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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/17250-h.zip b/17250-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2001858 --- /dev/null +++ b/17250-h.zip diff --git a/17250-h/17250-h.htm b/17250-h/17250-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..875783b --- /dev/null +++ b/17250-h/17250-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3426 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Mother West Wind "Where" Stories, by Thornton W. Burgess</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; visibility: hidden; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + hr.full { width: 100%; } + pre {font-size: 75%;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Mother West Wind "Where" Stories, by Thornton +W. Burgess, Illustrated by Harrison Cady</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Mother West Wind "Where" Stories</p> +<p>Author: Thornton W. Burgess</p> +<p>Release Date: December 7, 2005 [eBook #17250]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOTHER WEST WIND "WHERE" STORIES***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Janet Blenkinship, Brian Sogard,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (https://www.pgdp.net/)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p><a name="illus-04" id="illus-04"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-04.jpg" alt="Frontispiece" title="Frontispiece" /></div> +<h4>"Then there was a crash, and everybody's eyes flew open."<br /> +<span class="smcap">Frontispiece</span>. <i>See <a href='#Page_243'><b>Page 243.</b></a></i></h4> + + +<h4>BURGESS <span class="smcap">trade</span> QUADDIES <span class="smcap">mark</span> </h4> + + + +<h1>MOTHER WEST WIND<br /> +"WHERE" STORIES</h1> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h3>THORNTON W. BURGESS</h3> + +<p class='center'><i>Illustrations by</i> +HARRISON CADY</p> + +<h4>GROSSET & DUNLAP</h4> +<h5><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Publishers</span><span style="margin-left: 6em;">New York</span></h5> + +<p class='center'><i>By arrangement with Little, Brown, and Company</i></p> + +<p class='center'><i>Copyright, 1918,</i><br /> +By Thornton W. Burgess.</p> + + +<p class='center'><i>All rights reserved</i><br /> + +Printed in the United States of America</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" width="80%" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'>CHAPTER</td><td align='right'>PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>I.</td><td align='left'>Where Grandfather Frog Got His Big Mouth</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_1'><b>1</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>II.</td><td align='left'>Where Miser the Trade Rat First Set Up Shop</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_17'><b>17</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>III.</td><td align='left'>Where Yap-Yap the Prairie Dog Used His Wits</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_31'><b>31</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IV.</td><td align='left'>Where Yellow-Wing Got His Liking for the Ground</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_47'><b>47</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V.</td><td align='left'>Where Little Chief Learned To Make Hay</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_61'><b>61</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI.</td><td align='left'>Where Glutton the Wolverine Got His Name</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_77'><b>77</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td><td align='left'>Where Old Mrs. 'Gator Made the First Incubator</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_91'><b>91</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td><td align='left'>Where Mr. Quack Got His Webbed Feet</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_107'><b>107</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IX.</td><td align='left'>Where Thunderfoot the Bison Got His Hump</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_123'><b>123</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>X.</td><td align='left'>Where Limberheels Got His Long Tail</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_139'><b>139</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XI.</td><td align='left'>Where Old Mr. Gobbler Got the Strutting Habit</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_155'><b>155</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XII.</td><td align='left'>Where Seek-Seek Got His Pretty Coat</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_169'><b>169</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIII.</td><td align='left'>Where Old Mr. Osprey Learned To Fish</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_185'><b>185</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIV.</td><td align='left'>Where Old Mr. Bob-Cat Left His Honor</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_199'><b>199</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XV.</td><td align='left'>Where Dippy the Loon Got the Name of Being Crazy</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_213'><b>213</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVI.</td><td align='left'>Where Big-Horn Got His Curved Horns</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_229'><b>229</b></a></td></tr> +</table> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + + + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" width="80%" cellspacing="0" summary="List of Illustrations"> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='right'>PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>"Then there was a crash, and everybody's eyes flew open"</td><td align='right'><a href='#illus-04'><b>Frontispiece</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>"Little Chief's father taught him how to make hay"</td><td align='right'><a href='#illus-01'><b>74</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Peter noticed those feet the first time he met Mr. and Mrs. Quack</td><td align='right'><a href='#illus-02'><b>122</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>"Don't call me Striped Chipmunk, and don't call me Gopher!" said he</td><td align='right'><a href='#illus-03'><b>170</b></a></td></tr> +</table> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a>[Pg 1]</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a>[Pg 2]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a>[Pg 3]</span><br /><br /></p> +<h2>MOTHER WEST WIND "WHERE" STORIES<br /><br /></h2> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>I</h3> + +<h4>WHERE GRANDFATHER FROG GOT HIS BIG MOUTH</h4> + + +<p>Everybody knows that Grandfather Frog has a big mouth. Of course! It +wouldn't be possible to look him straight in the face and not know that +he has a big mouth. In fact, about all you see when you look Grandfather +Frog full in the face are his great big mouth and two great big goggly +eyes. He seems then to be all mouth and eyes.</p> + +<p>Anyway, that is what Peter Rabbit says. Peter never will forget the +first time he saw Grandfather Frog. Peter <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a>[Pg 4]</span>was very young then. He had +run away from home to see the Great World, and in the course of his +wanderings he came to the Smiling Pool. Never before had he seen so much +water. The most water he had ever seen before was a little puddle in the +Lone Little Path. So when Peter, who was only half grown then, hopped +out on the bank of the Smiling Pool and saw it dimpling and smiling in +the sunshine, he thought it the most wonderful thing he ever had seen. +The truth is that in those days Peter was in the habit of thinking +everything he saw for the first time the most wonderful thing yet, and +as he was continually seeing new things, and as his eyes always nearly +popped out of his head whenever he saw something new, it is a wonder +that he didn't become pop-eyed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a>[Pg 5]</span>Peter stared and stared at the Smiling Pool, and little by little he +began to see other things. First he noticed the bulrushes growing with +their feet in the water. They looked to him like giant grass, and he +began to be a little fearful lest this should prove to be a sort of +magic place—a place of giants. Then he noticed the lily-pads, and he +stared very hard at these. They looked like growing things, and yet they +seemed to be floating right on top of the water. It wasn't until a Merry +Little Breeze came along and turned the edge of one up so that Peter saw +the long stem running down in the water out of sight, that he was able +to understand how those lily-pads could be growing there. He was still +staring at those lily-pads when a great deep voice said:</p> + +<p>"Chug-a-rum! Chug-a-rum! Don't <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a>[Pg 6]</span>you know it isn't polite to stare at +people?"