-,, v - ^
OTHER.
WEST WIND
THORNTON W BURGESS
100100
Mother
West Wind
"Hoiv" Stories
By THORNTON W. BURGESS
tales of the little crea-
.iL tures of the Wide Green
Meadows have given endless de-
light to generations of children.
In this collection Peter Rabbit
hears the story of how old Mr.
Squirrel became thrifty; how it
happens Johnny Chuck sleeps all
winter; how Drummer the Wood-
pecker came by his red cap and
many other fascinating tales of the
long-ago days of his great-great-
ever-so-great-grandfather.
These charming tales of how
Old Mother Nature put the finish-
ing touches on her children con-
tain a wealth of natural history,
and they are beloved favorites that
can never be told too often.
GROSSET & DUNLAP
Publishers New York
-03
rr-e
'REFERE
576
H
'Caw, caw, caw, caw, caw!" yelled Blacky at
the top of his voice.
FRONTISPIECE. See page 132.
BURGESS TRADE QUADDIES MARK
MOTHER WEST WIND
"HOW" STORIES
BY
THORNTON W. BURGESS
Illustrations by
HARRISON CADY
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
By arrangement with Little, Brown, and Compart)
Copyright, 1916,
BY THORNTON W. BURGESS.
All rights reserved
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PROPERTY OF y ,-
CITY Of NEW YORK (^ Tj ,
K576389
To the cause of conservation of wild life and
to increase of love for our little friends of the
Green Forest and the Green Meadows through
awakened interest in them and a better under-
standing of their value to us as faithful workers
in carrying out the plans of wise Old Mother
Nature, this little book is dedicated.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. How OLD KING EAGLE WON His
WHITE HEAD .... 3
II. How OLD MR. MINK TAUGHT HIM-
SELF TO SWIM 17
III. How OLD MR. TOAD LEARNED TO
SING ..... 31
IV. How OLD MR. CROW LOST His
DOUBLE TONGUE 45
Y. How HOWLER THE WOLF GOT His
NAME . . . .59
VI. How OLD MR. SQUIRREL BECAME
THRIFTY ..... 73
VII. HOW LlGHTFOOT THE DEER LEARNED
TO JUMP ..... 87
VIII. How MR. FLYING SQUIRREL ALMOST
GOT WINGS . . . .103
IX. How MR. WEASEL WAS MADE AN
OUTCAST .... 117
X. How THE EYES OF OLD MR. OWL
BECAME FIXED . . . 131
XI. How IT HAPPENS JOHNNY CHUCK
SLEEPS ALL WINTER 145
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
XII. How OLD MR. OTTER LEARNED TO
SLIDE 161
XIII. How DRUMMER THE WOODPECKER
CAME BY His RED CAP . . 175
XIV. How OLD MR. TREE TOAD FOUND
OUT How TO CLIMB . . 191
XV. How OLD MR. HERON LEARNED
PATIENCE .... 205
XVI How TUFTY THE LYNX HAPPENS
TO HAVE A STUMP OF A TAIL 219
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
" CAW, CAW, CAW, CAW, CAW! ' YELLED
BLACKY AT THE TOP OF HIS VOICE
Frontispiece
" OLD KING BEAR, WHO WAS KING NO
LONGER, WOULD GROWL A DEEP, RUMBLY-
GRUMBLY GROWL ' . . .66
" ONE DAY MR. RABBIT SURPRISED MR.
WEASEL MAKING A MEAL OP YOUNG
MICE " 124
" HlS LEGS WERE SO LONG AND HIS NECK
WAS SO LONG THAT ALL HIS NEIGHBORS
LAUGHED AT HIM " . . . . 210
HOW OLD KING EAGLE WON HIS WHITE HEAD
PETER RABBIT sat on the edge
of the dear Old Briar-patch,
staring up into the sky with his
head tipped back until it made his neck
ache. Way, way up in the sky was a
black speck sailing across the snowy
white face of a cloud. It didn't seem
possible that it could be alive way up
there. But it was. Peter knew that it
was, and he knew who it was. It was
King Eagle. By and by it disappeared
over towards the Great Mountain.
4 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
Peter rubbed the back of his neck,
which ached because he had tipped his
head back so long. Then he gave a
little sigh.
" I wonder what it seems like to be
able to fly like that/' said he out loud,
a way he sometimes has.
" Are you envious? " asked a voice
so close to him that Peter jumped.
There was Sammy Jay sitting in a little
tree just over his head.
" No! ' snapped Peter, for it made
him a wee bit cross to be so startled.
" No, I'm not envious, Sammy Jay.
I'm not envious of any bird. The
ground is good enough for me. I was
just wondering, that's all."
" Have you ever seen King Eagle
close to ? : ' asked Sammy.
" Once,' replied Peter. " Once he
came down to the Green Meadows and
sat in that lone tree over there, and I
OLD KING EAGLE'S WHITE HEAD 5
was squatting in a bunch of grass quite
near and could see him very plainly.
He is big and fierce-looking, but he
looks his name, every inch a king. I've
wondered a good many times since how
it happens that he has a white head.'
" Because," replied Sammy, " he is
just what he looks to be, king of the
birds, and that white head is the sign
of his royalty given his great-great-
ever - so - great - grandfather by Old
Mother Nature, way back in the begin-
ning of things. '
Peter's eyes sparkled. " Tell me
about it, Sammy," he begged. " Tell
me about it, and I won't quarrel with
you any more.'
" All right, Peter. I'll tell you the
story, because it will do you good t(?
hear it. I supposed everybody knew it,
All birds do. That is why we all look
up to King Eagle, ' ' replied Sammy.
6 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
" Way back in the beginning of
things, old King Bear ruled in the
Green Forest, as you know. That is,
he ruled the animals and all the little
people who lived on the ground, but he
didn't rule the birds. You see the
birds were not willing to be ruled over
by an animal. They wanted one of
their own kind. So they refused to
have old King Bear as their king and
went to Old Mother Nature to ask her
to appoint a king of the air. Now Mr.
Eagle was one of the biggest and
strongest and most respected of all the
birds of the air. There were some, like
Mr. Goose and Mr. Swan, who were
bigger, but they spent most of their
time on the water or the earth, and they
had no great claws or hooked beak to
command respect as did Mr. Eagle.
So Old Mother Nature made Mr. Eagle
king of the air, and as was quite right
OLD KING EAGLE'S WHITE HEAD 7
and proper, all the birds hastened to
pay him homage.
" So King Eagle ruled the air and
none dared to cross him or to disobey
him. Unlike old King Bear, he ac-
cepted no tribute from his subjects but
hunted for himself, and instead of
growing fat and lazy, as did old King
Bear, he grew stronger of wing and
feared no one and nothing. Now this
was in the days when the world was
young, and Old Mother Nature was
very busy trying to make the world a
good place to live in, so she had very
little time to look after the birds and
the animals. Thus she left matters
very much to King Eagle and old King
Bear. They settled all the quarrels
between their subjects, and for a while
everything went smoothly.
" King Eagle made his home on the
cliff of a mountain, so that he could
8 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
look down on all below and see what
was going on. Every day he went down
to the Green Forest and sat on the tall-
est tree while he listened to the com-
plaints of the other birds and settled
their disputes, and none questioned his
decisions. Now after a while, this little
part of the earth where the animals
and the birds first lived became over-
crowded. It became harder and harder
to get enough to eat. Quarrels became
more frequent, until King Eagle had
Little time for anything but straighten-
ing out these troubles and trying to
keep peace.
" Old Mother Nature had been away
a long time trying to make other parts
of the world fit to live in. No one knew
when she was coming back or just
where she was. King Eagle, sitting on
the edge of the cliff on the mountain,
thought it all over. Old Mother Nature
OLD KING EAGLE'S WHITE HEAD 9
ought to know how things were. He
would send a messenger to try to find
her. So the next day he called all the
birds together and asked who would go
out into the unknown Great World to
look for Old Mother Nature and take a
message to her.
" No one offered. This one had a
family to look after. That one was not
feeling well. Another had a pain in his
wings. One and all they had an excuse
until Hummer, the tiniest of all the
birds, was reached. He darted into the
air before King Eagle. ' I'll go,' said
he.
" All the others laughed. The very
idea of such a tiny fellow going out to
dare the dangers of the unknown Great
World seemed to them so absurd that
they just had to laugh. But King
Eagle didn't laugh. He thanked Hum-
mer and told him that his heart was as
10 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
big as his body was small, but that he
would not send him out into the Great
World, for he would go himself. He
had been but trying out his subjects,
and he had found but one who was
worthy, and that one was the smallest
of them all. Then King Eagle said
things that made all the other birds
hang their heads for shame and want to
sneak out of sight.
" After that, he told them that no
king who was worthy to be king would
ask his subjects to do what he would not
do himself, and that where there was
danger to be faced or something hard
to do, it was the king's place to do it, so
he himself was going out into the un-
known Great World to find Mother
Nature and see what could be done to
make things better and happier for
them. Then he spread his great wings
and sailed away, every inch a king.
OLD KING EAGLE'S WHITE HEAD 11
They watched Mm until he was a speck
in the sky, and finally he disappeared
altogether.
" Day after day they watched for him
to come back, but there was no sign of
him; they began to shake their heads
and openly talk of choosing a new king.
Only little Mr. Hummer kept his faith
and day after day flew away in the di-
rection old King Eagle had gone, hop-
ing to meet him coming backo At last
a day was set to choose a new king.
That morning, as soon as it was light
enough to see, little Mr. Hummer darted
away, and his heart was heavy. He
would take no part in choosing a new
king. He would go until he found King
Eagle or until something happened to
him. Pretty soon he saw a speck way
up against a cloud, a speck no bigger
than himself. It grew bigger and big-
ger, and at last he knew that it was
12 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
King Eagle himself. Little Mr. Hum-
mer turned and flew as he never had
flown before. He wanted to get back
before a new king was chosen, so that
King Eagle might never know that his
subjects had lost faith in him.
" He was so out of breath when he
reached the other birds that he couldn't
say a word for a few minutes. Then he
told them that King Eagle was coming.
The other birds had proved that they
were not brave when they had refused
to go out in search of Old Mother Na-
ture, and now they proved it again.
Instead of waiting to give King Eagle
a royal welcome, they hurried away,
one after another. They were afraid to
meet him, because in their hearts they
knew that they had done a cowardly
thing in deciding to choose a new king.
So when King Eagle, weary and with
torn wings and broken tail feathers,
OLD KING EAGLE'S WHITE HEAD 13
dropped down to the tall tree in the
Green Forest, there was none to give
him greeting save little Mr. Hummer.
" King Eagle said nothing about the
failure of the other birds to give him
greeting but at once sent little Mr.
Hummer around to tell all the others
that far away he had found Old Mother
Nature preparing a new land for them,
and that when she gave the word, he
would lead them to it. Then King
Eagle flew to his home on the cliff of
the mountain, and not one word did he
ever say of his terrible journey, of how
he had gone hungry, had been beaten
by storms, and had suffered from cold
and weariness, yet never once had
turned back.
" But when Old Mother Nature came
later and announced that the new land
was ready for the birds, she first called
them together and told them all that
14 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
King Eagle had suffered, and how he
had proved himself a royal king. As a
reward she promised that his family
should be rulers over the birds forever,
and as a sign that this should be so, she
reached forth and touched his black
head, and it became snowy white, an<P
all the birds cried ' Long live the king! ?
" Then Old Mother Nature turned to
tiny Mr. Hummer and touched his
throat, and behold a shining ruby was
there, the reward of loyalty, faith, and
bravery.
" Then King Eagle mounted into the
air and proudly led the way to the
promised land. And so the birds went
forth and peopled the Great "World, and
King Eagle and his children and his
children's children have ruled the air
ever since and have worn the snowy
crown which King Eagle of long ago so
bravely won."
II
HOW OLD MR. MINK TAUGHT HIMSELF
TO SWIM
n
HOW OLD MR. MINK TAUGHT HIMSELF TO
SWIM
OF all the little people who live in
the Green Forest or on the
Green Meadows or around the
Smiling Pool, Billy Mink has the most
accomplishments. At least, it seems
that way to his friends and neighbors.
He can run very swiftly; he can climb
very nimbly; his eyes and his ears and
his nose are all wonderfully keen, and
he can swim like a fish. Yes, Sir,
Billy Mink is just as much at home in
the water as out of it. So, wherever he
happens to be, in the Green Forest, out
on the Green Meadows, along the
Laughing Brook, oi in the Smiling
18 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
Pool, he feels perfectly at home and
quite able to look out for himself .
Once Billy Mink had boasted that he
could do anything that any one else
who wore fur could do, but boasters
almost always come to grief, and Grand-
father Frog had brought Billy to grief
that time. He had invited every one to
meet at the Smiling Pool and see Billy
Mink do whatever any one else who
wore fur could do, and then, when Billy
had run and jumped and climbed and
swum, Grandfather Frog had called
Flitter the Bat. There was some one
wearing fur who could fly, and of
course Billy Mink couldn't do that. It
cured Billy of boasting, for a while,
anyway.
Now Peter Rabbit, who can do little
but run and jump, used sometimes to
feel a wee bit of envy in his heart when
he thought of all the things that Billy
HOW MR. MINK TAUGHT HIMSELF 19
Mink could do and do well. Somehow
Peter could never make it seem quite
right that one person should be able to
do so many things when others could do
only one or two things. He said as
much to Grandfather Frog one day, as
they watched Billy Mink catch a fat
trout.
" Chug-a-rum! " said Grandfather
Frog and looked sharply at Peter.
" Chug-a-rum! People never know
what they can do till they try. Once
upon a time Billy Mink's great-great-
ever - so - great - grandfather couldn't
swim any more than you can, but he
didn't waste any time foolishly wishing
that he could.'
" What did he do? " asked Peter ea-
gerly.
" Learned how," replied Grandfather
Frog gruffly. " Made it his business to
learn how. Then he taught his chil-
20 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
dren, and they taught their children,
and after a long time it came natural to
the Mink family to swim.'
" Did it take old Mr. Mink very long
to learn how? " asked Peter wistfully.
" Quite a while," replied Grandfather
Frog. " Quite a while. Perhaps you
would like to hear about it.'
" Oh, if you please, Grandfather
Frog," cried Peter. " If you please. I
should love dearly to hear about it.
Perhaps then I can learn to swim.'
Grandfather Frog snapped up a fool-
ish green fly that happened his way,
and Peter heard something that
sounded very much like a chuckle. He
looked at Grandfather Frog suspi-
ciously. Was that chuckle because of
the foolish green fly, or was Grand-
father Frog laughing at him? Peter
wasn't sure.
" It all happened a long time ago
HOW MR. MINK TAUGHT HIMSELF 21
when the world was young, as a great
many other things happened," began
Grandfather Frog. " Old Mr. Mink,
the ever-so-great-grandfather of Billy
Mink, couldn't do all the things that
Billy can now. For instance, he
couldn't swim. But he could do a great
many things, and he was very smart.
It has always run in the Mink family
to be smart. He dressed very much as
Billy does now, except that he didn't
have the waterproof coat that Billy has.
And he was a great traveler, just as
Billy is. Everybody smaller than he
and some who were bigger were a little
bit afraid of old Mr. Mink, for he was
quite as sly and cunning as Mr. Fox,
and it was suspected that he knew a
great deal more than he ever admitted
about eggs that were stolen and nests
,that were broken up, and other strange
things that happened in the Green For-
22 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
est and along the Laughing Brook. But
he never was caught doing anything
wrong and always seemed to be mind-
ing his own business, so, all things con-
sidered, he got along very well with his
neighbors.
" Now Mr. Mink was small and spry,
and his wits were as nimble as his feet.
He saw all that was going on about him,
and he was wise enough to keep his
tongue still, so that it never got him
into trouble as gossipy tongues do some
people I know. 9
Peter Babbit fidgeted uneasily. It
seemed to him that Grandfather Frog
had looked at him very hard when he
said this. But Grandfather Frog just
cleared his throat and went on with his
story.
" Yes, Sir, old Mr. Mink kept his
eyes wide open and his ears wide open
and the wits in his little brown head
HOW MR. MINK TAUGHT HIMSELF 23
working. He noticed that those
who were fussy about what they ate
and insisted on having a special kind of
food often went hungry or had to hunt
long and hard to find what they liked,
so he made up his mind to learn to eat
many kinds of food. This is how it
happens that he learned to like fish.
His big cousin, Mr. Otter, often caught
a bigger fish than he could eat all him-
self and would leave some of it on the
bank. Mr. Mink would find it and help
himself.
" But having to depend on Mr. Otter
to get the fish for him didn't suit Mr.
Mink at all. In the first place, he didn't
have as much as he wanted. And then
again he didn't have it when he wanted
it. ' If I could learn to catch fish for
myself, I would be much better off,*
thought Mr. Mink. After this he spent
a great deal of time on the banks of the
24 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
Smiling Pool watching Mr. Otter swim
to see just how he did it. ' If he can
swim, I can swim/ said Mr. Mink to
himself, and went off up the Laughing
Brook to a quiet little pool where the
water was not deep.
" At first he didn't like it at all. The
water got in his ears and up his nose
and choked him. And then it was so
dreadfully wet ! But he would grit his
teeth and keep at it. After a while he
got so that he could paddle around a
little. Gradually he lost his fear of the
water. Then he found that because he
naturally moved so quickly he could
sometimes catch foolish minnows who
swam in where the water was very
shallow. This was great sport, and he
quite often had fish for dinner now.
