CHAPTER IVSLICKO SEES A CIRCUS
For a few minutes after jumping down into the empty nest of her Aunt Whitey, little Slicko did not know what to do. It had all happened so suddenly—the breaking up of the family, each one going to a different place to hide, the coming of Slicko to these woods, and the finding of the empty nest—that the little squirrel did not know what to think of it.
Slicko listened as sharply as she could for any sounds of danger. She bent her two little ears forward, just as her mamma had told her to do when she wanted to listen to any far-off sounds. But Slicko could hear nothing.
That is, she could hear nothing that sounded like danger. Of course she could hear the wind blowing through the trees, the singing of the grasshoppers, the call of the birds and noises like that.
And none of these sounds meant any harm to the little squirrel. She had heard them all her life.
“Oh, but it is so lonesome!” whispered Slicko to herself. She did not want to speak aloud in her queer, little chattering voice, for fear some one—like a bad dog or a snake—would hear her. And yet Slicko wanted to talk to some one, even if it was only herself.
She lifted up her head, from where she had nestled it down among the dried leaves in her aunt’s nest, and looked about her. The nest was rather dark, but Slicko could see better now. And what she saw made her sure that her aunt had either been taken away by some enemy, or had run off in a great hurry.
For the nest was all upset. The leaves were scattered about, and most of the nuts were gone.
“Well, I guess I’d better stay here for a while,” thought Slicko to herself. “There are a few nuts here, and I can eat them when I get hungry. When I want more, I shall have to go out and get them, but, by that time, it may be safe. Yes, I’ll stay here to-night, anyhow.”
Slicko peeped out of the opening to the nest—it was a sort of front door to the squirrel house. Slicko could see that it was getting dark in the woods; that night was coming on. And night, Slicko knew, was no time for a little girl squirrel to be alone in the forest.
There were big-eyed owls flying about then, and other enemies that might catch her.
“So I shall be better off staying in the nest, even if Aunt Whitey isn’t at home,” thought Slicko. “Poor Aunt Whitey!” she whispered. “I wonder where she can be.”
Then Slicko happened to think that perhaps her squirrel aunt might be hiding outside somewhere, as wild animals often do hide, near their nests, or homes, whenever they have been frightened away.
“I’ll call to her,” said Slicko to herself.
Going softly to the opening to the nest, Slicko put out her head, and called:
“Aunty! Aunty Whitey! Where are you?”
She listened, but all she heard in reply was the singing of a robin, the call of a grasshopper and the noise of the wind in the trees.
“I guess she has gone far off,” thought Slicko. “Well, I will stay here until I find some other place to go. Oh dear! If mamma and papa only knew I was here all by myself, they would come to me, or take me with them. But now I shall have to stay all alone. Oh dear!”
It was the first time little Slicko had ever been alone at night, but she was going to be brave. Little animals have to be brave whether they want to or not, and they have to leave their homes and find their own things to eat, much younger than do real children.
So, in a way, animals do not so much mindbeing away from their papas and mammas as you children would.
At first Slicko was pretty lonesome. She shivered, and cuddled down in the leaves of her aunt’s nest, and wished she had her brothers Fluffy and Nutto, and her sister Chatter, to play with. They had always played little jumping or running games before going to sleep nights. But now Slicko was all alone, and had no one to play with.
But, as I have said, Slicko was going to be brave.
After the little jumping squirrel got over her first feeling of fright, she began to be hungry. There were a few nuts left in the nest, and Slicko ate some of them, and felt better.
“And now I must make a warm place to sleep,” she thought. Her mother had taught her how to make herself a bed in the dried leaves, and now Slicko did this. She smoothed out a little hole, and pulled up some leaves that would fall over her, and cover her up like a blanket, when she went to sleep. For though it was not yet winter, it was very cool in the woods at night.
Soon Slicko was fast asleep. Animals go to sleep very easily when they have eaten, and are not frightened. They do not have to be sung to, nor told stories, and they do not have to havethe light turned down low. They always go to bed without a light.
Once, in the middle of the night, Slicko was awakened. She heard a noise at the opening of the nest, a scratching sort of noise, and it sounded as though some one were trying to come in.
“Oh, dear! I wonder who it can be?” thought Slicko. “But I’m not going to get up to look,” she went on. “No, indeed!”
Instead, she covered herself up deeper in the leaves, and tried to go to sleep. She could not, though, for the noise kept up. And then, all of a sudden, something hooted:
“Who! Who! Who! Tu-whoo!”
