the Wide Prairies. Mr. Coyote and Mr. Fox, whose heads were not held so
high, saw her in time to put their tails between their legs and slink
away. Thunderfoot, holding his head high, failed to see her until he was
so close to her that it was with difficulty he stopped before running
her down.

"'My Lord of the Prairies seems in fine spirits,' said Mother Nature
softly. 'Is all well with my Lord?'

"Thunderfoot tossed his head proudly. 'All is well,' said he.

"'I am sorry that others cannot say as much,' replied Mother Nature, and
all the softness was gone from her voice, and it was sharp. 'I seem to
hear the sobs of a broken-hearted little Meadow Lark,' she continued.
'Little though she be and humble, she is as much to me as is my Lord of
the Prairies who has made her suffer.'

"Stooping swiftly, Mother Nature picked up her staff and with it struck
Thunderfoot on the neck, so that his head was brought low, and in fear
of another blow he humped his shoulders up. 'Thus shall you be, still
big, still strong, but hump-shouldered and carrying your head low in
shame, no longer Lord of the Prairies, until such time as you restore to
Mrs. Meadow Lark the eggs you destroyed,' said she, and turned her back
on him.

"It was so. From that day on, Thunderfoot ceased to rule over the Wide
Prairies. He was hump-shouldered and he carried his head low, looking
and looking for the eggs he never could find to restore to Mrs. Meadow
Lark. And though his children and his children's children became many,
there never was one without the hump or who ceased to carry his head low
in shame," concluded Digger the Badger.

X

WHERE LIMBERHEELS GOT HIS LONG TAIL.

Have you ever seen Limberheels the Jumping Mouse when he was in a hurry?
If you have, very likely the first time you felt very much as Peter
Rabbit did when he saw Limberheels for the first time. He was hopping
along across the Green Meadows with nothing much on his mind when from
right under his wobbly nose something shot into the air over the tops of
the grasses for eight or ten feet and then down and out of sight. Peter
rubbed his eyes.

"Did I see it, or didn't I? And if I did, what was it?" gasped Peter.

A squeaky little laugh answered him. "You saw it all right, Peter, but
it isn't polite to call any one it. He would be quite provoked if he had
heard you. That was my cousin, Limberheels," replied a voice quite as
squeaky as the laugh had been.

Peter turned