<p><SPAN name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"></SPAN></p>
<h2> CHAPTER XVI Danny's Northern Cousins and Nimbleheels </h2>
<p>Whitefoot the Wood Mouse and Danny Meadow Mouse had become so interested
that they decided they couldn't afford to miss the next lesson. Neither
did either of them feel like making the long journey to his home and back
again. So Whitefoot found a hole in a stump near by and decided to camp
out there for a few days. Danny decided to do the same thing in a
comfortable place under a pile of brush not far away. So the next morning
both were on hand when school opened.</p>
<p>"I told you yesterday that I would tell you about some of Danny's
cousins," began Old Mother Nature just as Chatterer the Red Squirrel, who
was late, came hurrying up quite out of breath. "Way up in the Far North
are two of Danny's cousins more closely related to him than to any other
members of the Mouse family. Yet, strange to say, they are not called Mice
at all, but Lemmings. However, they belong to the Mouse family.</p>
<p>"Bandy the Banded Lemming is the most interesting, because he is the one
member of the entire family who changes the color of his coat. In summer
he wears beautiful shades of reddish brown and gray, but in winter his
coat is wholly white. He is also called the Hudson Bay Lemming.</p>
<p>"Danny Meadow Mouse thinks his tail is short, but he wouldn't if he should
see Bandy's tail. That is so short it hardly shows beyond his long fur. He
is about Danny's size, but a little stouter and stockier, and his long fur
makes him appear even thicker-bodied than he really is. He has very short
legs, and his ears are so small that they are quite hidden in the fur
around them, so that he appears to have no ears at all.</p>
<p>"In that same far northern country is a close relative called the Brown
Lemming. He is very much like Bandy save that he is all brown and does not
change his coat in winter. Both have the same general habits, and these
are much like the habits of Danny Meadow Mouse. They make short burrows in
the ground leading to snug, warm nests of grass and moss. In winter they
make little tunnels in every direction under the snow, with now and then
an opening to the surface.</p>
<p>"There are many more Brown Lemmings than Banded Lemmings, and their little
paths run everywhere through the grass and moss. In that country there is
a great deal of moss. It covers the ground just as grass does here. But
the most interesting thing about these Lemmings is the way they migrate.
To migrate is to move from one part of the country to another. You know
most of the birds migrate to the Sunny South every autumn and back every
spring.</p>
<p>"Once in a while it happens that food becomes very scarce where the
Lemmings are. Then very many of them get together, just as migrating birds
form great flocks, and start on a long journey in search of a place where
there is plenty of food. They form a great army and push ahead, regardless
of everything. They swim wide rivers and even lakes which may lie in their
way. Of course, they eat everything eatable in their path."</p>
<p>"My!" exclaimed Danny Meadow Mouse, "I'm glad I don't live in a country
where I might have to make such long journeys. I don't envy those cousins
up there in the Far North a bit. I'm perfectly satisfied to live right on
the Green Meadows."</p>
<p>"Which shows your good common sense," said Old Mother Nature. "By the way,
Danny, I suppose you are acquainted with Nimbleheels the Jumping Mouse,
who also is rather fond of the Green Meadows. I ought to have sent word to
him to be here this morning."</p>
<p>Hardly were the words out of Old Mother Nature's mouth when something
landed in the leaves almost at her feet and right in the middle of school.
Instantly Danny Meadow Mouse scurried under a pile of dead leaves.
Whitefoot the Wood Mouse darted into a knothole in the log on which he had
been sitting. Jumper the Hare dodged behind a little hemlock tree. Peter
Rabbit bolted for a hollow log. Striped Chipmunk vanished in a hole under
an old stump. Johnny Chuck backed up against the trunk of a tree and made
ready to fight. Only Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel and Chatterer the Red
Squirrel and Prickly Porky the Porcupine, who were sitting in trees, kept
their places. You see they felt quite safe.</p>
<p>As soon as all those who had run had reached places of safety, they peeped
out to see what had frightened them so. Just imagine how very, very
foolish they felt when they saw Old Mother Nature smiling down at a little
fellow just about the size of little Whitefoot, but with a much longer
tail. It was Nimbleheels the Jumping Mouse.</p>
<p>"Well, well, well," exclaimed Old Mother Nature. "I was just speaking of
you and wishing I had you here. How did you happen to come? And what do
you mean by scaring my pupils half out of their wits?" Her eyes twinkled.
Nimbleheels saw this and knew that she was only pretending to be severe.</p>
<p>Before he could reply Johnny Chuck began to chuckle. The chuckle became a
laugh, and presently Johnny was laughing so hard he had to hold his sides.
