VI
BEECHNUT SHUCKS
ONCE in a while Frisky Squirrel paid a visit to Farmer Green"s place.
Although he had learned that the farmyard was not without its dangers, after one adventure Frisky was always sure to return, sometime, as if in search of another.
So a certain fine, fall day found him scampering along the top of the stone wall that followed the road as it dropped down the hill from the woods to Farmer Green"s front gate.
Old Mr. Crow, sailing lazily over the yellowing fields, caught sight of the stone wall traveller and glided into a tree beside the road. "You"d better not go near the farmyard, young fellow!" old Mr. Crow called.
Frisky Squirrel stopped, sat down, and looked up at Mr. Crow in the tree above him.
"Why not?" Frisky inquired.
"Haven"t you heard the news?" Mr. Crow asked him. "Haven"t you heard that there"s a cat at the farmhouse?"
"I didn"t know it," Frisky admitted. "But I don"t see why I should turn back. I won"t hurt her."
Old Mr. Crow _haw-hawed_.
"I don"t believe," he croaked, "you"ve ever met a cat."
"No, I haven"t," Frisky Squirrel replied, "but I"d like to see one. So I"ll be on my way. But don"t worry, Mr. Crow? I won"t hurt her." And then Frisky started off along the top of the stone wall once more, at a somewhat brisker pace to make up for lost time.
"He can"t say I didn"t warn him," Mr. Crow exclaimed as he watched the bouncing bit of gray fur.
"I hope Mr. Crow won"t worry," said Frisky Squirrel to himself. "If the cat gets hurt it will be her own fault, for I certainly won"t harm her."
When Frisky reached the farmyard he crept around a corner of the barn, hoping to find a few kernels of corn. But Henrietta Hen had been there before him and there wasn"t one kernel left. He ran here and there about the yard. And at last, when quite near the woodshed door, he sat up suddenly, twitched his nose a few times, and said, "Ha! I smell beechnuts!"
Now, that was not strange. Johnnie Green had been eating beechnuts in the woodshed doorway. And he had scattered the shucks on the broad stone step. Frisky Squirrel began nosing them. And just out of sight inside the woodshed Miss Kitty Cat awoke from a short nap, stopped right in the middle of a long stretch, and said, "Ha! I smell a squirrel!"
Miss Kitty Cat was wide awake in an instant. She flattened herself upon the woodshed floor and crept silently to the door. Though she didn"t make the slightest sound, all at once Frisky Squirrel"s nose twitched again, as he muttered to himself, "There"s a very queer smell about these beechnut shucks!"
He was sitting on the edge of the stone doorstep with a bit of beechnut clutched in his paws. And when he looked up and saw somebody"s nose appear in the doorway he tumbled right over backward. The only sound he made came from the beechnut shuck, which made a faint click as it fell upon the stone. And Miss Kitty Cat"s sharp ears caught it.
VII
TWO IN A TREE
WHEN Miss Kitty Cat dashed out of the woodshed Frisky Squirrel was two jumps ahead of her. That was really a better lead than it sounds. Frisky was always a good jumper. And the more scared he was, the further he could leap. Anybody that knew him well would have known then--just to see him--that something had given him a great fright.
First he had noticed a strange smell. Next he had seen a strange nose come stealing out of the woodshed door. And not knowing who was going to follow that nose, Frisky Squirrel felt that the sooner he climbed a tree the better it would be for him. So he made for a tall elm that wasn"t too far away.
Though Miss Kitty Cat was a fast runner, Frisky reached the foot of the tree ahead of her. And he was half way to the lowest branches before he took a real look at his pursuer.
To his dismay he saw that the creature hadn"t stopped at the foot of the tree. The monster had already begun climbing after him. Frisky had never seen any one just like this fierce person. One look was enough for him.
He pushed higher and higher into the tree-top and crept far out on a drooping limb, which swayed beneath his weight as he clung to it.
There he paused, while he watched to see what the stranger would do. And as he stared at the creature he remembered suddenly what Mr. Crow had told him. "There"s a cat at the farmhouse," the old gentleman had said.
"This must be the cat," Frisky thought. And to her he called, "If you"re the cat, don"t come any nearer, madam! You might get hurt." For he remembered, too, that he had told Mr. Crow that he wouldn"t harm the cat.
"It _is_ the cat," he said to himself presently, "for she has stopped."
Miss Kitty Cat did not quite dare follow Frisky Squirrel to the tip where he swung. She crouched upon the branch a little way from him, where it was safer for her, and with switching tail and bristling whiskers waited to see what he would do next.
"It makes me uneasy to see you swaying so," she told Frisky. "Besides, you"re shaking this limb. And I don"t like it."
"She"s a fussy creature--this cat!" Frisky said to himself. "I promised Mr. Crow I wouldn"t hurt her; but I didn"t promise him that I wouldn"t tease her." So he bobbed up and down with all his might.
"Stop!" cried Miss Kitty Cat. "That"s a very reckless thing to do. It"s like rocking the boat."
"I think it"s the finest sport in the world," Frisky chuckled.
"I know a finer," Miss Kitty snarled.
"What that?" he asked her.
"If I could get my claws on you I"d soon show you," she told him grimly.
Somehow there was something about her remark that startled Frisky Squirrel--something that made him shiver. And when he shivered he lost his hold. Down he dropped, slipping and floundering from one branch to another.
And down Miss Kitty Cat followed him.
VIII
NINE LIVES
FRISKY SQUIRREL was much more at home in the trees than Miss Kitty Cat was. While Frisky managed at last to cling to a limb and right himself, Miss Kitty lost her footing and fell out of the tree completely.
"Oh! She"ll he hurt!" Frisky cried as he saw her turning and twisting through the air. But to his great surprise she struck with all her four feet on the ground, quite unharmed. "You did that very nicely," he called to her generously.
But she didn"t answer. To tell the truth, she felt rather foolish because she had fallen out of the tree. And she walked back to the woodshed and stalked through the doorway without saying a word.
After that adventure Frisky Squirrel decided to go back home. So he scurried town the tree-trunk and scampered to the stone wall, and scooted along the top of it.
Old Mr. Crow was watching for him. And as before, he dropped down near the wall to talk.
"I hardly expected to see you again," Mr. Crow remarked. "You couldn"t have met the cat."