The black and white cat jumps from the roof to the crotch high in the cedar elm and waits for squirrels. A squirrel, seeking the safety of the tree, runs up the trunk, and seeing the cat above him, stops just in time. The cat inches around the trunk. The squirrel skitters around keeping the cat on the opposite side. The squirrel tries to dash past the cat. The cat circles the trunk. Stalemate. The two continue their dance awhile, then the squirrel leaps past the cat. High in the tree, in the safety of branches too thin for the weight of the cat, the squirrel turns to face the cat and gives her a good scolding. The cat lowers her head and slinks onto the roof and away. The squirrel chatters angrily until the cat is out of sight.