ade of rough boards,
and so Phonny thought that it would not do.

At last he found some boxes under a corn-barn, one of which he thought
would do very well. It was about two feet long, when laid down upon
its side, and one foot wide and high. The open part was to be closed
by a wire front which was yet to be made.

"Now," said Phonny, "help me to get the box to the shop, and then
Wallace is coming down to help me make it into a cage."

So Phonny and Stuyvesant, working together, got the box into the shop.
The bench had been cleared off, so that there was a good space there
to put the box upon. Phonny and Stuyvesant placed it there, and then
Phonny went to the trap to see if his squirrel was safe.

"Now, Frink," said he, "we are going to make you a beautiful cage.
Wait a little longer, and then we will let you out of that dark trap."

Phonny said this as he passed across the floor toward the horse-block.
As soon however as he came near to the trap, he suddenly called out to
Stuyvesant,

"Why, Stuyvesant, see how big this hole is."

He referred to the hole which the squirrel had begun to gnaw. Somehow
or other the opening had grown very large. Phonny stooped down with
his hands upon his knees and peeped into the trap.

The squirrel was gone.

"He's gone!" said Phonny. "He's gone!" So saying he lifted up the lid
gradually, and then holding out the empty trap to Stuyvesant, he
exclaimed again in a tone of despair,--"He's gone!"

"He gnawed out," said Stuyvesant.

"Yes," said Phonny.

There were two windows in Phonny's shop. One was over the work bench
and was an ordinary window, formed with sashes. The other was merely a
large square hole with a sort of lid or shutter opening upward and
outward, like the small door of the hen-house. Phonny used to call
this his shutter window. It was the place where he was accustomed to
throw out his shavings.

Of course there was no glass in this window, and nothing to keep out
the wind and rain when it was open. In stormy weather, therefore, it
was always kept shut. The shavings which Phonny threw out here formed
a little pile outside, and after accumulating for some time, Phonny
used to carry them away and burn them.

As Phonny stood showing the empty cage to Stuyvesant, his back was
turned toward this window, but Stuyvesant was facing it. Happening at
that instant to glance upward, behold, there was the squirrel, perched
at his ease upon a beam which passed along just