hand, and threw something
small that fell at the foot of the tree.

But as the human being did not move again, the courage and curiosity of
this uncommonly bold and inquiring squirrel returned, and, gradually
creeping down the tree, he inspected the small object that had fallen
there. It smelled good, and when he nibbled at it it tasted good. Then
he ate it all, went back up the bark a little distance and waited
gratefully for more of the same. Presently it came, and he ate that bit,
too, and after a while a third. Then the human figure threw him no more
such fine food, but went to sleep.

The squirrel knew he was asleep, because he left the tree, walked
cautiously over the ground, and stood with his ears cocked up, scarcely
a yard from the vast, still figure that breathed so deeply and with such
regularity. He had seen gigantic beings before. From the safety of his
boughs he had looked upon those mountains, the buffaloes, and he had
often seen the stag in the forest. Mere size did not terrify him, and
now he did not feel in the least afraid. On the contrary, this was his
friend who had fed him, and he regarded him with benevolence.

The squirrel went back up the tree, his claws pattering lightly on the
bark. He had a fine knot hole high up the trunk, and his family were
sound asleep in it, surrounded by a great store of nuts. There was a
warm place for him, the head of the family, but he could not stay in it.
After a while he was compelled to go out again, and look at the
unconscious human figure.

Emboldened by his first experience which had been so free from ill
result, he descended upon the ground a second time and went toward
Henry. But in an instant he turned back again. His keen little ears had
heard something moving in the forest and it was not any small animal
like himself, but a large body, several of them in fact. He ran up the
tree, and then far out on a bough where he could see.

Five Indian warriors walking in single file were approaching. They were
part of an outlying band, not perhaps looking for Henry, but, if they
continued on their course, they would be sure to see him. The squirrel
regarded them for a moment with little red eyes, and then ran back to
the trunk of the tree.

Henry, meanwhile, slept soundly. There was nothing to disturb him. The
wind did not blow and so the dry branches of the forest did not rustle.
The footsteps of the approaching Indians made no noise, yet in a few
more momen