ogether
uncalled-for.

After all, Grandfather Mole was glad, in a way, that Mr. Meadow Mouse
had got away from him. "It proves"--Grandfather Mole told himself--"it
proves that Mr. Meadow Mouse is not only a thief: he's a coward as
well."

At the same time, any one that really knew old Mr. Crow couldn't have
blamed Mr. Meadow Mouse for not wanting to follow Grandfather's
suggestion. Grandfather Mole had asked Mr. Meadow Mouse to allow Mr.
Crow to catch him with his mouth full of corn, so that Mr. Crow might
know that it wasn't Grandfather Mole that was taking the seed corn, as
Mr. Crow supposed.

Mr. Meadow Mouse was too well acquainted with old Mr. Crow to get
himself into any such fix as that.

When he found himself above ground, after Grandfather Mole had chased
him out of his galleries, Mr. Meadow Mouse felt so pleased with himself
that he couldn't help telling his neighbors about his adventure. He
boasted that he had been eating the seed corn out of the hills. And he
declared that he didn't care if Mr. Crow heard of it himself.

"It's no more his corn than mine," Mr. Meadow Mouse said. "It belongs to
Farmer Green. And since he has never spoken to me about missing any, I
don't believe he cares. Besides, I've often noticed that he drops more
kernels in a hill than he expects will grow. And really I've been saving
him the trouble of pulling up a good many young stalks."

All this Mr. Meadow Mouse spread far and wide. And soon it reached the
ears of old Mr. Crow.

"Ha!" Mr. Crow exclaimed. "So he's the thief! I'll have to teach him a
lesson."

It was Jasper Jay that had related the news to his cousin, old Mr. Crow.
And now he asked, "What about Grandfather Mole? Don't you think you
ought to apologize to him?"

That was a strange thing for Jasper Jay to ask. He was the greatest
rowdy in the woods, with shocking manners.

Mr. Crow gave Jasper a sidewise glance.

"Will you apologize for me?" he inquired. "I'm too busy to do it
myself."

"Certainly I will!" Jasper Jay cried. "Leave that to me!" And he hurried
off at once to find Grandfather Mole.

Jasper was lucky enough to see Grandfather Mole's head sticking out of
the ground, when he reached the garden.

"I have a message for you!" Jasper told him. "My cousin Mr. Crow--the
old black rascal!--was going to punish you for stealing corn. But he has
made other arrangements."

"Mr. Crow"--Grandfather Mole spluttered--"Mr. Crow owes me an apology."

"Not