Old Mother West Wind | Page 8

Hooty the Owl, Bobby Coon, Sammy Jay, Blacky the
Crow, Grandfather Frog, Mr. Toad, Spotty the Turtle, the Merry Little
Breezes, all were there. Last of all came Jimmy Skunk. Very handsome
he looked in his shining black coat and very sorry he appeared that such
a dreadful thing should have happened. He told Mrs. Grouse how badly
he felt, and he loudly demanded that the culprit should be found out
and severely punished.
Old Dame Nature has the most smiling face in the world, but this time
it was very, very grave indeed. First she asked little Mrs. Grouse to tell
her story all over again that all might hear. Then each in turn was asked
to tell where he had been the night before. Johnny Chuck, Happy Jack
Squirrel, Striped Chipmunk, Sammy Jay and Blacky the Crow had

gone to bed when Mr. Sun went down behind the Purple Hills. Jerry
Muskrat, Billy Mink, Little Joe Otter, Grandfather Frog and Spotty the
Turtle had not left the Smiling Pool. Bobby Coon had been down in
Farmer Brown's cornfield. Hooty the Owl had been hunting in the
lower end of the Green Meadows. Peter Rabbit had been down in the
berry patch. Mr. Toad had been under the piece of bark which he called
a house. Old Dame Nature called on Jimmy Skunk last of all. Jimmy
protested that he had been very, very tired and had gone to bed very
early indeed and had slept the whole night through.
Then Old Dame Nature asked Peter Rabbit what he had found among
the egg shells that morning.
Peter Rabbit hopped out and laid three long black hairs before Old
Dame Nature. "These," said Peter Rabbit "are what I found among the
egg shells."
Then Old Dame Nature called Johnny Chuck. "Tell us, Johnny Chuck,"
said she, "what you saw when you called at Jimmy Skunk's house this
morning."
"I saw Jimmy Skunk," said Johnny Chuck, "and Jimmy seemed very,
very sleepy. It seemed to me that his whiskers were yellow."
"That will do," said Old Dame Nature, and then she called Old Mother
West Wind.
"What time did you come down on the Green Meadows this morning?"
"Just at the break of day," said Old Mother West Wind, "as Mr. Sun
was coming up from behind the Purple Hills."
"And whom did you see so early in the morning?" asked Old Dame
Nature.
"I saw Bobby Coon going home from old Farmer Brown's cornfield,"
said Old Mother West Wind. "I saw Hooty the Owl coming back from
the lower end of the Green Meadows. I saw Peter Rabbit down in the
berry patch. Last of all I saw something like a black shadow coming
down the Lone Little Path toward the house of Jimmy Skunk."
Every one was looking very hard at Jimmy Skunk. Jimmy began to
look very unhappy and very uneasy.
"Who wears a black coat?" asked Dame Nature.
"Jimmy Skunk!" shouted all the little meadow folks.
"What MIGHT make whiskers yellow?" asked Old Dame Nature.
No one seemed to know at first. Then Peter Rabbit spoke up. "It

MIGHT be the yolk of an egg," said Peter Rabbit.
"Who are likely to be sleepy on a bright sunny morning?" asked Old
Dame Nature.
"People who have been out all night," said Johnny Chuck, who himself
always goes to bed with the sun.
"Jimmy Skunk," said Old Dame Nature, and her voice was very stern,
very stern indeed, and her face was very grave. "Jimmy Skunk, I accuse
you of having broken and eaten the eggs of Mrs. Grouse. What have
you to say for yourself?"
Jimmy Skunk hung his head. He hadn't a word to say. He just wanted to
sneak away by himself.
"Jimmy Skunk," said Old Dame Nature, "because your handsome black
coat of which you are so proud has made it possible for you to move
about in the night without being seen, and because we can no longer
trust you upon your honor, henceforth you and your descendants shall
wear a striped coat, which is the sign that you cannot be trusted. Your
coat hereafter shall be black and white, that when you move about in
the night you will always be visible."
And this is why that to this day Jimmy Skunk wears a striped suit of
black and white.

CHAPTER V
THE WILFUL LITTLE BREEZE
Old Mother West Wind was tired--tired and just a wee bit cross-- cross
because she was tired. She had had a very busy day. Ever since early
morning she had been puffing out the white sales of the ships on the big
ocean so that they could go faster; she had kept all the big and little
wind mills whirling and whirling to pump water for