the egg with him.

"When Mrs. Gobbler returned, she did miss that egg. She looked all about
for it, but there was nothing to show what had become of it. With a
troubled mind she began to sit on her eggs. She was so worried that she
didn't leave them until she simply _had_ to get something to eat.

"Meanwhile Mr. Bob-cat had eaten that egg, and it had tasted so good
that he could think of nothing but how he could get another. So at the
first opportunity he sneaked back to Turkey Wood, and without making a
sound crept in among the bushes until he could see Mrs. Gobbler sitting
on her eggs. There he lay and watched and watched until Mrs. Gobbler
left to get something to eat. No sooner was she out of sight than Mr.
Bob-cat stole to the nest.

"'Remember your honor,' warned the little voice inside.

"'Bother honor. I'd rather have an egg,' muttered Mr. Bob-cat, and
pulled one out of the nest. He bit a hole in one end and sucked out the
contents. It was so good he took another. This led to a third, and
finally Mr. Bob-cat had sucked every one of those eggs. Then silently he
sneaked away--away from Turkey Wood to a distant part of the Green
Forest. Behind him in Turkey Wood he left a nestful of empty shells and
his honor.

"'Nobody knows who did it, and nobody ever will find out,' thought Mr.
Bob-cat, but all the time he knew that he had left his honor behind, and
this made him more sneaky than ever. He never would meet any one face to
face. You know that is something that one who has lost his honor never
can do. It wasn't long before all his neighbors knew that he was without
honor, and so would have nothing to do with him. They shunned him. He
grew to be more and more of a sneak. And all the time he believed that
no one knew what he had done or where he had left his honor.

"But Old Mother Nature knew. Of course Mrs. Gobbler told her what had
happened to her eggs. Old Mother Nature told her to make a new nest and
hide it more carefully than before, which Mrs. Gobbler did and hatched
out ten fine young Gobblers. Meanwhile Old Mother Nature went about her
business, but all the time she was watching to see who would fail to
look her straight in the face. The first time she met Mr. Bob-cat he
tried to slip past unseen. When Old Mother Nature stepped in front of
him, he couldn't look her in the face, try as he would.

"'Ah-ha!' said she. 'You are the one who left his honor in Turkey Wood.
From this time forth you shall be