</p> + +<p>That voice was so unexpected and so deep that Peter was startled. He +jumped, started to run, then stopped. He wanted to run, but curiosity +wouldn't let him. He simply couldn't run away until he had found out +where that voice came from and to whom it belonged. It seemed to Peter +that it had come from right out of the Smiling Pool, but look as he +would, he couldn't see any one there.</p> + +<p>"If you please," said Peter timidly, "I'm not staring at anybody." All +the time he was staring down into the Smiling Pool with eyes fairly +popping out of his head.</p> + +<p>"Chug-a-rum! Have a care, young fellow! Have a care how you talk to your +elders. Do you mean to be impudent enough to tell me to my face <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a>[Pg 7]</span>that I +am not anybody?" The voice was deeper and gruffer than ever, and it made +Peter more uncomfortable than ever.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, Sir! No, indeed!" exclaimed Peter. "I don't mean anything of +the kind. I—I—well, if you please, Sir, I don't see you at all, so how +can I be staring at you? I'm sure from the sound of your voice that you +must be somebody very important. Please excuse me for seeming to stare. +I was just looking for you, that is all."</p> + +<p>A little movement in the water close to a big green lily-pad caught +Peter's eyes, and then out on the big green lily-pad climbed Grandfather +Frog. If Peter had stared before he doubly stared now, eyes and mouth +wide open. Grandfather Frog was looking his very best in his handsome +green coat and white-and-yellow waistcoat. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a>[Pg 8]</span> Peter had hardly noticed +these at all.</p> + +<p>"Why, you're all mouth!" he exclaimed, and then looked very much ashamed +of his impoliteness.</p> + +<p>Grandfather Frog's great goggly eyes twinkled. He knew that Peter was +very young and innocent and just starting out in the Great World. He +knew that Peter didn't intend to be impolite.</p> + +<p>"Not quite," said he good-naturedly. "Not quite all mouth, though I must +admit that it is of good size. The fact is, I wouldn't have it a bit +smaller if I could. If it were any smaller, I should miss many a good +meal, and if I were forced to do that, I am afraid I should be very +ill-tempered indeed. The truth is, I am very proud of my big mouth. I +don't know of any one who has a bigger one for their size."</p> + +<p>He opened his mouth wide, and it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a>[Pg 9]</span>seemed to Peter that Grandfather +Frog's whole head simply split in halves. He hadn't supposed anybody in +all the Great World possessed such a mouth.</p> + +<p>"Where did you get it?" gasped Peter, and then felt that he had asked a +very foolish question.</p> + +<p>Grandfather Frog chuckled. "I got it from my father, and he got his from +his father, and so on, way back to the days when the world was young and +the Frogs ruled the world," said he. "Would you like to hear about it?"</p> + +<p>"I'd love to!" cried Peter. So he settled himself comfortably on the +bank of the Smiling Pool for the first of many, many stories he was to +hear from Grandfather Frog.</p> + +<p>"Chug-a-rum!" began Grandfather Frog. You know he always begins a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>[Pg 10]</span>story +that way. "Chug-a-rum! Once upon a time the Great World was mostly +water, and most of the people lived in the water. It was in those days +that my great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather lived. Those were happy +days for the Frogs. Yes, indeed, those were happy days for the Frogs. Of +course they had enemies, but those enemies were all in the water. They +didn't have to be watching out for danger from the air and from the +land, as I do now. There was plenty to eat and little to do, and the +Frog tribe increased very fast. In fact, the Frogs increased so fast +that after a while there wasn't plenty to eat. That is, there wasn't +plenty of the kind of food they had been used to, which was mostly water +plants, and water bugs and such things.</p> + +<p>"Of course there were many fish, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a>[Pg 11]</span>and these also increased very fast, +and the big fish ate the Frogs whenever they could catch them, just as +they do to this day. The big fish also ate the little fish, and it +wasn't long before the Frogs and the little fish took to living where +the water was not deep enough for the big fish to swim, and this made it +all the harder to get enough to eat. The mouths of the Frogs in those +days were not big. In fact, they were quite small. You see, living on +the kind of food they did, they had no need of big mouths.</p> + +<p>"One day as a Great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather Frog sat with just +his head out of water, wondering what it would seem like to have his +stomach really filled, a school of little fish came swimming about him, +and it popped into his head that if little fish were good for big fish +to eat, they might be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>[Pg 12]</span>good for a Frog to eat. So he caught the first +one that came within reach, and he found it was good to eat. He liked it +so well that after that he caught fish whenever he could. Of course he +swallowed them whole. He had to, because he had no chewing or biting +teeth.</p> + +<p>"Now the Frogs always have been famous for their appetites, and +Great-grandfather Frog found that it took a great many of these teeny +weeny fish to make a comfortable meal. He was thinking of this one day +when a larger fish came within reach, and almost without realizing what +he was doing Great-grandfather snapped at and caught him. He caught the +fish by the tail and at once began to swallow it, which, of course, was +no way to swallow a fish. But Great-grandfather Frog had much to learn +in those day, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>[Pg 13]</span>and so he tried to swallow that fish tail first instead +of head first. He got the tail down and the smallest part of the body, +and then that fish stuck. Yes, Sir, that fish stuck. The fact was, +Great-grandfather Frog's mouth wasn't wide enough. It was bad enough not +to be able to swallow all of that fish, but what was worse was the +discovery that he couldn't get up again what he had swallowed. That fish +was stuck! It would go neither down nor up.</p> + +<p>"Poor Great-grandfather Frog was in a terrible fix. Big tears rolled +down his cheeks. He choked and choked and choked, until it looked very +much as if he might choke to death. Just in time, in the very nick of +time, who should come along but Old Mother Nature. She saw right away +what the trouble was, and she pulled out the fish. Then <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>[Pg 14]</span>she asked how +that fish had happened to be in such a place as Great-grandfather Frog's +mouth. When he could get his breath, he told her all about it—how food +had been getting scarce and how he had discovered that fish were good to +eat, and how he had make a mistake in catching a fish too big for his +mouth. Old Mother Nature looked thoughtful. She saw the great numbers of +young fish. Suddenly she reached over and put a finger in +Great-grandfather Frog's mouth and stretched it sideways. Then she did +the same thing to the other corner. Great-grandfather Frog's mouth was +three times as big as it had been before.</p> + +<p>"'Now,' said she, 'I don't believe you'll have any more trouble, and I'm +going to do the same thing for all the other Frogs.'</p> + +<p>"She did that very day, and from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>[Pg 15]</span>then on the Frogs no longer had any +trouble in getting plenty to eat. So that is where I got my big mouth, +and I tell you right now I wouldn't trade it for anything anybody else +has got," concluded Grandfather Frog, as he snapped up a foolish green +fly who came too near.</p> + +<p>"I think it is splendid, perfectly splendid," cried Peter. "I wish I had +one just like it." And then he wondered why Grandfather Frog laughed so +hard.