Page:Bambi A Life in the Woods (1928).pdf/268

plaintively, “my beautiful old oak, do you remember it? It was awful. He chopped it down!”

Bambi hung his head sadly. His very soul felt sorry for the wonderful old tree.

“As soon as it happened,” the squirrel related, “everybody who lived in the tree fled and watched how He bit through the trunk with a gigantic flashing tooth. The tree groaned aloud when it was wounded. It kept on groaning and the tooth kept gnawing, it was dreadful to hear it. Then the poor beautiful tree fell out on the meadow. Everybody cried.”

Bambi was silent.

“Yes,” sighed the squirrel, “He can do anything. He’s all-powerful.” He gazed at Bambi out of his big eyes, and pointed his ears. But Bambi kept silent.

“Then we were all homeless,” the squirrel went on, “I don’t even know where the others scattered to. I came here. But I won’t find another tree like that in a hurry.”

“The old oak,” said Bambi to himself, “I knew it from the time I was a child.”

“O well,” said the squirrel. “But to think it’s really you,” he went on delightedly. “Everybody