THE WAY TO CATCH A SQUIRREL
The afternoon of the day when Rollo and his cousin James made theirwigwam in the woods by the brook, they were at work there again,employed very harmoniously together, in finishing their edifice, whensuddenly Jonas, who was at work in the woods at a little distance, heardthem both calling to him, in tones of surprise and pleasure--
"O, Jonas, Jonas, come here quick--quick."
Jonas dropped his axe and ran.
When he got near them, they pointed to a log.
"See there;--see;--see there."
"What is it?" said Jonas. "O, I see it," said he.
It was a little squirrel clambering up a raspberry-bush, eating theraspberries as he went along. He would climb up by the little branches,and pull in the raspberries in succession, until he got to the topmostone, when the bush would bend over with his weight until it almosttouched the log.
"Let us catch him," said Rollo, very eagerly; "do let us catch him; Iwill go and get our steeple trap."
Jonas did not seem to be so very much delighted as the boys were. Hesaid he was certainly a cunning little fellow, but "what should we dowith him if we should catch him?"
"O," said Rollo, "we would put him in a little cage. It would be socomplete to have him in a cage! Do, Jonas, do."
"But you have not got any cage."
"We can get one," said James. "We can buy one with our half dollars."
"Well," said Jonas, "it will do no good to set the trap now, for he willbe away before we could get back. But I will come down to-night, and setthe trap, and perhaps we shall catch him, though I do not exactly liketo do it."
"Why?" said the boys.
"O," replied Jonas, "he will not like to be shut up all night, in adark box, and then be imprisoned in a cage. He had rather run abouthere, and gather raspberries. Besides, you would soon get tired of himif you had him in a cage."
"O no," said Rollo, "I should not get tired of him."
"Did you ever have any plaything that you were not tired of beforelong?"
"Why,--no," said Rollo; "but then a real live squirrel is a differentthing. Besides, you know, if I get tired of him, I need not play withhim then."
"No, but a real live thing must be fed every day, and _that_ you wouldfind a great trouble. And then you would sometimes forget it, and thepoor fellow would be half starved."
"O no," said Rollo; "I am sure I should not forget it."
"Did you remember your reading-lesson this morning?"
"Why,--no," said Rollo, looking a little confused. "But I am sure Ishould not forget to feed a squirrel if I had one."
"You don't know as much as I thought you did," replied Jonas.
"Why?"
"I thought you knew more about yourself than to suppose you could betrusted to do any thing regularly every day. Why, you would not rememberto wash your own face every morning, if your mother did not remind you.The squirrel is almost as fit to take care of you in your wigwam, as youare to take care of him in a cage."
Rollo felt a little ashamed of his boasting, for he knew that what Jonassaid was true. Jonas said, finally, "However, we will try to catch him;but I cannot promise that I shall let you keep him in a cage. It will bebad enough for him to be shut up all night in the box trap, but I canpay him for that the next day in corn."
So Jonas brought down the box trap that night. It was a long box, aboutas big as a cricket, with a tall, pointed back, which looked like asteeple; so Rollo called it the steeple trap. It was so made that if thesquirrel should go in, and begin to nibble some corn, which they weregoing to put in there, it would make the cover come down and shut himin. They fixed the trap on the end of the log, and Jonas observed, ashe sat on the log, that he could see the barn chamber window through alittle opening among the trees. Of course he knew that from the barnchamber window he could see the trap, though it would be too far off tosee it plain.