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>[Pg 16]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>[Pg 17]</span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>[Pg 18]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>[Pg 19]</span></p> +<h3>II</h3> + +<h4>WHERE MISER THE TRADE RAT FIRST SET UP SHOP</h4> + + +<p>It was quite by accident that Peter Rabbit first heard of Miser the +Trade Rat. You know how it is with Peter; he is forever using those big +ears of his to learn interesting things. That is what ears are for; but +there is a right way and a wrong way to use them, and I am afraid that +Peter isn't always over-particular in this respect. I suspect, in fact I +know, that Peter sometimes listens when he has no business to listen and +knows he has no business to listen. Again he sometimes overhears things +quite by accident when he cannot very well <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>[Pg 20]</span>help hearing. It was in this +way that he first heard of Miser the Trade Rat.</p> + +<p>Peter had crept into a hollow log in the Green Forest to rest and to +feel absolutely safe while he was doing it. He had been there only a +little while when he heard light footsteps outside and a moment later a +voice which made him shiver a little in spite of himself and the +knowledge that he was perfectly safe. The footsteps and the voice were +Old Man Coyote's.</p> + +<p>Very carefully Peter peeped out. Old Man Coyote had sat down close by +the log in which Peter was hiding. On a dead tree close at hand sat Ol' +Mistah Buzzard, who had come up from way down south for the summer, and +it was to him that Old Man Coyote was talking.</p> + +<p>"I was over by Farmer Brown's barn last night," said Old Man Coyote,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a>[Pg 21]</span> +"and I caught a glimpse of Robber the Brown Eat. What a disgrace he is +to the whole Rat tribe! For that matter, he is a disgrace to all who +live on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest. He isn't much like +his cousin, Miser the Trade Rat."</p> + +<p>"Mah goodness! Do yo' know Miser?" exclaimed Ol' Mistah Buzzard.</p> + +<p>"Do I know Miser? I should say I do!" replied Old Man Coyote. "I've +tried to catch him enough times to know him. He kept a junk shop very +near where I used to live way out west. Do you know him, Mr. Buzzard?"</p> + +<p>"Ah cert'nly does," chuckled Ol' Mistah Buzzard. "Ah cert'nly does. Ah +never did see such a busy fellow as he is. Ah done see his junk shop +many times, and always it done be growin' bigger. Ah wonders, Brer <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>[Pg 22]</span>Coyote, +if yo' ever heard the story of his Great-great-ever-so-great-gran'-daddy, +the first of the family, and how and where he started the business that's +been kept in the family ever since."</p> + +<p>"No," said Old Man Coyote, "I never did, and I've wondered about it a +great deal."</p> + +<p>Peter Rabbit almost forgot that he was hiding. He was so eager to hear +that story that he was right on the point of speaking up and begging Ol' +Mistah Buzzard to tell it when he remembered Old Man Coyote. Just in the +nick of time he clapped a hand over his mouth. It seemed to Peter a +long, long time before Old Man Coyote said:</p> + +<p>"I'd like to hear that story, Mr. Buzzard, if it isn't too much to ask +of you."</p> + +<p>"Not at all, Brer Coyote; not at all.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>[Pg 23]</span> Ah'll be mor'n pleased to tell it +to yo'. Ah cert'nly will," said Ol' Mistah Buzzard, and Peter settled +himself comfortably to listen.</p> + +<p>"Yo' see it was this way," began Ol' Mistah Buzzard. "Ah got it from mah +gran'daddy, and he got it from his gran'daddy, and his gran'daddy got it +from—"</p> + +<p>"I know," interrupted Old Man Coyote. "It was handed down from your +greatest-great-grandfather, who lived in the days when the world was +young and what you are going to tell me about happened. Isn't that it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Suh," replied Ol' Mistah Buzzard. "Yes, Suh, that's it. Ol' Mother +Nature treat 'em all alike in those days. She's a right smart busy +person, and she ain't got no time fo' to answer foolish questions. No, +Suh, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>[Pg 24]</span>she ain't. So, quick as she get a new kind of critter made, she +turn him loose and tell him if he want to live he got to be right smart +and find out for hisself how to do it. Ah reckons yo' know all about +that, Brer Coyote."</p> + +<p>Old Man Coyote nodded, and Ol' Mistah Buzzard scratched his bald head +gently as if trying to stir up his memory. Peter Rabbit almost squealed +aloud in his impatience while he waited for Ol' Mistah Buzzard to go on.</p> + +<p>"When Ol' Mother Nature made Brer Trade Rat in the beginning and turned +him loose in the Great World, he was just plain Mistah Rat and nothing +more, same as his no 'count cousin, Robber the Brown Rat," continued Ol' +Mistah Buzzard. "He had to win a name for hisself same as ev'ybody else. +He had mighty sharp wits, had this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>[Pg 25]</span> Mistah Rat, and directly he found he +had to shift for hisself he began to study and study and study what he +gwine to do to live well and be happy. He watched his neighbors to see +what they did, and it didn't take him long to find out that if he would +be respected he must have a home. Those without homes were mostly no +'count folks, same as they are today.</p> + +<p>"So Brer Rat made a nest close to the trunk of a tree on the edge of the +Green Forest, a soft, warm nest, and in collectin' the stuff to make it +of he learned the joy of bein' busy. Person'ly, yo' understand, Ah +thinks he was all wrong. Ah never am so happy as when Ah can take a +sun-bath with nothin' to do. But Brer Rat was never so happy as when he +was busy, and when he got that li'l nest finished time began to hang +heavy on his hands.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>[Pg 26]</span> Yes, Suh, it cert'nly did. Just because he didn't +have anything else to do he began to add a little more to his house. One +day he stepped on a thorn. 'Ouch!' cried Brer Rat, and then right away +forgot the pain in a new idea. He would cover his house with thorns, +leavin' just a little secret entrance for hisself! Then he would be +safe, wholly safe from his big neighbors, some of whom had begun to look +at him with such a hungry look in their eyes that they made him right +smart uncomfortable. So he spent his time, did Brer Rat, in huntin' for +the longest and sharpest thorns and in cuttin' the branches on which +they grew. These he carried to his house and piled them around it and on +it until it had become a great pile with sharp thorns stickin' out in +every direction, and the hungriest of the big people of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>[Pg 27]</span>forest +passed it at a respectful distance.</p> + +<p>"When Brer Rat had all the thorns he needed and more, he began to +collect other things and added these to his pile. Yo' see, he had found +that it was great fun to collect things; to find the queerest things he +could and bring them home and look at them and wonder about them. So +little by little his house became a sort of junk shop, the very first +one in all the Great World. Bright stones and shells, bones, anything +that caught his bright eyes and pleased them, he brought home. When he +was tired of huntin' fo' food or more strange things he would sit and +gloat over his treasures and play with them. And then the first thing he +knew he had a name. Yes, Suh, he had a name. He was called Miser.</p> + +<p>"Of course Brer Miser hadn't lived <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>[Pg 28]</span>ve'y long befo' he found out that +one law of the Great World was that things belonged to whoever could get +them and keep them. He saw that some thought themselves ve'y smart when +they stole from their neighbors. Brer Miser didn't like this at all. He +was ve'y, ye'y honest, was Brer Miser. Perhaps he wasn't really much +tempted, not fo' a long time anyway.</p> + +<p>"But at last came a time when he was tempted. Quite by accident he found +one of Mr. Squirrel's storehouses. In it were some nuts different from +any he ever had seen befo'. 'Brer Squirrel won't mind if Ah taste just +one,' said he, and did it. It tasted good; it tasted ve'y good indeed. +Brer Miser began to wish he had some nuts like those. When he got home +he couldn't think of anything but how good those nuts tasted. He knew +that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>[Pg 29]</span>all he had to do was to watch until Brer Squirrel was away and +then go he'p hisself. He knew that was just what any of his neighbors +would do in his place. But Brer Miser couldn't make it seem just right +any way he looked at it. He was too honest, was Brer Miser, to do +anything like that.</p> + +<p>"He was sitting staring at his treasures but thinking about those nuts +when an idea popped into his head, an idea that made him smile until Ah +reckons he most split his cheeks. 