Hazel Squirrel | Page 2

right
across the path in front of them.
"Oh, my," cried Hazel, "what's that?"
Both children were so startled they jumped straight up in the air and
landed on the other side of the dark shadow.
"Let's go home," suggested Hazel, but when they turned to go they saw
their own shadows and of course they knew them. How they laughed
then, for who would think of being afraid of a lifeless shadow?
By and by they met a workman. He had a dinner-pail in his hand and in
his pockets peanuts for the squirrels, for every morning and night he
passed through the park. Now, the good citizens of the town had made
laws that no one should harm a squirrel and the squirrels knew this. So
Hazel and Bushy-Tail were not afraid of the workman and when he
knelt down and held out some nuts to them, they ran right up to him,
chattering all the while.
Bushy-Tail took one of the nuts, cracked it with his teeth and, holding
it with both hands, ate very greedily. For, you see, the sight of the nuts
reminded him he had not eaten any breakfast, and suddenly he became
very hungry.
[Illustration: HE HELD OUT SOME NUTS TO THEM]
Hazel was not a bit hungry, so she put the nut in the pocket of one of

her cheeks, which made her look as if she had the mumps. Then she ran
up the workman's arm and perched on his shoulder, where her soft,
bushy tail brushed against his ears and tickled him in the neck.
Poor little Hazel Squirrel. Little did she think the wonderful tree they
were looking for was only a dream-tree. But how was she to know that
all kinds of nuts never did, nor ever can grow side by side on the same
branch, save only in the wonderland we enter through the gates of
sleep.
"I don't see your wonderful tree anywhere, Bushy-Tail," she said.
"I think it's down this way a little," he answered. And once more they
scampered off together, chattering and waving their lovely tails.

HAZEL AND BUSHY-TAIL VISIT STRANGE LANDS
Of all nice things to do one of the very nicest is to go traveling; to see
what kind of things grow in faraway places and how other folks plan
their cities. My, what fun Hazel Squirrel and Bushy-Tail had! All day
long they explored new trees and ran along strange fences and peered
into yards where children they had never seen before were playing.
Once they ran into a garden where some little girls were having a
tea-party. The children called to the squirrels and held out sweet, sticky
things for them to eat. They were scampering back along the wall when
a thoughtless little boy, who had not been invited to the party, threw a
tiny stone at Bushy-Tail. It hit right in the center of his tail.
Bushy-Tail gave a startled little cry and jumped down off the wall,
Hazel following close behind. The little girls jumped up and ran, too.
They wanted to do something to help if they could. But the squirrels
ran up the opposite side of a maple and were soon out of sight.
Bushy-Tail was not waving his tail so proudly now. It was hurting
terribly. Hazel took her blue-bordered handkerchief out and wrapped it
around the hurt place as best she could.

"Oh, Bushy-Tail," she sobbed, "how I wish my mother were here. She
would know just what to do for you," and great tears began to roll
down her cheeks.
It made Bushy-Tail feel so badly to see his little playmate unhappy that
for the minute he forgot all about his sore tail. He put his arms around
her soft neck and wiped the tears away with his little red-bordered
handkerchief.
"Perhaps we had better go home," he whispered in her ear. You see, he
had forgotten about his dream-tree now. So they scrambled down the
tree trunk again and then it suddenly dawned on them that they had no
idea where they were or in which direction the park lay.
They asked a sparrow, but she did not deign to answer them. They
asked a robin, but she was hurrying home with a worm in her mouth
and could only mumble something which sounded like "yeast." They
asked a pussy-cat and she said if they would come home with her first
she would look it up in a book she had there. But Hazel did not want to
go. "For," she whispered to Bushy-Tail, "she has eyes like a witch."
So they ran on a little farther until they came to a hat lying upside down
on the ground. It was warm and soft inside and Hazel thought it would
be