The Geese Hissed at Turkey Proudfoot
_Frontispiece_
Polly Imitates Turkey Proudfoot 40
The Peacock Ignores Turkey Proudfoot 64
Turkey Proudfoot Has a Chat With Mr. Grouse 80

THE TALE OF TURKEY PROUDFOOT

I

A STRUTTER

All the hen turkeys thought Turkey Proudfoot a wonderful creature. They
said he had the most beautiful tail on the farm. When he spread it and
strutted about Farmer Green's place the hen turkeys were sure to nudge
one another and say, "Ahem! Isn't he elegant?"

But the rest of the farmyard folk made quite different remarks about
him. They declared Turkey Proudfoot to be a silly, vain gobbler, noisy
and quarrelsome.

Now, there was truth in what everybody thought and said about this
lordly person, Turkey Proudfoot. He did have a huge tail, when he chose
to spread it; and his feathers shone with a greenish, coppery, bronzy
glitter that might easily have turned the head of anybody that boasted
such beautiful colors. Certainly the hen turkeys turned their heads--and
craned their necks--whenever Turkey Proudfoot came near them. And when
he spoke to them, saying "_Gobble, gobble, gobble!_" in a loud tone,
they were always pleased.

The hen turkeys seemed to find that remark, "_Gobble, gobble, gobble!_"
highly interesting. But everybody else complained about the noise that
Turkey Proudfoot made, and said that if he must gobble they wished he
would go off by himself, where people didn't have to listen to him.

And nobody but the hen turkeys liked the way Turkey Proudfoot walked. At
every step he took he raised a foot high in the air, acting for all the
world as if the ground wasn't good enough for him to walk upon. And when
he wasn't picking up a seed, or a bit of grain, or an insect off the
ground, he held his head very high. Often Turkey Proudfoot seemed to
look right past his farmyard neighbors, as if he were gazing at
something in the next field and didn't see them. But they soon learned
that that was only an odd way of his. Really, he saw about everything
that went on. If anybody happened to grin at him Turkey Proudfoot was
sure to take notice at once and try to pick a quarrel.

After all, perhaps it wasn't strange that Turkey Proudfoot should act as
he did. Being the ruler of Farmer Green's whole flock of turkeys, he was
somewhat spoiled. All the hen turkeys did about as he told them to do.
Or if they didn't, Turkey Proud