The Baby cried and cried, till at last it went to sleep; and then the Wolf heard the Nurse say: “There, that’s a good Baby. If the naughty old Wolf comes for my darling, we’ll beat him, so we will.” The Wolf trotted sadly home. On his way he met the Fox. “What makes you look so sour and so forlorn, my friend?” said the Fox. “Don’t speak to me!” growled the Wolf. “I have lost my supper just because I believed what a Nurse said to a Baby.” THE CAT AND THE MARTINS A CAT, hearing that some Birds who lived in a martin box near by were ill, put on his spectacles and his overcoat, and made himself look as much as possible like a doctor, and went and knocked at their door. “I hear that you are all sick,” said he, “and have come to call on you. Let me in, and I will give you some medicine and cure you.” “No, thank you,” said the Birds, who saw his whiskers and knew he was their enemy the Cat; “we are well enough—much better than if we should open our door and let you in.” THE COCK AND THE FOX A FOX went prowling about a farmyard, not seeing a trap which the farmer had hidden there to catch him. Snap! went the trap, and the Fox found himself held fast by a strong cord. He howled horribly and was almost beside himself with rage. A Cock, hearing the noise, flew to the top of the fence. Looking over, he saw the Fox and was terribly frightened—not daring to go near him, even when he found that his old enemy could not move. But he could not refrain from giving an exulting crow. The Fox, looking up, said: “Dear Mr. Cock, you see how unlucky I have been, and all because I came here to inquire after your health. Do please help me to break this string, or at least do not let any one know that I am caught until I have time to gnaw it with my teeth.” The Cock said nothing, but went as fast as he could and told his master all about it. So the crafty Fox was served as the Cock thought he deserved to be. THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER A CAVALRY officer took the greatest of pains with his charger. As long as the war lasted, the Horse was looked upon as a companion and fellow helper. He was carefully groomed every day, and fed with hay and oats. But when the war was over, the allowance of grain and hay ceased, and the Horse was fed with chaff and whatever he might find by the wayside. He was made a drudge too, and was often forced to carry loads much too heavy for his strength. When, in course of time, war was again proclaimed, the soldier brought his military trappings and put them on his charger; and, after having arrayed his own person with his heavy coat of mail, he mounted to ride to battle. But the Horse, no longer equal to the burden, fell down straightway under the weight. “You must go to the war on foot,” he said to his master, “for you have transformed me from a horse into an ass.” He who slights his friends when he does not need their best offices must not expect them to serve him when he needs them again. THE FOX AND THE STORK