New Britain herald., 1928-11-19

Rusty the Fox Squirrel vas in a
disturbed state Of mind. Yes. sir. he
vas quite upset He was IN a
strange hollow tree. That means 1t
was strange to him. He had taken a
nap on a bed Of leaves. Now, leaves
do not get into hollow trees unless
they are put there. A few may blow
In, but not enough 70 make a COM
Portable bed. Therefore. some one
had made this bed in which Rusty
had been sleeping. When he had
first found it he had been quite sure
that this hollow tree home was de-
serted. But now he wasn't SO sure.
He had been awakened by the
sound Of claws on the outside OF
that tree.
A back door is a good thing 70
have. Johnny Chuck would tell yo7s
th6. Reddy Fox would tell you that.
Old Man Coyote would tell you
that. But homes made in hollow
trees seldom have back doors. There
was no back door to this hollow
tree home. There was only one way
out and, Of course, that was the
only way in. Rusty thought OF this
now AZ he listened to the sound Of
the claws on the outside of that tree.
II guess" thought Rusty. that it
would be well for me to get out of
here right away. II there is an own
er to this house and he should find
me in here he might make 1t very
unpleasant for me. I'll get out right
away
He looked up at the entrance,
and just as he did so the entrance
vas darkened by some one. who
thrust his head in. In the dark
Rusty couldn't see what that head
looked like, but he could see that,
whoever 1t was. he was quite big
enough to fill the doorway, and that
meant that the visitor was bigger
than himself. Rusty was scared. He
uidn't like the size of this newcom-
er and he didn't like the smell Of
this newcomer. But what could he
90? There he was. trapped He
couldn't squeeze past and there was
no back door. Rusty was in panic.
Whatever should he do?
But the stranger did not come
down to where Rusty was. He turn
ed around and then poked his head
outside and there he sat looking out.
1t was quite evident that this was
his home. He had the air of owner
ship. Rusty waited and waited.
Now. hanging down was tail
The end of the tail almost reached
Rusty Now and then it moved
Rusty right away discovered that i
was a queer tail. 1t was nothing al
all like his tail. Goodness. no; it was
nothing at all like his tail. 1t didn't
have any hair on it. Rusty wondered
il the hair had fallen from it or il
1t had never had any hair.
II don't see what use a tail like
that can he" thought Rusty Nov
when / jump that tail of mine bal.
ances me. In winter when | sit bach
to the wind, that tail protects my
whole back. When ] curl up ! cur
that nice. big tail of mine around
me and it helps to make me warn
and comforts Bile. But what can {
fellow do with a tail like this one
1t looks to me like a useless tall
At just that moment a though
came to Rusty. What would harper
il he should bite that tail? Woul,
ii scare the owner so that he woult
run away: Anyway. it would be al
most certain to give him a chance
to get out If he should be read,
to dash out OF that entrance as soof
as the owner went out he wonlf
have a good chance to escape. II wa.
his best chance. Rusty reached on
to bite that tail but just before h
set his teeth in it he drew back. Hi
courage was not quite equal to TIA
Lite. Three times he started 10 bit
and Didn't. But the fourth time h
did. Yes, sir. he bit that tail. an,
right away things, began to happen
tCopyrisht 1928. ~ T. W. Burgess