She peered from the nest and saw nothing to frighten her. Some birds were flitting through the leafy trees, and down on the ground some little hop-toads were jumping about. Perhaps they were playing some game, as you play tag, for you know animals have fun just as children do, though, to be sure, it is a different kind of fun.
“Yes, I’m going to get a drink,” said Slicko, and she slipped out of the nest, and began to climb down the side of the tree. But she was very careful how she did it, for she knew danger might be near, though she could not see it.
She ran quickly half way around the tree and stayed there a second, with her body held flat against the trunk. Slicko was colored gray, and the tree bark was a sort of gray, so, unless you had looked very sharply, you might not have seen her yourself, until Slicko moved.
While she was holding herself there, very quietly, Slicko was looking about to see if the owl, or any other bad bird, or animal, were in sight. But she saw nothing, and then she scrambled down to the ground, and ran to the spring.
[Taking a good drink of the cool water, Slicko washed her paws and face in it.] Then she combed out her tail with her claws, for all squirrels are very clean and tidy animals.
“Well, I wonder what I shall do now,” thought Slicko. “I guess I’ll have to stay in Aunt Whitey’s nest for a long time, maybe. I had better look about for more nuts, for when those in the nest are gone, I shall need more to eat. Yes, I will look for nuts.”
She started off through the woods, but she had not gone very far, when, all of a sudden, she saw something brown moving up in a tree.
In a second Slicko hid herself under some leaves, and waited. She was in a place where she could watch the brown creature. At first Slicko thought it might be a big snake, or maybe the owl that had tried to get her in the night.
