menu_book Chapter 91

section ninety one of in the nursery of my book house this is a library box recording all library box recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librarybox that org recording by donna winters in the nursery of my book house edited by oliver miller the squirrels that live in a house by harriet once upon a time a gentleman went out in a great forest and cut away the trees and built there a very nice little cottage it was set very low on the ground and had very large bow windows and so much of it was glass that one could look through it on every side and see what was going on in the forest you could see the shadows of the fern leaves as they flicker and wave over the ground and the scarlet partage berry and wintergree plants that matted round the roots of the trees and the bright spots of sunshine that fell through their branches and went dancing about among the bushes and leaves at their roots you could see the little chipping sparrows and thrushes and robins and blue bears building their nests here and there among the branches and watch them from day to day as they lay their eggs and hatch their young

you could also see red squirrels and gray squirrels and little strip-chip squirrels darting and sprinting about here and there and everywhere running races with each other from bow to bow and chattering at each other in the greatest possible manner you may be sure that such a strange thing as a great house for human beings to live in did not come into the wildwood without making quite a stir and excitement about the inhabitants that lived there before all the time it was building there was the greatest possible commotion in the breast of all the elder population and there wasn't even a black ant or cricket that did not have his own opinion about it and did not tell the other ants and crickets just what he thought depend upon it children said old mrs rabbit to her long-eared family no good will come to us from this where man is there comes always trouble for us poor rabbits the old chestnut tree that grew on the edge of the woodland ravine drew a great sight which shook all its leaves the squirrels talked together of the dreadful state of things

in our forest said the old chestnut tree how peacefully how quietly how regularly has everything gone on not a flower has missed its time of blossoming or fail to perfect its fruit not the least root has lost itself under the snows so as not to be ready for its fresh leaves and blossoms when the sun returns to melt the frosty chains of winter we have stones sometimes that threaten to shake everything to pieces the thunder roars the lightning flashes and the winds howl and beat but when all is past everything comes out better and brighter than before but man comes and it seems to be his glory to be able to destroy in a few hours what it was the work of ages to produce which of these dolls could make a tree i'd like to see them do anything like it how noisy and clumsy are all their movements chopping pounding rasping hammering in the forest we do everything so quietly a tree would be a shame of itself that could not get its growth without making such a noise and dust and fuss

in spite of all this disquiet about it the little cottage grew and was finished the walls were covered with pretty paper the floors carpeted with pretty carpets and in fact when it was all arranged and the garden-works lay out and beds of flowers planted around it it began to be confessed that it was not after all so bad a thing as was to have been feared a black ant went in one day and made a tour of exploration up and down over chairs and tables up the ceilings and down again and coming out wrote an article for the cricket's gazette in which he described the new about as the variable place several butterflies fluttered in and sailed about and were wonderfully delighted and then a bumblebee or two or three honey-bees who expressed themselves well pleased with the house but more especially with the garden in fact when it was found that the proprietors watched and spared the anemones and the violets and blood-roots and dog-toothed violets and little woolly roots of fern that began to grow under the trees in spring that they never allowed a gun to be fired to scare the birds and watched the building of their nests with the greatest interest then an opinion in favor of human means began to gain ground and every cricket and bird

beast was loud in their praise mamma said young tit-beat a frisky young squirrel to his mother one day why don't you let frisky and me go into that pretty new cottage to play my dear said his mother who was very wary and careful old squirrel how can't you think of it the race of men are full of devices for traps and who could say that might happen if you put yourself in the power if you have wings like the butterflies and bees you might fly in and out again but as matters stand it's best for you to keep well out of their way but mother there is such a nice good lady lives there i believe she is a good fairy and she seems to love us all so she sits in the bow-window and watches us for hours and she scatters corn all round at the roots of the trees for us to eat she's nice enough said the old mother squirrel if you keep far off but i tell you you can't be too careful now this good fairy was a nice little old lady that the children used to call anne esther and she was a dear lover of birds and squirrels and all sorts of animals

and had studied their little ways till she knew just what would please them and so she would every day throw out crumbs for the sparrows and little bit of bread and wool and cotton to help the birds that were building their nests and would scatter corn and gnats for the squirrels and while she sat at her work in the bow-window she would smile to see the squirrel flying away with the wool and the squirrels nibbled their gnats after a while the birds grew so tame that they would hop into the bow-window and eat their crumbs off their carpet there mamma said tidbit and frisky only see jenny wren and cock robin have been in at the bow-window and it didn't hurt them and why can't we go well my dears said old mother squirrel you must do it very carefully never forget that you haven't wings like jenny wren and cock robin so the next day aunt esther laid a train of corn from the roots of the trees to the bow-window and then from the bow-window to her work-basket which stood on the floor beside her and then she put quite a handful of corn in the work-basket and sat down by it and seemed intent on her sewing very soon creep creep creep came teeth-beat and frisky to the window and then into the room

just as sly and as still as could be and aunt esther sat just like a statue for fear of disturbing them they looked all around in high glee and when they came to the basket it seemed to them a wonderful little summer-house made on purpose for them to play in they nose about in it and turned over the scissors and the needlework and took a needle i heard why wax and jostled the spools meanwhile stowing away the corn each side of the little chops at last and esther put out her hand to touch them when frisk frisk out they went and up the trees chattering and laughing before she had time even to wink but after this they used to come in every day and when she put corn in her hand and held it very still they would eat out of it and finally they would get into the hand until one day she gently closed it over them and frisky and titbit were fairly caught oh how their hearts beat but the good fairy only spoke gently to them and soon unclosed her hand and let them go again so day after day they grew to have more and more faith in her till they would climb

into her work-basket sit on her shoulder or nestle away in her lap as she sat suing my dear said old mother red one winter to her maid what is the use of once living in this cold hollow tree when these amiable people have erected this pretty cottage where there is plenty of room for us and them too now i have examined between the eaves and there is a charming place where we can store our nuts and where we can whip in and out of the garret and have the free range of the house and say what you will these humans have delightful ways of being warm and comfortable in winter so mr and mrs red set up housekeeping in the cottage and had no end of nuts and other good things stored up there the trouble of all this was that as mrs red got up to begin her housekeeping and woke up all her children at four o'clock in the morning the good people often were disturbed by such a great rattling and hafass in the walls while yet it seemed dark night what is it to be done about this we don't know when our good people came down of a cold winter morning

and see the squirrels dancing and frisking down the trees and chasing each other so merrily over the garden-chair between them or sitting with their tails saucily over their backs they look so jolly and jaunty and pretty that they almost forgive them for disturbing their night's rest and think that they will not do anything to drive them out of the garret to-day and so it goes on but how long the squirrels will rent the cottage in this fashion i am sure i dare not undertake to say a bridge and of section ninety one by donna winters and of in the nursery of my book house by oliver