THE YOUTH’S CABINET. |

319

 

Squirrel Robbing.

 

BY PROF. ALDEN.

 

ne Saturday afternoon, Edwin
Burch and Howard Pierson set
out in search of butternuts. They
went several miles from home to
a beautiful valley, through which flowed
a crystal stream in which the speckled
trout, the tiny shiner, the gay redfin and
the lazy sucker were abundant. The boys
were quite tired by the time they reached
the stream ; so they lay down on its mar-
gin and watched its inhabitants as they
sported in safety below. When they had,
in a measure, recovered from their fatigue,
they began to search for butternuts. The
trees were not numerous; it was late in
the season, and some persons had been
before them, and had gathered all the
fruit. They found a wery few concealed
by the fallen leaves under the trees.
While they were employed in collecting
these, Edwin saw a red squirrel run into
a hole in a large heap of rubbish consist-
ing of drift-wood, grass, and sand. It
occurred to him that he had heard, that
the squirrels laid up nuts for winter. He
was pretty sure, therefore, of finding some
in the hole into which the squirrel had
run. So he went to work, tearing away
and digging in the rubbish, to find the
squirrel’s storehouse. “ What are you
doing there?” said Howard, who was
searching for nuts unger a distant tree.
“T know,” replied Edwin, vigorously
plying» his work. Pretty soon Howard
came to see what he was doing. “What
are you at there ?” said he.
“T'll show you pretty soon, I guess,”
replied Edwin, as he exerted all his
strength in turning over a large log.

And sure enough he did show him; for
under it in a hollow space, he found about
half a bushel of butternuts.

“How did they come there ” said
Howard.

“T had a fellow put them there for me.”

“How did you know they were there ?”

“T smelt them.”

“How did you, though?” **

“T saw a squirrel run in here, and I
thought I would search his house, and
see what I could find.”

“Don’t rob the poor fellow. He had
laid these up for winter. How hard he
must have worked to carry them all inte
that hole.”

“Not so hard as I have worked to get
at them,” said Edwin, as he wiped the
sweat from his face, and began to put the
nuts in his basket.

“Tt will be too bad to take them all
away from the little fellow. "Won't you
leave him some? He will starve next
winter, if you don’t.”

“Then he won’t steal so much corn
next summer.”

Howard began to consider whether it
would not be right for him to oblige Ed-
win to leave the squirrel a part of his
stores; but he could not make it clear
to his mind that he was authorized to
use force in defence of the squirrel’s
rights. While he was thus employed,
Mr. Hall, vend owner of the land, came
along.

“What are you doing there, boys?”
said he.

“He is robbing the squirrel, and he
will have nothing to eat next winter,