"Well," said the boy, "I will."
He immediately began to come toward Wallace and Phonny, so as to go back with them into the road which they were to take. Wallace and Phonny led the way, and he followed. As soon as he came within convenient distance for talking, Phonny asked him what sort of a squirrel it was.
"A gray squirrel," said he. "The prettiest gray squirrel that ever I saw."
Phonny was very much elated at hearing this intelligence, and wanted to get off his horse at once, and take a peep at the squirrel; but Wallace advised him to do no such thing. In due time the whole party got out of the woods. Wallace gave the boy his six cents, and the boy handed the trap up to Phonny. Phonny held it upon the pommel of the saddle, directly before him. He found that the squirrel had gnawed through the board so as to get his nose out, but he could not gnaw any more, now that the box was all the time in motion. So he gave it up in despair, and remained crouched down in a corner of the trap during the remainder of the ride, wondering all the time what the people outside were doing with him.
"You managed that boy finely," said Phonny. "He is one of the worst boys in town."
"It is generally best," said Wallace, "in dealing with people, to contrive some way to make it for their interest to do what you want, rather than to quarrel with them about it."
For the rest of the way, Phonny rode on without meeting with any difficulty, and arrived at home, with his squirrel all safe, just at the time when Beechnut and Stuyvesant were talking about the poultry.
CHAPTER V.
PLANS FOR THE SQUIRREL.
As soon as Phonny had told Stuyvesant about his squirrel and had lifted up the lid of the trap a little, so as to allow him to peep in and see, he said that he was going in to show the squirrel to the people in the house, and especially to Malleville. He accordingly hurried away with the box under his arm. Stuyvesant went back toward the barn.
Phonny hastened along to the house. From the yard he went into a shed through a great door. He walked along the platform in the shed, and at the end of the platform he went up three steps, to a door leading into the back kitchen. He pa.s.sed through this back kitchen into the front kitchen, hurrying forward as he went, and leaving all the doors open.
Dorothy was at work at a table ironing.
"Dorothy," said Phonny, "I"ve got a squirrel--a beautiful squirrel. If I had time I would stop and show him to you."
"I wish you had time to shut the doors," said Dorothy.
"In a minute," said Phonny, "I am coming back in a minute, and then I will."
So saying Phonny went into a sort of hall or entry which pa.s.sed through the house, and which had doors in it leading to the princ.i.p.al rooms. There was a staircase here. Phonny supposed that Malleville was up in his mother"s chamber. So he stood at the foot of the stairs and began to call her with a loud voice.
"Malleville!" said he, "Malleville! Where are you? Come and see my squirrel."
Presently a door opened above, and Phonny heard some one stepping out.
"Malleville," said Phonny, "is that you?"
"No," said a voice above, "it is Wallace. I have come to give you your first warning."
"Why, I only wanted to show my squirrel to Malleville," said Phonny.
"You are making a great disturbance," said Wallace, "and besides, though I don"t _know_ any thing about it, I presume that you came in a noisy manner through the kitchen and left all the doors open there."
"Well," said Phonny, "I will be still."
So Phonny turned round and went away on tiptoe. When he got into the kitchen, he first shut the doors, and then carried the trap to Dorothy, and let her peep through the hole which the squirrel had gnawed and see the squirrel inside.
"Do you see him?" asked Phonny.
"I see the tip of his tail," said Dorothy, "curling over. The whole squirrel is there somewhere, I"ve no doubt."
Phonny then went out again to find Stuyvesant. He was careful to walk softly and to shut all the doors after him.
He found Stuyvesant and Beechnut in the barn. Beechnut was raking up the loose hay which had been pitched down upon the barn floor, and Stuyvesant was standing beside him.
"Beechnut," said Phonny, "just look at my squirrel. You can peep through this little hole where he was trying to gnaw out."
Phonny held the trap up and Beechnut peeped through the hole.
"Yes," said he, "I see the top of his head His name is Frink."
"Frink?" repeated Phonny, "how do you know?"
"I think that must be his name," said Beechnut. "If you don"t believe it, try and see if you can make him answer to any other name. If you can I"ll give it up."
"Nonsense, Beechnut," said Phonny. "That is only some of your fun. But Frink will be a very good name for him, nevertheless. Only I was going to call him Bunny."
"I don"t think his name is Bunny," said Beechnut. "I knew Bunny. He was a squirrel that belonged to Rodolphus. He got away and ran off into the woods, but I don"t think that this is the same one."
"I"ll call him Frink," said Phonny. "But what would you do with him if you were in my place?"
"Me?" said Beechnut.
"Yes," said Phonny.
"Well, I think," said Beechnut, stopping his work a moment, and leaning on his rake, and drawing a long breath, as if what he was about to say was the result of very anxious deliberation, "I think that on the whole, if that squirrel were mine, I should put two large baskets up in the barn-chamber, and send him into the woods this fall to get beechnuts, and hazelnuts, and fill the baskets. One basket for beechnuts and one for hazelnuts, and I would give him a month to fill them."
[Ill.u.s.tration: BEECHNUT"S ADVICE.]
"Nonsense, Beechnut," said Phonny, "you are only making fun. If I were to let him go off into the woods, he never would come back again."
"Why, do you suppose," said Beechnut, "that he would rather be running about in the woods than to live in that trap?"
"Yes," said Phonny.
"Then," said Beechnut, "you must make him a beautiful cage, and have it so convenient and comfortable for him, that he shall like it better than he does the woods. That would not be difficult, one would suppose, because he has nothing but holes in the ground and old hollow logs in the woods."
"I know that," said Phonny; "but then I don"t think he would like any house that I could make him, so well as he does the old logs."
"Then I don"t know what you will do," said Beechnut, "to make him contented."
So saying Beechnut went away, leaving Phonny and Stuyvesant together.
They talked a few minutes about the squirrel, and then began to walk along toward the house.