[“Oh, how cruel, to catch a poor little squirrel in a trap!” exclaimed the first girl.]
“Where do you suppose Squinty is now?” asked Sallie.
“Back in the pen with the other pigs,” the boy replied. “After he got away, he grew too big to keep for a pet. But this squirrel won’t grow too big.”
“I’m sorry for that,” thought Slicko. “For if I grew big enough I, too, might be allowed to go back to my home. But I will wait and see what will happen. I will be as good as I can, and learn all the tricks I can, and the boy and his sisters will love me.”
“Oh, isn’t she cute!” cried one of the little girls, as she put her finger on the soft fur of Slicko’s back.
“Look out, she might bite!” exclaimed the other little girl.
“Indeed I’ll not!” chattered Slicko. “I wouldn’t be so impolite as that.”