"Name them," commanded Old Mother Nature promptly.
"Chatterer the Red Squirrel, Timmy the Flying Squirrel, and
Striped Chipmunk," replied Happy Jack.
"He's forgotten Rusty the Fox Squirrel," shouted Chatterer,
dancing about gleefully.
Happy Jack looked crestfallen and gave Chatterer an angry look.
"That's right, Chatterer," said Old Mother Nature. "Rusty is a
very important member of the Squirrel family. Now suppose you
name the others."
"Wha--wha--what others?" stammered Chatterer. "I don't know of
any others."
Peter Rabbit hugged himself with glee as he watched the faces of
Happy Jack and Chatterer. "They don't know any more about their
family than we did about ours," he whispered in one of the long
ears of Jumper the Hare.
As for Old Mother Nature, she smiled indulgently. "Put on your
thinking-caps, you two," said she. "You haven't named half of
them. You are not wholly to blame for that, for some of them you
never have seen, but there is one member of the Squirrel family
whom both of you know very well, yet whom neither of you named.
Put on your thinking-caps."
Chatterer looked at Happy Jack, and Happy Jack looked at Chatterer,
and each scratched his head. Each wanted to be the first to think
of that other cousin, for each was jealous of the other. But though
they scratched and scratched their heads, they couldn't think who
that other cousin could be.
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