Then his captors would get a firm grip
on the back of his neck. If the squirrel proved to be a young one,
they would put on a collar and little chain, that they had always ready,
and keep him to train for a pet. Once Paul caught a gray squirrel
kitten so small and young that he had to feed it on milk and crushed
walnuts. He called it May. The tiny creature lived in his pocket and
desk and shared his bed at night. It would sit on the off page of his
book whilst he studied and comb its little whiskers and brush its
tail in perfect contentment. Every one marveled at the affection of his
pet and at the control he had over it. Paul would let it loose in the
woods, it would run up a tree and at his call, "Come May," it would
return at once and with a chuckle drop into his pocket. Paul kept this
squirrel until after he had left college. The crowded streets of the
city seemed to bewilder it, and it jumped from his pocket to the
sidewalk. A man passing struck it with a cane and killed it. Paul
grieved long over his pet; but from this experience he acquired a great
control over animals and always had a supply in hand to train. He
carried snakes and bugs and mice and lizards in his pockets and at one
time had a white rat that came very near to filling the place of the
lost May.
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