t know what it is. I mind my own business, and no one ever
bothers me. I should think it would be a very uncomfortable
feeling."

"It is," replied Danny, "but, as I said before, it is a very good
thing to keep one on guard when there are as many watching for one
as there are for me. Now there's Mr. Blacksnake and--"

"Where?" exclaimed old Mr. Toad, turning as pale as a toad can turn,
and looking uneasily and anxiously in every direction.

Danny turned his head to hide a smile. If old Mr. Toad wasn't
showing fear, no one ever did. "Oh," said he, "I didn't mean that he
is anywhere around here now. What I was going to say was that there
is Mr. Blacksnake and Granny Fox and Reddy Fox and Redtail the Hawk
and Hooty the Owl and others I might name, always watching for a
chance to make a dinner from poor little me. Do you wonder that I am
afraid most of the time?"

"No," replied old Mr. Toad. "No, I don't wonder that you are afraid.
It must be dreadful to feel hungry eyes are watching for you every
minute of the day and night, too."

"Oh, it's not so bad," replied Danny. "It's rather exciting.
Besides, it keeps my wits sharp all the time. I am afraid I should
find life very dull indeed if, like you, I feared nothing and
nobody. By the way, see how queerly that grass is moving over there.
It looks as if Mr. Blacksnake--Why, Mr. Toad, where are you going in
such a hurry?"

"I've just remembered an important engagement with my cousin,
Grandfather Frog, at the Smiling Pool," shouted old Mr. Toad over
his shoulder, as he hurried so that he fell over his own feet.

Danny chuckled as he sat alone on his doorstep. "Oh, no, old Mr.
Toad doesn't know what fear is!" said he. "Funny how some people
won't admit what everybody can see for themselves. Now, I _am_
afraid, and I'm willing to say so."

CHAPTER XXI

_An Exciting Day for Danny Meadow Mouse_

Danny Meadow Mouse started along one of his private little paths
very early one morning. He was on his way to get a supply of a
certain kind of grass seed of which he is very fond. He had been
thinking about that seed for some time and waiting for it to get
ripe. Now it was just right, as he had found out the day before by a
visit to the place where this particular grass grew. The only
trouble was it grew a long way from Danny's home, and to reach it he
had to cross an open place where the grass was so short that he
couldn't make a path under it.

"I feel it in my bon