'Ah knows what Ah'll do,' said he. +'Ah'll just he'p mahself to some of those nuts and Ah'll leave something +of mine in place of them. That's what Ah'll do.'</p> + +<p>"And that's what he did do. He picked out a bright shell of which he was +very fond and he left it in Brer Squirrel's storehouse to pay fo' the +nuts that he took. After that he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>[Pg 30]</span>always helped himself to anything he +wanted, but he always left something to pay fo' it. It wasn't long befo' +his neighbors found out what he was doing, and then they called him +Miser the Trade Rat. Whenever anybody found something he didn't want +hisself, he took it to the little junk shop of Miser the Trade Rat and +traded it fo' something else, or left it where Miser would find it, +knowing that Miser would leave something in its place.</p> + +<p>"And it's been just so with Miser's family ever since. There is one Rat +who is a credit to his family instead of a disgrace," concluded Ol' +Mistah Buzzard.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>[Pg 31]</span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>[Pg 32]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>[Pg 33]</span></p> +<h3>III</h3> + +<h4>WHERE YAP-YAP THE PRAIRIE DOG USED HIS WITS</h4> + + +<p>Peter Rabbit had just had a great fright. He is used to having great +frights, but this time it was a different kind of a fright. It was not +for himself that he had been afraid but for one of his old friends and +neighbors. Now that it was over, Peter drew a little breath of sheer +relief.</p> + +<p>You see it was this way: Peter had started over for a call on Johnny +Chuck. When he reached Johnny Chuck's house he found no one at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>[Pg 34]</span>home. At +first he thought he would go look for Johnny, for he knew that Johnny +must be somewhere near, as he never goes far from his own doorstep. Then +he changed his mind and decided to wait for Johnny to return. So he +stretched himself out in some tall grass beside Johnny Chuck's house, +intending to jump out and give Johnny a scare when he came home. Hardly +had he settled himself when he heard Johnny coming, and he knew by the +sounds that Johnny was running from some danger.</p> + +<p>Very, very carefully Peter raised his head to see. Then he ducked it +again and held his breath. Johnny Chuck was running as Peter never had +seen him run before and with very good reason. Just a few jumps behind +Johnny's twinkling little black heels was Old Man Coyote. It looked to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>[Pg 35]</span> +Peter as if Old Man Coyote certainly would catch Johnny Chuck this time. +He was so frightened for Johnny that he quite forgot that he himself +might be in danger. Head first through his doorway plunged Johnny, and +Old Man Coyote's teeth snapped together on nothing.</p> + +<p>Old Man Coyote backed away a few steps and sat down with his head on one +side as he studied Johnny Chuck's house in the ground. It was plain to +be seen that he was trying to make up his mind whether it would be worth +while to try to dig Johnny out. Presently Johnny came half-way up his +long hall where he could look out. Then he began to scold Old Man +Coyote. Old Man Coyote grinned.</p> + +<p>"I give up, Johnny Chuck," said he. "You did well when you made your +home between the roots of this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>[Pg 36]</span>old tree. If it wasn't for those roots, +I certainly would dig you out. As it is you are safe. You remind me very +much of your cousin, Yap-Yap the Prairie Dog, who lives out where I came +from. There's a fellow who certainly knows how to make a house in the +ground. He doesn't have to depend on the roots of trees to keep from +being dug out. Well, I guess it is a waste of time to hang around here. +You'll make just as good a dinner some other time as you would now, so +I'll wait until then." Old Man Coyote grinned wickedly and trotted off.</p> + +<p>Now at the mention of Yap-Yap the Prairie Dog, the long ears of Peter +Rabbit had pricked up at once. It was the first time he had heard of +Yap-Yap, and when at last Johnny Chuck ventured out Peter was as full of +questions as a pea-pod is of peas.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a>[Pg 37]</span> But Johnny Chuck knew nothing about +his cousin, Yap-Yap, and wasn't even interested in him. So finally Peter +left him and went back home to the dear Old Briar-patch. But he couldn't +get Yap-Yap out of his mind, and he resolved that the first chance he +got he would ask Old Man Coyote about him. The chance came that very +night. Old Man Coyote came along by the dear Old Briar-patch and stopped +to peer in and grin at Peter. Peter grinned back, for he knew that under +those friendly brambles he was quite safe.</p> + +<p>"I heard what you said to Johnny Chuck about his cousin, Yap-Yap," said +Peter.</p> + +<p>Old Man Coyote looked as surprised as he felt. "Where were you?" he +demanded gruffly.</p> + +<p>"Lying flat in the grass close by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>[Pg 38]</span> Johnny Chuck's house," replied Peter, +and grinned more broadly than ever.</p> + +<p>"And to think I didn't know it!" sighed Old Man Coyote. "When I failed +to catch Johnny Chuck, I thought I had missed only one dinner, but it +seems I missed two. Next time I shall look around a little more sharply. +Do you know, the sight of Johnny Chuck always makes me homesick, he +reminds me so much of his cousin, Yap-Yap, and the days when I was +young."</p> + +<p>"I didn't know that Johnny Chuck had a cousin until you mentioned it," +said Peter. "Does he look like Johnny? Won't you tell me about him, Mr. +Coyote?"</p> + +<p>"Seeing that I haven't anything in particular to do, I don't know but I +will," replied Old Man Coyote, who happened to be feeling very +good-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>[Pg 39]</span>natured. "Many and many a time I have chased Yap-Yap into his +house. Seems as if I can hear the rascal scolding me and calling me +names right this minute. He used to get me so provoked that it was all I +could do to keep from trying to dig him out."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you?" asked Peter.</p> + +<p>"Because it would have meant a waste of time, sore feet, and nothing to +show for my trouble," retorted Old Man Coyote. "Yap-Yap never has +forgotten what his great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather learned when he +first took to living on the open prairie."</p> + +<p>"What did he learn? Tell me about it, Mr. Coyote," begged Peter.</p> + +<p>"He learned to use his wits," replied Old Man Coyote, with a provoking +grin. "He learned to use his wits, that's all."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>[Pg 40]</span>"Please tell me about it, Mr. Coyote. Please," begged Peter.</p> + +<p>"Once upon a time," began Old Man Coyote, "so my grandfather told me, +and he got it from his grandfather, who got it from his grandfather, +who—"</p> + +<p>"I know," interrupted Peter. "It happened in the days when the world was +young."</p> + +<p>Old Man Coyote looked at Peter very hard as if he had half a mind not to +tell the story, but Peter looked so innocent and so eager that he began +again. "Once upon a time lived the great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather +of Yap-Yap, the very first of all the Prairie Dogs, and his name was +Yap-Yap too. He was own cousin to old Mr. Woodchuck, who of course +wasn't old then, and the two cousins looked much alike, save that +Yap-Yap <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>[Pg 41]</span>was a little smaller than Mr. Woodchuck and perhaps a little +smarter looking.</p> + +<p>"From the very beginning Yap-Yap was a keen lover of the great open +spaces. Trees were all very well for those who liked them, but he +preferred to have nothing above him but the blue, blue sky. It seemed to +him that he never could find a big enough open space, so he never stayed +very long in any one place, but kept pushing on and on, looking for a +spot in the Great World that would just suit him. At last he came to the +edge of the Green Forest, and before him, as far as he could see, +stretched the Green Meadows. At least it was like the Green Meadows, +only a million thousand times as big as the Green Meadows we are on now, +Peter, and was really the Great Prairie.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>[Pg 42]</span>"Yap-Yap looked and looked, then he drew a long breath of pure joy and +started out across the green grass. On and on he went, until when he sat +up and looked this way or that way or the other way he could see nothing +but grass and flowers, and over him was naught but the blue, blue sky. +He had found the great open space of which he had dreamed, and he was +happy. So he ate and slept and played with the Merry Little Breezes and +grew fat.