Now, as you know, laughter is catching. In a minute or so everybody was
laughing, and no one but Johnny Chuck knew what the joke was. At last
Peter Rabbit stopped laughing long enough to ask Johnny what he was
laughing at.</p>
<p>"At the idea of that little pinch of nothing giving us all such a fright,"
replied Johnny Chuck. Then all laughed some more.</p>
<p>When they were through laughing Nimbleheels answered Old Mother Nature's
questions. He explained that he had heard about that school, as by this
time almost every one in the Green Forest and on the Green Meadows had. By
chance he learned that Danny Meadow Mouse was attending. He thought that
if it was a good thing for Danny it would be a good thing for him, so he
had come.</p>
<p>"Just as I was almost here I heard a twig snap behind me, or thought I
did, and I jumped so as to get here and be safe. I didn't suppose anyone
would be frightened by little me," he explained. "It was some jump!"
exclaimed Jumper the Hare admiringly. "He went right over my head, and I
was sitting up at that!"</p>
<p>"It isn't much of a jump to go over your head," replied Nimbleheels. "You
ought to see me when I really try to jump. I wasn't half trying when I
landed here. I'm sorry I frightened all of you so. It gives me a queer
feeling just to think that I should be able to frighten anybody. If you
please, Mother Nature, am I in time for to-day's lesson?"</p>
<p>"Not for all of it, but you are just in time for the part I wanted you
here for," replied Old Mother Nature. "Hop up on that log side of your
Cousin Whitefoot, where all can see you."</p>
<p>Nimbleheels hopped up beside Whitefoot the Wood Mouse, and as the two
little cousins sat side by side they were not unlike in general
appearance, though of the two Whitefoot was the prettier. The coat of
Nimbleheels was a dull yellowish, darker on the back than on the sides.
Like Whitefoot he was white underneath. His ears were much smaller than
those of Whitefoot. But the greatest differences between the two were in
their hind legs and tails.</p>
<p>The hind legs and feet of Nimbleheels were long, on the same plan as those
of Peter Rabbit. From just a glance at them any one would know that he was
a born jumper and a good one. Whitefoot possessed a long tail, but the
tail of Nimbleheels was much longer, slim and tapering.</p>
<p>"There," said Old Mother Nature, "is the greatest jumper for his size
among all the animals in this great country. When I say this, I mean the
greatest ground jumper. Timmy the Flying Squirrel jumps farther, but Timmy
has to climb to a high place and then coasts down on the air. I told you
what wonderful jumps Jack Rabbit can make, but if he could jump as high
and far for his size as Nimbleheels can jump for his size, the longest
jump Jack has ever made would seem nothing more than a hop. By the way,
both Nimbleheels and Whitefoot have small pockets in their cheeks. Tell us
where you live, Nimbleheels."</p>
<p>"I live among the weeds along the edge of the Green Meadows," replied
Nimbleheels, "though sometimes I go way out on the Green Meadows. But I
like best to be among the weeds because they are tall and keep me well
hidden, and also because they furnish me plenty to eat. You see, I live
largely on seeds, though I am also fond of berries and small nuts,
especially beechnuts. Some of my family prefer the Green Forest,
especially if there is a Laughing Brook or pond in it. Personally I
prefer, as I said before, the edge of the Green Meadows."</p>
<p>"Do you make your home under the ground?" asked Striped Chipmunk.</p>
<p>"For winter, yes," replied Nimbleheels. "In summer I sometimes put my nest
just a few inches under ground, but often I hide it under a piece of bark
or in a thick clump of grass, just as Danny Meadow Mouse often does his.
In the fall I dig a deep burrow, deep enough to be beyond the reach of
Jack Frost, and in a nice little bedroom down there I sleep the winter
away. I have little storerooms down there too, in which I put seeds,
berries and nuts. Then when I do wake up I have plenty to eat."</p>
<p>"I might add," said Old Mother Nature, "that when he goes to sleep for the
winter he curls up in a little ball with his long tail wrapped around him,
and in his bed of soft grass he sleeps very sound indeed. Like Johnny
Chuck he gets very fat before going to sleep. Now, Nimbleheels, show us
how you can jump."</p>
<p>Nimbleheels hopped down from the log on which he had been sitting and at
once shot into the air in such a high, long, beautiful jump that everybody
exclaimed. This way and that way he went in great leaps. It was truly
wonderful.</p>
<p>"That long tail is what balances him," explained Old Mother Nature. "If he
should lose it he would simply turn over and over and never know where or
how he was going to land. His jumping is done only in times of danger.
When he is not alarmed he runs about on the ground like the rest of the
Mouse family. This is all for to-day. To-morrow I will tell you still more
about the Mouse family."</p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />