me. How many times he has led
the children of the family, and the big children too, through beds of
beans, beets, and cucumbers, and through the tomato vines and
rose-bushes; and when we were in full chase, just ready to believe that
he had eluded us quite, and was gone forever, lo! there sat Dick in his
wheel, as demure as a judge, and looking as wise as possible at those
very silly people, who would be running about so fast, on such a warm
day. He never liked any infringement upon his personal liberty; this he
always resented; but he would pretend to hide away, and come and peep at
you, or jump up behind you, stand on the top of your head or shoulder,
play all manner of pranks about your person, get clear into the pocket
of any friend, who was likely to have a supply of nuts. He would answer
to his name, follow when called, in the house, out of the house, any
where, play all about the large house-dog, Tom--pat him on the ear,
gently pinch his tail, poise himself on his back, and pretend to sleep
by the side of him. But if any one caught him, or held him, as if he
were imprisoned--alas! what a struggle ensued--and then, I grieve to say
it--he would _bite_."

[Illustration: THE SQUIRREL.]

The most common squirrels in this country are the gray, the red, and the
striped, or chipping squirrel. The latter is the smallest of the three;
and as that species are not hunted so much as the rest of the genus,
they are very abundant in the woods. Many and many a time, when a child,
have I been deceived by the cunning of the chipping squirrel. The little
fellow has a hole and nest in the ground. The hole is very frequently
either directly under or very near the stump of a tree which has been
cut down or was blown over by the wind. Well, the little fellow is
accustomed, or he was accustomed, when I was a little boy, to sit
good-humoredly on this stump, and sing for hours together. His song has
nothing very exquisite in it--it is simply "chip, chip, chip," from the
beginning to the end; and his notes are not only all on the same key--a
monotony which one might pardon, if he was particularly
good-natured--but they are all on the same point in the diatonic scale.
However, like many other indifferent singers that I have met in my day,
our striped vocalist goes on with his music, as if he thought there
never was another, or certainly not more than one other quite as
finished a singer as himself. Well, the boy who is unacquainted with th