SQUEEDINKS AND THE COD LIVER OIL
His real name was Ferdinand Maxwell Higginson, but his friend Mops, the hired man, always called him Squeedinks—and as we are all going to be his friends—we may as well call him Squeedinks, too. He lived with his aunt in a pretty little house ’way out in the country, set between rolling green fields and a large forest. Squeedinks used to read all sorts of books, but he liked stories about animals best of all. When he grew tired of reading he would go out into the forest and watch the squirrels frisking about among the old trees. He noticed that most of the squirrels lived in holes in the big oaks, and he was extremely anxious to get a look into the holes and see just how squirrels behaved when they were at home.
After a great many unsuccessful attempts, Squeedinks at last succeeded in climbing part way up a big oak tree. He couldn’t get quite as far up as the little round holes where he saw his furry friends darting in and out, but he was delighted to find one hole, low down on the trunk, which was just big enough for him to squeeze into. You see, he was just a small little boy. Every day, after that, Squeedinks climbed up to his lookout, which he christened the “Crow’s Nest,” and sat there with just his head peeping out, watching the antics of the squirrels.
The squirrels would dash past Squeedinks, chattering as if they were trying to tell him something, and then scamper off home with a great clatter and racket, looking down at the little boy with their big, bright eyes. Squeedinks always brought something for the squirrels to eat, and it wasn’t long before they grew quite friendly. He invented names for the ones he knew best, and tried hard to teach them to answer when he called.
I Never Did Think This Tree Was Big Enough
One day Squeedinks heard his aunt talking to the Doctor about him. She was worried because he was so small, and the Doctor said that he ought to take Cod Liver Oil to make him grow. So that afternoon his aunt sent him down to the village to buy a bottle. On the way back from the village he came through the forest, and decided he would climb up into the Crow’s Nest for a while. He placed the bottle of Cod Liver Oil carefully on the ground, and was soon tucked ’way up among the leaves in his favorite lookout. As he sat there, Squeedinks thought about the Cod Liver Oil, and began to wonder if it would make other things grow as well as little boys. He leaned out of the hole to see if the bottle was safe, and what do you think he saw? A funny little brown man, not much taller than Squeedinks’ fox-terrier, Snarlyrow, was looking at the bottle! Squeedinks heard him say to himself, “H’m! Cod Liver Oil, eh? Well, I never did think this tree was quite big enough for its age!” And with that, he uncorked the bottle, poured its contents on the roots of the tree, and disappeared into the depths of the forest whistling a funny tune.
Squeedinks was thinking that that was a very strange thing to do, when he began to feel rather queer. He felt as if he were going up in an elevator, and the hole he was wedged into grew larger and larger until it was as big as a little room. He poked out his head and looked down, and found that he could see nothing but the green tops of the other trees, far, far below him. What could be happening? He knew! His tree was starting to grow—the Cod Liver Oil had begun to work! The tree grew so fast that in a few minutes he could scarcely see the forest, or the roof of his home nearby. The leaves of his tree grew as big as bed quilts, and all the squirrel holes were large enough for a small boy to live in.
It all seemed just like a fairy tale, and Squeedinks became wildly excited. He could now stand erect and walk about inside the Crow’s Nest, and just here he noticed that the big tree had a hollow center, and that this hollow ran all the way up, just like a chimney. He started to climb up the inside of the tree, and quite unexpectedly found himself in the front parlor of old Umbrella-Tail, a big gray squirrel. All the squirrels were just as amazed as Squeedinks at finding their homes grown suddenly large and roomy, and they were all chattering excitedly together. Squeedinks was greatly surprised to find that he could understand everything the squirrels said. Mrs. Umbrella-Tail was saying, “Well! If you expect me to keep house in this enormous place you’ll just have to get little Nutty Red squirrel for a servant! And that’s that!” Then they all saw Squeedinks, and asked him how he had got there. When he told them, they said that they had always used the inside of the tree for a stairway, but it had never before been big enough for a boy to get through, and they had felt safe from molestation. Squeedinks assured them that he loved squirrels and, indeed, all the animals that lived in the woods, and wouldn’t hurt them for the world. And now he only wanted to get down and go home, for it was getting dark.
Old Umbrella-Tail said he would show him the way, and started down inside the hollow tree. Squeedinks followed more slowly, for it was as black as ink in there. Finally they discovered they couldn’t go any farther, and then found they were inside of one of the tree’s great roots, way down under the ground. Then Squeedinks despaired of ever seeing his home again, but Umbrella-Tail nosed about and discovered an opening in the end of the root, through which they could see a dark tunnel leading away through the moist earth. But they were afraid to follow it for they didn’t know where it led, and were just about to turn back in despair, when they heard something thumping along with dull, rhythmic bumps. It turned out to be old Grandfather Mole, who lived down there. He was quite blind, and had to walk with a cane, but his front feet were big and strong, with sharp little claws to help him dig his tunnels here and there and everywhere under the ground. When Grandfather Mole learned that Umbrella-Tail was trying to get Squeedinks home in time for supper, he turned slowly around in his tunnel, handed the little boy a flashlight out of his vest pocket, and called out in a deep bass voice that sounded very much as if the damp earth had given him chronic bronchitis, “Follow me!” So Squeedinks bade Umbrella-Tail good-bye, and started to wriggle along the tunnel on his stomach behind Grandfather Mole. In a marvelously short time they came out into the air, and Squeedinks was delighted to find himself at home underneath his own front porch. He thanked Grandfather Mole politely for leading him safely home, and watched the old fellow disappear down his tunnel again. Then Squeedinks ran into the house and told his aunt all that had happened to him, and what strange things the Cod Liver Oil had accomplished.