"Now, that's too bad!" Jimmy exclaimed. He had been so interested in
what he was doing that he had never heard Mrs. Squirrel at all. "Come
back here and we'll try again."

The words were scarcely out of Jimmy Rabbit's mouth when he received a
terrific box on the ear. Now, it's bad enough for anybody to have his
ears boxed. But Jimmy's ears were so big that I dare say it hurt him
three times as much as it would have hurt anyone else. And it
surprised him, too. For he hadn't heard Mrs. Squirrel as she stole up
behind him. Anyhow, he ran off howling, taking his mother's shears
with him.

"That awful Rabbit boy!" Mrs. Squirrel said. "A moment more and he
would have cut off your beautiful tail--your best feature, too!"

"What's a feature, Mother?" Frisky asked.

"Why--your nose, and your eyes, and your ears--anything of that sort,"
Mrs. Squirrel said. "It makes me feel faint just to think what almost
happened."

"But Jimmy Rabbit says long tails are out of fashion," said Frisky.

"Out of fashion indeed!" Mrs. Squirrel sniffed. "He's jealous--that's
what's the trouble with him. He wishes he had a fine, long, bushy tail
himself. Goodness me! I'm all of a flutter--I'm so upset." And poor
Mrs. Squirrel sat right down and fanned herself with her sun-bonnet.
"Now, don't you ever let anybody try to cut off your tail again," she
said to Frisky. "You have your father's tail. And everybody always
said that he had the most beautiful tail that was ever seen in these