" But he wasn't satisfied. No, Sir,
he wasn't satisfied. Whatever Mr.
Mink did, he wanted to do well. He
HOW MR. MINK TAUGHT HIMSELF 25
could run well and climb well, and
there was no better hunter in all the
Green Forest. He was bound that he
would swim well. So he kept trying
and trying. He learned to fill his lungs
with air and hold his breath for a long
time, while he swam as fast as ever he
could with his head under water as he
had seen his cousin, Mr. Otter, swim.
The more he did this, the longer he
could hold his breath. After a while he
found that because he was slim and
trim and moved so fast, he could out-
swim Mr. Muskrat, and this made him
feel very good indeed, for Mr. Musk-
rat spent nearly all his time in the
water and was accounted a very good
swimmer. There was only one thing
that bothered Mr. Mink. The water
was so dreadfully wet! Every time he
came out of it, he had to run his hard-
est to dry off and keep from getting
26 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
cold. This was very tiresome and he
did wish that there was an easier way
of drying off.
" Then came the bad time, the sad
time, when food was scarce, and most
of the little people in the Green Forest
and on the Green Meadow went hun-
gry. But Mr. Mink didn't go hungry.
Oh, my, no! You see, he had learned
to catch fish, and so he had plenty to
eat. When Old Mother Nature came
to see how all the little people were get-
ting along, she was very much sur-
prised to find that Mr. Mink had be-
come a famous swimmer. She watched
him catch a fish. Then she watched
him run about to dry off and keep from
getting cold, and her eyes twinkled.
" i He who helps himself deserves to
be helped,' said Old Mother Nature.
Mr. Mink didn't know what she meant
by that, but the next morning he found
HOW MR. MINK TAUGHT HIMSELF 27
out. Yes, Sir, the next morning lie
found out. He found that he had a
brand new coat over his old one, and
the new one was waterproof. He could
swim as much as he pleased and
not get the least bit wet, because the
water couldn't get through that new
coat. And ever since that long-ago day
when the world was young, the Minks
have had waterproof coats and have
been famous fishermen. Hello, Peter
Eabbit! What under the sun are you
trying to do, swelling yourself up that
way? "
" I I was just practising holding
my breath," replied Peter and looked
very, very foolish.
" Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ha! " laughed
Grandfather Frog. " You can't learn
to swim by holding your breath on dry
land, Peter Rabbit."
Ill
HOW OLD MR. TOAD LEARNED TO SING
m
HOW OLD MR. TOAD LEARNED TO SING
PETEE RABBIT never will forget
how lie laughed the first time he
heard Old Mr. Toad say that he
could sing and was going to sing. Why,
Peter would as soon think of singing
himself, and that is something he can
no more do than he can fly. Peter had
known Old Mr. Toad ever since he
could remember. He was rather fond
of him, even if he did play jokes on him
once in a while. But he always thought
of Old Mr. Toad as one of the homeliest
of all his friends, slow, awkward, and
too commonplace to be very interesting.
So when, in the glad joyousness of the
32 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
spring, Old Mr. Toad had told Jimmy
Skunk that he was going down to the
Smiling Pool to sing because without
him the great chorus there would lack
one of its sweetest voices, Peter and
Jimmy had laughed till the tears came.
A few days later Peter happened over
to the Smiling Pool for a call on Grand-
father Frog. A mighty chorus of joy
from unseen singers rose from all about
the Smiling Pool. Peter knew about
those singers. They were Hylas, the
little cousins of Sticky-toes the Tree
Toad. Peter sat very still on the edge
of the bank trying to see one of them.
Suddenly he became aware of a new
note, one he never had noticed before
and sweeter than any of the others.
Indeed it was one of the sweetest of all
the spring songs, as sweet as the love
notes of Tommy Tit the Chickadee,
than which there is none sweeter.
HOW MR. TOAD LEARNED TO SING 33
It seemed to come from the shallow
water just in front of Peter, and he
looked eagerly for the singer. Then his
eyes opened until it seemed as if they
would pop right out of his head, and he
dropped his lower jaw foolishly. There
was Old Mr. Toad with a queer bag
Peter never had seen before swelled out
under his chin, and as surely as Peter
was sitting on that bank, it was Old
Mr. Toad who was the sweet singer!
Old Mr. Toad paid no attention to
Peter, not even when he was spoken to.
He was so absorbed in his singing that
he just didn't hear. Peter sat there a
while to listen; then he called Jimmy
Skunk and Unc' Billy Possum, who
were also listening to the music, and
they were just as surprised as Peter.
Then he spied Jerry Muskrat at the
other end of the Smiling Pool and hur-
ried over there. Peter was so full of
34 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
the discovery he had made that he could
think of nothing else. He fairly ached
to tell.
" Jerry! " he cried. " Oh, Jerry
Muskrat! Do you know that Old Mr.
Toad can sing? '
Jerry looked surprised that Peter
should ask such a question. " Of
course I know it," said he. " It would
be mighty funny if I didn't know it,
seeing that he is the sweetest singer in
the Smiling Pool and has sung here
every spring since I can remember.'
Peter looked very much chagrined.
" I didn't know it until just now,' 1 he
confessed. " I didn't believe him when
he told me that he could sing. I wonder
how he ever learned.'
" He didn't learn any more than you
learned how to jump,' replied Jerry.
" It just came to him naturally. His
father sang, and his grandfather, and
HOW MR. TOAD LEARNED TO SING 35
his great grandfather, way back to the
beginning of things. I thought every-
body knew about that.'
"I don't. Tell me about it. Please
do, Jerry," begged Peter.
" All right, I will," replied Jerry
good-naturedly. " It's something you
ought to know about, anyway. In the
first place, Old Mr. Toad belongs to a
very old and honorable family, one of
the very oldest. I've heard say that it
goes way back almost to the very be-
ginning of things when there wasn't
much land. Anyway, the first Toad,
the great-great-ever-so-great-grand -
father of Old Mr. Toad and own cousin
to the great-great-ever-so-great-grand-
father of Grandfather Frog, was one of
the first to leave the water tor the dry
land.
" Old Mother Nature met him hop-
ping along and making hard work of it
36 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
because, of course, it was so new. She
looked at him sharply. ' What are you
doing here? ' she demanded. ' Aren't
you contented with the water where
you were born? '
" Mr. Toad bowed very low.
* Yes'm,' said he very humbly. ' I'll
go right back there if you say so. I
thought there must be some things
worth finding out on the land, and that
I might be of some use in the Great
World.'
" His answer pleased Old Mother
Nature. She was worried. She had
planted all kinds of things on the land,
and they were springing up every-
where, but she had discovered that bugs
of many kinds liked the tender green
things and were increasing so fast and
were so greedy that they threatened to
strip the land of all that she had
planted. She had so many things to
HOW MR. TOAD LEARNED TO SING 37
attend to that she hadn't time to take
care of the bugs. i If you truly want
to be of some use,' said she, ' you can
attend to some of those bugs.'
" Mr. Toad went right to work, and
Old Mother Nature went about some
other business. Having so many other
things to look after, she quite forgot
about Mr. Toad, and it was several
weeks before she came that way again.
Right in the middle of a great bare
place where the bugs had eaten every-
thing was a beautiful green spot, and
patiently hopping from plant to plant
was Mr. Toad, snapping up every bug
he could see. He didn't see Old Mother
Nature and kept right on working.
She watched him a while as he hopped
from plant to plant catching bugs as
fast as he could, and then she spoke.
" ' Have you stayed right here ever
since I last saw you? ' she asked.
38 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
u Mr. Toad gave a start of surprise.
1 Yes 'm, ' said he.
" ' But I thought you wanted to see
the Great World and learn things,' said
she.
" Mr. Toad looked a little embar-
rassed. ' So I did,' he replied, ' but I
wanted to be of some use, and the bugs
have kept me so busy there was no time
to travel. Besides, I have learned a
great deal right here. I I couldn't get
around fast enough to save all the
plants, but I have saved what I could.'
" Old Mother Nature was more
pleased than she was willing to show,
for Mr. Toad was the first of all the
little people who had tried to help her,
and he had done what he could will-
ingly and faithfully.
" ' I suppose,' said she, speaking a
little gruffly, ' you expect me to reward
you.'
HOW MR. TOAD LEARNED TO SING 39
" Mr. Toad looked surprised and a
little hurt. ' I don't want any reward,'
said he. ' I didn't do it for that. It
will be reward enough to know that I
really have helped and to be allowed to
continue to help.'
" At that Old Mother Nature's face
lighted with one of her most beautiful
smiles. ' Mr. Toad,' said she, l if you
could have just what you want, what
would it be? '
" Mr. Toad hesitated a few minutes
and then said shyly, ' A beautiful voice.'
" It was Old Mother Nature's turn to
look surprised. * A beautiful voice! '
she exclaimed. ' Pray, why do you
want a beautiful voice? '
" ' So that I can express my happi-
ness in the most beautiful way I know
of, by singing,' replied Mr. Toad.
" i You shall have it,' declared Old
Mother Nature, i but not all the time
40 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
lest you be tempted to forget your
work, which, you know, is the real
source of true happiness. In the spring
of each year you shall go back to your
home in the water, and there for a time
you shall sing to your heart's content,
and there shall be no sweeter voice than
yours. '
' ' Sure enough, when the next spring
came, Mr. Toad was filled with a great
longing to go home. When he got
there, he found that in his throat was a
little music bag; and when he swelled
it out, he had one of the sweetest voices
in the world. And so it has been ever
since with the Toad family. Old Mr.
Toad is one of the sweetest singers in
the Smiling Pool, but when it is time
to go 'back to work he never grumbles,
but is one of the most faithful workers
in Mother Nature's garden," concluded
Jerry Muskrat.
HOW MR. TOAD LEARNED TO SING 41
Peter sighed. ' i I never could work, ' '
said he. " Perhaps that is why I can-
not sing."
" Very likely," replied Jerry Musk-
rat, quite forgetting that he cannot
sing himself although he is a great
worker.
IV
HOW OLD MR. CROW LOST HIS DOUBLE
TONGUE
IV
HOW OLD MR. CROW LOST HIS DOUBLE
TONGUE
AW, caw, caw, caw! " Blacky
the Crow sat in the top of a
tall tree and seemed trying to
see just how much noise he could make
with that harsh voice of his. Peter
Rabbit peered out from the dear Old
Briar-patch and frowned.
" If I had a voice as unpleasant as
that, I'd forget I could talk. Yes, Sir,
I'd forget I had a tongue," declared
Peter.
Somebody laughed, and Peter turned
quickly to find Jimmy Skunk. " What
are you laughing at ? " demanded Peter.
" At the idea of you forgetting that
you had a tongue, ' ' replied Jimmy,
46 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES*
" Well, I would if I had a voice like
Blacky 's," persisted Peter, although, he
grinned a wee bit foolishly as he looked
at Jimmy Skunk, for you know Peter
is a great gossip.
" It's lucky for you that you haven't
then," retorted Jimmy. " I'm afraid
that you would lose your tongue just as
old Mr. Crow did.'
That sounded like a story. Eight
away Peter sat up and took notice.
" Did old Mr. Crow really lose his
tongue? How did he lose it? Why did
he lose it? When-"
Jimmy Skunk clapped a hand over
each ear and pretended that he was
going to run away. Peter jumped in
front of him. " No, you don't! " he
cried. " You've just got to tell me that
story, Jimmy Skunk.'
" What story? " asked Jimmy, as if
be hadn't the least idea in the world
HOW MR. CROW LOST HIS TONGUE 47
what Peter was talking about, though
of course he knew perfectly well.
" Caw, caw, caw, caw! ' shouted
Blacky the Crow from the distant tree-
top.
" The story of how old Mr. Crow lost
his tongue. You may as well tell me
first as last, because I'll give you no
peace until you do," insisted Peter.
Jimmy grinned. " If that's the case,
I guess I'll have to," said he. " Wait
until I find a comfortable place to sit
down. I never could tell a story stand-
ing up.'
At last he found a place to suit him
and after changing his position two or
three times to make sure that he was
perfectly comfortable, he began.
" Once upon a time'
" Never mind about that,' inter-
rupted Peter. " I don't see why all
stories have to begin i Once upon a
48 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
time.' It seems as if everything inter-
esting happened long ago.'
" If you don't watch out, this story
won't begin at all,' 1 declared Jimmy.
Peter looked properly ashamed for
interrupting, and Jimmy started again.
" Once upon a time old Mr. Crow,
the great-great-ever-so-great-grand -
father of Blacky, over there, possessed
the most wonderful tongue of any of
the little people who ran, walked,
crawled, or flew. He could imitate any
and everybody, and he did. He could
sing like Mr. Meadow Lark, or he could
bark like Mr. Wolf. He could whistle
like Mr. Quail, or he could growl like
old King Bear. There wasn't anybody
whose voice he couldn't imitate and do
it so well that if you had been there and
heard but not seen him, you never
would have guessed that it was an imi-
tation.
HOW MR. CROW LOST HIS TONGUE 49
" Now the imp of mischief was in old
Mr. Crow, just as it is in Blacky to-day,
and he was smart too. There wasn't
anybody smarter than old Mr. Crow.
It's from him that Blacky gets his
smartness. It didn't take him long to
discover that no one else had such a
wonderful tongue. It was even more
wonderful than the tongue of old Mr.
Mocker the Mocking Bird. Mr. Mocker
could imitate the songs of other birds,
but old Mr. Crow could imitate any-
body, as I have said. He puzzled over
it a good deal himself for a while. He
couldn't understand how he could make
any sound he pleased, while his neigh-
bors could make only a few special
sounds.
" Being very smart and shrewd, just
as Blacky is, he finally made up his
mind that it must be in his tongue. As
soon as he thought of that, he started
50 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
out to find out, and on one excuse or
another lie managed to get all his
neighbors to show him their tongues.
Sure enough, his own tongue was dif-
ferent from any of the others. It was
split a little, so that it was almost like
two tongues in one.
" ' That's it,' he chuckled. ' I knew
it. It's this little old tongue of mine.
Nobody else has got one like it, but
nobody knows that but me. I must
make good use of it. Yes, Sir, I must
make good use of it.'
" Now when old Mr. Crow said that,
lie didn't really mean good use at all.
That is, he didn't mean what you or I
or any of his neighbors would have
called good use. What he did mean
was the use that would bring to him-
self the greatest gain in pleasure, and
being a great joker, he began by having
a lot of fun with his neighbors. When
HOW MR. CROW LOST HIS TONGUE 51
he saw Mr. Rabbit, your grandfather a
thousand times removed, coming along,
he would hide, and just as Mr. Babbit
was passing, he would snarl like Mr.
Lynx. Of course Mr. Rabbit would be
scared almost to death, and away he
would go, lipperty-lipperty-lip, and old
Mr. Crow would laugh so that he had
to hold his black sides. He would hide
in the top of a tree near Mr. Squirrel's
home, and just when Mr. Squirrel had
found a fat nut and started to eat it,
he would scream like Mr, Hawk and
then laugh to see Mr. Squirrel drop his
nut and dive headfirst into the nearest
hole. He would squeak like a mouse
when Mr. Fox was passing, just to see
Mr. Fox hunt and hunt for the dinner
he felt sure was close at hand.
" But after a while Mr. Crow wasn't
satisfied with harmless jokes. Times
were getting hard, and everybody had
52 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
to work to get enough to eat. This
didn't suit Mr. Crow at all, and one day
when he chanced to discover one of his
neighbors just sitting down to a good
meal, a new idea came to him. He stole
as near as he could without being seen
and suddenly growled like old King
Bear. Of course that meal was left in
a hurry. ' It is too bad to see all that
good food go to waste/ said Mr. Crow
and promptly ate it.
" After that, instead of hunting for
food himself, he just kept a sharp eye
on his neighbors, and when they had
found something he wanted, he fright-
ened them away and helped himself.
All the time he was so sly about it that
never once was he suspected. He was a
great talker, was Mr. Crow, and spent
a great deal of time gossiping, and he
was always one of the first to offer
sympathy to those who had lost a meaL
HOW MR. CROW LOST HIS TONGUE 33
" Now all this time, unknown to old
Mr. Crow, Old Mother Nature knew
just what was going on, for you can't
fool her, and it's of no use to try. One
morning Mr. Crow discovered Mr. Coon
just sitting down to a good breakfast.
He stole up behind Mr. Coon and
opened his mouth to bark like Mr.
Coyote, but instead of a bark, there
came forth a harsh ' Caw, caw, caw.'
It is a question which was the more
surprised, Mr. Coon or Mr. Crow. Mr.
Coon didn't forget his manners. He
politely invited Mr. Crow to sit down
and take breakfast with him. But Mr.
Crow had lost his appetite. Somehow
his tongue felt very queer. He thanked
Mr. Coon and begged to be excused.
Then he hurried over to the nearest pool
of water in which he could see his re-
flection and stuck out his tongue. It
was no longer split into a double
54 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
tongue. Then old Mr. Crow guessed that
Old Mother Nature had found him out
and punished him, but to make sure,
he flew to the most lonesome place he
knew of, and there he tried to imitate
the voices of his neighbors; but try as
he would, all he could say was i Caw,
caw, caw.'
" For a long, long time after that no
one ever heard Mr. Crow say a word.
