It's difficult to say whether the small beast was able to thus tell his trouble about Johnny. Anyway, Ham liked the following conversation that he heard. This happened after everybody calmed down, and Johnny asked his parents,

"Please, have pity on him. He is too bored. Let's buy a squirrel wheel for our hamster!"

"What's that?" Papa asked.

"It's a wheel the pet runs inside of and turns, but stays in once place."

"OK, I agree to look for such a wonder," said Mama. Johnny had a kindly mother!

Thus, the wheel was bought and put by the window. What an unexpected surprise for the whole family when the small, clever beast suspiciously approached the unknown thing, touched the wheel with his sharp nose, and suddenly stood stock-still looking at how it began to turn. But the real wonder came later. The hamster himself climbed up the wheel rungs and, with a gaze of amazement, quickly rushed to attempt to reach the peak. However, it was in vain. Ham was running, nevertheless, staying at almost the same place. The hard toiler was panting, puffing, and snorting very loudly,

"Puff-piff, puff-ffrr!" and he moved so quickly that the wheel was invisible.

It was two o'clock in the afternoon. The hamster that had been running since early in the morning had not had one break. He was very tired and his strength had run out. But small Ham did not give in. He tried to keep his spirits up in such a song,

"Oh, stairs up, oh, stairs up, oh how they're a lot,

My feet escape, my feet escape, and heart beats hard,

Not so lightly, not so lightly rotates the hugest wheel,

If I could reach a darling peak, it would be, oh, the biggest deal!"

So, he was running and happy.

Somebody emerged and called to him.

"Hello, chap! What are you doing?"

At the sill of the opened window was running to and fro a very brisk squirrel. It would run and suddenly curdle, run and curdle. And its tail was bending like a saxophone.