o 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 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
frightened 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.

"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 reflection and stuck out his tongue. It was no
longer split into a double 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 '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 f