with their necks stretched out over the edge of the dam, watching
Frisky as he went rolling and tumbling down to the bed of the river.
And when they saw him pick himself up and go skipping from stone to
stone until he reached the shore and scampered away, they looked very
foolish indeed.

In fact, they felt foolish, too. And without saying one word they
turned about and each crept back to his own side of Swift River.




XIV

Mrs. Squirrel Has a Visitor


Fatty Coon was very hungry. And he stole along through the woods very
quietly, hoping to find something to eat. To his great joy, it was not
long before he discovered Mrs. Squirrel's home. He crept up to the
nest silently; for he hoped to catch Mrs. Squirrel and Frisky inside.
But Mrs. Squirrel and her son were both away.

Fatty was disappointed. But he made up his mind to go into the house
anyhow, to see what he could find there. So he pushed through the
narrow doorway. It was a tight squeeze; but Fatty managed to get
inside. And there he found a fine lot of beechnuts, which Mrs.
Squirrel had brought home and stored, in order to have something to
eat during the winter.