But when they eagerly ran up the trunk of the old oak tree,
expecting to have seen their old father and mother, they were surprised
and terrified by seeing a wood-owl in the nest.
As soon as she espied our little squirrels she shook her feathers and set
up her ears--for she was a long-eared owl--and said,--
"What do you want here?--ho, ho, ho, ho!"
"Indeed, Mrs. Owl," said Nimble, "we come hither to see our parents, whom
we left here a year ago. Can you tell us where we shall find them?"
The owl peered out of her ruff of silken feathers, and, after wiping her
sharp bill on her breast, said,--
"Your cousin, the black squirrel, beat your father and mother out of their
nest a long time ago, and took possession of the tree and all that was in
it; and they brought up a large family of little ones, all of which I
pounced upon one after another, and ate. Indeed, the oaks here belong to
my family; so, finding these impudent intruders would not quit the
premises, I made short work of the matter, and took the law into my own
hands."
"Did you kill them?" asked Silvy, in a trembling voice.
"Of course I did; and very nice, tender meat they were," replied the
horrid old owl, beginning to scramble out of the nest, and eyeing the
squirrels at the same time with a wicked look.
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