d handsome coats. He used to wish and wish that he had
something bright, if it were no more than a pretty necktie. But he never
said anything about it, and no one suspected it but Old Mother Nature,
and Mr. Woodpecker didn't know that she knew it. Whenever he got to
wishing too much, he would try to forget it by hunting for worms that
bored into the trees of the Green Forest and which other birds could not
get because they did not have the stout bill and the long tongue Mr.
Woodpecker possessed.

"Now it happened that while Old Mother Nature was busy elsewhere, a
great number of worms settled in the Green Forest and began to bore into
the trees, so that after a while many trees grew sickly and then died.
None of the other little people seemed to notice it, or if they did,
they said it was none of their business and that Old Mother Nature ought
to look out for such things. They shrugged their shoulders and went on
playing and having a good time. But Mr. Woodpecker was worried. He loved
the Green Forest dearly, and he began to fear that if something wasn't
done, there wouldn't be any Green Forest. He said as much to some of his
neighbors, but they only laughed at him. The more he thought about it,
the more Mr. Woodpecker worried.

"'Something must be done,' said he to himself. 'Yes, Sir, something must
be done. If Old Mother Nature doesn't come to attend to things pretty
soon, it will be too late.' Then he made up his mind that he would do
what he could. From early morning until night he hunted worms and dug
them out of the trees. He would start at the bottom of a tree and work
up, going all over it until he was sure that there wasn't another worm
left. Then he would fly to the next tree. He pounded with his bill until
his neck ached. He didn't even take time to drum. His neighbors laughed
at him at first, but he kept right on working, working, working every
hour of the day.

"At last Old Mother Nature appeared very unexpectedly. She went all
through the Green Forest, and her sharp eyes saw all that Mr. Woodpecker
had done. She didn't say a word to him, but she called all the little
people of the Green Forest before her, and when they were all gathered
around, she sent for Mr. Woodpecker. She made him sit up on a dead limb
of a tall chestnut-tree where all could see him. Then she told just what
he had done, and how he had saved the Green Forest, and how great a debt
the other little people owed to him.

"'And now that