His neighbors didn't know what to
make of it, for you remember he had
been a great gossip. They said that he
must have lost his tongue. Of course
he hadn't, but he felt that he might as
well have. And ever since then the
Crow family has had the harshest of all
voices."
" Caw, caw, caw! ' shouted Blacky
from the top of the tree where he was
sitting.
" I wonder," said Peter Eabbit
HOW MR. CROW LOST HIS TONGUE 55
thoughtfully, " if he could imitate other
people if his tongue should be split. 7
" I've heard say that he could,' re-
plied Jimmy Skunk, " but I don't
know. One thing is sure, and that is
that he is just as smart and sly as his
great - great - ever - so - great - grand-
father was, and I guess it is just as well
that his tongue is just as it is."
HOW HOWLER THE WOLF GOT HIS
NAME
HOW HOWLER THE WOLF GOT HIS NAME
PETER RABBIT never had seen
Howler the Wolf, but he had
heard his voice in the distance,
and the mere sound had given him cold
shivers. It just went all through him.
It was very different from the voice of
Old Man Coyote. The latter is bad
enough, sounding as it does like many
voices, but there is not in it that terrible
fierceness which the voice of his big
cousin contains. Peter had no desire
to hear it any nearer. The first time he
met his cousin, Jumper the Hare, he
asked him about Howler, for Jumper
had come down to the Green Forest
from the Great Woods where Howler
lives and is feared.
60 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
" Did you hear him? : exclaimed
Jumper. " I hope he won't take it
into his head to come down here. I
don't believe he will, because it is too
near the homes of men. If the sound
of his voice way off there gave you cold
shivers, I'm afraid you'd shake all to
pieces if you heard him close by. He's
just as fierce as his voice sounds. There
is one thing about him that I like,
though, and that is that he gives fair
warning w r hen he is hunting. He
doesn't come sneaking about without a
sound, like Tufty the Lynx. He hunts
like Bowser the Hound and lets you
know that he is out hunting. Did you
ever hear how he got his name ? '
66 No. How did he get his name? '
asked Peter eagerly.
" Well, of course it's a family name
now and is handed down and has been
for years and years, ever since the first
HOW THE WOLF GOT HIS NAME 61
Wolf began hunting way back when the
world was young,' explained Jumper.
" For a long time the first Wolf had no
name. Most of the other animals and
birds had names, but nothing seemed
to just fit the big gray Wolf. He looked
a great deal like his cousin, Mr. Dog,
and still more like his other cousin, Mr.
Coyote. But he was stronger than
either, could run farther and faster
than either, and had quite as wonder-
ful a nose as either.
"With Mr. Wolf, as with all the
other animals, life was an easy matter
at first. There was plenty to eat, and
everybody was on good terms with
everybody else. But there came a time,
a.s you know, when food became scarce.
It was then that the big learned to
hunt the small, and fear was born into
the world. Mr. Wolf was swift of leg
and keen of nose. His teeth were long
62 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
and sharp, and he was so strong that
there were few he feared to fight with.
In fact, he didn't know fear at all, for
he simply kept out of the way of those
who were too big and strong for him to
fight.
" Most people like to do the things
they know they can do well. Mr. Wolf
early learned the joy of hunting!. I
can 't understand it myself. Can you ? ' '
Peter shook his head. You see
neither Jumper nor Peter ever have
hunted any one in all their lives. It is
always they who are hunted.
" Perhaps it was because he was so
strong of wind and leg that he enjoyed
running, and because he was so keen
of nose that he enjoyed following a trail.
Anyway, he scorned to spend his time
sneaking about as did his cousin, Mr.
Coyote, but chose to follow the swiftest
runners and to match his nose and
HOW THE WOLF GOT HIS NAME 63
speed and skill against their speed and
wits. He didn't bother to hunt little
people like us when there were big peo-
ple like Mr. Deer. The longer and
harder the hunt, the more Mr. Wolf
seemed to enjoy it.
" At first he hunted silently, running
swiftly with his nose to the ground.
But this gave the ones he hunted very
little chance; he was upon them before
they even suspected that he was on
their trail. It always made Mr. Wolf
feel mean. He never could hold his
head and his tail up after that kind of
a hunt. He felt so like a sneak that he
just had to put his tail between his legs
for very shame. There was nothing
to be proud about in such a hunt.
" One night he sat thinking about it.
Gentle Mistress Moon looked down at
him through the tree-tops, and some-
thing inside hi urged him to tell her
64 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
his troubles. He pointed his sharp nose
up at her, opened his mouth and, be-
cause she was so far away, did his best
to make her hear. That was the very
first Wolf howl ever heard. There was
something very lonely and shivery and
terrible in the sound, and all who heard
it shook with fear. Mr. Wolf didn't
know this, but he did know that he felt
better for howling. So every night he
pointed his nose up at Mistress Moon
and howled.
66 It happened that once as he did
this, a Deer jumped at the first sound
and rushed away in great fright. This
gave Mr. Wolf an idea. The next day
when he went hunting he threw up his
head and howled at the very first smell
of fresh tracks. That day he had the
longest hunt he ever had known, for
the Deer had had fair warning. Mr.
Wolf didn't get the Deer, because the
HOW THE WOLF GOT HIS NAME 65
latter swam across a lake and so got
away, but lie returned home in high
spirits in spite of an empty stomach.
You see, he felt that it had been a fair
hunt. After that he always gave fair
warning. As he ran, he howled for very
joy. No longer did he carry his bushy
tail between his legs, for no longer did
he feel like a coward and a sneak. In-
stead, he carried it proudly. Of all the
animals who hunted, he was the only
one who gave fair warning, and he felt
that he had a right to be proud. All the
others hunted by stealth. He alone
hunted openly and boldly.
" Now this earned for him first the
dislike and then the hatred of the other
hunters. You see, when he was hunt-
ing, he spoiled the hunting of those who
stole soft-footed through the Green
Forest and caught their victims by sur-
prise. The little people heard his voice
66 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
and either hid away or were on guard,
so that it was hard work for the silent
hunters to surprise them. At the sound
of his hunting cry, old King Bear, who
was king no longer, would growl a deep,
rumbly-grumbly growl, though he
didn't mind so much as some, because
he did very little hunting. He wouldn't
have done any if food had not been so
scarce, because he would have been en-
tirely satisfied with berries and roots,
if he could have found enough. Mr.
Lynx and Mr. Panther would snarl
angrily. Mr. Coyote and Mr. Fox
would show their teeth and mutter
about what they would do to Mr. Wolf
if only they were big enough and strong
enough and brave enough.
" Of course, it wasn't long before Mr.
Wolf discovered that he had no friends.
The little people feared him, and the
big people hated him because he spoiled
Old King Bear, who was king no longer, would
grow a deep, rumbly-grumbly growl."
HOW THE WOLF GOT HIS NAME 67
their hunting. But he didn't mind. In
fact, he looked down on Mr. Lynx and
Mr. Panther and Mr. Coyote and Mr.
Fox, and when he met them, he lifted
his tail a little more proudly than ever.
Sometimes he would howl out of pure
mischief just to spoil the hunting of the
others. So, little by little, he began to
be spoken of as Howler the Wolf, and
after a while everybody called htm
Howler.
" Of course, Howler taught his chil-
dren how to hunt and that the only hon-
orable and fair way was to give those
they hunted fair w r arning. So it grew
to be a fixed habit of the Wolf family
to give fair warning that they were
abroad and then trust to their wind
and wits and speed and noses to catch
those they were after. The result was
that they grew strong, able to travel
long distances, keen of nose, and sharp
68 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
of wit. Because the big people hated
them, and the little people feared them,
they lived by themselves and so formed
the habit of hunting together for com-
pany.
" It has been so ever since, and the
name Howler has been handed down to
this day. No sound in all the Great
Woods carries with it more fear than
does the voice of Howler the Wolf, and
no one hunts so openly, boldly, and hon-
orably. Be thankful, Peter, that
Howler never comes down to the Green
Forest, but stays far from the homes
of men."
" I am," replied Peter. " Just the
same, I think he deserves a better name
for the fair way in which he hunts,
though his name certainly does fit him.
I would a lot rather be caught by some
one who had given me fair warning
than by some one who came sneaking
HOW THE WOLF GOT HIS NAME 69
after me and gave me no warning. But
I don't want to be caught at all, so I
think I'll hurry back to the dear Old
Briar-patch. " And Peter did.
VI
HOW OLD MR. SQUIRREL BECAME
THRIFTY
VI
HOW OLD MR. SQUIRREL BECAME THRIFTY
GRANDFATHER FROG sat on
his big green lily-pad in the
Smiling Pool and shook his head
reprovingly at Peter Rabbit. Peter is
such a happy-go-lucky little fellow that
he never thinks of anything but the
good time he can have in the present,
He never looks ahead to the future. So
of course Peter seldom worries. If tho
sun shines to-day, Peter takes it foi
granted that it will shine to-morrow ; sr
he hops and skips and has a good time
and just trusts to luck.
Now Grandfather Frog is very old
and very wise, and he doesn't believo
74 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
in luck. No, Sir, Grandfather Frog
doesn't believe in luck.
" Chug-a-rum! " says Grandfather
Frog, " Luck never just happens.
What people call bad luck is just the
result of their own foolishness or care-
lessness or both, and what people call
good luck is just the result of their own
wisdom and carefulness and common
sense."
Peter Babbit had been making fun of
Happy Jack Squirrel because Happy
Jack said that he had too much to do
to stop and play that morning. Here it
was summer, and winter was a long
way off. What was summer for if not
to play in and have a good time? Yet
Happy Jack was already thinking of
winter and was hunting for a new
storehouse so as to have it ready when
ihe time to fill it with nuts should come.
It was much better to play and take
MR. SQUIRREL BECOMES THRIFTY 75
sun-naps among the buttercups and
daisies and just have a good time all
day long.
" Chug-a-rum! " said Grandfather
Frog, " Did you ever hear how old Mr.
Squirrel learned thrift? "
" No/' cried Peter Rabbit, stretching
himself out in the soft grass on the edge
of the Smiling Pool. " Do tell us about
it. Please do, Grandfather Frog! "
You know Peter dearly loves a story.
All the other little meadow and for-
est people who were about the Smiling
Pool joined Peter Rabbit in begging
Grandfather Frog for the story, and
after they had teased for it a long time
(Grandfather Frog dearly loves to be
teased), he cleared his throat and be-
gan.
" Once upon a time when the world
was young, in the days when old King
Bear ruled in the Green Forest, every-
70 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
body had to take King Bear presents of
things to eat. That was because he was
king. You know kings never have to
work like other people to get enough to
eat; everybody brings them a little of
their best, and so kings have the best
in the land without the trouble of work-
ing for it. It was just this way with
old King Bear. That was before he
grew so fat and lazy and selfish that
Old Mother Nature declared that he
should be king no longer.
" Now in those days lived old Mr.
Squirrel, the grandfather a thousand
times removed of Happy Jack Squirrel
whom you all know. Of course, he
wasn't old then. He was young and
frisky, just like Happy Jack, and he
was a great favorite with old King
Bear. He was a saucy fellow, was Mr.
Squirrel, and he used to spend most of
his time playing tricks on the other
MR. SQUIRREL BECOMES THRIFTY 77
meadow and forest people. He even
dared to play jokes on old King Bear.
Sometimes old King Bear would lose
his temper, and then Mr. Squirrel
would whisk up in the top of a tall tree
and keep out of sight until old King
Bear had recovered his good nature.
" Those were happy days, very
happy days indeed, and old King Bear
was a very wise ruler. There was
plenty of everything to eat, and so no-
body missed the little they brought to
old King Bear. Having so much
brought to him, he grew very particu-
lar. Yes, Sir, old King Bear grew very
particular indeed. Some began to whis-
per behind his back that he was fussy.
He would pick out the very best of
everything for himself and give the
rest to his family and special friends
or else just let it go to waste,
" Now old King Bear was very fond
78 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
of lively little Mr. Squirrel, and often
lie would give Mr. Squirrel some of the
good things for which he had no room
in his own stomach. Mr. Squirrel was
smart. He soon found out that the
more he amused old King Bear, the
more of King Bear's good things he
had. It was a lot easier to get his liv-
ing this way than to hunt for his food
as he always had in the past. Besides,
it was a lot more fun. So little Mr.
Squirrel studied how to please old King
Bear, and he grew fat on the good
things which other people had earned.
" One day old King Bear gave little
Mr. Squirrel six big, fat nuts. You
see, old King Bear didn't care for nuts
himself, not the kind with the hard
shells, anyway, so he really wasn't as
generous as he seemed, which is the way
with a great many people. It is easy
to give what you don't want yourself.
MR. SQUIRREL BECOMES THRIFTY 79
Little Mr. Squirrel bowed very low and
thanked old King Bear in his best man-
ner. He really didn't want those nuts,
for his stomach was full at the time,
but it wouldn't do to refuse a gift from
the king. So he took the nuts and pre-
tended to be delighted with them.
" ' What shall I do with them? ' said
little Mr. Squirrel as soon as he was
alone. ' It won't do for me to leave
them where old King Bear will find
them, for it might make him very an-
gry.' At last he remembered a certain
hollow tree. l The very place! ' cried
little Mr. Squirrel. ; I'll drop them in
there, and no one will be any the wiser.'
" No sooner thought of than it was
done, and little Mr. Squirrel frisked
away in his usual happy-go-lucky fash-
ion and forgot all about the nuts in the
hollow tree. It wasn't very long after
this that Old Mother Nature began to
80 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
hear complaints of old King Bear and
his rule in the Green Forest. He had
grown fat and lazy, and all his relatives
had grown fat and lazy because, you
see, none of them had to work for the
things they ate. The little forest and
meadow people were growing tired of
feeding the Bear family. It was just
at the beginning of winter when Old
Mother Nature came to see for herself
what the trouble was. It didn't take
her long to find out. No, Sir, it didn't
take her long. You can't fool Old
Mother Nature, and it's of no use to
try. She took one good look at old
King Bear nodding in the cave where
he used to sleep. He was so fat he
looked as if he would burst his skin.
66 Old Mother Nature frowned. ' You
are such a lazy fellow that you shall be
king no longer. Instead, you shall sleep
all winter and grow thin and thinner
MR. SQUIRREL BECOMES THRIFTY 81
rill you awake in the spring, and then
you will have to hunt for your own
food, for never again shall you live on
the gifts of others,' said she.
" All the little forest and meadow
people who had been bringing tribute,
that is things to eat, to old King Bear
rejoiced that they need do so no longer
and went about their business. All of
old King Bear's family, including his
cousin Mr. Coon, had been put to sleep
just like old King Bear himself. Yes,
Sir, they were all asleep, fast asleep.
" Little Mr. Squirrel felt lonesome.
He grew more lonesome every day.
None of the other little people would
have anything to do with him because
they remembered how he had lived
without working when he was the fa-
vorite of King Bear. The weather was
cold, and it was hard work to find any-
thing to eat. Mr. Squirrel was hungry
82 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
all the time. He couldn't think of any-
thing but his stomach and how empty
it was. He grew thin and thinner.
" One cold dav when the snow cov-
*/
ered the earth, little Mr. Squirrel went
without breakfast. Then he went
without dinner. You see, he couldn't
find so much as a pine-seed to eat. Late
in the afternoon he crept into a hollow
tree to get away from the cold, bitter
wind. He was very tired and very cold
and very, very hungry. Tears filled his
eyes and ran over and dripped from his
nose. He curled up on the leaves at the
bottom of the hollow to try to go to
sleep and forget. Under him was some-
thing hard. He twisted and turned,
but he couldn't get in a comfortable
position. Finally he looked to see what
the trouble was caused by. What do
you think he found? Six big, fat nuts !
Yes, Sir, six big, fat nuts! Little Mr.
MR SQUIRREL BECOMES THRIFTY 83
Squirrel was so glad that he cried for
very joy.
" When he had eaten two, he felt
better and decided to keep the others
for the next day. Then he began to
wonder how those nuts happened to be
in that hollow tree. He thought and
thought, and at last he remembered
how he had hidden six nuts in this very
hollow a long time before, when he had
had more than he knew what to do
with. These were the very nuts, the
present of old King Bear.
" Right then as he thought about it,
little Mr. Squirrel had a bright idea.
He made up his mind that thereafter
he would stop his happy-go-lucky idle-
ness, and the first time that ever he
found plenty of food, he would fill that
hollow tree just as full as he could pack
it, and then if there should come a time
when food was scarce, he would have
84 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
plenty. And that is just what he did
do. The next fall when nuts were plen-
tiful, he worked from morning till
night storing them away in the hollow
tree, and all that whiter he was happy
and fat, for he had plenty to eat. He
never had to beg of any one. He had
learned to save.
" And ever since then the Squirrels
have been among the wisest of all the
little forest people and always the busi-
est.
" The Squirrel family long since learned
That things are best when duly earned;
That play and fun are found in work
By him who does not try to shirk.
" And that's all," finished Grand-
father Frog.
" Thank you! Thank you, Grand-
father Frog! " cried Peter Babbit.
