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One fine autumn day, Willie and Nettie went to gather nuts. They
walked out into the woods, where they knew they would find a great
many; but when they got there, they found the nuts were too high on
the tree, and they could not reach them.
"What shall we do?" said Nettie. Just then the wind blew very hard
and shook the tree, and down came a shower of nuts on their heads.
They both laughed gaily, and ran to pick them up. They were fine,
large walnuts, with green hulls on them.
"We will take of the hulls," said Willie, "and then put the nuts in
the sun to dry; half of them will be mine, and the other half
yours." They sat down on the ground and counted them, so they could
make an equal division. There were twenty-four. "That will be twelve
for each of us," said Willie, for he had been to the kindergarten,
and knew how to count and divide. Nettie thought twelve nuts a great
many.
"Now," said Nettie, "we will leave them here until to-morrow, and
the sun will dry them off; we will then take them home." The nest
day they started with their baskets for the woods. But when they
reached the spot, not a nut was to be seen. Nettie opened her big
blue eyes with wonder, and said: "Where have they gone?"
"Well," said Willie, "I know they did not walk off. I should like to
know who took them!" Just then they heard a loud noise and
chattering over their heads, and looking up saw two brown squirrels,
each eating a walnut, which they seemed to be enjoying very much.
"I do believe," said Nettie, "that those are our walnuts: they look
like them."
"I wonder where they put the rest of them?" said Willie. "I see them
here in the hollow of this tree. I suppose they wanted them for
their winter store, but they did not know they were ours. I think,
dear sister, we will let them keep the nuts." And Nettie thought so,
too.
The Nut Gatherers
A Fictional Short Story by
Agnes Taylor Ketchum & Ida M. Jorgensen
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