fault,' said she kindly, as he obeyed her. 'It was very stupid of me.
What you need is a long tail to balance you on a long jump. That short
tail is all right for short jumps, but it won't do for long jumps. It
won't do at all. I should have thought of that when I made your legs
long.'

"She reached down and took hold of the tip of that little short tail and
drew it out until it was long, almost twice as long as the body of
little Mr. Mouse. 'Now jump,' she commanded, 'and jump with all your
might.'

"A little fearfully but with the beginning of a little hope Mr. Mouse
jumped with all his might. Away he sailed straight and true and landed
lightly on his feet so far from where he had left the ground that he
could hardly believe his own eyes as he looked back. Mother Nature was
smiling.

"'There you are, Mr. Limberheels. I guess that that will make you quite
the most wonderful jumper of all my children,' said she.

"And so it was that little Mr. Mouse, all at one time, became possessed
of a long tail, a name, and the ability to out jump all his neighbors,"
concluded Danny Meadow Mouse. "Do you know," he added wistfully,
"sometimes I envy my cousin Limberheels."

"I envy him myself," declared Peter.