r 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, and 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

II

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, or in the Smiling 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
Grandfather 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 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