ished.

Old Dame Nature has the most smiling face in the world, but this time it
was very, very grave indeed. First she asked little Mrs. Grouse to tell
her story all over again that all might hear. Then each in turn was
asked to tell where he had been the night before. Johnny Chuck, Happy
Jack Squirrel, Striped Chipmunk, Sammy Jay, and Blacky the Crow had gone
to bed when Mr. Sun went down behind the Purple Hills. Jerry Muskrat,
Billy Mink, Little Joe Otter, Grandfather Frog, and Spotty the Turtle
had been down in Farmer Brown's corn-field. Hooty the Owl had been
hunting in the lower end of the Green Meadows. Peter Rabbit had been
down in the Berry Patch. Mr. Toad had been under the big piece of bark
which he called a house. Old Dame Nature called on Jimmy Skunk last of
all. Jimmy protested that he had been very, very tired and had gone to
bed very early indeed, and had slept the whole night through.

Then Old Dame Nature asked Peter Rabbit what he had found among the
shells that morning.

Peter Rabbit hopped out and laid three long black hairs before Old Dame
Nature. "These," said Peter Rabbit, "are what I found among the egg
shells."

Then Old Dame Nature called Johnny Chuck. "Tell us, Johnny Chuck," said
she, "what you saw when you called at Jimmy Skunk's house this morning."

"I saw Jimmy Skunk," said Johnny Chuck, "and Jimmy seemed very, very
sleepy. It seemed to me that his whiskers were yellow."

"That will do," said Old Dame Nature, and she called Old Mother West
Wind.

"What time did you come down on the Green Meadows this morning?" asked
Old Dame Nature.

"Just at the break of day," said Old Mother West Wind, "as Mr. Sun was
coming up from behind the Purple Hills."

"And whom did you see so early in the morning?" asked old Dame Nature.

"I saw Bobby Coon going home from old Farmer Brown's corn-field," said
Old Mother West Wind. "I saw Hooty the Owl coming back from the lower
end of the Green Meadows. I saw Peter Rabbit down in the berry patch.
Last of all, I saw something like a black shadow coming down the Lone
Little Path toward the house of Jimmy Skunk."

Everyone was looking very hard at Jimmy Skunk. Jimmy began to look very
unhappy and very uneasy.

"Who wears a black coat?" asked Dame Nature.

"Jimmy Skunk!" shouted all the little meadow folks.

"What might make whiskers yellow?" asked Old Dame Nature.

No one seemed to know at first. Then Peter Rabbit spoke up. "It might be
the yolk