</p> + +<p>"Then one day came Skimmer the Swallow and brought him news of the hard +times which had come to the rest of the Great World and how as a result +the big and the strong were hunting the small and the weak in order that +they themselves might live. When Skimmer had gone, Yap-Yap grew uneasy. +What if some of the big and strong people he had known should <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>[Pg 43]</span>come out +there in quest of food and should find him? There was no place in which +to hide. There was no cave or hollow log.</p> + +<p>"Yap-Yap looked at the strong claws Old Mother Nature had given him and +an idea came to him. He would dig a hole in the ground. So he dug a hole +on a long slant very much like the hole of Johnny Chuck; but when it was +finished a little doubt crept into his head and grew and grew. What was +to prevent some one who was very hungry from digging him out? So he +moved on a little way and started another hole, and this time he made it +almost straight down. Every day he made that hole deeper until it was +many feet deep. Then he made a turn in it and dug a long tunnel, at the +end of which he hollowed out a comfortable bedroom and lined it with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>[Pg 44]</span>grass. When it was finished he was quite satisfied.</p> + +<p>"'I don't believe,' said he, 'that any one will have the patience to dig +to the bottom of this.'</p> + +<p>"So at night he slept in his bed at the end of his long hall far below +the surface, but all day he spent above ground, for he dearly loved the +sunshine. All went well until there came a time of heavy rains. Then +Yap-Yap discovered that the water ran down his hole, and if he didn't do +something, he was likely to be drowned out. Right away he set his sharp +wits to work. He noticed that when the water on the surface reached the +little piles of sand he had made, it ran around them. So he made a great +mound of sand around his hole with the entrance in the middle and +pressed it firm on the inside so that the rain would not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>[Pg 45]</span>wash it down +in. Then, although the water stood all around, it no longer ran down in +his house. In fair weather that mound was a splendid place on which to +sit and watch for danger. So once more Yap-Yap was happy and care-free, +all because he had used his wits.</p> + +<p>"And from that day to this the Prairie Dogs have made their houses in +just that way, and no one that I know cares to try to dig one out," +concluded Old Man Coyote.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>[Pg 46]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>[Pg 47]</span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>[Pg 48]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>[Pg 49]</span></p> +<h3>IV</h3> + +<h4>WHERE YELLOW-WING GOT HIS LIKING FOR THE GROUND</h4> + + +<p>Peter Rabbit was hopping along on the edge of the Green Meadows, looking +for a new patch of sweet clover. It was very beautiful that morning, and +Peter was in the best of spirits. It was good just to be alive. Every +once in a while Peter would jump up and kick his long heels together +just from pure happiness. He was so happy that he didn't pay particular +attention to where he was going or what was about him. The result was +that Peter got a fright. Right from under his very nose something sprang +out of the grass so sud<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>[Pg 50]</span>denly and so wholly unexpectedly that Peter very +nearly tumbled over backward. He made two long jumps off to one side and +then turned to see what had startled him so. But all he saw was an old +feathered acquaintance headed towards the Old Orchard. He seemed to +bound along through the air much as Peter bounds along over the ground +when he is in a hurry. It was Yellow-Wing the Flicker.</p> + +<p>Peter grinned and looked a little foolish. He felt a little foolish. You +know it always makes you feel foolish to be frightened when there is +nothing to be afraid of. Peter watched Yellow-Wing until he disappeared +among the trees of the Old Orchard, from which presently his voice +sounded clear and loud, and in it there was a mocking note as if +Yellow-Wing were laughing at him. Peter suspected that he was.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>[Pg 51]</span> But +Peter was feeling too happy to mind being laughed at. In fact, he +chuckled himself. It was something of a joke to be frightened by one who +was so wholly harmless. Peter recalled how many times he had frightened +other people and thought it the best of jokes.</p> + +<p>Peter went on until he found a new patch of sweet clover. Then he forgot +all about Yellow-Wing. He was too busy filling that big stomach of his +to think of anything else. When he couldn't find room for another leaf +of clover he went home to the dear Old Briar-patch, and there in his +favorite spot he settled himself to rest and think or dream as the case +might be. Presently his thoughts returned to Yellow-Wing, and he +chuckled again at the memory of his fright that morning. And then for +the first time it struck<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>[Pg 52]</span> Peter as queer that Yellow-Wing should have +been out there on the Green Meadows on the ground. He often had seen +Yellow-Wing on the ground, but until that moment there never had seemed +anything queer about that. Now, however, it suddenly came to Peter that +Yellow-Wing belonged in trees, not on the ground.</p> + +<p>Peter scratched his long left ear with his long left hind foot, which +was a sign that he was thinking of something that puzzled him. "He +belongs to the Woodpecker family," thought Peter, "and never have I seen +any of his relatives on the ground. They get all their food in the +trees. Now why is Yellow-Wing so different from his relatives?"</p> + +<p>The more Peter thought about it, the queerer it seemed that a Woodpecker +should spend so much time on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>[Pg 53]</span>ground, or visit the ground at all, +for that matter. But just wondering about it didn't get him anywhere, +and at last Peter decided that the only way to find out would be to ask +questions. So Peter made up his mind to watch for Yellow-Wing and ask +him all about it the first chance he got.</p> + +<p>The chance came the very next day in the very same place where Peter had +been so startled. This time he was on the watch and saw Yellow-Wing very +busy about something. Peter stole up within speaking distance.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Yellow-Wing," said he. "I wonder if you will tell me +something."</p> + +<p>It was Yellow-Wing's turn to be startled, for he had not seen Peter +approaching. He half lifted his wings to fly, but when he saw who it +was, he changed his mind.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>[Pg 54]</span>"It all depends on what it is you want me to tell you," he replied +rather shortly.</p> + +<p>"It is just this," replied Peter. "Why do you spend so much time on the +ground?"</p> + +<p>"That's easily answered," laughed Fellow-Wing. "I do it because it is +the easiest way to get enough to eat."</p> + +<p>Peter looked as surprised as he felt. "I thought that all your family +got their living in the trees!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"All do but me," replied Yellow-Wing a wee bit testily. "But I don't +have to do what they do just because they do it. No, Siree, I'm +independent! Do you like ants, Peter?"</p> + +<p>"What?" exclaimed Peter.</p> + +<p>"I asked if you like ants," repeated Yellow-Wing.</p> + +<p>"I've never tried them," Peter re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>[Pg 55]</span>plied, "but I've heard Old Mr. Toad +say they are very nice."</p> + +<p>"They are," said Yellow-Wing. "They are more than nice—they are +de-li-cious. It is because of them that I spend so much time on the +ground. Ants changed the habits of the Flicker branch of the Woodpecker +family. I wouldn't be surprised if we became regular ground birds one of +these days."</p> + +<p>Peter looked puzzled. He kept turning it over in his mind as he watched +Yellow-Wing plunge his long stout bill into an ant hill and then gobble +up the ants as they came rushing out to see what the trouble was.</p> + +<p>"I don't see how ants could change the habits of anybody," he ventured +after a while.</p> + +<p>Yellow-Wing's eyes twinkled. "Why don't you learn to eat them?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a>[Pg 56]</span> he +demanded. "If you would, they might change <i>your</i> habits. The beginning +of the change in the habits of my folks began a long time ago."