hat he himself
never could pass a fresh egg when he found it.

"One day he found a nest in which were four little baby birds instead
of the eggs he had been expecting to find there and, having a mean
disposition, he flew into a rage and killed those four little birds.
Yes, Sir, that's what he did. He found the taste of young birds very
much to his liking, and he began to hunt for more. Then he discovered a
nest of young mice, and he found these quite as good as young birds.
Then came a great fear upon the littlest people, but not once did they
suspect Mr. Weasel. He was very crafty and went and came among them just
as always. They suspected only the larger and stronger people of the
forest who, because food was getting very scarce, had begun to hunt the
smaller people.

"But you know wrongdoing is bound to be found out sooner or later. One
day Mr. Rabbit surprised Mr. Weasel making a meal of young mice, and of
course he hurried to tell all his neighbors. Then Mr. Weasel knew that
it was no longer of use to pretend that he was what he was not, and he
boldly joined the bigger animals in hunting the smaller ones. It makes
most people angry to be caught in wrongdoing and it was just that way
with Mr. Weasel. He flew into a great rage and vowed that he would kill
Mr. Rabbit, and when he couldn't catch Mr. Rabbit, he hunted others of
his neighbors until there was no one, not even fierce Mr. Wolf or Mr.
Panther or Mr. Lynx, of whom the littlest people were in such fear. You
see, they could hide from the big hunters, but they couldn't hide from
Mr. Weasel because he knew all their hiding-places, and he was so slim
and small that wherever they could go, he could go.

"Now the big people, like Mr. Wolf and Mr. Panther, killed only for
food that they might live, and when they found Mr. Weasel killing more
than he could eat, they would have nothing to do with him and even
threatened to kill him if they caught him. So pretty soon Mr. Weasel
found that he hadn't a friend in the world. This made him more savage
than ever, and he hunted and killed just for the pleasure of it. He took
pleasure in the fear which he read in the eyes of his neighbors when
they saw him.

"Old Mother Nature was terribly shocked when she discovered what was
going on, but she found that she could do nothing with Mr. Weasel. He
wasn't sorry for what he had done and he wouldn't promise to do better.
'Very well,' said Old Mother Nature, 'from this time on you