all know, very, very wise, oh very
wise indeed. One of the first laws she made when the world was young
is that every living thing shall work for what it has, and the harder
it works the stronger it shall grow. So when Old Mother Nature saw how
fat and lazy and selfish old King Bear was getting and how fat and lazy
and dishonest his cousin, Mr. Coon, was becoming, she determined that
they should be taught a lesson which they would remember for ever and
ever and ever.

"First she proclaimed that old King Bear should be king no longer, and
no more need the little folks of the Green Forest and the little people
of the Green Meadows bring him tribute.

"Now when old Mother Nature made this proclamation old King Bear was
fast asleep. It was just on the edge of winter and he had picked out a
nice warm cave with a great pile of leaves for a bed. Old Mother
Nature peeped in at him. He was snoring and probably dreaming of more
good things to eat. 'If he is to be king no longer, there is no use in
waking him now,' said old Mother Nature to herself, 'he is so fat and
so stupid. He shall sleep until gentle Sister South Wind comes in the
spring to kiss away the snow and ice. Then he shall waken with a lean
stomach and a great appetite and there shall be none to feed him.'

"Now old Mother Nature always has a warm heart and she was very fond of
Bobby Coon's grandfather a thousand times removed. So when she saw
what a selfish glutton and thief he had become she decided to put him
to sleep just as she had old King Bear. But first she would teach Mr.
Coon that stolen food is not the sweetest.

"So old Mother Nature found some tender, juicy corn just in the milk
which Mr. Coon had stolen from old King Bear. Then she went down on
the Green Meadows where the wild mustard grows and gathering a lot of
this she rubbed the juice into the corn and then put it back where Mr.
Coon had left it.

"Now I have told you that it was night when Mr. Coon had his stolen
feasts, for he wanted no one to see him. So no one was there when he
took a great bite of the tender, juicy corn old Mother Nature had put
back for him. Being greedy and a glutton, he swallowed the first
mouthful before he had fairly tasted it, and took a second, and then
such a time as there was on the edge of the Green Forest! Mr. Coon
rolled over and over with both of his forepaws clasped over his stomach
and groaned and groaned and groaned. He had rubbed his eyes a