VII
HOW LIGHTFOOT THE DEER LEAENED
TO JUMP
vn
HOW LIGHTFOOT THE DEER LEARNED TO
JUMP
IT isn't often that Peter Rabbit is
filled with envy. As a rule, Peter
is very free from anything like
envy. Usually he is quite content with
the gifts bestowed upon him by Old
Mother Nature, and if others have more
than he has, he is glad for them and
wastes no time fretting because he has
not been so fortunate. But once in a
great while Peter becomes really and
truly envious. It was that way the
first time he saw Lightfoot the Deer
leap over a fallen tree, and ever after,
when he saw Lightfoot, a little of that
same feeling stirred in his heart. You
88 MOTHER WEST WIND~"HOW" STORIES
see, Peter always had been very proud
of his own powers of jumping. To be
sure Jumper the Hare could jump
higher and farther than he could, but
Jumper is his own cousin, so it was all
in the family, so to speak, and Peter
didn't mind. But to see Lightfoot the
Deer go sailing over the tops of the
bushes and over the fallen trees as if
he had springs in his legs was quite
another matter.
" I wish I could jump like that," said
Peter right out loud one day, as he
stood with his hands on his hips watch-
ing Lightfoot leap over a pile of brush.
" Why don't you learn to? " asked
Jimmy Skunk with a mischievous
twinkle in the eye which Peter couldn't
see. " Lightfoot couldn't always jump
like that; he had to learn. Why don't
you find out how? Probably Grand-
father Frog knows all about it. He
HOW THE DEEIT LEARNED 89
knows about almost everything. If 1
^ere you, I'd ask him.'
" I I I don't just like to," replied
Peter. "I've asked him so many ques-
tions that I am afraid he'll think me a
nuisance. I tell you what, Jimmy, you
ask him! " Peter's eyes brightened as
he said this.
Jimmy chuckled. " No, you don't! "
said he. " If there is anything you
want to know from Grandfather Frog,
ask him yourself . I don't want to know
how Lightfoot learned to jump. He
may jump over the moon, for all I care.
Have you seen any fat beetles this
morning, Peter? '
" No," replied Peter shortly. " I'm
not interested in beetles. There may
never be any fat beetles, for all I care.'
Jimmy laughed. It was a good-
natured, chuckling kind of a laugh.
" Don't get huffy, Peter," said he.
90 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
" Here's hoping that you learn how to
jump like Lightf oot the Deer, and that
I get a stomachful of fat beetles.'
With that Jimmy Skunk slowly ambled
along down the Crooked Little Path.
Peter watched him out of sight,
sighed, started for the dear Old Briar-
patch, stopped, sighed again, and then
headed straight for the Smiling Pool.
Grandfather Frog was there on his big
green lily-pad, and Peter wasted no
time.
" How did Lightf oot the Deer learn
to jump so splendidly, Grandfather
Frog? " he blurted out almost before he
had stopped running.
Grandfather Frog blinked his great,
goggly eyes. " Chug-a-rum! ' ' said he,
" If you'll jump across the Laughing
Brook over there where it comes into
the Smiling Pool, I'll tell you."
Peter looked at the Laughing Brook
HOW THE DEER LEARNED '91
in dismay. It was quite wide at that
point. " I I can't," he stammered.
" Then I can't tell you how Light-
foot learned to jump,' replied Grand-
father Frog, quite as if the matter were
settled.
"I-Tll try!" Peter hastened to
blurt out.
" All right. While you are trying,
I'll see if I can remember the story,'
replied Grandfather Frog.
Peter went back a little so as to get
a good start. Then he ran as hard as
he knew how, and when he reached the
bank of the Laughing Brook, he jumped
with all his might. It was a good
jump a splendid jump but it wasn't
quite enough of a jump, and Peter
landed with a great splash in the water!
Grandfather Frog opened his great
mouth as wide as he could, which is
very wide indeed, rnd laughed until the
92 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
tears rolled down from his great, goggly
eyes. Jerry Muskrat and Billy Mink
rolled over and over on the bank, laugh-
ing until their sides ached. Even
Spotty the Turtle smiled, which is very
unusual for Spotty.
Now Peter does not like the water,
and though he can swim, he doesn't feel
at all at home in it. He paddled for the
shore as fast as he could, and in his
heart was something very like anger.
No one likes to be laughed at. Peter
intended to start for home the very
minute he reached the shore. But just
before his feet touched bottom, he heard
the great, deep voice of Grandfather
Frog.
" That is just the way Lightfoot the
Deer learned to jump trying to do
what he couldn't do and keeping at it
until he could. It all happened a great
while ago when the world was young.'
HOW THE DEER LEARNED 93
Grandfather Frog was talking quite as
if nothing had happened, and he had
never thought of laughing. Peter was
so put out that he wanted to keep right
on, but he just couldn't miss that story.
His curiosity wouldn't let him. So he
shook himself and then lay dow r n in the
sunniest spot he could find within
hearing.
66 Lightf oot 's great- great- ever- so-
great-grandfather was named Lightf oot
too, and was not a whit less handsome
than Lightf oot is now,' continued
Grandfather Frog in his best story-
telling voice. " He had just such slim
legs as Lightf oot has now and just such
wonderful, branching horns. When he
had the latter, he w T as not much afraid
of anybody. Those enemies swift
enough of foot to catch him he could
successfully fight with his horns, and
those too big and strong for him to fight
94 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
were not swift enough to catch him.
But there was a season in every year
when he had no horns, as is the case
with Lightf oot. You know, or ought to
know, that every spring Lightf oot loses
his horns and through the summer a
new pair grows. It was so with Mr.
Deer of that long-ago time, and when he
lost those great horns, he felt very
helpless and timid.
" Now old Mr. Deer loved the open
meadows and spent most of his time
there. When he had to run, he wanted
nothing in the way of his slim legs.
And how he could run! My, my, my,
how he could run! But there were
others who could run swiftly in those
days too, Mr. Wolf and Mr. Dog. Mr.
Deer always had a feeling that some
day one or the other would catch him.
When he had his horns, this thought
didn't worry him much, but when he
HOW THE DEER LEARNED 95
had lost his horns, it worried him a
great deal. He felt perfectly helpless
then. ' The thing for me to do is to
keep out of sight/ said he to himself,
and so instead of going out on the
meadows and in the open places, he hid
among the bushes and in the brush on
the edge of the Green Forest and be-
hind the fallen trees in the Green For-
est.
" But one thing troubled old Mr.
Deer, who wasn't old then, you know.
Yes, Sir, one thing troubled him a great
deal. He couldn't run fast at all among
the bushes and the fallen trees and the
old logs. This was a new worry, and it
troubled him almost as much as the old
worry. He felt that he was in a dread-
ful fix. You see, hard tunes had come,
and the big and strong were preying on
the weak and small in order to live.
" ' If I stay out on the meadows, I
96 MOTHER WEST WIND "liuW" STORIES
cannot fight if I am caught; and if I
stay here, I cannot run fast if I am
found by my enemies. Oh, dear! Oh,
dear! What shall I do? ' cried Mr.
Deer, as he lay hidden among the
branches of a fallen hemlock-tree.
" Just at that very minute along
came Mr. Hare, the great - great - ever -
so - great - grandfather of your cousin
Jumper. A big log was in his path, and
he jumped over it as lightly as a
feather. Mr. Deer watched him and
sighed. If only he could jump like that
in proportion to his size, he would just
jump over the bushes and the fallen
logs and the fallen trees instead of try-
ing to run around them or squeeze be-
tween them. Right then he had an
idea. Why shouldn't he learn to jump?
He could try, anyway. So when he was
sure that no one was around to see him,
he practised jumping over little low
HOW THE DEER LEARNED 97
bushes. At first he couldn't do much,
but he kept trying and trying, and little
by little he jumped higher. It was
hard work, and he scraped his slim legs
many times when he tried to jump over
old logs and stumps.
" Now all this time some one had
been watching him, though he didn't
know it. It was Old Mother Nature.
One day she stopped him as he was
trotting along a path. ' What is this
you are doing when you think no one
is watching? ' she demanded, looking
very cross. ' Haven't I given you
beauty and speed? And yet you are
not satisfied ! ' Mr. Deer hung his head.
Then suddenly he threw it up proudly
and told Old Mother Nature that he had
not complained, but that through his
own efforts he was just trying to add
to the blessings which he did have, and
he explained why he wanted to learn to
98 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
jump. Old Mother Nature heard him
through. l Let me see you jump over
that bush,' she snapped crossly, point-
ing to a bush almost as high as Mr.
Deer himself.
" ' Oh, I can't jump nearly as high
as that! : he cried. Then tossing his
head proudly, he added, i But I'll try.'
So just as Peter Babbit tried to jump
the Laughing Brook when he felt sure
that he couldn't, Mr. Deer tried to
jump the bush. Just imagine how sur-
prised he was when he sailed over it
without even touching the top of it with
his hoofs! Old Mother Nature had
given him the gift of jumping as a re-
ward for his perseverance and because
she saw that he really had need of it.
" So ever since that long-ago day, the
Deer have lived where the brush is
thickest and the Green Forest most
tangled, because they are such great
HOW THE DEER LEARNED 99
jumpers that they can travel faster
there than their enemies, and they are
no longer so swift of foot in the open
meadows. Now, Peter, let's see you
jump over the Laughing Brook."
What do you think Peter did? Why,
he tried again, and laughed just as hard
as the others when once more he landed
in the water with a great splash.
VIII
HOW MR. FLYING SQUIRREL ALMOST
GOT WINGS
HOW MR. FLYING SQUIRREL ALMOST GOT
WINGS
JIMMY SKUNK and Peter Rabbit
were having a dispute. It was a
good-natured dispute, but both
Jimmy and Peter are very decided in
their opinions, and neither would give
in to the other. Finally they decided
that as neither could convince the other,
they should leave it for Grandfather
Frog to decide which was right. So
they straightway started for the Smi-
ling Pool, where on his big green lily-
pad Grandfather Frog was enjoying the
twilight and leading the great Frog
chorus. Both agreed that they would
accept Grandfather Frog's decision.
104 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
You see, each was sure that he was
right.
When they reached the Smiling Pool,
they found Grandfather Frog looking
very comfortable and old and wise.
" Good evening, Grandfather Frog. I
hope you are feeling just as fine as you
look," said Jimmy Skunk, who never
forgets to be polite.
" Chug-a-rum! I'm feeling very
well, thank you," replied Grandfather
Frog. " What brings you to the Smi-
ling Pool this fine evening? " He
looked very hard at Peter Rabbit, for
he suspected that Peter had come for
a story.
" To get the wisest person of whom
we know to decide a matter on which
Peter and I cannot agree; and who is
there so wise as Grandfather Frog? "
replied Jimmy.
Grandfather Frog looked immensely
MR. FLYING SQUIRREL'S WINGS
pleased. It always pleases him to be
considered wise. " Chug-a-rum! " said
he gruffly. " You have a very smooth
tongue, Jimmy Skunk. But what is
this matter on which you cannot
agree?"
" How many animals can fly? " re-
turned Jimmy, by way of answer.
" One," replied Grandfather Frog.
" I thought everybody knew that.
Flitter the Bat is the only animal who
can fly."
" You forget Timmy, the Flying
Squirrel! " cried Peter excitedly.
tk That makes two."
Grandfather Frog shook his head.
" Peter, Peter, whatever is the matter
with those eyes of yours? ' he ex-
claimed. " They certainly are big
enough. I wonder if you ever will
learn to use them. Half-seeing is
sometimes worse than not seeing at all
106 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
Timmy cannot fly any more than I
can."
"
What did I tell you? " cried Jimmy
Skunk triumphantly.
" But I've seen him fly lots of
times! " persisted Peter. " I guess
that any one who has envied him as
often as I have ought to know.'
" Hump! " grunted Grandfather
Frog. " I guess that's the trouble.
There was so much envy that it got into
your eyes, and you couldn't see straight.
Envy is a bad thing.'
Jimmy Skunk chuckled.
" Did you ever see him away from
trees? " continued Grandfather Frog.
" No," confessed Peter.
" Did you ever see him cut circles in
the air like Flitter the Bat? "
" ISTo-o," replied Peter slowly.
" Of course not," retorted Grand-
father Frog. " The reason is because
MR. FLYING SQUIRREL'S WINGS 107"
he doesn't fly. He hasn't any wings.
What he does do is to coast on the air.
He's the greatest jumper and coaster in
the Green Forest."
" Coast on the air! " exclaimed
Peter. " I never heard of such a
thing."
" There are many things you never
have heard of," replied Grandfather
Frog. " Sit down, Peter, and stop fid-
geting, and I'll tell you a story.'
The very word story was enough to
make Peter forget everything else, and
he promptly sat down with his big eyes
fixed on Grandfather Frog.
"It happened," began Grandfather
Frog, " that way back in the beginning
of things, there lived a very timid mem-
ber of the Squirrel family, own cousin
to Mr. Red Squirrel and Mr. Gray
Squirrel, but not at all like them, for
he was very gentle and very shy. Per-
108 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
haps this was partly because he was
very small and was not big enough or
strong enough to fight his way as the
others did. In fact, this little Mr.
Squirrel was so timid that he preferred
to stay out of sight during the day,
when so many were abroad. He felt
safer in the dusk of evening, and so he
used to wait until jolly, round, red Mr.
Sun had gone to bed behind the Purple
Hills before he ventured out to hunt
for his food. Then his quarrelsome
cousins had gone to bed, and there was
no one to drive him away when he found
a feast of good things.
" But even at night there was plenty
of danger. There was Mr. Owl to be
watched out for, and other night prowl-
ers. In fact, little Mr. Squirrel didn't
feel safe on the ground a minute, and
so he kept to the trees as much as pos-
sible. Of course, when the branches of
MR. FLYING SQUIRREL'S WINGS 109
one tree reached to the branches of an-
other tree, it was an easy matter to
travel through the tree-tops, but every
once in a while there would be open
places to cross, and many a fright did
timid little Mr. Squirrel have as he
scampered across these open places.
He used to sit and watch old Mr. Bat
flying about and wish that he had wings.
Then he thought how foolish it was to
wish for something he hadn't got and
couldn't have.
" ' The thing to do/ said little Mr.
Squirrel to himself, ' is to make the
most of what I have got. Now I am a
pretty good juniper, but if I keep jump-
ing, perhaps I can learn to jump better
than I do now.'
" So every night Mr. Squirrel used to
go off by himself, where he was sure no
one would see him, and practise jump-
ing. He would climb an old stump and
110 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
then jump as far as he could. Then he
would do it all over again ever so many
times, and after a little he found that
he went farther, quite a little farther,
than when he began. Then one night he
made a discovery. He found that by
spreading his arms and legs out just as
far as possible and making himself as
flat as he could, he could go almost
twice as far as he had been able to go
before, and he landed a great dea]
easier. It was like sliding down on the
air. It was great fun, and pretty soon
he was spending all his spare time do-
ing it.
" One moonlight night, Old Mother
Nature happened along and sat down
on a log to watch him. Little Mr.
Squirrel didn't see her, and when at
last she asked him what he was doing,
he was so surprised and confused that
he could hardly find his tongue. At
MR. FLYING SQUIRREL'S WINGS 111
he told her that he was trying to learn
to jump better that he might better take
care of himself. The idea pleased Old
Mother Nature. You know she is al-
ways pleased when she finds people try-
ing to help themselves.
" ' That's a splendid idea,' said she.
1 I'll help you. I'll make you the great-
est jumper in the Green Forest.'
" Then she gave to little Mr. Squir-
rel something almost but not quite like
wings. Between his fore legs and hind
legs on each side she stretched a piece
of skin that folded right down against
his body when he was walking or run-
ning so as to hardly show and wasn't in
the way at all.
" ' Now,' said she, ' climb that tal)
tree over yonder clear to the top and
then jump with all your might for that
tree over there across that open place.'
" It was ten times as far as little Mr.
112 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
Squirrel ever had jumped before, and
the tree was so tall that he felt sure
that he would break his neck when he
struck the ground. He was afraid,
very much afraid. But Old Mother Na-
ture had told him to do it. He knew
that he ought to trust her. So he
climbed the tall tree. It was a fright-
ful distance down to the ground, and
that other tree was so far away that it
was foolish to even think of reaching it.
" ' Jump! ' commanded Old Mother
Nature.
" Little Mr. Squirrel gulped very
hard, trying to swallow his fear. Then
he jumped with all his might, and just
as he had taught himself to do, spread
himself out as flat as he could. Just
imagine how surprised he was and how
tickled when he just coasted down on
the air clear across the open place and
landed as lightly as a feather on the
MR. FLYING SQUIRREL'S WINGS 113
foot of that distant tree! You see, the
skin between his legs when he spread
them out had kept him from falling
straight down. Of course if he hadn't
jumped with all his might, as Old
Mother Nature had told him to, even
though he thought it wouldn't be of
any use, he wouldn't have reached that
other tree.
" He was so delighted that he wanted
to do it right over again, but he didn't
forget his manners. He first thanked
Old Mother Nature.
" She smiled. i See that you keep
out of danger, for that is why I have
made you the greatest jumper in the
Green Forest,' said she.
" Little Mr. Squirrel did. People
who, like Peter, did not use their eyes,
thought that he could fly, and he was
called the Flying Squirrel. He was the
great - great - ever - so - great - grand-
114 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
father of Timmy whom you both
know."
66 And Timmy doesn't really fly at
all, does he? " asked Jimmy Skunk.
6 ' Certainly not. He jumps and slides
on the air," replied Grandfather Frog.
" What did I tell you? " cried Jimmy
triumphantly to Peter.
