very proud and which
he thought much more to be desired than a big tail.

"So Mr. Chipmunk went his way happy and contented and he was such a
merry little fellow and so full of fun and cut such funny capers that
everybody loved Mr. Chipmunk.

"One day, when the nights were cool and all the trees had put on their
brilliant colors, old Mother Nature sent word down across the Green
Meadows that every squirrel should gather for her and store away until
she came a thousand nuts. Now the squirrels had grown fat and lazy
through the long summer, all but Mr. Chipmunk, who frisked about so
much that he had no chance to grow fat.

"Mr. Gray Squirrel grumbled. Mr. Fox Squirrel grumbled. Mr. Red
Squirrel grumbled. But they didn't dare disobey old Mother Nature, so
they all set out, each to gather a thousand nuts. And Mr. Chipmunk
alone was pleasant and cheerful.

"When they reached the nut trees, what do you suppose they discovered?
Why, that they had been so greedy that they had eaten most of the nuts
and it was going to be hard work to find and store a thousand nuts for
old Mother Nature. Then they began to hurry, did Mr. Gray Squirrel and
Mr. Fox Squirrel and Mr. Red Squirrel, each trying to make sure of his
thousand nuts. They quarreled and they fought over the nuts on the
ground and even up in the trees. And because they were so big and so
strong, they pushed Mr. Chipmunk this way and they pushed him that way
and often just as he was going to pick up a fat nut one of them would
knock him over and make off with the prize.

"Poor Mr. Chipmunk kept his temper and was as polite as ever, but how
he did work! His cousins are great climbers and could get the nuts
still left on the trees, but Mr. Chipmunk is a poor climber, so he had
to be content with those on the ground. Of course he could carry only
one nut at a time and his legs were so short that he had to run as fast
as ever he could to store each nut in his secret store-house and get
back for another. And while the others quarreled and fought, he
hurried back and forth, back and forth, from early morning until jolly,
round, red Mr. Sun pulled his night cap on behind the Purple Hills,
hunting for nuts and putting them away in his secret store-house.

"But the nuts grew scarcer and scarcer on the ground and harder to
find, for the other squirrels were picking them up too, and then they
did not have so far to carry them.

"Sometimes one of his cousins up in the