How fast he scampered toward his house tree. He scarcely noticed that since he had gone away Spring had come, and the first soft green shoots were covering the trees. The grass was full of flowers, and the birds were singing merrily. [Illustration] Quickly he ran up into his nest, and there they all were, the dear wee family; Mrs. Bushy Tail, the children, and dear old Grandmother Chipmunk. How delighted they were to see him. Poor little Mrs. Bushy Tail quite broke down and cried with joy, for she had never expected to see her husband alive again. [Illustration] Mr. Chipmunk and Mr. Red Squirrel had come over, a few days after Mr. Bushy Tail’s visit, to inquire if he had reached home safely, and to bring great bags of provisions. When they heard that their friend was still missing, they had looked very anxious and sad. The snow storm, in which Mr. Bushy Tail was blown away, had turned into such an awful blizzard, that every one thought he had been buried in the deep snow and frozen. [Illustration] What a fine supper Mrs. Bushy Tail cooked from the wonderful bag, and how much they all ate. Mr. Bushy Tail was told what a good boy Frisky had been, and how the baby had cut a new tooth, with which he had accidentally bitten Grandma Chipmunk. [Illustration] Then, after the baby had been tucked away in his soft nest, they all sat down close to the fire, while Mr. Bushy Tail, taking Frisky on his knee, told them of all his wonderful adventures. Of Mr. Quilly Ant-Eater and the Ring-Tailed Snorter; of that surprising slide down Mrs. Mole’s chimney, and of the terrible North wind. [Illustration] And there we will leave them, a happy and contented little family. [Illustration: FINIS] Composition, Presswork and Binding L. H. JENKINS Richmond, Virginia Transcriber’s Notes Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. Small capitals are changed to all capitals, except where used for emphasis, in which case the text is surrounded by tildes: ~small capitals~. Illustrations have been moved so they do not break up the paragraphs. Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources. Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. The following corrections have been applied to the text (before/after): (p. 11) ... Mr. and Mrs. Bushy-Tail ... ... Mr. and Mrs. Bushy Tail ... (p. 12) ... house-tree ... ... house tree ... (p. 13) ... Baby Bushy-Tail could ... ... Baby Bushy Tail could ... (p. 15) ... with, Mr. Bushy-Tail spoke: ... with, Mr. Bushy Tail spoke: (p. 15/16) ... do; said he, go ... ... do;” said he, “go ... (p. 16) ... my cousin Red-Squirrel’s or else ... ... my cousin Red Squirrel’s or else ...