</p> + +<p>"Way back in the beginning of things, when the world was young?" asked +Peter.</p> + +<p>"No, not quite so far back as that," replied Yellow-Wing. +"Great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather, who was the first Flicker, was, +of course, a member of the Woodpecker family, and he got his living in +regular Woodpecker fashion. It never entered his head to look for food +anywhere but in the trees, and I don't suppose that it ever entered his +head to set foot on the ground. It was the same with his children and +his children's children for a long time. +</p> +<p>"But though they lived as true Woodpeckers should, the Flickers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>[Pg 57]</span>always +were a bit sharper-witted and more independent than most of their +relatives. For one thing they had discovered that ants were fine eating +and that great numbers of them were to be found running up and down the +trunks of certain trees. So the Flickers used to look for these trees +and feast on the ants. It saved a lot of labor. A stomachful of ants +could be picked from the trunk of a tree in the time it would take to +dig out one worm in the wood, to say nothing of the saving of hard work.</p> + +<p>"One day a few years ago my great-great-great-grandfather, so the story +goes, had stuffed himself with ants from the trunk of a tree and had +settled himself for a rest. From where he sat he could see a procession +of ants going up and down the tree, and he got to wondering where they +all came <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>[Pg 58]</span>from and where they all went to. So he watched and presently +discovered that that double line of ants led out along the ground from +the foot of the tree. This made him still more curious and he followed +it, flying along just over it. He had gone but a short distance when he +came to a little mound of sand, and there the line of ants ended. +Grandfather Flicker flew up in a tree from which he could look right +down on that mound, and it didn't take him long to discover that those +ants were going in and out of little holes in that mound.</p> + +<p>"'As I live, that must be their home!' exclaimed he. 'That place is +alive with them. What a place to fill one's stomach! I never was on the +ground in my life, but the next time I'm hungry, I'm going to see what +the ground is like. I won't have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>[Pg 59]</span>to stay on it long to get my dinner +here.'</p> + +<p>"Grandfather Flicker was as good as his word. When he was ready for +another meal, he flew down to that ant hill. He found that when he +plunged his bill into it, the ants fairly poured out to see what was +happening, and all he had to do was to thrust out his long sticky tongue +and lick them up. Never in all his life before had he filled his stomach +so easily. After that, instead of wasting time hunting for worms and +insects in the trees where he could find only one at a time, Grandfather +Flicker kept his eyes open for ant hills on the ground. He taught his +children to do the same thing. That was the beginning of the change of +habits with the Flickers. Ever since we have spent more and more time on +the ground, so that now we feel quite <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>[Pg 60]</span>at home there. We still get some +of our food in the trees by way of variety, and we make our homes there, +but a good big part of our food we get just as I am doing now."</p> + +<p>With this Yellow-Wing once more plunged his bill into the ant hill and +licked up a dozen ants who had come rushing out to see what was going +on. And so once more the curiosity of Peter Rabbit was satisfied, and he +had learned something.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>[Pg 61]</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>[Pg 62]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>[Pg 63]</span></p> +<h3>V</h3> + +<h4>WHERE LITTLE CHIEF LEARNED TO MAKE HAY</h4> + + +<p>No one in all the Great World thinks more of the present and less of the +future than does careless, happy-go-lucky Peter Rabbit. Everybody who +knows Peter at all knows that Peter doesn't waste any time worrying over +what may happen in a day that may never be. So Peter isn't thrifty as +are Happy Jack Squirrel and Chatterer the Red Squirrel and Whitefoot the +Wood Mouse and Paddy the Beaver and Striped Chipmunk.</p> + +<p>"I've got enough to eat today, and enough is enough, so what is the use +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>[Pg 64]</span>of working when I don't have to?" says Peter. "I don't believe in +working today so that I won't have to work tomorrow, because when +tomorrow comes there may be no need of working, and then I would feel +that I had wasted all this good time today." No, Peter isn't the least +bit thrifty.</p> + +<p>It is the same way with Peter's big cousin, Jumper the Hare. The truth +is the whole family is happy-go-lucky. Happy Jack Squirrel says that +every blessed one of them is shiftless. It does look that way. It is a +pity that Peter and Jumper never have learned a lesson from Little Chief +Hare, who is commonly supposed to be a relative of theirs, although, as +a matter of fact, he is neither a Hare nor a Rabbit, but is a Pika, +which is another family altogether. He is also called a Coney and +sometimes the Calling Hare. But <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>[Pg 65]</span>if you want sure-enough proof that he +is neither a Rabbit nor a Hare, just watch him, if you are lucky enough +to have a chance, cut and dry and store away a great pile of hay for +winter use. No true member of Peter's family ever would think of doing +such a thing as that, more is the pity.</p> + +<p>Peter never has seen Little Chief, because Little Chief lives high up on +a mountain of the Far West among the rocks where Peter would never go, +even if he could, but he has heard all about him. Old Man Coyote told +him all about him, and he got the story from his grandfather, who got it +from his grandfather, who had one time visited the great mountain where +Little Chief's ever-so-great-grandfather lived in the very place where +Little Chief lives now. Old Man Coyote had chased Peter into the dear +Old Briar-patch <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>[Pg 66]</span>one cold winter day, and as he peered through the +brambles at Peter he noticed that Peter was very thin, very thin indeed. +Old Man Coyote grinned.</p> + +<p>"I'm just as well pleased not to have caught you this time, Peter," said +he. "You wouldn't make much of a dinner just now. When I dine I want +something more than skin and bones. It must be that you are having as +hard work as I am to get a living these days."</p> + +<p>"I am," replied Peter. "With all this snow and ice on the ground, there +is nothing to eat but bark and such tender twigs as I can reach, and +they are not very filling. But they'll keep me alive until better times +come, and then perhaps I'll get fat enough to suit you." It was Peter's +turn to grin.</p> + +<p>Old Man Coyote grinned back good-naturedly. "I should think, Peter,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>[Pg 67]</span> +said he, "that when there is so much sweet grass and clover in the +summer, you would make some of it into hay and store it away for winter, +as Little Chief Hare does. There's the thrifty little hay-maker for +you!"</p> + +<p>"Who is Little Chief, and where did he learn to make hay?" demanded +Peter, his ears standing straight up with curiosity.</p> + +<p>Old Man Coyote likes to tell a story once in a while, and having nothing +else to do just then, he sat down just outside the dear Old Briar-patch +and told Peter all about Little Chief and his hay-making.</p> + +<p>"Of course," said he, "Little Chief's father taught him how to make hay, +and his father's father taught him, and so on way back to the days when +the world was young and Old Mother Nature made the first Pika or Coney, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a>[Pg 68]</span>whichever you please to call him, and set him free on a great mountain +to prove whether he was worthy to live or was so helpless that there was +no place for him in the Great World. Now Mr. Pika, who was promptly +called Little Chief, no one remembers now just why, was exactly like +Little Chief of today. He was just about a fourth as big as you, Peter. +In fact, he looked a lot like one of your babies, excepting his legs and +his ears. His legs were short and rather weak, and his ears were short +and rounded. He was very gentle and timid. He had neither the kind of +teeth and claws for fighting nor long legs for running away, and it did +seem as if Little Chief's chances of a long life and a happy one were +very slim indeed, especially as it happened that he was set free to +shift for himself just at the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a>[Pg 69]</span>beginning of the hard times, when the big +and strong had begun to hunt the small and weak.