ell him how handsome he was until his head was quite turned, as the
saying is, and he spent most of his time strutting and showing off. Then
he took to bragging and boasting that there was no bird to compare with
him. Thus he became quite unbearable, and all his neighbors would turn
their backs on him when they saw him coming. Only Mrs. Gobbler continued
to watch in secret and to admire him.

"Now in those days Mr. Gobbler didn't have a red head and neck. One day
Old Mother Nature happened along when Mr. Gobbler was strutting and
boasting how big and brave he was. He didn't see her, and she watched
him quietly for a few minutes. Then she slipped away and hunted up Mr.
Wolf.

"'I want you to steal over where Mr. Gobbler is strutting,' said she,
'and suddenly spring out at him as if you intended to catch him.'

"Mr. Wolf grinned and trotted off to do her bidding. He found Mr.
Gobbler swelled up until he looked as if he must burst, and bragging to
Mrs. Gobbler.

"'I'm the biggest of all the birds,' bragged Mr. Gobbler. 'I'm afraid of
no one. While you have me with you, my dear, you have nothing in all the
Great World to fear.'

"Just then out sprang Mr. Wolf with all his long, sharp teeth showing.
Mr. Gobbler gave a yelp of fright. He lost his swelled-up appearance as
suddenly as a bubble flattens out when it is pricked. With a frantic
beating of his wings he took to the air. Being in such a fright, he
didn't see where he was going, and struck his head against a sharp twig,
which tore the skin, for there were no feathers to protect it, and made
it bleed. The blood ran all over his head and down his neck, though he
really was hardly hurt at all. From the top of a tall tree he looked
down. There stood Old Mother Nature, looking up at him.

"'Mr. Gobbler,' said she, 'you have acquired a bad habit, a very bad
habit. Hereafter, whenever you become vain and strut, your head and neck
shall become as red as they now are, as a reminder to you and all who
see you of how silly it is to be vain and boastful.'

"And so it was. And so it is with Big Tom Gobbler to this day. There is
nothing in the world more foolish than vanity," concluded Grandfather
Frog.

[Illustration: "Don't call me Striped Chipmunk, and don't call me
Gopher!" said he. _Page 172._]

XII

WHERE SEEK-SEEK GOT HIS PRETTY COAT

Peter Rabbit never will forget the first time he saw Seek-Seek the
Ground Squirrel, often wrongly called Gopher or Gopher