“Now this sort of thing was not at all to the liking of Mr. Loon.  He gloried in his strength and he wanted to hunt for his fish and catch them in fair chase instead of waiting for them to unsuspectingly swim within reach.  He practised and practised swimming and diving, but he soon made up his mind that he never would be able to move through the water fast enough to catch a fish unless there was some change.  He watched the fish swim, and he saw that the power which drove them through the water came from their tails.  Mr. Loon grew very thoughtful.

“The next time Mother Nature came around to see how everybody was getting on, to hear complaints, and to grant such requests as seemed wise, Mr. Loon was on hand.  ‘If you please,’ said he when his turn came, ‘I would like my legs moved back to the lower end of my body.’

“Mother Nature was surprised.  She looked it.  ’But you’ll hardly be able to walk at all with your legs there!’ she exclaimed.

“Mr. Loon said that he knew that, and that he didn’t want to walk.  He would far rather spend all his time on the water.  So Mother Nature granted his request.  Mr. Loon thanked her and started for the water.  He couldn’t keep his balance.  He simply flopped along, while all his neighbors, who had heard his queer request, jeered at him and called him crazy.  He just didn’t pay any attention, but flopped along until he reached the water.  Then he swam away swiftly.  When he was quite by himself with none to see, he dived, and as he had hoped, he found that he could drive himself through the water at great speed.  He practised a while and then he went fishing.  When he caught his first fish in a fair chase, he was so delighted that he shrieked and shouted and laughed in the wildest fashion far into the night.  And those who had heard his strange request and thought him crazy were sure of it, as they listened to his wild laughter.

“So little by little it was spread about among all the other people that Mr. Loon was crazy, and he was left much to himself, which was just what he desired.  He was quick to note that the sound of his voice sent shivers over some of his neighbors, and so he would shriek and laugh just to drive them away.  It pleased him to have them think him crazy, and he kept it up.

“So it is with Dippy today, and last night you ran from the voice of a crazy Loon who isn’t crazy at all, but likes to make people think he is,” concluded Grandfather Frog.

XVI

WHERE BIG-HORN GOT HIS CURVED HORNS

It was Digger the Badger who told Peter Rabbit the story of the great Ram who was the first of all the wild Sheep who live on the tops of the mountains bounding the great plains of the Far West on which Digger was born.  It happened that Farmer Brown’s flock of Sheep were grazing in the Old Pasture in plain sight of Digger as he sat on his doorstep watching his shadow grow longer.  At the head of the flock was a Ram whose horns curved around in almost a circle, and whom Peter Rabbit often had admired.