E-text prepared by Roger Frank
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
()
| THE MAKE-BELIEVE SERIES | |
| Whiffet Squirrel | The Mouse’s Tail |
| The Yaller Dog | Miss Patty Peep |
Copyright, 1917, by
Cupples & Leon Company
Whiffet, Skiffet and Skud were three little red squirrels who livedwith their father and mother in a tiny brown house in the old chestnuttree. First, I must tell you how the Squirrel family came to live inthis dear little house. You see it happened this way. Father andMother Squirrel started out very early one morning in the spring, tohunt a new home as they did not feel safe any longer living under theold pine stump, with the children getting large enough to run about.They both scampered up the old chestnut tree at the back of the farmhouse to see if they could find a nice deep hollow that would make asafe home for their little ones. When Mother Squirrel had gone abouthalf way up the tree trunk, and as she climbed around a big limb, shealmost bumped her head against what seemed to be a brownish wall.
Shepeeped around the corner of the brownish wall and what do you supposeshe saw? She held her breath in rapture for there before her brightlittle eyes sat the cutest little brown house resting right on the biglimb. It was far more wonderful than any home that she had everdreamed of. It had a sloping red roof and two little round doors. A
good sized porch jutted out in front and each little door was severalinches above the porch. Mother Squirrel very cautiously placed her twofront feet on the porch and listened intently but all was very quiet.
Of course the folks who owned the house might be still asleep or theymight be away. She crept quietly to the first little round door andpeeped in. She saw a cute little room entirely empty. “The family mustbe away” she thought. Boldly she peeped in through the second littledoor and saw another cute little room just like the first and alsoempty. Then she walked in and explored both rooms and found a sort of
cubby hole closet at the back of each. “What a fine place for storingnuts,” said M