Racky thought he was going to be lonesome in the cave, after the wild pig had left, but as the rain kept up, and it grew lighter in the dim cavern, the chair saw a small, gray animal come scampering in. It seemed to be in trouble.
"Oh, I can't do it! I can't do it!" chattered the small, gray chap.
"What can't you do?" asked Racky, who saw, now, that the animal was a squirrel.
"I can't crack this hard nut!" was the answer. "I've tried and I've tried, but the nut is too hard for me to crack or gnaw! You see I am only a this-year's squirrel," went on the bushy fellow. "When I grow older, I will know more about cracking nuts. But now I am so hungry, and I can't get at the meat in this one! Oh, dear!"
"I'll crack the nut for you," said Racky.
"What! You, a rocking chair, will crack a nut! How?" chattered the squirrel.
"Put the nut down on the floor of the cave," said the chair. "I will rock over it and crack the shell for you. It will be easy for me, as I am strong."
The squirrel placed the nut down on a low, flat rock. Racky swayed to and fro, traveling closer and closer, until one of the rockers was right over the shell. Then, suddenly:
"Crunch! Crack!"
"There you are—the nut is broken open!" cried Racky, and surely enough, it was.