[Illustration]




XIV. LITTLE LUKE AND A-BAL-KA THE CHIPMUNK


One of little Luke's best friends among the wild folk was A-bal-ka the
Chipmunk. He was a dainty little fellow about five inches long, with a
tail of the same length. His coat was of a yellowish-brown color, with
black stripes running down his back. This fine, striped coat made him
look much prettier than his cousin Mee-ko the Red Squirrel.

He was a clean, jolly, little chap, and very fond of singing, though he
knew but two songs. One was a sharp chip, chip, chip, which he would
sometimes keep up for a long time. At a distance it sounded like the
call note of some bird. The other was a cuck, cuck, cuck, which sounded
much like the song of the Cuckoo. A curious thing about this song was
that one could scarcely tell where it came from. Little Luke was often
deceived by it. Sometimes when it sounded as if A-bal-ka was near by, he
was really a good way off, and when it sounded as if he were a good way
off, he was really close by.

Beside these songs, A-bal-ka had an odd way of saying chip,
chur-r-r-r-r, when he was scared. This meant, "I am not afraid of you,"
and he never said it till he was safe in some hole where no one could
get at him.

A-bal-ka never harmed any one, nor did he scold and steal like Mee-ko