at you are the thief who caused so
much trouble on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest. But I know
who the real thief is and he is stealing away as fast as he can go down
the Lone Little Path this very minute.'

"All of the little meadow people and forest folks turned to look down
the Lone Little Path, but it was so dark none could see, none but Hooty
the Owl, whose eyes are made to see in the dark.

"'I see him!' cried Hooty the Owl. 'It's Mr. Wharf Rat!'

"'Yes,' said old Mother Nature, 'it's Mr. Wharf Rat--he is the thief.
And this shall be his punishment: Always hereafter he will be driven
out wherever he is found. He shall no longer live in the Green Meadows
or the Green Forest. Everyone will turn their backs upon him. He will
live on what others throw away. He will live in filth and there will
be no one to say a good word for him. He will become an outcast
instead of a fine gentleman.'

"'And you, Mr. Meadow Mouse, in order that you may remember always to
avoid bad company, and that while it is a splendid thing to be loyal to
your friends and not to tell tales, it is also a very, very wrong thing
to shield those who have done wrong when by so doing you simply help
them to keep on doing wrong--you shall no longer have the splendid long
tail of which you are so proud, but it shall be short and stubby.'

"Even while old Mother Nature was speaking, Mr. Meadow Mouse felt his
tail grow shorter and shorter, and when she had finished he had just a
little mean stub of a tail.

"Of course he felt terribly. And while Striped Chipmunk hurried to
tell him how sorry he felt, and while all the other little meadow
people also hurried to tell him how sorry they felt, he could not be
comforted. So he slipped away as quickly as he could, and because he
was so ashamed he crept along underneath the long grass that no one
should see his short tail. And ever since that long ago time when the
world was young," concluded Grandfather Frog, "the Meadow Mice have had
short tails and have always scurried along under cover of the long
grass where no one will see them. And the Wharf Rats have never again
lived in the Green Meadows or in the Green Forest, but have lived on
filth and garbage around the homes of men, with every man's hand
against them."

"Thank you, Grandfather Frog," said Danny Meadow Mouse, very soberly.
"Now I understand why my tail is short and I shall not forget."

"But it isn't your fault at all, Da