his left hand he laid down on the ground; but that which he held in his right hand he took with him to the cage. He kicked on the little window till the glass was broken; and then he pushed in the thing which he held in his hand.

Quickly he slid down the rod; he took up that which he had laid upon the ground; he climbed up to the cage with that also. The next instant he ran off through the gate, so fast that the grandmother could hardly see him.

The grandmother was so much excited that she could no longer sit by the window. She went out into the yard and stood in the shadow of the pump to wait for the brownie's return. Presently she heard a clatter on the pavement, and saw the little fellow trotting along with a burden in each hand as before.

That which he bore squealed and squirmed; and now a new thought came to the good grandmother. She understood that the brownie had hurried down to the hazel grove and brought the mother squirrel's babies to her. He was carrying them to her so that they shouldn't starve to death.

The grandmother stood very still, and she thought that the brownie had not noticed her. He was just going to lay one of the babies on the ground so that he could swing himself up to the cage with the other,

FIFTH READER 2

when whom should he see but the house cat crouching in the shadows close by! The cat's green eyes were fixed upon him. He stood there, bewildered, with a tiny squirrel in each hand.

He looked around anxiously, and saw the grandmother. Then he walked forward boldly, stretched his arms as high as he could reach, and offered her one of the baby squirrels.

The kind woman did not wish to prove herself unworthy of the little fellow's confidence. She stooped down and took the baby squirrel; she held it till the brownie had swung himself up to the cage with the other; then he came back for the one he had intrusted to her care.

The next morning at breakfast the good grandmother could not refrain from telling what she had seen the night before. Everybody laughed at her, of course, and said that she had been dreaming. There were no baby squirrels so early in the spring; and, as for the brownie, nobody believed there was such a creature.

But she was sure that she was right, and begged them to go out and take a look into the squirrel cage. This they did. And there on the bed of leaves lay four tiny half-naked, half-blind baby squirrels that were at least two days old.

When the farmer himself saw the helpless creatures, he said, "Be this as it may, one thing is certain : we, on this farm, have behaved in such a manner that we are shamed before both animals and human beings."

Then he took the mother squirrel and all her young ones from the cage, and laid them in the grandmother's lap. "Go out to the hazel grove with them," he said, "and let them have their freedom and their own home."

This event was much talked about in the neighborhood, and was even related in the newspapers. A great many people would not believe the story; but that was because they could not understand how any such thing could have happened.

EXPRESSION: Read again the story of "The Great Wave.” Now describe (1) the place, (2) the time, (3) the actors. Who is the principal character in that story? What kind of man do you think he was? Read the last three paragraphs of the story; then describe the picture that is called up in your mind. Try to imitate the old man's manner of expression as he spoke.

Read again the story of the captive mother squirrel. Who is the principal character in that story? Read the description of the brownie. Read what the farmer said and try to imitate his tone and manner.

WORD STUDY: square, squirrel, squealed, squirmed; imagine; excitement; cautiously; anxiously.

How pleasant are these bright, sunny autumn days when the air is crisp with the suggestion of frost! It is now that children in the country wait anxiously for a holiday when they may hurry off to the woods in search of nuts.

Hurry as fast as they can, they are very likely to find that some little busybody has been ahead of them and, without bag or basket to help him, has carried away a great many of the nuts. He has not gathered them merely for amusement, but because he must store them up for food during the long, cold, winter months.

This earnest little worker is the gray squirrel. The children will hear him scolding them roundly from the top of a tree, as if trying to drive them away from what he considers his own property. Would you become better acquainted with this bright little animal? Let us study some of his habits.

Every day, about noon time, the squirrel retires to his nest for a nap and short rest; but aside from this, he is always busy from morning till night. He scampers from one part of the woods to another; he searches in this place and in that for food; he bounds playfully from tree to tree. The ease with which he springs from bough to bough is truly wonderful; but he seldom leaps directly from a tree to the ground.

Squirrels build their summer nests in the fork of a tree or on some large branch. They do not bring their materials up from the ground, but bite off the small green branches and dead twigs that grow near. After these are laid in place, they break off bunches of leaves and join all together in such a way as to form a strong, firm nest. Sometimes they line the nest with moss which they have gathered from the bark of the tree.

For their winter nest they select a hollow in a tree, where they are sheltered from the cold winds, the