finish, then called all the others about her and told them who had
made all the trouble. Mr. Snake was very bold. He held his head very
high in the air and pretended not to care. When Old Mother Nature
turned her head, he even ran out his tongue at her, just as all the
Snake family do at you and me to-day. When she had finished telling
them how cheating and stealing and lying isn't smart at all, but very,
very dreadful, she turned to Mr. Snake and said:

"'From this time on, no one will believe anything you say, and you
shall have no friends. You will never wink again, for you and your
children and your children's children forever will have no eyelids,
that all the world may know that those who make a wrong use of the
things given them shall have them taken away.'

"And now you know why little Mr. Greensnake cannot wink at you; he
hasn't any eyelids to wink with" finished Grandfather Frog.

Peter Rabbit drew a long breath. "Thank you, oh, thank you ever so
much, Grandfather Frog," he said. "Will you tell us next time why
Bobby Coon wears rings on his tail?"

"Perhaps," replied Grandfather Frog.




XI

WHY BOBBY COON HAS RINGS ON HIS TAIL