Squirrel World Read Free Page A

would make me sick.” Then, securing the cap firmly between my teeth, I ran and leaped and made it all the way home.
    Now I snuggled deep inside the cap. The evening was cool, and I was glad to have the cap. I wished there were a way that I could bring this wonderful possession along with me on my travels, but I knew that wasimpossible. It will be waiting here for me when I return, I thought.

    The next thing I knew, the first faint light of morning was showing, and Lenox was poking me.
    “Come on, come on,” he chattered impatiently. When he saw me stirring, he climbed outside.
    I stretched and scratched my head and then jumped out to the limb where Lenox was standing. “Hold your fleas,” I told him. “I’m ready to go.”
    It was quiet in the park so early in the morning. No humans were in sight. Only a few birds were softly beginning their daily songs. I saw a robin pulling a large worm from the ground. I knew he was going to bring it to his mate, who was already sitting on a nest of blue eggs.
    By the time Lenox and I passed this way again, the eggs would probably have hatched.
    “This is a good place, isn’t it?” I said to Lenox as we raced toward the eastern edge of the park.
    “Now don’t change your mind. Don’t back out of our plan,” said Lenox, looking at me nervously.
    “I don’t break my promises,” I told him. “But I can still admire this place. After all,spring is the best time here, with all the new buds and seedpods and more people coming and dropping their food on the ground.” I paused and thought a moment. “Well, summer is pretty special too: all the trees lush and green, hordes of people having picnics, and the trash bins overflowing. Then there’s autumn—”
    “Stop, stop!” shouted Lenox. “One more minute and you are going to talk yourself out of this trip.”
    So I closed my mouth, and as we ran I remembered jumping into mounds of leaves in the autumn. It’s the most fun imaginable. Well, except for playing in the winter. I love to make tracks on freshly fallen snow. My squirrel world in the park is absolutely the most wonderful life one could ever ask for.

    It didn’t take long for us to reach the eastern edge of the park. There’s a wide avenue there called Fifth. One of my sisters is named Fifth, too. During the day there are a lot of humans walking both ways along the avenue. There’s also loads of traffic on wheels—cars, buses, trucks, and bicycles. For some reason, the traffic goes in onlyone direction: south. But it was still so early in the morning that the avenue was quiet. Lenox and I could cross the broad street with ease. As I turned my head to look back at the park, I hoped the streets that lay ahead of us would be as simple to cross.
    “Look how dull it is here without trees,” I commented to Lenox as we continued on our way. There were tall buildings on both sides of the street but only an occasional square of earth with a tree managing to grow out of it. Beneath our feet was hard cement. In one or two places, where there was a crack, tiny blades of grass were trying hard to grow.
    “There’s more to life than trees,” said Lenox. “I’m sure when we reach Lexington Avenue, we’ll find all sorts of other things to delight us.”
    “I don’t know where you get that idea,” I told him. But I kept going on. By the time we reached the next avenue, which is named Madison, my paws were aching. Lenox must have felt the same way, for he grumbled, “I don’t like walking on cement.”
    “Humans don’t seem to mind,” I re- sponded. “Perhaps it’s because they wear coverings on their feet—shoes, boots, sandals.”
    “Paws are best,” said Lenox. “And when we reach Lexington Avenue, the ground will be soft and comforting.”
    I could see that he was limping from pain. Luckily, one of the few trees was at hand. “Let’s climb up here and take a rest,” I suggested.
    “If you insist,” said Lenox, running quickly up the tree, which