ut the
fire--all chasing one Squirrel. As soon as the Squirrel was caught,
they would bury him in the ashes near the fire until he cried; then
they would dig him out in a hurry. Then another Squirrel would take
the lead and run until he was caught, as the other had been. In turn
the captive would submit to being buried, and so on--while the racing
and laughing continued. They never left the buried one in the ashes
after he cried, but always kept their promise and dug him out, right
away.

"'Say, let me play, won't you?' asked OLD-man. But the
Squirrel-people all ran away, and he had a hard time getting them to
return to the fire.

"'You can't play this game,' replied the Chief-Squirrel, after they had
returned to the fire.

"'Yes, I can,' declared OLD-man, 'and you may bury me first, but be
sure to dig me out when I cry, and not let me burn, for those ashes are
hot near the fire.'

"'All right,' said the Chief-Squirrel, 'we will let you play. Lie
down,'--and OLD-Man did lie down near the fire. Then the Squirrels
began to laugh and bury OLD-man in the ashes, as they did their own
kind. In no time at all OLD-man cried: 'Ouch!--you are burning
me--quick!--dig me out.'

"True to their promise, the Squirrel-people dug OLD-man out of the
ashes, and laughed at him because he cried so quickly.

"'Now, it is my turn to cover the captive,' said OLD-man, 'and as there
are so many of you, I have a scheme that will make the game funnier and
shorter. All of you lie down at once in a row. Then I will cover you
all at one time. When you cry--I will dig you out right away and the
game will be over.'

"They didn't know OLD-man very well; so they said, 'all right,' and
then they all laid down in a row about the fire.

"OLD-man buried them all in the ashes--then he threw some more wood on
the fire and went away and left them. Every Squirrel there was in the
world was buried in the ashes except one woman Squirrel, and she told
OLD-man she couldn't play and had to go home. If she hadn't gone,
there might not be any Squirrels in this world right now. Yes, it is
lucky that she went home.

"For a minute or so OLD-man watched the fire as it grew hotter, and
then went down to a creek where willows grew and made himself a great
plate by weaving them together. When he had finished making the plate,
he returned to the fire, and it had burned low again. He laughed at
his wicked work, and a Raven, flying over just then, c