Whiffet Squirrel | Page 2

heart began to beat violently with alarm. Peeping through the door she saw two large fat Newly-wed Robins standing on the porch in an affectionate attitude gazing admiringly up at the house. "The nerve of some people" thought Mother Squirrel, shaking with indignation. "They seem to think it's a bird house. It's that 'FOR RENT' sign. The idea of their talking about our house like that! But I'll fix them." Mother Squirrel poked her head out of the little round door very suddenly and glaring with a very fierce expression, she exclaimed in a loud voice: "THE CAT'S COMING"!
The Newly-wed Robins both turned very pale and flew--I think they're flying yet. Mother Squirrel chuckled to herself but decided to take no more risks so she climbed up the roof and took down the "FOR RENT" sign.
Soon Father Squirrel and the children Whiffet, Skiffet and Skud, each carrying a bag came scampering up the tree trunk. Mother Squirrel made them nearly die laughing when she told them how she had frightened the Newly-wed Robins.
Then Father Squirrel turned the "FOR RENT" sign over and painted on the other side the words "NO TRESPASSING" and placed it on the corner of the porch.
This is how the Squirrel family found their new home but I will tell you something that they do not even suspect. The little brown house is a bird house built by Tom the farmer's son for his little sister Polly.
The thickening leaves had hidden it from view and little Polly had forgotten all about it.
Whiffet, Skiffet and Skud led a jolly life in the old chestnut tree. They played from the topmost branch to the lowest limb but Mother Squirrel would not let them go down the tree trunk to the ground for fear of cats. Whiffet Squirrel the tiniest of the three could think of more mischief than her two big brothers Skiffet and Skud put together. She was not afraid of anything and was always bossing her brothers and leading them into trouble.
One morning early she ran out on the large limb on which the little brown house rested and found that it almost reached to one of the windows of the farmhouse. Peeping in the window she saw a pretty little girl asleep in a small white bed. She leaped lightly to the window-sill and looked around her. In one corner of the room she saw many toys and dolls of every description, but the thing that attracted her the most was a dear little doll's trunk. It was standing at the foot of the doll's bed. "Just the right size for a squirrel" she thought to herself. Just then Polly turned over in her sleep and Whiffet scampered up the limb and back home as fast as she could run. Of course she told Skiffet and Skud all about what she had seen and she began to plan right away how they could get the little trunk. Yes I will have to confess that they sometimes took things which did not belong to them but as they were only squirrels no one had ever told them any better.
Needless to say Whiffet kept her plan a secret as she knew that Mother Squirrel would never consent. The following morning, just after daylight, as soon as Father and Mother Squirrel had started out to hunt their food for the day, the three little squirrels, Whiffet leading the way, crept softly down the limb to the window-sill. The little trunk was standing in the same place and Polly was sleeping soundly. A chair stood beneath the window and they leaped to the chair seat then to the floor and crept softly toward the trunk. Whiffet as usual bossed her brothers and made them each take a handle of the trunk and carry it across the floor to the chair. Skiffet then climbed to the chair seat and reached down and pulled valiantly at his end of the trunk while Skud pushed from below. It was pretty heavy but they got it safely to the chair seat. They had to be very careful about making a noise as the window was near Polly's bed. Next Skiffet climbed to the window sill and pulled again while Skud boosted from below. It was almost up when Skiffet's foot slipped and he fell over backwards losing his hold of the trunk; down it fell to the floor with a loud bump. The little squirrels trembled with fear thinking that the noise would awaken Polly but she only turned on her other side, and in a few minutes they started to lift the trunk again. This time they were more careful. They succeeded in getting it safely to the window sill, but to hoist it to the tree branch was too risky a feat