Mother Nature. "I don't know much good about him," he mumbled.

"And you don't know much bad about me either," retorted Happy
Jack sharply.

Old Mother Nature held up a warning hand. "That will do," said
she. "Now, Chatterer, go on."

"Happy Jack is more than twice as big as I, but at that, I'm not
afraid of him," said Chatterer and glared at Happy Jack. "He is
gray all over, except underneath, where he is white. He has a
tremendously big tail and is so proud of it he shows it off
whenever he has a chance. When he sits up he has a way of
folding his hands on his breast. I don't know what he does it
for unless it is to keep them warm in cold weather. He builds a
nest very much like mine. Sometimes it is in a hollow tree, but
quite as often it is in the branches of a tree. He is a good
traveler in the tree-tops, but he spends a good deal of his time
on the ground. He likes open woodland best, especially where
there are many nut trees. He has a storehouse where he stores up
nuts for winter, but he buries in the ground and under the leaves
more than he puts in his storehouse. In winter, when he is hungry,
he hunts for those buried nuts, and somehow he manages to find them
even when they are covered with snow. When he comes to stealing
he is not better than I am. I have seen him steal birds' eggs,
and I wouldn't trust him unwatched around one of my storehouses."

It was Happy Jacks' turn to become indignant. "I may have taken a
few eggs when I accidentally ran across them," said he, "but I never
go looking for them, and I don't take them unless I am very hungry