" Well, anyway, it's next thing to
flying. I wish I could do it," replied
Peter.
IX
HOW MR. WEASEL WAS MADE AN
OUTCAST
IX
HOW MR. WEASEL WAS MADE AN OUTCAST
CHATTERER THE RED
SQUIRREL peered down from
the edge of an old nest built long
ago in a big hemlock-tree in the Green
Forest, and if you could have looked
into Chatterer's eyes, you would have
seen there a great fear. He looked this
way; he looked that way. Little by
little, the fear left him, and when at
last he saw Peter Rabbit coming his
way, he gave a little sigh of relief and
ran down the tree. Peter saw him and
headed straight toward him to pass the
time of day,
" Peter," whispered Chatterer, as
118 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
soon as Peter was near enough to hear,
" have you seen Shadow the Weasel? '
It was Peter's turn to look fright-
ened, and he hastily glanced this way
and that way. " No, " he replied. "Is
he anywhere about here? '
" I saw him pass about five minutes
ago, but he seemed to be in a hurry,
and I guess he has gone now," returned
Chatterer, still whispering.
" I hope so! My goodness, I hope
so! " exclaimed Peter, still looking this
way and that way uneasily.
" I hate him! " declared Chatterer
fiercely.
" So do I," replied Peter. " I guess
everybody does. It must be dreadful
to be hated by everybody. I don't be-
lieve he has got a single friend in the
wide, wide world, not even among his
own relatives. I wonder why it is he
cever tries to make any friends."
MR. WEASEL MADE AN OUTCAST 119
" Here comes Jimmy Skunk. Let's
ask him. He ought to know, for he is
Shadow's cousin," said Chatterer.
Jimmy came ambling up in his usual
lazy way, for you know he never hur-
ries. It seemed to Chatterer and Peter
that he was slower than usual. But he
got there at last.
" Why is it, Jimmy Skunk, that your
cousin, Shadow the Weasel, never tries
to make any friends? " cried Chatterer,
as soon as Jimmy was near enough.
" I've never asked him, but I suppose
it's because he doesn't want them," re-
plied Jimmy.
" But why? " asked Peter.
" I guess it's because he is an out-
cast," replied Jimmy.
" What is an outcast," demanded
Peter.
" Why, somebody with whom nobody
else will have anything to do, stupid,"
120 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
replied Jimmy. " I thought everybody
knew that."
" But how did it happen that he be-
came an outcast in the first place? "
persisted Peter.
" He's always been an outcast, ever
since he was born, and I suppose he is
used to it, 7 declared Jimmy. " His
father was an outcast, and his grand-
father, and his great-grandfathers way
back to the days when the world was
young."
" Tell us about it. Do tell us about
it! : ' begged Peter.
Jimmy smiled good - naturedly.
" Well, seeing that I haven't anything
else to do just now, I will. Perhaps
you fellows may learn something from
the story,' said he. Then he settled
himself comfortably with his back to
an old stump and began.
" When old King Bear ruled in the
MR. WEASEL MADE AN OUTCAST 121
forest long, long ago, and the great-
great-ever-so-great-grandfathers of all
of us and of everybody else lived in
peace and happiness with each other,
slim, trim, spry Mr. Weasel lived with
the rest. He was small, just as Shadow
is now, and he looked just the same as
Shadow does now. He was on the best
of terms with all his neighbors, and no
one had a word to say against him. In
fact, he was rather liked and had quite
as many friends as anybody. But all
the time he had a mean disposition. He
hid it from his neighbors, but he had it
just the same. Now mean dispositions
are easily hidden when everything is
pleasant and there are no worries, and
that is the way it was then. No one
suspected any one else of meanness, for
with plenty to eat and nothing to worry
about, there was no cause for meanness.
" With his mean disposition, Mr.
J22 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
Weasel was also very crafty. Being
small and moving so swiftly, lie was
hard to keep track of. You know how
it is with Shadow now you see him,
and now vou don't."
/
Chatterer and Peter nodded. They
knew that it is because of this that he
is called Shadow.
" Well," continued Jimmy, " it
didn't take him long to find that if he
were careful, he could go where he
pleased, and no one would be the wiser.
They say that he used to practise dodg-
ing out of sight when he saw any one
coming, and after a while he got so that
he could disappear right under the
very noses of his neighbors. Being so
slim, he could go where any of his four-
footed neighbors could, and it wasn't
long before he knew all about every
hole and nook and corner anywhere
around. There were no secrets that he
MR. WEASEL MADE AN OUTCAST 123
didn't find out, and all the time no one
suspected him.
" Of course hard times came to Mr.
Weasel at last, just as to everybody
else, but they didn't worry him much.
You see, he knew all about the secret
hiding-places in which some of his
neighbors had stored away food, so
when he was hungry, all he had to do
was to help himself. So Mr. Weasel
became a thief, and still no one sus-
pected him. Now one bad habit almost
always leads to another. Mr. Weasel
developed a great fondness for eggs.
Our whole family has always had rather
a weakness that way.'
Jimmy grinned, for he knew that
Peter and Chatterer knew that he him-
self never could pass a fresh egg when
he found it.
" One day he found a nest in which
were four little baby birds instead of
124 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
the eggs he had been expecting to find
there and, having a mean disposition,
he flew into a rage and killed those
four little birds. Yes, Sir, that's what
he did. He found the taste of young
birds very much to his liking, and he
began to hunt for more. Then he dis-
covered a nest of young mice, and he
found these quite as good as young
birds. Then came a great fear upon the
littlest people, but not once did they
suspect Mr. Weasel. He was very
crafty and went and came among them
just as always. They suspected only
the larger and stronger people of the
forest who, because food was getting
very scarce, had begun to hunt the
smaller people.
" But you know wrongdoing is bound
to be found out sooner or later. One
day Mr. Rabbit surprised Mr. Weasel
making a meal of young mice, and of
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"One day Mr. Rabbit surprised Mr. Weasel making
a meal of young mice."
MR. TEASEL' MADE AN OUTCAST 125
course he hurried to tell all his neigh-
bors. Then Mr. Weasel knew that it*
was no longer of use to pretend that he
was what he was not, and he boldly
joined the bigger animals in hunting
the smaller ones. It makes most peo-
ple angry to be caught in wrongdoing
and it was just that way with Mr.
Weasel. He flew into a great rage and
vowed that he would kill Mr. Babbit,
and when he couldn't catch Mr. Babbit,
he hunted others of his neighbors until
there was no one, not even fierce Mr.
Wolf or Mr. Panther or Mr. Lynx, of
whom the littlest people were in such
fear. You see, they could hide from the
big hunters, but they couldn't hide
from Mr. Weasel because he knew all
their hiding-places, and he was so slim
and small that wherever they could go,
he could go.
" Now the big people, like Mr. Wolf
126 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
and Mr. Panther, killed only for food
that they might live, and when they
found Mr. Weasel killing more than he
could eat, they would have nothing to
do with him and even threatened to kill
him if they caught him. So pretty soon
Mr. Weasel found that he hadn't a
friend in the world. This made him
more savage than ever, and he hunted
and killed just for the pleasure of it.
He took pleasure in the fear which he
read in the eyes of his neighbors when
they saw him.
" Old Mother Nature was terribly
shocked when she discovered what was
going on, but she found that she could
do nothing with Mr. Weasel. He
wasn't sorry for w r hat he had done and
he wouldn't promise to do better.
* Very well,' said Old Mother Nature,
' from this time on you and your chil-
dren and your children's children for-
MR. WEASEL MADE AN OUTCAST 127
ever and ever shall be outcasts among
the people of the Green Forest and the
Green Meadows, hated by all, little and
big.' And it has been so to this day.
Even I am not on speaking terms
with Shadow, although he is my own
cousin, ' ' concluded Jimmy Skunk.
Peter Eabbit shuddered. " Isn't it
dreadful not to have a single friend? '
he exclaimed. " I would rather have
to run for my life twenty times a day
than to be hated and feared and with-
out a single friend. I wouldn't be an
outcast for all the world."
" There's not the least bit of danger
of that for you, Peter," laughed Jimmy
Skunk.
HOW THE EYES OF OLD MR. OWL
BECAME FIXED
HOW THE EYES OF OLD MR. OWL BECAME
FIXED
BLACKY THE CROW had discov-
ered Hooty the Owl dozing the
bright day away in a thick hem-
lock-tree. Blacky knew that the bright
light hurt Hooty 's big eyes and half
blinded him. This meant that he could
have no end of fun teasing Hooty, and
that Hooty would have to sit still and
take it all, because he couldn't see well
enough to fly away or to try to catch
Blacky. Now if the day had been dark,
as it sometimes is on cloudy days, or if
the dusk of evening had been settling
over the Green Meadows and the Green
Forest, matters would have been very
132 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
different. Blacky would have taken
care, the very greatest care, not to let
Hooty know that he was anywhere
around. But as it was, here was a
splendid chance to spoil Hooty 's sleep
and to see him grow very, very angry
and do it without running any great
risk.
" Caw, caw, caw, caw, caw! : yelled
Blacky at the top of his voice, and at
once all his relatives came flocking over
to join in the fun. Dear me, dear me,
such a racket as there was then! They
flew over his head, and they settled in
the tree all around him, all yelling as
hard as ever they could. Everybody
within hearing knew what it meant, and
everybody who dared to hurried over
to watch the fun. Somehow most peo-
ple seem to take pleasure in seeing
some one else made uncomfortable, es-
pecially if it is some one of whom they
THE EYES OF OLD MR. OWL 133
stand in fear and who is for the time
being helpless.
Most of the little meadow and forest
people are very much afraid of Hooty
the Owl as soon as it begins to grow
dark, for that is when he can see best
and does all his hunting. So, though it
wasn't at all nice of them, they enjoyed
seeing him tormented by Blacky and his
relatives. But all the time they took
the greatest care to keep out of sight
themselves. Peter Rabbit was there.
So was Jumper the Hare and Happy
Jack the Gray Squirrel and Chatterer
the Red Squirrel and Whitefoot the
Wood Mouse and Striped Chipmunk
and a lot more. Of course, Sammy Jay
was there, but Sammy didn't try to
keep out of sight. Oh, my, no! He
joined right in with the Crows, calling
Hooty all sorts of bad names and flying
about just out of reach in the most im-
134 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
pudent way. You see lie knew just
how helpless Hooty was.
Hooty was very, very angry. EG
hissed, and he snapped his bill, and he
told his tormentors what he would do
to them if he caught them after dark.
And all the time he kept turning his
head with its great, round, glaring, yel-
low eyes so as not to give his tormentors
a chance to pull out any of his feathers,
as the boldest of them tried to do. Now
Hooty can turn his head as no one else
can. He can turn it so that he looks
straight back over his tail, so that his
head looks as if it were put on the
wrong way. Then he can snap it
around in the other direction so quickly
that you can hardly see him do it, and
sometimes it seems as if he turned his
head clear around.
That interested Peter Babbit im-
mensely. He couldn't think of any-
THE EYES OF OLD MR. OWL 135
thing else. He kept trying to do the
same thing himself, but of course he
couldn't. He could turn his head side-
ways, but that was all. He puzzled over
it all the rest of the day, and that night,
when his cousin, Jumper the Hare,
called at the dear Old Briar-patch, the
first thing he did was to ask a question.
" Cousin Jumper, do you know why
it is that Hooty the Owl can turn his
head way around, and nobody else
can? "
" Of course I know," replied Jumper.
" I thought everybody knew that. It's
because his eyes are fixed in their
sockets, and he can't turn them. So he
turns his whole head in order to see in
all directions. The rest of us can roll
our eyes, but Hooty can't."
Peter scratched his long left ear with
his long right hindfoot, a way he has
when he is thinking or is puzzled.
136 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
That's funny,' said he. ' I wonder
why his eyes are fixed.'
" Because his great-great-ever-so-
great-grandfather rolled his eyes too
much/ replied Jumper, yawning.
" He saw too much. It's a bad thing
to see too much.'
" Tell me about it. Please do, Cou-
sin Jumper,' ' begged Peter.
Jumper looked up at the moon to see
what time of night it was.
" All right," said he, settling himself
comfortably. " All the Owl family, way
back to the very beginning, have had
very big eyes. Old Mr. Owl had them.
He could move them just as we can
ours. And because they were so big,
and because he could roll them, there
was very little going on that Mr. Owl
didn't see. It happened one day that
Old Mother Nature took it into her wise
old head to put the little people of the
THE EYES OF OLD MR. OWL 137
Green Meadows and the Green Forest
to a test. She wanted to see just how
many of them she could trust to obey
her orders. So she lined them all up
in a row. Then she made them turn so
that their backs were to her.
" ' Now,' said she, ' everybody is to
keep eyes to the front. I am going to
be very busy back here for a few min-
utes, but not one of you is to peek. I
shall know if you do, and I shall see
to it that you never forget it as long as
you live. '
" That sounded as if something
dreadful might happen, so everybody
sat perfectly still looking straight be-
fore them. Some of them felt as if they
would die of curiosity to know what
Old Mother Nature was doing, but for
a while no one thought of disobeying.
Old Mr. Rabbit just itched all over with
curiosity. It seemed to him that he
138 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
just must turn his head. But for once
he managed to get the best of his curi-
osity and stared straight ahead.
" Now Mr. Owl had tremendous
great ears, just as Hooty has to-day.
You can't see them because the feath-
ers cover them, but they are there just
the same.'
Peter nodded. He knew all about
those wonderful ears and how they
heard the teeniest, weeniest noise when
Hooty was flying at night.
" Those big ears," continued
Jumper, " heard every little sound that
Old Mother Nature made, and they
sounded queer to Mr. Owl. ' If I roll
back my eyes without turning my head,
I believe I can see what she is doing,
and she won't be any the wiser/
thought he. So he rolled his eyes back
and then looked straight ahead again.
What he had seen made him want to
THE EYES OF OLD MR. OWL 139
see more. He tried it again. Just im-
agine how he felt when he found that his
eyes wouldn't roll. He couldn't move
them a bit. All he could do was to
stare straight ahead. It frightened
him dreadfully, and he kept trying and
trying to roll his eyes, but they were
fixed fast. He could see in only one
direction, the way his head was turned.
" When at last Old Mother Nature
told all the little people that they
might look, Mr. Owl didn't want to
look. He didn't want to face Old
Mother Nature, for he knew perfectly
well what had happened to his eyes.
He knew that Old Mother Nature had
seen him roll them back, and that as a
punishment she had fixed them so that
he would always stare straight ahead.
He didn't say anything. He was too
ashamed to. He flew away home the
very first chance he got. For a long
140 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
time after that, Mr. Owl never could
see behind him at all. He could only
turn his head part way, the same as
most folks, and he couldn't roll his
eyes to see the rest of the way. It
made him dreadfully nervous and un-
happy. He felt all the time as if peo-
ple were doing things behind his back.
But he didn't complain. He was
ashamed to do that.
66 Old Mother Nature was watching
him all the time. After a long, long
while, she decided that he had been
punished enough. But she didn't want
him to forget, so she kept his eyes fixed
so that they would look straight ahead;
but she gave him the power to turn his
Lead farther than any one else, so that
he could look straight behind him with-
out turning his body at all. And ever
since that time, all Owls have had fixed
eyes, but have been able to turn their
THE EYES OF OLD MR. OWL 141
/
heads so as to make them look as if they
were facing the wrong way.'
" Thank you, Cousin Jumper," cried
Peter. " But there is one thing you
forgot to tell. What was it that Old
Mother Nature was doing when Mr.
Owl rolled his eyes to look back.'
" That," replied Jumper, " Mr. Owl
never told, and nobody else knew, so I
can't tell you."
XI
HOW IT HAPPENS JOHNNY CHUCK
SLEEPS ALL WINTER
XI
HOW IT HAPPENS JOHNNY CHUCK SLEEPS
ALL WINTER
>ETER RABBIT was bothered.
He was bothered in his mind,
and when Peter is bothered in
his mind, he loses his appetite. It was
so now. He had been up in the Old
Orchard and, as is his way, had stopped
at Johnny Chuck's for a bit of gossip.
As he sat there talking, it suddenly
came over him that Johnny was look-
ing unusually fat. He said so. Johnny
yawned in a very sleepy way as he re-
plied:
" One has to get fat in order to sleep
comfortably all winter. I've got to get
fatter than I am now before I turn in."
146 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
And with that, Johnny Chuck fell to
eating as if his sides were falling in
instead of threatening to burst, and
Peter could get no more from him.
So he went home to think it over, and
the more he thought, the more troubled
he became. How could anybody sleep
all winter? And what good did just
getting fat do ? Johnny Chuck couldn't
eat his own fat, so what was the use of
it? " Must be it's to keep him warm,'
thought Peter and brightened up. But
why wasn't a good thick coat of fur
just as good or even better? He didn't
have any trouble keeping warm.
Neither did Billy Mink or Little Joe
Otter or Eeddy Fox. No, it couldn't
be that Johnny Chuck put on all that
fat just to keep warm. Besides, he
would spend the winter way down deep
in the ground, and there was no excuse
for being cold there.
