With its bushy tail erect, and spread like a fan, it sat upon its haunches, appearing to enjoy the warm beams that came from the west.
The boys moved softly around the glade, Basil going foremost.

When within range, as he thought, he raised his rifle, levelled it, and was about to pull trigger, when the squirrel, that up to this moment had not noticed him, gave a sudden start, dropped its tail, and ran down the limb as if terrified.

It did not stop until it had reached the main trunk.

There it halted, a foot or two from the head, and lay flat against the bark.
What could have alarmed it?
Not the boys, for it had not minded them before; moreover, it still kept upon their side of the tree, offering as fair a mark as ever.

Had it feared them it would, as all squirrels do, have hidden from them behind the trunk.