You see, Old Mother Nature had left a
beautiful, broad, black ring around his tail. Mr. Coon couldn't do
anything the rest of that day but look at and admire that ring, until
his neck ached from twisting it around so long.
"After that he was neater than ever, you may be sure, and the next
time Old Mother Nature came around, she left another handsome black
ring on his tail, because he hadn't grown careless, but had kept up
his good habits.
"Now about this time, hard times came to all the little people of the
Green Forest and the Green Meadows. Every one began to grumble. Mr.
Bear grumbled. Mr. Fox grumbled. Mr. Rabbit grumbled. Mr. Jay
grumbled. Mr. Squirrel grumbled. Even Mr. Chuck grumbled. And one and
all they began to blame Old Mother Nature. Then they began to quarrel
among themselves and to steal from each other. Some even left their
homes and went out into the Great World to try to find a better place
to live, only to find that the Great World was a harder place to live
in than the Green Forest and the Green Meadows.
"But Mr. Coon didn't grumble, and he didn't go away. No, Sir, Mr. Coon
just stuck to his home and did the best he could to find enough to
eat. He kept himself as neat as ever and was always cheerful. Whenever
he met one of his grumbling neighbors, he would say:
"'Better times coming! Better times coming! Old Mother Nature is doing
the best she can. Better times coming!'
"The others would laugh at him for his faith in Old Mother Nature, and
say ugly things about her, and urge Mr.
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