WHY JOHNNY CHUCK SLEEPS 147
^ I couldn't sleep all winter if I
wanted to, and I wouldn't if I could,
for there is too much fun to miss," mut-
tered Peter, as he started for the Smi-
ling Pool in search of Grandfather
Frog. He found him sitting on his big
lily-pad, but somehow Grandfather
Frog didn't look as chipper and smart
as usual. " He certainly is growing
old,' thought Peter. " He isn't as
spry as he used to be. Seems as if he
had grown old in the last two or three
weeks. Too bad, too bad."
Aloud, Peter said: " Why, Grand-
father Frog, how well you are looking!
You are enough to make us young fel-
lows envious."
Grandfather Frog looked at Peter
sharply. Perhaps he read the truth in
Peter's eyes. " Chug-a-rum! : 9 said he.
" Be honest, Peter. Be honest. Don't
try to flatter, because it is a bad habit
[48 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
to get into. I know how I look. I look
old and tired. Now isn't that so? '
Peter looked a little shamefaced.
He didn't know just what to say, so he
said nothing and just nodded his head.
" That's better," said Grandfather
Frog gruffly. " Always tell the truth.
The fact is I am tired. I am so tired
that I'm going to sleep for the winter,
and I'm going to do it this very day.'
" Oh, Grandfather Frog," (Peter
had found his tongue), " please tell me
something before you go. I can under-
stand how you may want to sleep all
winter because you have no nice fur
coat to keep you warm, but why does
Johnny Chuck do it, and how does he
do it? Why doesn't he starve to
death? "
Grandfather Frog had to smile at the
eager curiosity in Peter's voice. " I
see you are just as full of questions as
WHY JOHNNY CHUCK SLEEPS 149
ever, Peter," said he. "I suppose I
may as well tell you one more story,
because it will be a long time before you
will get another from me. Johnny
Chuck sleeps all winter because he is
sensible, and he is sensible because it
runs in the family to be sensible. His
great - great - ever - so - great - grand-
father was sensible. It's a very good
thing to have good sound common sense
run in the family, Peter.'
Once more Peter nodded his head.
Jerry Muskrat, who was sitting on the,
Big Bock, listening, winked at Peter,
and Peter winked back. Then he made
himself comfortable and prepared not
to miss a word of Grandfather Frog's
story.
" You must know, Peter, that a long
time ago when the world was young,,
there was a time when there was ne
winter," began Grandfather Frog
150 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
" That was before the hard times of
which I have told you before. Every-
body had plenty to eat, and everybody
was on the best of terms with all his
neighbors. Then came the hard times,
and the beginning of the hard times
was the coming of rough Brother North
Wind and Jack Frost. Their coming
made the first winter. It wasn't a very
long or a very hard winter, but it was
long enough and hard enough to make
a great deal of discomfort, particularly
for those little people who lived alto-
gether on tender young green plants.
Yes, Sir, it certainly was hard on them.
Some of them nearly starved to death
that first winter, short as it was. Old
Mr. Chuck, who, of course, wasn't old
then, w r as one of them. By the time the
tender, young, green things began to
grow again, he was just a shadow of
what he used to be. He was so thin
WHY JOHNNY CHUCK SLEEPS 151
that sometimes he used to listen to see
if he couldn't hear his bones rattle in-
side his skin.
" Of course he couldn't, but he was
quite sure that when the wind blew, it
went right through him. At last warm
weather returned, just as it does now
every summer, and once more there was
plenty to eat. Some of the little people
seemed to forget all about the hard
times of the cold weather, but not Mr.
Chuck. He had been too cold and too
hungry to ever forget. Of course, with
plenty to eat, he soon grew fat and com-
fortable again, but all the time he kept
thinking about the terrible visit of
rough Brother North Wind and Jack
Frost and wondering if they would
come again. He talked about it with
his neighbors but most of them laughed
and told him that he was borrowing
trouble, and that they didn't believe
152 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
that Brother Xorth Wind and Jack
Erost ever would come again.
" So after a while Mr. Chuck kept his
thoughts to himself and went about his
business as usual. But all the time he
was turning over and over in his mind
the possibility of another period of
cold and starvation and trvinsr to think
t O
of some way to prepare for it. He
didn't once think of going to Old
Mother Xature and begging her to take
care of him, for he was very independ-
ent, was Mr. Chuck, and believed that
those are best helped who help them-
selves. So he kept studying and study-
ing how he could live through another
cold spell, if it should come.
" ' I haven't got as thick a fur coat
as Mr. Mink or Mr. Otter or Mr. Squir-
rel or some others, and I can't run
around as fast as thev can, so of course
/
I can't keep as warm/ said he to him-
WHY JOHXXY CHUCK SLEEPS 153
self, as he sat taking a sun-bath one
day. ' I must find some other way of
keeping warm. Now I don't believe
the cold can get very deep down in the
ground, so if I build me a house way
down deep in the ground, it always will
be comfortable. Anyway, it never will
I/ t, '
be very cold. I believe that is a good
idea. I'll try it at once.'
" So without wasting any time, Mr.
Chuck began to dig. He dug and he dug
and he dug. When his neighbors grew
curious and asked questions, he smiled
good-naturedly and said that he was
trying an experiment. When he had
made a long hall which went down so
deep that he was quite sure that Jack
Frost could not get down there, he
made a bedroom and put in it a bed of
soft grass. When it was finished, he
was so pleased with it that he retired
to it every night as soon as the sun went
154 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
down and didn't come out again until
morning.
" ' Anyway, I won't freeze to death/
said he. Then he sighed as he remem-
bered how hungry, how terribly hungry
he had been. i Now if only I can think
of some way to get food enough to carry
me through, I'll be all right.'
" At first he thought of storing up
food, but when he tried that, he soon
found that the tender green things on
which he lived wouldn't keep. They
shriveled and dried, so that he couldn't
eat them at all. He was still trying to
think of some plan when Old Mother
Nature sent warning that rough
Brother North Wind and Jack Frost
were coming again. Mr. Chuck's heart
sank. He thought of how soon all the
tender green things w r ould disappear.
Eight then an idea was born in Mr.
Chuck's head. He would eat all he
WHY JOHNNY CHUCK SLEEPS 155
could while he could, and then he would
go down into his bedroom and sleep
just as long as he could!
" So day after day he spent stuffing
himself, and his neighbors called him
Mr. Greedy. But he didn't mind that.
He kept right on eating, and of course
he grew fatter and fatter, so that at last
he was so fat he could hardly get about.
The days grew cooler and cooler, and
then Mr. Chuck noticed that because he
was so fat, he didn't feel the cold as he
had before. There came a morning at
last when Mr. Chuck stuck his nose out
to find Jack Frost waiting to pinch it.
All the tender green things were black
and dead. Back to his bed scrambled
Mr. Chuck and curled up to sleep just
as long as he could. He made up his
mind that he wouldn't worry until he
had to. He had done his best, and that
was all he could do.
156 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
" When Old Mother Nature came to
see how the little people were faring,
she missed Mr. Chuck. She asked his
neighbors what had become of him, but
no one knew. At length she came to
his house and looking inside found him
fast asleep. She saw right away w r hat
he had done and how fat he had grown.
She knew without being told what it
all meant, and the idea amused her.
Instead of wakening him, as she had at
first intended to do, she touched Mr.
Chuck and put him into a deeper sleep,
saying :
" ' You shall sleep, Mr. Chuck,
Through the time of frost and snow.
For your courage and your pluck
You shall no discomfort know.'
" And so Mr. Chuck slept on until the
tender young green things began once
more to grow. The cold could not reach
him, and the fat he had stored under his
WHY JOHNNY CHUCK SLEEPS 157
skin took the place of food. When lie
awoke in the spring, he knew nothing
of the hard times his neighbors were ;
talking about. And ever since then the
Chuck family has slept through the
winter, because it is the most comfort-
able and sensible thing to do. I know,
because I have done the same thing for
years. Good-by, Peter Babbit! No
more stories until spring.'
Before Peter could say a word, there
was a splash in the Smiling Pool, and
Grandfather Frog was nowhere to be
seen.
" I I don't see how they do it," said
Peter, shaking his head in a puzzled
way as he slowly hopped towards the
dear Old Briar-patch.
XII
HOW OLD MR. OTTER LEARNED TO
SLIDE
xn
HOW OLD MR. OTTER LEARNED TO SLIDE
LITTLE JOE OTTER was having
the j oiliest kind of a time. Lit-
tle Joe Otter is a jolly little chap,
anyway, and just now he was extra
happy. You see, he had a brand new
slippery-slide. Yes, Sir, Little Joe had
just built a new slippery-slide down the
steepest part of the bank into the Smi-
ling Pool. It was longer and smoother
than his old slippery-slide, and it
seemed to Little Joe as if he could slide
and slide all day long. Of course he en-
joyed it more because he had built it
himself. He would stretch out full
length at the top of the slippery-slide,
give a kick to start himself, shoot down
162 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
the slippery-slide, disappear headfirst
with a great splash into the Smiling
Pool, and then climb up the bank and
do it all over again.
Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck sat
watching him from the bank on the
other side of the Smiling Pool. Right
down below them, sitting on his big
green lily-pad, was Grandfather Frog,
and there was a sparkle in his big,
goggly eyes and his great mouth was
stretched in a broad grin as he watched
Little Joe Otter. He even let a foolish
green fly brush the tip of his nose and
didn't snap at it.
" Chug-a-rum! : exclaimed Grand-
father Frog to no one in particular.
" That reminds me of the days when I
was young and the greatest diver in the
Smiling Pool. My goodness, it makes
me feel young just to watch Little Joe
shoot down that slippery-slide. If I
OLD MR. OTTER LEARNS TO SLIDE 163
weren't so old, I'd try it myself.
Wheee! "
With that, Grandfather Frog sud-
denly jumped. It was a great, long,
beautiful jump, and with his long hind
legs straight out behind him, Grand-
father Frog disappeared in the Smiling
Pool so neatly that he made hardly a
splash at all, only a whole lot of rings
on the surface of the water that grew
bigger and bigger until they met the
rings made by Little Joe Otter and
then became all mixed up.
Half a minute later Grandfather
Frog's head bobbed up out of the water,
and for the first time he saw Johnny
Chuck and Peter Rabbit.
" Come on in; the water's fine! ' ' he
cried, and rolled one big, goggly eye up
at jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun and
winked it in the most comical way, for
fce knew, and he knew that Mr. Sun
164 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
knew, just how Johnny Chuck and
Peter Babbit dislike the water.
" No, thanks," replied Peter, but
there was a wistful look in his big eyes
as he watched Little Joe Otter splash
into the Smiling Pool. Little Joe was
having such a good time! Peter actu-
ally was wishing that he did like the
water.
Grandfather Frog climbed out on his
big green lily-pad. He settled himself
comfortably so as to face Johnny Chuck
and Peter and at the same time watch
Little Joe out of the corner of one big,
goggly eye.
" Chug-a-rum! ' said he, as once
more Little Joe splashed into the Smi-
ling Pool. " Did you ever hear about
Little Joe's family secret? : he asked
in his deep gruff voice.
"No," cried Peter Rabbit. " Do tell
us about it! I just love secrets.'
OLD MR. OTTER LEARNS TO SLIDE 165
There was a great deal of eagerness in
Peter's voice, and it made Grandfather
Frog smile.
" Is that the reason you never can
keep them? ' ' he asked.
Peter looked a wee bit foolish, but he
kept still and waited patiently. After
what seemed a long, long tune, Grand-
father Frog cleared his throat two or
three times, and this is the story he told
Johnny Chuck and Peter Eabbit:
" Once upon a time when the world
was young, the great-great-ever-so-
great-grandfather of Little Joe Otter
got into a peck of trouble. Yes, Sir, he
certainly did get into a peck of trouble.
You see, it was winter, and everything
was covered with snow, so that food
was hard to get. Most of the little for-
est and meadow people found little to
eat, and it took a great deal of hunting
to find that little. Only those who, like
166 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
old Mr. Squirrel, had been wise enough
to lay up a store of food when there was
plenty, and two or three others like Mr.
Mink and Mr. Otter, who could go fish-
ing in the spring-holes which had not
frozen over, had full stomachs.
" Now an empty stomach almost al-
ways makes a short temper. It is hard,
very hard indeed to be hungry and
good-natured at the same time. So ast
most of the people of the Green Forest
were hungry all the time, they were also
short-tempered all the time. Mr. Otter
knew this. When any of them came
prowling around the spring-hole where
he was fishing, he would tease them by
letting them see how fat he was. Some-
times he would bring up a fine fish and
eat it right before them without offer-
ing to share so much as a mouthful. He
had done this several times to Mr.
Lynx, and though Mr. Lynx had begged
OLD MR. OTTER LEARNS TO SLIDE 167
and begged for just a bite, Mr. Otter
had refused the teeniest, weeniest bit
and had even made fun of Mr. Lynx
for not being smart enough to get suf-
ficient to eat.
" Now it happened that one fine morn-
ing Mr. Otter took it into his head to
take a walk in the Green Forest. It
was a beautiful morning, and Mr. Otter
went farther than he intended. He was
just trying to make up his mind
whether to turn back or go just a little
farther, when he heard stealthy foot-
steps behind him. He looked over his
shoulder, and what he saw helped him
to make up his mind in a hurry. There,
creeping over the frozen snow, was Mr.
Lynx, and the sides of Mr. Lynx were
^ery thin, and the eyes of Mr. Lynx
'ooked very hungry and fierce, and the
3laws of Mr. Lynx were very long and
strong and cruel looking. Mr. Otter
168 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
made up his mind right away that the
cold, black water of that open spring-
hole was the only place for him, and he
started for it without even passing the
time of day with Mr. Lynx.
" Now Mr. Otter's legs were very
short, just as Little Joe's are, but it
was surprising how fast he got over the
snow that beautiful morning. When he
came to the top of a little hill, he would
slide down, because he found that he
could go faster that way. But in spite
of all he could do, Mr. Lynx traveled
faster, coming with great jumps and
snarling and spitting with every jump.
Mr. Otter was almost out of breath
when he reached the high bank just
above the open spring-hole. It was
very steep, very steep indeed. Mr.
Otter threw a hasty glance over his
shoulder. Mr. Lynx was so near that
in one more jump he would catch him*
OLD MR. OTTER LEARNS TO SLIDE 169
There wasn't time to run around to the
place where the bank was low. Mr.
Otter threw himself flat, gave a frantic
kick with his hind legs, shut his eyes,
and shot down, down, down the slippery
bank so fast that he lost what little
breath he had left. Then he landed
with a great splash in the cold, black
water and was safe, for Mr. Lynx was
afraid of the water. He stopped right
on the very edge of the steep bank,
where he growled and screeched and
told Mr. Otter what dreadful things he
would do to him if ever he caught him.
" Now in spite of his dreadful fright,
Mr. Otter had enjoyed that exciting
slide clown the steep bank. He got to
thinking about it after Mr. Lynx had
slunk away into the Green Forest, and
when he was rested and could breathe
comfortably again, he made up his minrl
to try it once more. So he climbed out
170 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
where the bank was low and ran around
to the steep place and once more slid
down into the water. It was great
fun, the greatest fun Mr. Otter ever
had had. He did it again and again.
In fact, he kept doing it all the rest of
that day. And he found that the more
he slid, the smoother and more slippery
became the slippery-slide, for the water
dripped from his brown coat and froze
on the slide.
" After that, as long as the snow
lasted, Mr. Otter spent all his time, be-
tween eating and sleeping, sliding dow^n
his slippery-slide. He learned just how
to hold his legs so that they would not
be hurt. When gentle Sister South
Wind came in the spring and took away
all the snow, Mr. Otter hardly knew
what to do with himself, until one day
a bright idea popped into his head and
made him laugh aloud. Why not make
OLD MR. OTTER LEARNS TO SLIDE 171
a slippery-slide of mud and clay?
Right away lie tried it. It wasn't as
good as the snow slide, but by trying
and trying, he found a way to make it
better than at first. After that Mr.
Otter was perfectly happy, for summer
and winter he had a slippery-slide. He
taught his children, and they taught
their children how to make slippery-
slides, and ever since that long-ago day
when the world was young, the making
of slippery-slides has been the family
secret of the Otters.'
" And it's the best secret in the
world," said Little Joe Otter, swim-
ming up behind Grandfather Frog just
then.
" I wish I wish I had a slippery-
slide, ' ' said Peter Rabbit wistfully.
" Chug-a-rum! ' said Grandfather
Frog. ' i Chug-a-rum ! Be content with
the blessings you have got, Peter Rab-
172 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
bit. Be content with the blessings you
have got. No good comes of wishing
for things which it never was meant
that you should have. It is a bad habit
and it makes discontent.''
XIII
HOW DRUMMER THE WOODPECKER
CAME BY HIS RED CAP
xm
HOW DRUMMER THE WOODPECKER CAME BY
HIS RED CAP
DRUMMER THE WOOD-
PECKER was beating Ms long
roll on a hollow tree in the
Green Forest. Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat !
Rat - a - tat - tat - tat - tat ! Drummer
thought it the most beautiful sound in
the world. After each long roll he
would stop and listen for a reply. You
see, sometimes one of his family in an-
other part of the Green Forest, or over
in the Old Orchard, would hear him
drumming and would hasten to find a
hollow tree himself and drum too.
Then they would drum back and forth
to each other for the longest time, until
176 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
all the other little people would scold
because of the racket and would wish
they could stop their ears. But it was
music, real music to Drummer and all
the members of his family, and Drum-
mer never was happier than when beat-
ing his long roll as he was doing now.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat ! Rat-a-tat-tat-tat !
Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching
sound inside the hollow tree. Once
more he beat the long roll and the
scratching sound grew louder. Then he
heard a voice just a little way above
him.
" Do Ah hear some one knocking? '
asked the voice.
Drummer looked up. There was Unc'
Billy Possum's sharp little face stick-
ing out of his doorway, and Unc' Billy
looked very sleepy and very cross and
at the same time as if he were trying
very hard to be polite and pleasant.
DRUMMER'S RED CAP 177
" Hello, Unc' Billy! Is this your
house? I didn't know it when I began
to drum. I wasn't knocking; I was
drumming. I just love to drum," re-
plied Drummer.
" Ah reckons yo' do by the noise yo'
have been making, but Ah don't like
being inside the drum. Ah'm feelin'
powerful bad in the haid just now, Brer
Drummer, and Ah cert'nly will take it
kindly if yo' will find another drum,"
said Unc' Billy, holding his head in
both hands as, if he had a terrible head-
ache.
Drummer looked disappointed and a
little bit hurt, but he is one of the best-
natured little people in the Green For-
est and always willing to b,e obliging.
"I'm sorry if I have disturbed you,
Unc' Billy," he replied promptly. " Of
course I won't drum here any longer, if
you don't like it. I'll look for another
178 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
hollow tree, though I don't believe I
can find another as good. It is one of
the best sounding trees I have ever
drummed on. It's simply beautiful! '
There was a great deal of regret in his
voice, as if it were the hardest work to
give up that tree.
" Ah '11 tell yo' where there's another
just as good," replied Unc' Billy.
" Yo' see the top of that ol' chestnut-
tree way down there in the holler?
Well, yo' try that. Ah'm sure yo' will
like it."
Drummer thanked Unc ' Billy politely
and bobbed his red-capped head as he
spread his wings and started in the di-
rection of the big chestnut-tree. Unc'
Billy grinned as he watched him. Then
he slowly and solemnly winked one eye
at Peter Rabbit, who had just come
along.
" What's the joke? " asked Peter.
DRUMMER'S RED CAP 179
" All done just sent Brer Drummer
down to the big chestnut-tree to drum/'
Unc' Billy replied, winking again.
" Why, that's Bobby Coon's house! "
cried Peter, and then he saw the joke
and began to grin too.
In a few minutes they heard Drum-
mer's long roll. Then again and again.
The third time it broke off right in the
middle, and right away a terrible fuss
started down at the big chestnut-tree.
They could hear Drummer's voice, and
it sounded very angry.
" Ah reckon Brer Coon was waked
up and lost his temper,'' chuckled Unc'
Billy. " It's a bad habit to lose one's
temper. Yes, Sah, it cert'nly is a bad
habit. Ah reckons Ah better be turn-
ing in fo' another nap, Brer Rabbit."
With that Unc' Billy disappeared, still
chuckling.
Hardly was he out of sight when
180 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
Peter saw Drummer heading that way>
and Drummer looked very much put
out about something. He just nodded
to Peter and flew straight to Unc 7
Billy's tree. Then he began to drum.
How he did drum ! His red-capped head
flew back and forth as Peter never had
seen it fly before. Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat !
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat ! Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat !
Drummer hardly paused for breath.
There was too much noise for Peter,
and he kicked up his heels and started
for the Smiling Pool, and all the way
there he laughed.
" I hope Unc' Billy is enjoying a
good nap," he chuckled. " Drummer
certainly has turned the joke back on
Unc' Billy this time, and I guess it
serves him right."
He was still laughing when he
reached the Smiling Pool. Grandfather
Frog watched htm until he began to
DRUMMER'S RED CAP 181
smile too. You know laughter is catch-
ing. " Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho! "
laughed Peter and held his sides.
" What is the joke? ' demanded
Grandfather Frog in his deepest voice.
When Peter could get his breath, he
told Grandfather Frog all about the
joke on Unc' Billy Possum. " Listen! "
said Peter at the end of the story. They
both listened. Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The long roll of Drummer the Wood-
pecker could be heard clear down to the
Smiling Pool, and Peter and Grand-
father Frog knew by the sound that it
still came from Unc' Billy's house.
" Chug-a-rum! That reminds me/*
said Grandfather Frog. i i Did you ever
hear how Drummer came by his red
cap? "
"No," replied Peter. "How did
he? " There was great eagerness in
Peter's voice.
282 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
" Well," said Grandfather Frog, set-
tling himself in a way that Peter knew
meant a story, " of course Drummer
over there came by his red cap because
it was handed down in the family, but
of course there's a reason.'
1 ' Of course, ' said Peter, quite as if
he knew all about it.
Grandfather Frog rolled his great,
goggly eyes and looked at Peter suspi-
ciously, but Peter looked so innocent
and eager that he went on with his
story.
" Of course, it all happened way back
in the days when the world was
young."
" Of course! " said Peter.
This time Grandfather Frog took no
notice. " Drummer's grandfather a
thousand times removed was just a
plain little black and white bird with-
out the least bit of bright color on him.
DRUMMER'S RED CAP 183
He didn't have any sweeter voice than
Drummer has to-day. Altogether he
seemed to his neighbors a no-account
little fellow, and they didn't have much
to do with him. So Mr. Woodpecker
lived pretty much alone. In fact, he
lived alone so much that when he found
a hollow tree he used to pound on it just
to make a noise and keep from being
lonesome, and that is how he learned to
drum. You see, he hadn't any voice for
singing, and so he got in the habit of
drumming to keep his spirits up.
" Now all the time, right dow r n in his
heart, Mr. Woodpecker envied the birds
who had handsome coats. He used to
wish and wish that he had something
bright, if it were no more than a pretty
necktie. But he never said anything
about it, and no one suspected it but
Old Mother Nature, and Mr. Wood-
pecker didn't know that she knew it
184 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
Whenever he got to wishing too much,
he would try to forget it by hunting for
worms that bored into the trees of the
Green Forest and which other birds
could not get because they did not have
the stout bill and the long tongue Mr.
Woodpecker possessed.
" Now it happened that while Old
Mother Nature was busy elsewhere, a
great number of worms settled in the
Green Forest and began to bore into
the trees, so that after a while many
trees grew sickly and then died. None
of the other little people seemed to
notice it, or if they did, they said it was
none of their business and that Old
Mother Nature ought to look out for
such things. They shrugged their
shoulders and went on playing and hav-
ing a good time. But Mr. Woodpecker
was worried. He loved the Green For-
est dearly, and he began to fear that if
"DRUMMER'S RED CAP 185
something wasn't done, there wouldn't
be any Green Forest. He said as much
to some of his neighbors, but the} 7 only
laughed at him. The more he thought
about it, the more Mr. Woodpecker
worried.
" ' Something must be done,' said he
to himself. ' Yes, Sir, something must
be done. If Old Mother Nature doesn't
come to attend to things pretty soon,
it will be too late.' Then he made up
his mind that he would do what he
could. From early morning until night
lie hunted worms and dug them out of
the trees. He would start at the bottom
of a tree tind work up, going all over
it until he was sure that there wasn't
another worm left. Then he would fly
to the next tree. He pounded with his
bill until his neck ached. He didn't
even take time to drum. His neighbors
laughed at Mm at first, but he kept
186 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
right on working, working, working
every hour of the day.
"At last Old Mother Nature ap-
peared very unexpectedly. She went
all through the Green Forest, and her
sharp eyes saw all that Mr. Wood-
pecker had done. She didn't say a
word to him, but she called all the little
people of the Green Forest before her,
and when they were all gathered
around, she sent for Mr. Woodpecker.
She made him sit up on a dead limb of
a tall chestnut-tree where all could see
him. Then she told just what he had
done, and how he had saved the Green
Forest, and how great a debt the other
little people owed to him.
' t ' And now that you may never for-
get it,' she concluded, ' I herewith
make Mr. Woodpecker the policeman
of the trees, and this is his reward to
be worn by him and his children for-
DRUMMER'S RED CAP 187
ever and ever.' With that she called
Mr. Woodpecker down before her and
put on his head a beautiful red cap, for
she knew how in his heart he had
longed to wear something bright. Mr.
Woodpecker thanked Old Mother Na-
ture as best he could and then slipped
away where he could be alone with his
happiness. All the rest of the day the
other little people heard him drum-
ming off by himself in the Green Forest
and smiled, for they knew that that was
the way he was expressing his joy, hav-
ing no voice to sing.
" And that,' 1 concluded Grandfather
Frog, " is how Drummer whom you
know came by his red cap. '
" Isn't it splendid! : cried Peter
Eabbit, and then he and Grandfather
Frog both smiled as they heard a long
rat-a-tat-tat-tat roll out from the Green
Forest.
XIV
HOW OLD MR. TREE TOAD FOUND OUT
HOW TO CLIMB
XIV
HOW OLD MR. TREE TOAD FOUND OUT HOW
TO CLIMB
OF all the puzzling things over
which Peter Rabbit had sat and
thought and wondered until the
brains in that funny little head of his
were topsy-turvy, none was more puz-
zling than the fact that Sticky-toes the
Tree Toad could climb. Often Peter
had watched him climb up the trunk of
a tree or jump from one branch to an-
other and then thought of Old Mr.
Toad, own cousin to Sticky-toes, and of
Grandfather Frog, another own cousin,
w r ho couldn't climb at all, and won-
dered how it had all come about that
one cousin could climb and be just as
t92 MOTHER WEST WIND 'HOW" STORIES
much at home in the trees as the birds,
while the others couldn't climb at all.
He had it on his mind one morning
when he met Old Mr. Toad solemnly
hopping down the Lone Little Path.
Right then and there Peter resolved to
ask Old Mr. Toad. " Good morning,
Mr. Toad, ' ' said Peter politely. " Have
you a few minutes to spare? '
Old Mr. Toad hopped into the shade
of a big mullein leaf. " I guess so, if
it is anything important," said he.
"Phew! Hot, isn't it? I simply can't
stand the sun. Now what is that
you've got on your mind, Peter? 5
Peter hesitated a minute, for he
wasn't at all sure that Old Mr. Toad
would think the matter sufficiently im-
portant for him to spend his time in
story telling. Then he blurted out the
whole matter and how he had puzzled
and puzzled why Sticky-toes was able
HOW OLD MR. TREE TOAD CLIMBED 193
to climb when none of the rest of the
Toad family could. Old Mr. Toad
chuckled.
" Looking for a story as usual, I see, 9
said he. " You ought to go to Grand-
father Frog for this one, because
Sticky-toes is really a Frog and not a
Toad. But we are all cousins, and I
don't mind telling you about Sticky-
toes, or rather about his great-great-
ever-so-great-grandfather, who was the
first of the family ever to climb a tree.
You see, it is all in the family, and I am
very proud of my family, which is one
of the very oldest."
Peter settled himself comfortably
and prepared to listen. Old Mr. Toad
snapped up a foolish spider who came
too near and then cleared his throat.
" Once on a time," he began, " when
Old Mother Nature made the first land
and the first trees and plants, the Toads
194 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
and the Frogs were the first to leave
the water to see what dry land was
like. The Toads, being bolder than the
Frogs, went all over the new land while
the Frogs kept within jumping distance
of the water, just as Grandfather Frog
Hoes to this day. There was one Frog,
however, who, seeing how bravely and
boldly the Toads went forth to see all
that was to be seen in the new land,
made up his mind that he too would
see the Great World. He was the
smallest of the Frogs, and his friends
and relatives warned him not to go, say-
ing that he would come to no good end.
" But he wouldn't listen to their dis-
mal croakings and hurried after the
Toads. Being able to make longer
jumps than they could, he soon caught
up with them, and they all journeyed
on together. The Toads were so
pleased that one of their cousins was
HOW OLD MR. TREE TOAD CLIMBED 195
brave enough to join them that they
made him very welcome and treated
him as one of themselves, so that they
soon got to thinking of him as a Toad
and not as a Prog at all.
" Now the Toads soon found that Old
Mother Nature was having a hard time
to make plants grow, because as fast
as they came up, they were eaten by
insects. You see, she had so many
things to attend to in those days when
the world was young that she had to
leave a great many things to take care
of themselves and get along the best
they could, and it was this way with the
plants. It was then that the great idea
came to my great-great-ever-so-great-
grandfather, and he called all the Toads
together and proposed that they help
Old Mother Nature by catching the
bugs and worms that were destroying
the plants.
196 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
" Little Mr. Frog, w r ho had been
adopted by the Toads, was one of the
most eager to help, and he was busy
every minute. After a while the Toads
had caught most of the bugs and worms
on the ground and within reach, and
the plants began to grow. But when
the plants got above the reach of the
Toads, the bugs and the worms were
safe once more and began to multiply
so that the plants suffered and stopped
growing. You see, there were no birds
in those days to help. One day little
Mr. Frog sat under a bush on which
most of the leaves had been eaten. He
saw a worm eating a leaf on one of the
lower branches. It was quite a way
above his head. It worried him. He
kept his eyes on that worm and thought
and thought until his head ached. At ;
last he got an idea. ' I wonder, ' thought '
he, ' if I jump as hard as I can, if I can
HOW OLD MR. TREE TOAD CLIMBED 197
catch that fellow. I'll try it. It will
do no harm to try.'
" So he drew his long legs close un-
der him, and then he jumped up with
all his might. He didn't quite reach the
bug, but he got his hands on the branch
and by pulling and struggling, he man-
aged to get up on it. It was a very un-
certain seat, but he hung on and crept
along until he could dart his tongue out
and catch that worm. Then he saw an-
other, and in trying to catch that one he
lost his balance and fell to the ground
with a thump. It quite knocked the
wind from his body.
" That night little Mr. Frog studied
and studied, trying to think of some
way by which he could get up in the
bushes and trees and clear them of bugs
and worms. ' If only I could hold on
once I get up there, I would be all
right/ thought he. ' Then I could
198 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
leave the bugs and worms on the ground
for my cousins the Toads to look after,
while I look after those beyond their
reach. '
' ' The next day and the next, and for
many days thereafter, little Mr. Frog
kept jumping for bugs on the bushes.
He got many thumps and bumps, but
he didn't mind these, for little by little
he was learning how to hang on to the
branches once he got up in them. Then
one day, just by accident, he put one
hand against the trunk of a young pine-
tree, and when he started to take it
away, he found it stuck fast. He had
to pull to get it free. Like a flash an
idea popped into his head. He rubbed
a little of the pitch, for that was what
had made his hand stick, on both
hands, and then he started to climb a
tree. As long as the pitch lasted, he
could climb.
HOW OLD MR. TREE TOAD CLIMBED 199
" Little Mr. Frog was tickled to
death with his discovery, b,ut he didn't^
say a word to any one about it. Every
day he rubbed pitch on his hands and
then climbed about in the bushes and
low trees, ridding them of bugs and
worms. Of course, it wasn't very
pleasant to have that pitch on his
hands, because dirt and all sorts of
things which he happened to touch
stuck to them, but he made the best of
a bad matter and washed them care-
fully when he was through with his
day's work.
" Quite unexpectedly Old Mother
Nature returned to see how the trees
and the plants were getting on. You
see, she was worried about them.
When she found what the Toads had
been doing, she was mightily pleased.
Then she noticed that some of the
bushes and low trees had very few
200 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
leaves left, while others looked thrifty
and strong.
" ' That's queer/ said Old Mother
Nature to herself and went over to ex-
amine a bush. Hanging on to a branch
for dear life she saw a queer little
fellow who was so busy that he didn't
see her at all. It was little Mr. Frog.
He was catching bugs as fast as he
could. Old Mother Nature wrinkled up
her brows. ' Now however did he
learn to climb? ' thought she. Then
she hid where she could watch. By and
by she saw little Mr. Frog tumble out
of the bush, because, you know, the
pitch on his hands had worn off. He
hurried over to a pine-tree and rubbed
more pitch on and then jumped up into
the bush and went to work again.
" You can guess how astonished Old
Mother Nature was when she saw this
performance. And she was pleased.
HOW OLD MR. TREE TOAD CLIMBED 201
Oh, yes, indeed, Old Mother Nature
was wonderfully pleased. She was
pleased because little Mr. Frog was
trying so hard to help her, and she was
pleased because he had been so smart
in finding a way to climb. When she
had laughed until she could laugh no
more at the way little Mr. Frog had
managed to stick to his work, she took
him down very gently and wiped the
pitch from his hands. Then she gently
pinched the end of each finger and each
toe so that they ended in little round
discs instead of being pointed as be-
fore, and in each little disc was a clean,
stickv substance. Then she tossed him
/
up in a tree, and when he touched a
branch, he found that he could hold on
without the least danger of falling.
" l I appoint you caretaker of my
trees,' said Old Mother Nature, and
from that day on little Mr. Frog lived
202 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
in the trees, as did his children and his
children's children, even as Sticky-toes
does to-day. And though he was really
a Frog, he was called the Tree Toad,
and the Toads have always been proud
to have him so called. And this is the
end of the story," concluded Old Mr.
Toad,
XV
HOW OLD MR. HERON LEARNED
PATIENCE
sv
HOW OLD MR. HERON LEARNED PATIENCE
"T IT THENEVER, in the spring or
Y/Y/ summer Peter Babbit visited
the Smiling Pool or the
Laughing Brook, he was pretty sure to
run across Longlegs the Heron. The
first time Peter saw him, he thought
that never in all his life had he seen
such a homely fellow. Longlegs was
standing with his feet in the water and
his head drawn back on his shoulders
so that he didn't seem to have any neck
at all. Peter sat and stared at him
most impolitely. He knew that he was
impolite, but for the life of him he
couldn't help staring.
