“’By the way, Mr. Coon, I am so pleased with your neatness that I am leaving you a reward.  I hope you will like it.’

“Mr. Coon didn’t see any reward, but he thanked her just the same, and Old Mother Nature went on her way.  Mr. Coon watched her out of sight.  Then he sat down on the old log again and scratched his head thoughtfully as he looked this way and that.

“‘I wonder what she meant by reward.  I don’t see any anywhere,’ he said to himself.

“By and by he just happened to glance at his tail.  ‘Oh!’ cried Mr. Coon, and then for a long time he couldn’t say another word, but just looked and looked with shining eyes and such a queer feeling of happiness in his heart.  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. Coon to go with them out into the Great World.  But he kept right on minding his own business and keeping neat and cheerful, until at last Old Mother Nature, all worried and troubled, came to see what she could do to straighten matters out.  It didn’t take her long to find out how all the little meadow and forest people, except Mr. Coon, had grumbled and been discontented and said ugly things about her, for you can’t fool Old Mother Nature, and it’s of no use to try.  Some she punished one way, and some she punished another way, for of course she hadn’t been to blame for the hard times, but had been working night and day to put an end to them.

“Mr. Coon was the last to be called before her, and instead of being frowning and cross, as she had been to the others, she was all smiles.  She said a lot of nice things to him, and when at last she sent him away, what do you think she had given him?”