ome along with me I don't mind stopping to show you where the
butternuts are. But of course if you're afraid--" Mr. Crow stopped to
cough. He buttoned his coat closer around his throat. And then he
looked sideways at Frisky Squirrel.

"Afraid!" Frisky exclaimed. "I'm not afraid at all."

"Good!" said Mr. Crow. "Now, then, young fellow! You skip along over
to Farmer Green's and I'll be waiting for you down the road a bit."

Old Mr. Crow flapped himself away then. And Frisky Squirrel hurried
off in a straight line for the farmhouse.

XVI

Caught in the Attic

Long before Frisky Squirrel reached Farmer Green's place, he began to
worry for fear Mr. Crow had grown tired of waiting for him. To be
sure, he knew that the butternuts were up in the attic. But to tell
the truth, Frisky felt uneasy about visiting the farmhouse. And he
hoped that Mr. Crow would show him just how to get through the attic
window, as he had promised.

Just as he came in sight of the farmhouse Frisky heard Mr. Crow
calling to him from a tall tree close by the road. He was glad to hear
the old gentleman's husky voice. And he couldn't help thinking how
kind Mr. Crow was, and how mistaken his mother had been to believe
that Mr. Crow liked to get folks into trouble.

"Come on!" said Mr. Crow, as Frisky paused beneath the tall tree. "I'm
going to fly over to that tree right next the farmhouse. You run along
the stone-wall and climb up beside me."

"Now, then!" said Mr. Crow a few minutes later, when Frisky had joined
him. "There's the window--wide open. And there are the butternuts,
lying on the floor."

Frisky could see great heaps of nuts. And without another word he
crept out on a limb that brushed the window-sill and in another moment
he was inside Farmer Green's attic. Frisky forgot to thank Mr. Crow.
He never once thought of that, he was in such a hurry to taste those
nuts.

He just ate and ate and ate; and he was so busy cracking the nuts and
picking out the meats that he never noticed that it was growing dark.

At last, to his astonishment, the attic door opened. Frisky leaped
behind a pile of butternuts and hid, while someone walked across the
floor. Then there was a bang. And Frisky shivered when he heard it.
But the person left the attic at once and went downstairs.

Frisky Squirrel breathed easily again. And he stole out from behind
the pile of nuts. Somehow, he did not care to eat any more. He wanted
to get out of the ho