and little animals.
! II; Mrs. Squirrel would come to that
hollow tree on the school house cor.
|ner, do you think we could ever get
her to understand that we wouldn't
hurt her? Can you tame Wild SPUR
rels, Aunt Anna?"
| Eyes. indeed" said Aunt Anna.
~There are squirrels that live in our
city parks, and the older ones are so
tame they will eat nuts right out OF
your hand. The other day sat down
on a bench, and one ran up on my
shoulder and sat there while fed him
peanuts. The young squirrels are shy
at first. They will come nearly to you
but not quite, so you must throw the
(nuts to them. But by and by they
learn that no one will hurt them. III
llet yout feed some when you come to
the city"
II wonder" said Robert. III would
tell the park guards about our H1a.
watha club, they would give me tame
squirrel to bring here to live In the
hollow tree?"
| 81 do not know about the guards
Most probably they could not for the
squirrels do not belong to them. But
perhaps we could arrange to get
tame squirrel In some other way. But
your club would have to keep the dogs
away"
! eve would, we would" promised
Robert. "And we would be so good to
the little squirrels that Mrs. Squirrel
would have to change her mind about
boys"
srm sure she would change her mind
II she knew the boys in your Hiawatha
club" agreed Aunt Anna.
Celestine Maschek a Neat
and Careful Writer