At first I did not discover what made



eiiattertior*s iWistafte 125

him run in such a helter skelter manner,
but presently I noticed a small creature
of about his own size, following him
closely. The second comer was brown,
and from his swift gliding motion I
knew he was a weasel, even before I saw
his snakelike head. Although it was a
life and death game for the Chatterbox,
there was something in the gliding mo-
tion of the weasel that fascinated the red
squirrel, for occasionally he would partly
turn his head and watch his pursuer, and
the weasel always gained upon him at
these times.
Over logs and through bits of under-
brush, into deep bunches of ferns and
tangles of scrub hemlock they raced, the
squirrel fleeing wildly, and the weasel fol-
lowing relentlessly.
At last they came to within three or
four rods of where I sat, and the squirrel



126 ^tnuniu of if^t ^xttu

fled up a tall maple, the weasel following
ten or fifteen feet behind.
" Now you have lost him, you blood-
thirsty little wretch," I thought, for I
imagined that the Chatterbox would run
to the top of the tree, and then out on a
limb and jump to the ground.
The weasel would follow to the top
of the tree, but would not take the jump,
A red squirrel can spread himself out flat,
and, using his tail as a rudder, come down
easily and lightly from almost any height.
The weasel who is more rotund falls
heavily, and his tail is not bushy enough
to make it of any use as a rudder.
