In a flash it understood what was happening. The island
was getting wetter because it was also getting--_smaller_!"
"Ugh! How beastly!"
"Did it tell the others?"
"It retired half-way down its hole and shouted out the news to the
others in the hut."
"Did they hear it?"
"It warned them solemnly. But its teeth obstructed the sound, and the
windings of its hole made it difficult to hear. The man, besides, was
busy telling a story to the mouse, and the mouse, anyhow, was sound
asleep at the bottom of his pocket, with the result that the only one
who caught the words of warning was--the squirrel. For a squirrel's
ears are so sharp that it can even hear the grub whistling to itself
inside a rotten nut; and it instantly took action."
"Ah! IT saved them, then?"
"The squirrel flew from the man's shoulder where it was perched,
balanced for a second on the top of his head, then clung to the
ceiling and darted out of the window without a moment's delay. It
crossed the island in a single leap, scuttled to the top of the tree,
peered about over the diminishing landscape, and--"
"Didn't it see the rabbit?"
"And returned as quickly as it went.
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