The children pelted the two squirrels with everything they could find,
but they dodged so quickly and so cleverly that not a single thing
touched them.

But after a time the children grew tired of throwing stones and
sticks, and as it made their necks ache to look up so high, they gave
up the chase and went home, and that was the last that Sentre and
Siccatee saw of them for a long time.

But this unpleasant incident had upset them both very much, and when
their children joined them a few minutes later, they gave them many
warnings and cautions about always keeping a sharp lookout for danger.

At last all ventured down, and, while keeping a sharp lookout with
their bright little eyes, gazed on the ruin the children had wrought.
Fortunately, it was not the most valuable of their hoards, for it
contained no eggs or insects.

After much consultation and discussion, the squirrels decided not to
use this hiding-place again--at any rate, not that winter--for it
would never do to run the risk of having it disturbed a second time.

So they set to work, found a nice crevice in a big rock, and worked
hard all day long collecting another store.

Siccatee would not allow her family to eat too many nuts just then.
She knew that the time was coming when young birds, mice and insects
would be very scarce. So she impressed it upon them to make the very
most of their time, and eat as much of that kind of food as they could