</p> + +<p>"For a while Little Chief had a hard time of it and so many narrow +escapes that his heart was in his mouth most of the time. In trying to +keep out of the way of his enemies he kept climbing higher and higher up +the mountain, for the higher he got the fewer enemies he found. At last +he came to a big rock-slide above where the trees grew, and where there +was nothing but broken stone and big rocks. The sun lay there very warm, +and Little Chief crept out among the stones to take a sun-bath; as he +squatted there it would have taken keen eyes indeed to tell him from a +stone himself, though he didn't know this.</p> + +<p>"After he had had a good rest, and jolly Mr. Sun had moved so that +Little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>[Pg 70]</span> Chief was no longer in the warm rays, Little Chief decided to +look about a little. It didn't take him long to discover that there were +wonderful little winding galleries and hiding-places down among the +stones. These led to little cracks and caves deep down in the mountain +side. Little Chief was tickled almost to death.</p> + +<p>"'This is the place for me!' he cried. 'No one ever will think to look +for me up here, and if they should they couldn't find me, for no one, +not even King Bear, could pull away these stones fast enough to catch +me. All day long I can enjoy the sun, and at night I can sleep in +perfect safety in one of these little caves.'</p> + +<p>"So Little Chief made his home in the rock-slide high up on the mountain +and was happy, for it was just as he thought it would be—no one +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>[Pg 71]</span>thought of looking in that bare place for him. For food he ate the pea +vines and grasses and other green things that grew just at the edge of +the rock-slide and was perfectly happy. One day he decided he would take +some of his dinner into his little cave and eat it there. So he cut a +little bundle of pea vine and other green things. He left his little +bundle on a flat rock in the sun while he went to look for something +else and then forgot all about it. It didn't enter his head again until +a few days later he happened along by that flat rock and discovered that +little bundle. The pea vines and grasses were quite dry, just like the +hay Farmer Brown's boy helps his father store away in the barn every +summer.</p> + +<p>"'I guess I don't want to eat that,' said Little Chief, 'but it will +make me a very nice bed.' So he carried it home <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>[Pg 72]</span>and made a bed of it. +There wasn't quite enough, so the next day he cut some more and carried +it home at once. But this, being green, soon soured and smelled so badly +that he was forced to take it out and throw it away. That set him to +thinking. Why was the first he had brought in so dry and sweet and +pleasant? Why didn't it spoil as the other had done? He cut some more +and spread it out on the big flat rock and once again he forgot. When he +remembered and went to look at it two or three days later, he found it +just like the first, dry and sweet and very pleasant to smell. This he +took home to add to his bed. Then he took home some more that was green, +and this spoiled just as the other had done.</p> + +<p>"Little Chief was puzzling over this as he squatted on a rock taking a +sun-bath. The sun was very warm and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>[Pg 73]</span>comforting. After a while the rock +on which he sat grew almost hot. Little Chief had brought along a couple +of pieces of pea vine on which to lunch, but not being hungry he left +them beside him on the rock. By and by he happened to glance at them. +They had wilted and already they were beginning to dry. An idea popped +into his funny little head.</p> + +<p>"'It's the sun that does it!' he cried.</p> + +<p>"Up he jumped and scampered away to cut some more and spread it out on +the rocks. Then he discovered that the pea vine which he spread in the +sun dried as he wanted it to, while any that happened to be left in the +shadow of a rock didn't dry so well. He had learned how to make hay. He +was the first hay-maker in the Great World. He soon had more than +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a>[Pg 74]</span>enough for a bed, but he kept on making hay and storing it away just +for fun. Then came cold weather and all the green things died. There was +no food for Little Chief. He hunted and hunted, but there was nothing. +Then because he was so hungry he began to nibble at his hay. It tasted +good, very good indeed. It tasted almost as good as the fresh green +things. Little Chief's heart gave a great leap. He had food in plenty! +He had nothing to worry about, for his hay would last him until the +green things came again, as come they would, he felt sure.</p> + +<p><a name="illus-01" id="illus-01"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-01.jpg" alt="Little Chief's father taught him how to make hay." title="Little Chief's father taught him how to make hay." /></div> +<h4>"Little Chief's father taught him how to make hay."<br /><a href='#Page_67'><b>Page 67.</b></a></h4> + +<p>"And so it proved. And that is how Little Chief the Pika learned to make +hay while the sun shone in the days of plenty. He taught his children +and they taught their children, and Little Chief of today does it just +as his great-great-ever-so-great-grand-d<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>[Pg 75]</span>addy did. I don't see why you +don't do the same thing, Peter. You would make me a great deal finer +dinner if you did."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps that is the reason I don't," replied Peter with a grin.</p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>[Pg 76]</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>[Pg 77]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>[Pg 78]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>[Pg 79]</span></p> +<h3>VI</h3> + +<h4>WHERE GLUTTON THE WOLVERINE GOT HIS NAME</h4> + + +<p>Glutton the Wolverine is a dweller in the depths of the Great Forests of +the Far North, and it is doubtful if Peter Rabbit would ever have known +that there is such a person but for his acquaintance with Honker the +Goose, who spends his summers in the Far North, but each spring and fall +stops over for a day or two in a little pond in the Green Forest, a pond +Peter often visits. This acquaintance with Honker and Peter's +everlasting curiosity have resulted in many strange stories. At <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a>[Pg 80]</span>least +they have seemed strange to Peter because they have been about furred +and feathered people whom Peter has never seen. And one of the strangest +of these is the story of how Glutton the Wolverine got his name.</p> + +<p>Of course you know what a glutton is. It is one who is very, very, very +greedy and eats and eats as if eating were the only thing in life worth +while. It is one who is all the time thinking of his stomach. No one +likes to be called a glutton. So when Honker the Goose happened to +mention Glutton, it caused Peter to prick up his ears at once.</p> + +<p>"Who's a glutton?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"I didn't say any one was a glutton," replied Honker. "I was speaking of +Glutton the Wolverine who lives in the Great Forests of the Far North, +and whom everybody hates."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>[Pg 81]</span>"Is Glutton his name?" asked Peter, wrinkling his brows in perplexity, +for it seemed a very queer name for any one.</p> + +<p>"Certainly," replied Honker. "Certainly that is his name, and a very +good name for him it is. But then of course it is because he <i>is</i> a +glutton that he is named Glutton. Rather I should say that is the reason +the first Wolverine was named Glutton. The name has been handed down +ever since, and it fits Mr. Wolverine of today quite as well as ever it +did his great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about it," Peter begged. "Please tell me about it."</p> + +<p>"Tell you about what?" asked Honker, pretending not to understand.</p> + +<p>"About how the first Wolverine got the name of Glutton," replied Peter +promptly. "There must have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a>[Pg 82]</span>been a very good reason, and if there was a +very good reason, there must be a story. Please, Honker, tell me all +about it."