New Britain herald., 1926-11-08
The Squirrel Cousins Arc Worried
By Thornton w. Burgess

Always worry can be found
 By any one who looks around.
 Old Mother Nature
 It is a fact It is the easiest thing in the world to find something to worry about. Worrying is the favor- ite pastime of q great many people. They are unhappy because they wor- ry so much, but they would be un- happy if they didn't worry. They won't admit it, but they find cer- tain amount of pleasure in worrying.
 But sometimes there is really good reason for worrying. The Squirrel cousins - Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel, Chatterer the Red Squirrel, Rusty the Fox Squirrel, Timmy the Flying Squirrel and Striped Chip munk-had made a discovery which was causing a great deal of worry to all of them. They had discovered that there was something wrong with the chestnut trees. They had noticed that most of the chestnut trees had been sick all summer. Now that they thought of it. they remembered that the year before chestnuts had not been as plentiful as usual, and there had seemed to be something wrong with the trees. They hadn't thought much about it through the summer, but now it was fall and winter would soon be here, and there were almost no chestnuts. That meant that they must find food of other kinds.
 Now, there always had been great many chestnut trees, and of course that had meant a great many chestnuts. There were not so many hickory trees or beech trees. All of them liked beechnuts, but so did a great many other people. Buster bear liked beechnuts; MT. and Mrs. Grouse like beechnuts; Lightfoot the Deer liked beechnuts; Bobby Coon liked beechnuts: so there really were not enough beecnnuts 10 go around Besides, it was slow work storing away enough beechnuts to last al! winter.
 There were n ot so many looking for hickory nuts, but neither were there so many nuts. In fact, it was a very poor crop. So there was real reason for the Squirrel cousins to worry.
 Now Happy Jack the Gray Squir- rel and Rusty the Fox Squirrel were the biggest of the Squirrel cousins ! Little Striped Chipmunk didn't stand 1 any show at all against them, But though the others were so big, | Chatterer the Red Squirrel was more than match for them. Chatterer is a fighter and he can move so much more quickly than his big cousins that he had no fear of them. ! So Chatterer felt quite equal to get ting his share of the hickory nuts. | The only trouble was that, while he ! was carrying away nut to his own storehouse, Happy Jack and Rusty | had plenty of opportunity to get | their share. So for a while Chat , terer didn't try 10 store away any nuts. He spent oil his time trying 10 Keep ms TWO plESer cousins from ! getting any, He chased them out of | the best trees and as he chased them !. back and forth and round and round, l jumping from branch to branch, . they managed 10 shake down some of those hickory nuts.
 Now Striped Chipmunk took no part in the quarrel. He doesn't like !. 10 climb trees anyway. But there is 1 nothing stupid about Striped Chip l munk. While he took no part in {. the quarrel between Chattcrer and | the bigger cousins. he missed no chance to keep that quarrel going | You see, Striped Chipmunk was worrying about his own winter food | supply, but he knew he wouldn't | have to worry long if only he could | keep that quarrel going. As long | as his cousins raced around up in i those ireetops and knocked down the | hickory nuts, he could fill his store- | house rapidly. And this is just |
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