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Tale of Frisky Squirrel

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<h2>VII</h2><h3>A Brave Little Bird</h3></div> <p>It was not long before Frisky Squirrel began to see that he had got himself into something very like a fix. It had been fairly easy to dodge Mr. Hawk alone. But things were quite different now. Mr. Hawk would come hurtling down upon him from one direction; and Mrs. Hawk would swoop down upon him from another. It was all very confusing, because Frisky could not watch both of them at once.</p> <p>He called to his mother, because he began to be frightened. But Mrs. Squirrel was not at home. Frisky did not know what to do. He tried to reach his home in<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name='Page_36' id='Page_36'>[Pg 36]</SPAN></span> the big hickory tree near-by; but Mr. and Mrs. Hawk wouldn’t let him go near it. And when he felt one of Mr. Hawk’s sharp talons dig into his back Frisky thought that his end had come. But he escaped that time, though Mrs. Hawk nearly caught him just two seconds later.</p> <p>I am afraid <i>The Tale of Frisky Squirrel</i> would have ended right here, if somebody had not come to Frisky’s help. Fortunately, there was a small, olive-green bird who lived with his wife not far from Frisky Squirrel’s home. Mr. Kinglet was his name. And though he was a tiny fellow he had a heart like a lion’s. I suppose that in all the country around Blue Mountain there was no braver fellow than he. And his wife was brave too. Although they both wore very dull-colored clothes, if you took a good look at Mr. Kinglet you could see that he always wore a bright<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name='Page_37' id='Page_37'>[Pg 37]</SPAN></span> red crown. He was very modest about his crown, and generally wore it so that only a little of it showed. But whenever he went out to fight, as the forest-people are often obliged to, that beautiful red crown might be seen as plain as could be.</p> <p>Now, it happened that Mrs. Kinglet heard Mr. and Mrs. Hawk talking to each other, as they tried to capture Frisky Squirrel, and she heard the other forest-people shouting, too. So she called to Mr. Kinglet that somebody seemed to be in trouble; and he came hurrying up at once.</p> <p>When the little frightened wren screamed, Mr. Kinglet made up his mind that it was time for him to do something. And he pushed his red crown up on the top of his head where it would show better and he flew straight toward Mr. Hawk.</p> <p>Mr. Kinglet flew up over Mr. Hawk’s<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name='Page_38' id='Page_38'>[Pg 38]</SPAN></span> head, and then he darted down and lighted right in the middle of Mr. Hawk’s broad back, and began pecking him as hard as he could with his sharp little bill.</p> <p>Mr. Hawk stopped trying to catch Frisky. He had all he wanted to do to shake that bold little fellow off his back. And though Mrs. Hawk still swooped down at Frisky Squirrel, brave Mr. Kinglet’s brave little wife began to fly at <i>her</i> so fiercely that Mrs. Hawk couldn’t keep Frisky from reaching the tree where he lived.</p> <p>He was very glad to get home, you may be sure. And he dived in through the door and was out of sight in no time. But pretty soon he stuck his head out again to see what was happening. Mr. and Mrs. Hawk had vanished. And all the forest-people were thanking Mr. and Mrs. Kinglet for driving them away. Frisky<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name='Page_39' id='Page_39'>[Pg 39]</SPAN></span> Squirrel thanked them, too. And when he remembered how he had sometimes teased Mrs. Kinglet by visiting her nest he felt very much ashamed, and he promised himself that he would never trouble her again.</p> <div class='figcenter' style='width: 300px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'> <SPAN name='illus-015' id='illus-015'></SPAN> <ANTIMG src='images/illus-029.png' alt='300' title='' /><br/></div> <hr class='major' /> <div class='figcenter' style='width: 300px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'> <SPAN name='illus-016' id='illus-016'></SPAN> <ANTIMG src='images/illus-031.png' alt='300' title='' /><br/></div> <div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'> <SPAN name='VIII' id='VIII'></SPAN> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name='Page_40' id='Page_40'>[Pg 40]</SPAN></span> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />

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