“Oh, what a lovely little animal,” said Dolly; “and what pretty eyes he has. They are just like a pair of bright, black beads.”
“I think Tom ought to have the glasses now,” said Uncle George. “He has been very patient indeed. Come Tom, tell us what the squirrel is like.”
Tom took the glasses and looked through them for a long time. Then he said, “He is a very pretty creature, as Dolly has said. His colour is rich brown all over, except the front part of his body, which is a very light brown, changing almost to white. His tail is very large and bushy, and his ears are upright and tufted with brown hair. His fore-paws are just like little hands. He holds the nut in them and nibbles it just like a little monkey. His head is not unlike the rabbit’s head. His teeth are almost exactly like rabbit’s teeth. They are chisel-shaped, and seem to be very sharp.”
“Splendid, Tom,” said his uncle, patting him on the back, “I don’t think you have left anything out. Now, let me look.”
“Oh, there is another one. There are now two of them,” said Frank.
“Where did that one come from?” asked his uncle, looking through the glasses. “It seemed to come out of the tree, did it not?”
“I thought you children would leave me nothing to find out; but I see something which you have missed. Here, Frank, take the glasses and see if you can find it. Look at the fork of the tree just below where the squirrels are.”
“I see something like a nest,” said Frank. “I noticed that before, but I thought it was a rook’s nest.”
“Nay,” said his uncle, “it is a squirrel’s nest. Rooks build on the very top branches of trees, and you never see one rook’s nest without a lot of others near it. Besides, the rook’s nest is a rough flat nest, while this is a round one with a roof on it, and a hole in the side to let the squirrels out and in.”
“Then that other squirrel must have come out of the nest,” said Frank.