Hazel Squirrel and Other Stories

Little Hazel Was Playing Far Out on a Leafy Branch ( Frontispiece ) Page “I’ll Be Down in a Jiffy” 9 He Held Out Some Nuts to Them 13 She Rocked Them in her Doll’s Cradle 21 Mr. Bat Saw Them Huddled Together 23 Mother Squirrel Entertains Her Visitors 27 The Squirrels Go on a Picnic 32 Feasting on Hazel Nuts 36 The Raccoon Watches the Boys 40 “Yum, Yum, But It Is Fine” 48 “Oh, Coonie, Tell Me Where It Is” 51 Chuck Arrived at the Big Oak Tree 55 He Grabbed Up a Big Stick 59 HAZEL SQUIRREL IN SQUIRREL TOWN COME, little sleepy-eyes, it’s time to get up,” said Mrs. Squirrel, one morning. But little Bushy-Tail was having such a nice dream about a wonderful tree where all kinds of nuts grew side by side on the same branch that he did not answer. Only his eyelids quivered ever so little, so his mother knew he was pretending. “Come, come!” she repeated. “Little Hazel Squirrel is up and playing outside.” In a twinkling he had jumped out of bed and pressed his furry little nose against the window pane. Little Hazel was playing far out on a leafy branch with one eye on Bushy-Tail’s house, nestled in a forked limb close to the trunk. She waved her lovely gray tail when she saw him and began chattering very fast. “Wait a minute,” Bushy-Tail called back, “I’ll be down in a jiffy.” And he was in such a hurry that he tied his tie on sideways and brushed his furry tail the wrong way, which made him look very funny. He even forgot to take a bite of the nice breakfast his mother had left on the table for him. Right through the window he bounded, instead of walking through the door as he had been taught to do, and landed close beside Hazel, far out on the leafy bough. “Oh, Hazel,” he cried, “I’ve had the loveliest dream!” “You old sleepy-head,” she answered, “you lay abed dreaming when you might be out playing in the fresh air.” “I’LL BE DOWN IN A JIFFY” View larger image “Hazel,” Bushy-Tail began, t eetering up and down on the branch in his excitement, “I’m sick of peanuts, aren’t you?” “No,” she answered, “I love them. Mother says they make my coat thick and sleek.” They were city squirrels, you know,…