"But those horses--" said Frisky. "Why is it that they don't walk right
against that bar, and break it, and tumble off onto the ground?"

"That's a horse-power," Mrs. Squirrel explained. "The path the horses
are treading on moves, and that's why they stay right in the same
place. The path moves 'round and 'round all the time, like a broad
chain. That's what makes the wheels turn on the threshing-machine."

"It must be fun," said Frisky Squirrel. "I wish I could be a horse,
and make that horse-power turn like that."

"Nonsense!" said his mother. "You'd soon grow tired of it."

But Frisky Squirrel knew better.

[Illustration: Caught in the attic]




XIX

Frisky's Prison


Frisky Squirrel simply couldn't keep away from the field where the
wheat was being threshed. He was on hand before the men came in the
morning, and he was the last to leave the place at night. He ate all
his meals right on the spot, and went home only to sleep.