e ground; there will be no whortle
berries to eat, and I shall go to sleep."

"Dreadful!" said the Elephant. "Is there no way of avoiding such
discomfort?"

"None that I know of or care for," said the Bear. "Roll yourself up and
go to sleep as I do, and you'll be comfortable enough." But the Elephant
despaired of ever rolling himself up; he was growing larger every day
and such a proceeding was of course becoming more and more difficult.

"Let us call a council of the animals," said he, "and see what is to be
done about it." Now the Elephant was greatly feared in the place. He was
so large and powerful. So no animal dared disobey when the Hare whom the
Elephant had sent brought the message to them. They assembled about a
deep pool. The Elephant opened the meeting by dipping his trunk into the
pool and squirting water over all the animals. He thought it was great
fun, and they did not dare run away, for they feared his anger.

"The Elephant is very good-natured," whispered the Otter, who cared
nothing for the wetting, to the Fox who was shivering under his ducking,
and contriving a way of getting off. "You never see a large fat fellow
but he is so good-natured. What a joke that was of his to squirt water
all over the crowd!"

"V-v-very," chattered the Fox. "It isn't what you call a dry joke,
though, is it?"

"What a cunning fellow you are!" said the Otter. "But, holloa, are you
going off on the sly?" Yes, surely the Fox was starting away.

"Tell the Elephant," said he, "that I'm off after a partridge. We shall
want something to eat after meeting." But he did not come back again.
While they were all shivering with the wet, the Elephant wiping the end
of his trunk upon some moss, opened his mouth and spake.

"I notice," quoth he, "that it is not as warm as it was, and my friend
the Bear at my right hand (here the bear sitting on his hind legs nodded
his head and growled,) tells me that it will grow much colder even. It
would be a great calamity to all of us, and I have called you together
that we may confer as to the best means of avoiding this severe cold
that is to come, which my friend the Bear (another growl) calls by the
name of winter. You are at liberty to make any suggestions you please."

The Wolf spoke first. "Who cares for the winter?" snarled he. "For my
part I think it is great sport. The snow grows very hard, and one glides
over the crust so swiftly. Besides, it is easy then to see the footsteps
of