The Tree-Dwellers Part 5

[Ill.u.s.tration: "_Sharptooth played with him a moment_"]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "_The animals were ready to sleep through the day_"]

It was safer to walk in the shadow of the tall trees.

Once she suddenly grasped a branch of a tree and swung herself up and looked about.

She had heard a rustling in the underbrush.

Long ago she had learned what such sounds meant.

So she swung on the branches until she reached the river.

She listened a moment in the tree.

Then she slipped down and ran to the water's edge.

She dipped up the water with her hand.

She drank some, and then gave some to the baby.

He was so pleased that he laughed aloud.

As quick as a flash, Sharptooth sprang for the tree.

She was afraid the hyenas were in the thickets.

She was afraid they had heard the baby laugh.

She talked to the baby in a strange language.

She made queer clucking sounds.

After that he was always quiet when they went to the river.

He must have understood what she said.

THINGS TO DO

_If there is a cave near where you live, visit it._ _Model in sand some high river banks with caves._ _Show where Sharptooth went to drink, and where the hyenas were hiding._ _Show how she gave water to the baby._ _Show how she sprang for the tree when the baby laughed._ _Draw a picture of Sharptooth and the baby._ _Ask some one to read you the first story in Kipling's Second Jungle Book._

X.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Where do hogs live to-day? How are they taken care of?

How do you think the wild hogs found food?

Do you think the Tree-dwellers could learn anything by watching the wild hogs?

What have you learned from animals?

_What the Wild Hogs Did for Sharptooth_

The sun had now been up for some time.

Sharptooth was getting hungry.

She picked a handful of wild plums from the thicket, but she wanted something more.

She kept on down the hill.

The wild hogs were rooting under the oak trees.

She wondered what they found there, so she stepped near enough to see.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A wild hog_]

They were eating something round and black.

She watched them for a long time.

As soon as they started off toward the marsh, Sharptooth ran down to the trees.

She saw the loose earth that the hogs had rooted up.

Then she began to dig where it had not been loosened.

She had nothing to dig with except her hands, but she was not afraid to dig with them.

She soon felt something that was round and hard.

She dug it up and looked at it.

It was a truffle.

It was black and warty on the outside.

She bit off a piece.

It was white inside.

She tasted it and found that it was good, so she dug another and ate it.

She wondered how the wild hogs knew that the truffles were there.

Perhaps you can tell.

Perhaps you have heard stories of how hogs dig truffles in France to-day.

THINGS TO DO

_Collect five or six vegetables or fruits._ _Blindfold some one and let him smell of one of the vegetables and guess what it is._ _When he guesses right, blindfold some one else._ _When you have a chance, dig a root with your hands, then dig one with a sharp stick._ _Which way is the easier?_

XI.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Can you think how the wild hogs protected themselves?

Do hogs have tusks now?

Can you think why the wild hogs were not as fat as our hogs?

_How the Wild Hogs Protected their Young_

Sharptooth watched the wild hogs every day.

She learned many things from them.

They were peaceable creatures when not disturbed.

They lived on fruits, wild nuts, and roots.

When they had eaten all they wanted, they went down to the river or lake.

They hid in the reedy marshes.

They hid in the th.o.r.n.y thickets.

But they always kept together.

Sharptooth watched them from a tree.

There were tiny little pigs with long, light stripes.

They kept close to their mothers.