206 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
"He's all legs," thought Peter.
" Old Mother Nature must have been
in a hurry when she made his great-
great - ever - so - great - grandfather way
back when the world was young and
forgot to give him a neck. I wonder
why he doesn't move."
But Longlegs didn't move. Peter
stared as long as his patience held out.
Then he gave up and went on to see
what else he could find. But in a little
while Peter was back again at the place
where he had seen Longlegs. He didn't
really expect to find him there, but he
did. So far as Peter could see, Long-
legs hadn't moved. " Must be asleep,"
thought Peter, and after watching for
a few minutes, went away again. Half
an hour later Peter was once more
back. There stood Longlegs just as
before. " Now I know he is asleep,"
muttered Peter.
OLD MR. HERON LEARNS PATIENCE 207
No sooner were the words out of his
mouth than something happened,
something so sudden and surprising
that Peter lost his balance and nearly
fell over backward. The long bill
which Peter had seen sticking forth
from between those humped-up shoul-
ders darted out and down into the
water like a flash. Behind that bill
was the longest neck Peter ever had
seen! It was so long that Peter
blinked to be perfectly sure that his
eyes had not been playing him a trick.
But they hadn't, for Longlegs was
gulping down a little fish he had just
caught, and when at last it was down,
he stretched his neck up very straight
while he looked this way and that way,
and Peter just gasped.
" I thought he was all legs, but in-
stead of that he's all neck/' muttered
Peter.
208 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
Then Longlegs slowly drew his head
down, and it seemed to Peter as if he
must somehow wind that long neck up
inside his body to get it so completely
out of the way. In a minute Longlegs
was standing just as before, with seem-
ingly no neck at all. Peter watched
until he grew tired, but Longlegs didn't
move again. After that Peter went
every chance he had to watch Longlegs,
but he never had patience to watch long
enough to see Longlegs catch another
fish. He spoke of it one day to Grand-
father Frog. At the mere mention of
Longlegs, Grandfather Frog sat up and
took notice.
" Where did you see him? ' asked
Grandfather Frog, and Peter thought
his voice sounded anxious.
" Down the Laughing Brook,' re-
plied Peter. "Why?"
" Oh, nothing," said Grandfather
OLD MR. HERON LEARNS PATIENCE 209
Frog, trying to make Ms voice sound
as if he weren't interested. " I just
wondered where the long-legged nui-
sance might be.'
" He's the laziest fellow I ever saw,'
declared Peter. " He just stands doing
nothing all day.'
" Huh! " exclaimed Grandfather
Frog. " If your family had suffered
from him as much as mine has, you
would say that he was altogether too
busy. Ask the Trout what they think,
or the Minnow family.'
" Oh," said Peter, " you mean that
when he stands still that way he is
fishing. '
Grandfather Frog nodded.
" Well," said Peter, " all I can say
is that he is the most patient fellow I
ever saw. I didn't suppose there was
such patience.'
" He comes rightly by it," returned
210 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
Grandfather Frog. " He gets it from
his great-great-ever-so-great-grand-
father, who lived when the world was
young. He learned it then.'
" How? ' ' demanded Peter, eager for
a story.
Grandfather Frog's eyes took on a
far-away look, as if he were seeing into
that long-ago past. " Chug-a-rum! '
he began. " It always seemed to old
Mr. Heron as if Old Mother Nature
must have made him last of all the birds
and was in such a hurry that she didn't
care how he looked. His legs were so
long and his neck was so long that all
his neighbors laughed at him and made
fun of him. He was just as awkward
as he looked. His long legs were in his
way. He didn't know what to do with
his long neck. When he tried to run,
everybody shouted with laughter.
When he tried to fly, he stretched his
"His legs were so long, and his neck was so long
that all his neighbors laughed at him."
OLD MR. HERON LEARNS PATIENCE 211
long neck out, and then lie couldn't
keep his balance and just flopped about,
while all his neighbors laughed harder
than ever. Poor Mr. Heron was
ashamed of himself, actually ashamed
of himself. He quite overlooked the
fact that Old Mother Nature had given
him a really beautiful coat of feathers.
Some of those who laughed at him
would have given anything to have pos-
sessed such a beautiful coat. But Mr.
Heron didn't know this. He couldn't
bear to be laughed at, wherein he was
very like most people.
" So he tried his best to keep out of
sight as much as possible. Now in
those days, as at present, the rushes
grew tall beside the Smiling Pool, and
among them Mr. Heron found a hiding-'
place. Because his legs were long, he
could wade out in the water and keep
quite out of sight of those who lived on
212 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
the land. So he found a use for his long
legs and was glad that they were long.
At first he used to go ashore to hunt for
food. One day as he was wading
ashore, he surprised a school of little
fish and managed to catch one. Tt
tasted so good that he wanted more, and
every day he went fishing. Whenever
he saw little fish swimming where the
water was shallow, he would rush in
among them and do his best to catch
one. Sometimes he did, but more often
he didn't. You see, he was so clumsy
and awkward that he made a great
splashing, and the fish would hear him
coming and get away.
" One day after he had tried and tried
without catching even one, he stopped
just at the edge of the rushes to rest.
His long neck ached, and to rest it he
laid it back on his shoulders. For a long
time he stood there, resting. The water
OLD MR. HERON LEARNS PATIENCE 213
around his feet was cool and comfort-
ing. He was very comfortable but for
one thing, he was hungry. He was
just making up his mind to go on and
hunt for something to eat when he saw
a school of little fish swimming straight
towards him. ' Perhaps,' thought he,
' if I keep perfectly still, they will come
near enough for me to catch one.' So
he kept perfectly still. He didn't dare
even stretch his long neck up. Sure
enough, the little fish swam almost to
his very feet. They didn't see him at
all. When they were near enough, he
darted his long neck forward and
caught one without any trouble at all.
Mr. Heron was almost as surprised as
the fish he had caught. You see, he dis-
covered that with his neck laid back on
his shoulders that way, he could dart
his head forward ever so much quicker
than when he was holding it up
214 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
straight. It really was a great discov-
ery for Mr. Heron.
" Of course all the other fish darted
away in great fright, but Mr. Heron
didn't mind. He settled himself in
great contentment, for now he was less
hungry. By and by some foolish tad-
poles came wriggling along. i I'll just
try catching one of them for practice.
Maybe they are good to eat,' thought
Mr. Heron, and just as before darted his
head and great bill downward and
caught a tadpole.
" ' Um-m, they are good! ' exclaimed
Mr. Heron, and once more settled him-
self to watch and wait.
" That was a sad day for the Frog
family, but a great day for Mr. Heron
when he discovered that tadpoles were
good to eat.' Grandfather Frog sighed
mournfully. " Yes,' he continued,
" that was a great day for Mr. Heron.
OLD MR. HERON LEARNS PATIENCE 215
He had discovered that he could gain
more by patient waiting than by frantic
hunting, and he had found that his long
neck really was a blessing. After that,
whenever he was hungry, he would
stand perfectly still beside some little
pool where foolish young fish or care-
less tadpoles were at play and wait
patiently until they came within reach.
" One day he was startled into an
attempt to fly by hearing the stealthy
footsteps of Mr. Fox behind him. His
head was drawn back on his shoulders
at the time, and he was so excited that
he forgot to straighten it out. Just
imagine how surprised he was, and how
surprised Mr. Fox was, when he sailed
away in beautiful flight, his long legs
trailing behind him. With his neck
carried that way, he could fly as well
as any one. From that day on, no one
laughed at Mr. Heron because of his
216 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES"
long legs and long neck. Mr. Heron
himself became proud of them. You
see, he had learned how to use what he
had been given. Also he had learned
the value of patience. So he was
happy and envied no one. But he still
liked best to keep by himself and be-
came known as the lone fisherman, just
as Longlegs is to-day. Chug-a-rum!
Isn't that Longlegs coming this way
this very minute ? This is no place f ol
me! :
With a great splash Grandfather
Frog dived into the Smiling Pool.
XVI
HOW TUFTY THE LYNX HAPPENS TO HAVE
A STUMP OF A TAIL
N all his life Peter Babbit had seen
Tufty the Lynx but once, but that
once was enough. Tufty, you
know, lives in the Great Woods. But
once, when the winter was very cold,
he had ventured down into the Green
Forest, hoping that it would be easier
to get a living there. It was then that
Peter had seen him. In fact, Peter had
had the narrowest of escapes, and the
very memory of it made him shiver.
He never would forget that great, gray,
skulking form that slipped like a
shadow through the trees, that fierce,
bearded face, those cruel, pale yellow-
220 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
green eyes, or that switching stump of
a tail.
That tail fascinated Peter. It was
just an apology for a tail. For Tufty 's
size it was hardly as much of a tail as
Peter himself has. It made Peter feel
a lot better. Also it made him very curi-
ous. The first chance he got, he asked
his cousin, Jumper the Hare, about it.
You know Jumper used to live in the
Great Woods where Tufty lives, and
Peter felt sure that he must know the
reason why Tufty has such a ridiculous
stub of a tail. Jumper did know, and
this is the story he told Peter:
" Way back in the beginning of
things lived old Mr. Lynx.'
" I know/' interrupted Peter. "He
was the great - great - ever - so - great -
grandfather of Tufty, and he wasn't old
then."
" Who's telling this story? " de-
TUFTY THE LYNX'S TAIL- 221
manded Jumper crossly. ' ' If you know
it why did you ask me? w
" I beg your pardon. Indeed I do. I
won't say another word," replied Peter
hastily.
" All right, See that you don't. In-
terruptions always spoil a story, 9 ' said
Jumper. " You are quite right about
old Mr. Lynx. He wasn't old then. No
one was old, because it was in the be-
ginning of things. At that time Mr.
Lynx boasted a long tail, quite as fine
a tail as his cousin, Mr. Panther. He
was very proud of it. You know there
is a saying that pride goes before a fall.
It was so with Mr. Lynx. He boasted
about his tail. He said that it was the'
finest tail in the world. He said so
i
much that his neighbors got tired of
hearing about it. He made a perfect
nuisance of himself. He switched and
waved his long tail about continually.
222 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
It seemed as if that tail were never
still. He made fun of those whose tails
were shorter or of different shape or
less handsome. He quite forgot that
that tail had been given him by Old
Mother Nature, but talked and acted as
if he had grown that tail himself.
" When at last his neighbors could
stand it no longer, they decided to teach
him a lesson. One day while he was off
hunting, they held a meeting, and it
was decided that the very next time that
Mr. Lynx boasted of his tail old King
Bear should slip up behind him and
step on it as close to his body as he
could, and then each of the others
should pull a little tuft of hair from it,
so that it would be a long time before
Mr. Lynx would be able to boast of its
beauty again.
" The chance came that very evening.
Mr. Lynx had had a very successful
TUFTY THE LYNX'S TAIL 223
day, and he was feeling very fine. He
began to boast of what a great hunter
he was, and of how very clever and very
smart he was, and then, as usual, he got
to boasting about his tail. He was so
intent on his boasting that he didn't
notice old King Bear slipping around
behind him. Old King Bear waited
until that long tail was still for just an
instant, and then he stepped on it as
close to the roots of it as he could.
Then all the other little people shouted
with glee and began to pull little tufts
of hair from it, until it was the most
disreputable-looking tail ever seen.
" Old Mr. Lynx let out a yowl and a
screech that was enough to make your
blood run cold. But he couldn't do a
thing, though he tore the ground up
with his great claws and pulled with all
his might. You see, old King Bear was
very big and very heavy, and Mr.
224 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
couldn't budge his tail a bit. And he
couldn't turn to fight old King Bear,
though it seemed as if he would turn
himself inside out trying to.
" At last, when old King Bear
thought he had been punished enough,
he gave the word to the others, and
they all scattered to safe hiding-places,
for they were of no mind to be within
reach of those great claws of Mr. Lynx.
Then old King Bear let him go.
" ' By the looks of it, I hardly think
that you will boast of that tail for a
long time to come, Mr. Lynx,' said he
in his deep, rumbly-grumbly voice.
" Mr. Lynx turned and screamed in
old King Bear's face, but that was all
he dared do, for you know old King
Bear was very big and strong. Then
he turned and slunk away in the shad-
ows by himself. Now Mr. Lynx had a
terrible temper, and when he saw how
TUFTY THE LYNX'S TAIL 225
ragged and disreputable his once beau-
tiful tail looked, lie flew into a terrible
rage, and he swore that no one should
laugh at his tail. What do you think
he did? "
" What? " asked Peter eagerly.
" He bit it off/ replied Jumper
slowly. " Yes, Sir, he bit it off right at
the place where old King Bear had
stepped on it. Of course he was sorry;
the minute he had done it, but it was
done, and that was all there was to it.
After that he kept out of sight of all
his neighbors. He prowled around
mostly at night and was very stealthy
and soft-footed, always keeping in the
shadows. His temper grew worse and
worse from brooding over his lost tail.
When any one chanced to surprise him,
'he would switch his stub of a tail just
as he used to switch his long tail. You
see he would forget. Then when he
226 MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
was laughed at by those bigger than he,
he would scream angrily and slink
away like a great, gray shadow.
" Once he besought Old Mother Na-
ture to give him a new tail, but in vain.
She gave him a lecture which he never
forgot. She told him that it was no
one's fault but his own that he had lost
the beautiful tail that he did have and
had nothing but a stub left. Mr. Lynx
crawled on his stomach to the feet of
Old Mother Nature and begged with
tears in his eyes. Old Mother Nature
looked him straight in the eyes, but he
couldn't look straight back. He tried,
but he couldn't do it. He would shift
his eyes from side to side.
" ' Look me straight in the face, Mr.
Lynx, and tell me that if I give you a
handsome new tail, you will never
boast about it or take undue pride in
it,' said she.
TUFTY THE LYNX'S TAIL 227
" Mr. Lynx looked her straight in the
face and said ' I ' Then his eyes
shifted. He brought them back to
'Old Mother Nature's face with a jerk
and began again. ' I promise ? Once
more his eyes shifted. Then he gave up
and sneaked away into the darkest
shadows he could find. You see, he
(couldn't look Old Mother Nature in the
face and tell a lie, and that was just
what he had been trying to do. The
only reason he wanted a new tail was
so that he could be proud of it and boast
of it as he had of the old one. He hadn't
a single real use for it, as he had found
out since he had had only that stub.
" Old Mother Nature knew this per-
fectly well, for you can't fool her, and
it's of no use to try. So Mr. Lynx
never did get a new tail. He continued
to live very much by himself in the
darkest parts of the Green Forest,
228 MOTHER WEST WIND "ROW" STORIES
never showing himself to others if he
could help it. To the little people, he
was like a fearsome shadow to be
watched out for at all times. His chil
dren were just like him, and his chil-
dren's children. Tufty is the same way.
No one likes him. All who are smaller
than he fear him. And if he knows
why he has only a stub of a tail, he
never mentions it. But you will notice
that he switches it just as if it were a
real tail. I think he likes to imagine
that it is a real one. '
" I've noticed/ replied Peter. He
was silent for a few minutes. Then he
added: " Isn't it curious how often we
want things w r e don't need at all, and
how those are the things that make us
the most trouble in this world? :
THE END
x
Mother
West Wind
"Where" Stories
By THORNTON W. BURGESS
No MORE delightful stories
have been written for chil-
dren than these tales of the friendly
creatures of field and meadow.
In the 'where" stories Peter
Rabbit learns the fascinating be-
ginnings of things: where Grand-
father Frog got his big mouth;
where Mr. Quack got his webbed
feet; where Thunderfoot the Bison
got his hump and where old Mr.
Gobbler got the strutting habit!
The tales are told to Peter by Old
Mrs. Quack, Honker the Goose
and, of course, wise old Grand-
father Frog.
Peter is ever eager for a story
and so are the host of fascinated
hildren who always want more
the Mother West Wind tales.
& DUNLAP
New York
COVER BbOK
- '
ADVENTURES
WITH ANIMALS
The fascinating adventures of animals, large and
small, as told by Thornton Burgess in the delight-
ful series of books listed below, have entertained
children for generations. For these lucky read-
ers, the stories of nature, the outdoors and the
thousands of inhabitants of the woods and streams
have made city and country life more enjoyable.
Old Mother West Wind Series
OLD MOTHER WEST WIND
MOTHER WEST WIND'S CHILDREN
MOTHER WEST WIND'S ANIMAL FRIENDS
MOTHER WEST WIND'S NEIGHBORS
MOTHER WEST WIND "WHY" STORIES
MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
MOTHER WEST WIND "WHEN" STORIES
MOTHER WEST WIND "WHERE" STORIES
Green Meadow Series Greenp 'ores t Series
HAPPY JACK
MRS. PETER RABBIT
BOWSER THE HOUND
OLD GRANNY FOX
LIGHTFOOT THE DEER
BLACKY THE CROW
WHITEFOOT THE
WOODMOUSE
BUSTER BEAR'S TWINS
Smiling Pool Series
BILLY MINK
LITTLE JOE OTTER
JERRY MUSKRAT AT HOME
LONGLEGS THE HERON
GROSSET& DUNLAP . Publishers . NEW YORK
