"
"I should like to see a great number of these pretty creatures travelling
together," said Lady Mary.
"All wild animals, my dear, are more active by night than by day, and
probably make their long journeys during that season. The eyes of many
animals and birds are so formed, that they see best in the dim twilight,
as cats, and owls, and others. Our heavenly Father has fitted all his
creatures for the state in which he has placed them."
"Can squirrels swim like otters and beavers, nurse? If they come to a lake
or river, can they cross it?"
"I think they can, Lady Mary; for though these creatures are not formed,
like the otter, or beaver, or muskrat, to get their living in the water,
they are able to swim when necessity requires them to do so. I heard a
lady say that she was crossing a lake, between one of the islands and the
shore, in a canoe, with a baby on her lap. She noticed a movement on the
surface of the water. At first she thought it might be a water-snake, but
the servant lad who was paddling the canoe said it was a red squirrel and
he tried to strike it with the paddle; but the little squirrel leaped out
of the water to the blade of the paddle, and sprang on the head of the
baby, as it lay on her lap; from whence it jumped to her shoulder, and
before she had recovered from her surprise, was in the water again,
swimming straight for the shore, where it was soon safe in the dark pine
woods.
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