“Oh, it’s an owl!” thought Slicko. “A big owl. But he can’t get in here to eat me. I’m safe. Maybe that’s the owl that drove Aunt Whitey out of her nest.”
Once more the owl hooted, and then Slicko heard the flapping of its wings as it flew away.
“He didn’t get me that time,” thought Slicko. “But I must be very careful! Very careful!”
Soon the little girl squirrel was asleep again, and when next she awakened, the sun was shining down, through the hole, into the nest.
“Oh, good! It’s morning!” chattered Slicko. “Now the owl can’t get me.”
Slicko knew that owls fly only at night, forthey have such funny eyes, that sunlight makes them almost blind, and they cannot see to catch little squirrels. So Slicko knew she was safe, for a while, at least.
“Now for breakfast, then to wash my face and paws, and we’ll see what happens,” whispered Slicko to herself. It did not take long to eat the nuts for breakfast. Then Slicko felt thirsty. She knew there was a nice spring of water not far from her aunt’s nest, for, when she had come visiting other times, she had gone to it to get a drink.
“And I wonder if it would be safe now?” thought Slicko. “I’ll take a look and see.”
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 flatagainst 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.
Taking a drink of the cool water, Slicko washed her paws and face in it.
Taking a drink of the cool water, Slicko washed her paws and face in it.
Then, as the brown creature moved closer, Slicko saw that it had a long tail, and four legs, and the legs had something like hands on the ends.
“Why, it looks just like a brown, hairy boy!” thought Slicko. “And I’m afraid of boys. Mamma said they were dangerous. I wonder what I had better do?”
Slicko hid deeper down in the leaves, and, a little later, as the brown animal came closer, the girl squirrel saw that it was not the kind of a boy she had ever seen before. For, though boys can climb trees, they can not climb up and down as fast as the brown animal was doing, nor can they hang by their tails. In fact, as Slicko knew, boys have no tails.
And then Slicko heard the brown animal say:
“Ha! Here are some of those chestnuts! I must get some, for, though they are not as good as cocoanuts, they will keep me from being hungry. Yes, I’ll get some!”
“Ha!” thought Slicko. “That creature is not a boy, that’s sure! And it eats nuts just as we squirrels do. I don’t believe it will do me any harm. I’m going out to see.”
Slicko crawled out from under the leaves, and, as soon as she moved, the brown creature called out:
“What is that? Who is there? Who is it?”
His voice was a sort of chatter and chirp, likethat of some bird, but Slicko could understand it pretty well.
“It is I, if you please,” said Slicko. “I am a little girl squirrel, and I am staying at my aunt’s nest, but she isn’t home. Who are you, if you please?”
“I am Mappo, the merry monkey,” was the answer. “But I can’t see you. Where are you?”
“Down in these leaves,” answered Slicko, and she waved her tail, so Mappo could see her.
“Oh, there you are!” cried the monkey, and down he scrambled beside her. “What are you doing here?” asked Mappo.
“I am hiding away from a hunter and his dog,” went on the little squirrel. “All our family ran away from our nest, and I came here. But my aunt is gone too, so I am all alone.”
“Never mind,” said Mappo, kindly, “I am all alone also, so we will keep each other company.”
“Where did you come from?” asked Slicko, who had never before seen a monkey.
“Oh, I used to live in a big woods, with my brothers and sisters,” said Mappo. “But, of late, I have been with a circus. I ran away from my cage in the circus though, and came to these woods. And I’ve had the most fun! I met a comical little pig named—”
“Oh, I know what he was named!” interrupted Slicko.
“What was his name?” asked Mappo.
“Squinty!” cried the little girl squirrel. “And he had the funniest nose, and one of his eyes was half shut, and—”
“That’s the one!” exclaimed Mappo. “How did you meet him?”
Then Slicko told of having talked to Squinty, and Mappo also told how he had met the comical little pig, just as I have told you in the book about Squinty.
“But you said you used to be in a circus,” spoke Slicko, after a while.
“So I did,” answered Mappo.
“What’s a circus?” Slicko wanted to know.
“What! Have you never seen a circus?” asked Mappo. “Well, I must show it to you. It is not far off. But I am not going back to it right away. Come along.”
Mappo, the merry monkey, started off through the forest, with Slicko following. Pretty soon they saw a road in front of them. And, on the other side of the road, were some big white things, that looked like houses people live in.
“Those are the circus tents,” exclaimed Mappo. “Listen and you can hear the music.”
Slicko sat up on her tail and listened. She heard many strange sounds.