104. What the Squirrel Did for Richard.

protection. She held him high in one hand, beat-
ing down the cat with the other, till the squirrel
got a chance to press the button, and Mrs. Burton
found that she was holding her own dear boy in
her arms. Poor woman, she was so weak that
she was unable to speak for some time, and in-
deed it is not strange that this was so, for to see
one’s only child pursued and almost eaten up by
a pet cat, was an unusual and extremely trying
experience for any mother.

When she had recovered herself, she said to
Richard, with tears in her eyes: ‘Promise me
that you will never turn yourself into a squirrel
again, unless, indeed, you can save your life by so
doing.”’ Richard promised, and for two years he
remained just a plain, common boy, like other
boys.

Then one day, in summer, he went bathing in
the river with some friends. Forgetting the strong
current in mid-stream, he ventured out too far
from the shore, and, to his horror found that he
was being carried away in spite of himself. His
friends shouted to him, but did not venture to go