“To be sure he does,” retorted the owl, with a laugh. “I, too, look like you do.”
Tiny again stared in astonishment. He could see no points of resemblance between himself and the owl.
“A bee looks like you do,” continued the prophet. “A bear looks like you do; so does a weasel, an elephant, a hyena, a jay bird, and a loon; even a monkey looks like you do.”
“You are jesting with me,” protested Tiny, beginning to be vexed.
“All animals look like you do, because they look with their eyes just as you do,” said the owl, with another distracting screech.
“Oh, I see,” said Tiny, good-naturedly. “I should have said that the mayor looks like me. It was incorrect for me to say that the mayor looks like I do.”
“Quite so,” said the owl, less harshly. “You are a bright little creature, and I am going to see that your wish for knowledge is granted. You felt very important an hour ago, when you tried to make a public speech before the oldest citizens of Squirreltown; but now you see how little you know. I am going to take you to Beaver Creek, where you may complete your education. Very few animals of the wood know of this school, and only the ablest ones are admitted to it. When you have graduated, you may go back to Squirreltown. Perhaps by that time you will be able to make a modest speech before your fellow squirrels.”
“I really want an education,” replied Tiny, with enthusiasm. “The schools at Squirreltown are not very good, and very few squirrels attend them. We are such nervous creatures, and care more for play than for study. But what will my mother do without me?”
“If she is a good mother, she will not stand in the way of your education,” replied the owl. “I will write her a letter which the messenger pigeon, a friend of mine, will carry to her. You must write to her twice a week, and the messenger pigeon will bear the letters to her.”