Little Path.

"Don't want to," said Striped Chipmunk, sticking his tongue in his
cheek.

"Cry-baby Danny
Never'll be a manny!
Run to mamma, Danny, dear,
And she will wipe away your tear!"

Striped Chipmunk hopped and skipped out of sight, and Danny Meadow
Mouse began to cry again because Striped Chipmunk would not play with
him.

It was true, dreadfully true! Danny Meadow Mouse _was_ a cry-baby and
no one wanted to play with him. If he stubbed his toe he cried. If
Striped Chipmunk beat him in a race he cried. If the Merry Little
Breezes pulled his whiskers just in fun he cried. It had come to such
a pass that all the little meadow people delighted to tease him just to
make him cry. Nowhere on all the Green Meadows was there such a
cry-baby as Danny Meadow Mouse.

So Danny sat on his doorstep and cried because no one would play with
him and he was lonely. The more he thought how lonely he was, the more
he cried.

Presently along came old Mr. Toad. Now Mr. Toad looks very grumpy and
out of sorts, but that is because you do not know old Mr. Toad. When
he reached the house of Danny Meadow Mouse he stopped right in front of
Danny. He put his right hand behind his right ear and listened. Then
he put his left hand behind his left ear and listened some more.
Finally he put both hands on his hips and began to laugh.

Now Mr. Toad's mouth is very big indeed, and when he opens it to laugh
he opens it very wide indeed.

"Ha, ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Mr. Toad.

Danny Meadow Mouse cried harder than ever, and the harder he cried the
harder old Mr. Toad laughed. By and by Danny Meadow Mouse stopped
crying long enough to say to Mr. Toad:

"What are you laughing for, Mr. Toad?"

Mr. Toad stopped laughing long enough to reply:

"I'm laughing, Danny Meadow Mouse, because you are crying at me. What
are you crying for?"

"I'm crying," said Danny Meadow Mouse, "because you are laughing at
me." Then Danny began to cry again, and Mr. Toad began to laugh again.

"What's all this about?" demanded some one right behind them.

It was Jimmy Skunk.

"It's a new kind of game," said old Mr. Toad. "Danny Meadow Mouse is
trying to see if he can cry longer than I can laugh."

Then old Mr. Toad once more opened his big mouth and began to laugh
harder than ever. Jimmy Skunk looked at him for just a minute and he
looked so funny that Jimmy Skunk began to laugh too.

Now a good honest laugh is like whoo