they lived, they could never bear to hear the farmer's name, and down went their heads and tails whenever their masters said,

"Good Farmer Pung

Will have you hung."

JACK SKIP.

Skip's will never do any
How sorry I should be to

66

"I AM afraid that son of Mr. good for himself, he is so idle. have such an idle son as Jack Skip!" My poor neighbour Mrs. Skip must find that idle child of hers a very great plague." All these observations were made in Hazelwood, concerning a young squirrel, son of one of the principal inhabitants of the place, which was a great resort for these animals, from the number of nuts which were to be found in it, and from which it was named. "Jack, do you hear what your acquaintances say of you?" said his father. "Let them mind their own business," replied Jack. "I am afraid it is too true," the father went on to say. "Recollect that winter is coming, and if you do not lay up a store of nuts and acorns for yourself, you will starve, for I will not help you any more. Your mother and I can only provide for your little brothers and sister; and as you are old enough and strong enough to take care of yourself, we will not be troubled with you." "I shall not want to trouble you," said Jack, and bounded away from the tree on which they were both sitting.

Jack was not lazy, for he was always jumping about; and even when others were contented to bask in the sun, he was running up and down the trunks of trees. His fault was, that he would not work, so that he very often

was obliged to go without a dinner, unless he begged one from a friend, or perhaps his mother; it was not of any use to ask his father, who, by refusing, hoped to cure him of his idleness.

Three or four of Jack's companions were quite as fond of play as he was, so that they tempted each other, and one day they told him they were going to a garden full of nice fruit, and invited him to join them. They intended to sleep there and return in the morning, and also intended to have a great deal of fun. "Of course I shall come," said Jack. As they went along the next evening, Jack's father met them, and asked where they were going. They told him, to Mr. Sumner's garden; and he begged of them not to do so, for a very watchful gardener lived there, who would most likely kill them if they were caught; but the young ones would not be advised, and saying they were not afraid, went on their way. They clambered over a wall and crossed a park in safety; but when they came near the garden, they were very much frightened by two savage dogs who guarded it. One squirrel was wise enough to turn back; but the others said they would run fast to some high trees, from which they could jump over the garden palings, if Jack would mount that one close by, and take off the attention of the dogs. Jack, who was very goodtempered, went boldly up his tree, in sight of the dogs, who barked furiously at him, whilst his friends made their escape. He sat quietly till his enemies were tired, and went away; and then he joined his companions.

It was an enormous leap from the trees to the garden; but the tails of the squirrels guided them as they went

through the air, and they all came safe into a plum-tree, where they began their feast. The gardener, however, who was walking about in the cool air, thought he saw something moving in the tree as he passed it, went softly up to it, and perceiving the bushy tail of one of the rogues, stretched out his long arm and took it in his hand. The squirrel gave a loud scream, which roused the dogs, and frightened the others; and Jack, who had been too idle to go far into the tree, tried to scramble over the palings, and a dog gave him a squeeze with his great jaws, which so suffocated him that he was left for dead in the ditch. After lying there for some hours he gradually came to himself, and slowly crawled to his home in the wood. He never saw his friends any more, but he afterwards heard that the squirrel caught by the gardener was shut up in a cage for life. He was very ill for several days, but his father and mother nursed him very kindly, not finding any fault with him till he was quite well again. They then hoped he would be steadier in future, and if he did not like to stay with them and help his brothers and sister, he would get a house of his own, and make it comfortable.

All this had for a time some effect upon Jack, and he really spent three days looking for a hollow tree in which he could live. At last he came to one with a nice hole in it, and he for a few hours worked quite hard, trying to clear away the rubbish which had fallen into it, by carrying it out between his paws and in his mouth; but, as usual, the idle fit came on again, and the clearing of the house stood still.

Now was the time for making the winter stores, and

the squirrels of Hazel-wood might be seen very busily employed in carrying their stock to their dwellings; and Jack, rather ashamed of being the only one who did not work, resumed his clearing labours; but after carrying away a quantity of little bits of wood and rotten leaves, he persuaded himself he was taking useless trouble, and he could sleep on them as well as on the bare wood. His mother told him to get some hay to make himself a warm bed; but he did not, because it was too much trouble. The cold and wet came early in the autumn of that year, and found Jack without any thing to sleep on, or to cover himself up with, and very little laid by for eating. At first he curled his thick tail round him when he slept, and ate the half-rotten seeds which were still to be found on the trees; but even these became very scarce, for the birds pecked at them, and Jack was very badly off indeed. He was ashamed to ask his father and mother to help him, and slowly crept in and out of his hole, in a lean and melancholy condition.

At last, after eating the dry bark of trees for some days, Jack went to sleep; and in January, after a whole week, he crept out of his house to get some more bark, and felt very weak. A heavy fall of snow came during his absence, and he could scarcely find his home when he returned. At last, to his great joy, he came upon it; but on getting into the hole he knocked some of the snow down, and as he laid himself upon it, the silly squirrel found it so soft, that he stretched himself contentedly along it, saying it was softer than hay. But no sooner did the warmth of his body melt it, than he felt the difference. There was, however, now no help for it. By the next morning, the