“There it is!” went on the little girl.  “See it, Bunny?  And it is gray.  But it doesn’t really look like a cat.”

Bunny came and stood beside Sue.  He could see the gray animal now, and as it moved just then, the dogs set up another wild barking.

“Be still!” ordered Bunny.  Then, as the dog’s cries were less noisy he said:  “Why, Sue, I know what that is.  It’s a——­”

And just then the gray animal fell out of the tree, landing on a pile of leaves at the very feet of the children.

With barks and howls the two dogs made a dive for it.  I do not really believe they meant to bite it—­they just wanted to see what it was.  But Bunny was too quick for them.

With a sudden motion he caught up the gray animal and held it close to him.  At the same time he shouted: 

“Down, Splash!  Down, Dix!  Don’t dare try to get this poor little squirrel.  One of you has hurt its leg anyhow—­that’s why it fell out of the tree.”

“Oh, Bunny!  Is it really and truly a squirrel?” asked Sue, excitedly.

“That’s what it is,” said her brother.  “It’s a big gray squirrel.  It does look something like a cat, but its tail is bigger than a cat’s except when a cat is being chased by a dog.”

“I saw the big tail,” explained Sue, “and that’s why I thought maybe it was a cat.  A cat’s tail always swells up like a long balloon whenever it sees a dog.  But is the squirrel hurt, Bunny?”

“I guess Dix must have bit it a little on one leg,” said the boy, as he looked at the gray animal which did not try to get away or bite.  “That’s why it couldn’t go up any higher in the tree or hold fast any longer.  Its leg is hurt.  I’m going to take it to Uncle Tad.  He knows how to fix hurt animals.”

Bunny could feel the heart of the frightened squirrel beating very hard, and the little animal seemed to shrink closer to the boy, as though it knew it would be taken care of.  Dix and Splash bounded about, now and then leaping up against Bunny as though they wanted to get the squirrel away from him.

But Bunny stood firm, and cried “Down, sir!” in such sharp tones that the dogs knew they must mind.  They gave up the hope of getting the squirrel (that is, if they knew it was such an animal) and ran off to have a game of “tag” together.

“Dix knew it wasn’t a cat as soon as he saw it,” explained Bunny to Sue as they walked back toward the big auto, Bunny carrying the injured squirrel, one of whose legs seemed broken.  “Dix knew it was a wild animal,” went on the little boy, “and that’s why he chased it.”

“I’m glad he didn’t get it,” murmured Sue, softly.

“So am I,” replied her brother.  “We’ll get Uncle Tad to fix the sore leg, and then we’ll make a cage and keep the squirrel.  Some day we may get up another circus, and we could have it do tricks.”

“Don’t you think the squirrel would rather be in the woods?” asked Sue, as she looked at the gray creature.