reach his home in the big hickory tree near-by; but Mr. and Mrs. Hawk
wouldn't let him go near it. And when he felt one of Mr. Hawk's sharp
talons dig into his back Frisky thought that his end had come. But he
escaped that time, though Mrs. Hawk nearly caught him just two seconds
later.

I am afraid _The Tale of Frisky Squirrel_ would have ended right here,
if somebody had not come to Frisky's help. Fortunately, there was a
small, olive-green bird who lived with his wife not far from Frisky
Squirrel's home. Mr. Kinglet was his name. And though he was a tiny
fellow he had a heart like a lion's. I suppose that in all the country
around Blue Mountain there was no braver fellow than he. And his wife
was brave too. Although they both wore very dull-colored clothes, if
you took a good look at Mr. Kinglet you could see that he always wore
a bright red crown. He was very modest about his crown, and generally
wore it so that only a little of it showed. But whenever he went out
to fight, as the forest-people are often obliged to, that beautiful
red crown might be seen as plain as could be.

Now, it happened that Mrs. Kinglet heard Mr. and Mrs. Hawk talking to
each other, as they tried to capture Frisky Squirrel, and she heard
the other forest-people shouting, too. So she called to Mr. Kinglet
that somebody seemed to be in trouble; and he came hurrying up at
once.

When the little frightened wren screamed, Mr. Kinglet made up his mind
that it was time for him to do something. And he pushed his red crown
up on the top of his head where it would show better and he flew
straight toward Mr. Hawk.