</p> + +<p>Honker swam a little way out from shore, and with head held high and +very still, he looked and listened and listened and looked until he was +quite certain that no danger lurked near. Then he swam back to where +Peter was sitting on the bank.</p> + +<p>"Peter," said he, "I never in all my born days have seen such a fellow +for questions as you are. If I lived about here, I think I should swim +away every time I saw you coming. But as I only stop here for a day or +two twice a year, I guess I can stand it. Besides, you really ought to +know something about some of the people who live in the Great Forest. It +is shameful, Peter, that you should be so ignorant.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a>[Pg 83]</span> And so if you will +promise not to ask for another story while I am here, I will tell you +about Glutton the Wolverine."</p> + +<p>Of course Peter promised. He wanted that story so much that he would +have promised anything. So Honker told the story, and here it is just as +Peter heard it.</p> + +<p>"Once upon a time long, long, long ago, the first Wolverine was sent out +to find a place for himself in the Great World just as every one else +had been sent out. Old Mother Nature had told him that he was related to +Mr. Weasel and Mr. Mink and Mr. Fisher and Mr. Skunk, but no one would +have guessed it just to look at him. In fact, some of his new neighbors +were inclined to think that he was related to Old King Bear. Certainly +he looked more like King Bear than he did like little Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>[Pg 84]</span> Weasel. But +for his bushy tail he would have looked still more like a member of the +Bear family. He was clumsy-looking. He was rather slow moving, but he +was strong, very strong for his size. And he had a mean disposition. +Yes, Sir, Mr. Wolverine had a mean disposition. He had such a mean +disposition that he would snarl at his own reflection in a pool of +water.</p> + +<p>"Now you know as well as I do that no one with a mean disposition has +any friends. It was so with Mr. Wolverine. When his neighbors found out +what a mean disposition he had, they let him severely alone. They would +go out of their way to avoid meeting him. This made his disposition all +the meaner. He didn't really care because his neighbors would have +nothing to do with him. No, he didn't really care, for the simple reason +that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>[Pg 85]</span>he didn't want anything to do with them. But just the same it made +him angry to have them show that they didn't want to have anything to do +with him. Every time he would see one of them turn aside to avoid +meeting him, he would snarl under his breath, and his eyes would glow +with anger; he would resolve to get even.</p> + +<p>"Being slow in his movements because of his stout build, he early +realized that he must make nimble wits make up for the lack of nimble +legs. He also learned very early in life that patience is a virtue few +possess, and that patience and nimble wits will accomplish almost +anything. So, living alone in the Great Forest, he practised patience +until no one in all the Great World could be more patient than he. No +one knew this because, you see, everybody kept away from him. And <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>[Pg 86]</span>all +the time he was practising patience, he was studying and studying the +other people of the Great Forest, both large and small, learning all +their habits, how they lived, where they lived, what they ate, and all +about them.</p> + +<p>"'One never knows when such knowledge may be useful,' he would say to +himself. 'The more I know about other people and the less they know +about me the better.'</p> + +<p>"So Mr. Wolverine kept out of sight as much as possible, and none knew +how he lived or where he lived or anything about him save that he had a +mean disposition. Patiently he watched the other people, especially +those of nimble wits who lived largely by their cunning and +cleverness—Mr. Fox, Mr. Coyote, Mr. Lynx and his own cousins, Mr. Mink +and Mr. Weasel. From each one he learned something, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a>[Pg 87]</span>and at last he was +more cunning and more clever than any of them or even than all of them, +for that matter.</p> + +<p>"Living alone as he did, and having a mean disposition, he grew more and +more sullen and savage until those who at first had avoided him simply +because of his mean disposition now kept out of his way through fear, +for his claws were long and his strength was great and his teeth were +sharp. It didn't take him long to discover that there were few who did +not fear him, and he cunningly contrived to increase this fear, for he +had a feeling that the time might come when it would be of use to him.</p> + +<p>"The time did come. As you know, there came a time when food was scarce, +and everybody, or almost everybody, had hard work to get enough to keep +alive. Mr. Wolverine didn't.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>[Pg 88]</span> The fact is, Mr. Wolverine lived very well +indeed. He simply reaped the reward of his patience in learning all +about the ways of his neighbors, of his nimble wits and of the fear +which he inspired. Instead of hunting for food himself, he depended on +his neighbors to hunt for him. They didn't know they were hunting for +him, but somehow whenever one of them had secured a good meal, Mr. +Wolverine was almost sure to happen along. A growl from him was enough, +and that meal was left in his possession.</p> + +<p>"Knowing how scarce food was and the uncertainty of when he would get +the next meal, Mr. Wolverine always made it a point on these occasions +to stuff himself until it was a wonder his skin didn't burst. If there +was more than he could eat, he would take a nap right there, and because +of fear of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>[Pg 89]</span>him the rightful owner of the food would not dare take what +was left. When he awoke Mr. Wolverine would finish what remained.</p> + +<p>"Those who secured more food than they could eat and tried to store away +the rest found that no matter how cunningly they chose a hiding-place +for it and covered their tracks, Mr. Wolverine was sure to find it. In +fact, he made a business of robbing storehouses, and the habit of +greediness became so strong that he would stuff himself at one +storehouse and immediately start for another. When it did happen that he +couldn't eat all he found and yet didn't want to stay until he could +finish it, he would tear to bits all that remained and scatter it all +about. You know I told you he had a mean disposition.</p> + +<p>"Even when good times returned <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>[Pg 90]</span>and there was no possible excuse for +such greed, Mr. Wolverine continued to stuff himself until it seemed +that instead of eating in order to live, as the rest of us do, he lived +in order to eat. Of course it wasn't long before some one called him a +glutton, and presently he was named Glutton, and no one called him +anything else. Glutton by name and a glutton in habit he remained as +long as he lived. Both name and habits he handed down to his children +and they to their children. So it is that today there is no more cunning +thief, no greedier rascal, and no one with a meaner disposition in all +the Great Woods of the Far North than Glutton the Wolverine."</p> + +<p>"Queer how a habit will stick, isn't it?" said Peter thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"Particularly a bad habit," added Honker.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>[Pg 91]</span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>[Pg 92]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>[Pg 93]</span></p> +<h3>VII</h3> + +<h4>WHERE OLD MRS. 'GATOR MADE THE FIRST INCUBATOR</h4> + + +<p>Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Quack the Mallard Duck are great friends. They +have been great friends ever since Peter tried to help Mrs. Quack when +she and Mr. Quack had spent a whole summer on a little pond hidden deep +in the Green Forest because Mr. Quack had a broken wing and so he and +Mrs. Quack simply couldn't keep on to their home in the Far North for +which they had started. During that long summer Peter had become very +well acquainted with them. In fact he visited them very often, for as +you know, Peter is simply <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a>[Pg 94]</span>brimming over with curiosity, and there were +wonderful things which Mr. and Mrs. Quack could tell him, for they are +great travelers.</p> + +<p>Now once, as Mrs. Quack was telling Peter about the far-away Southland +where she and Mr. Quack and many other birds spend each winter, she +mentioned Old Ally the 'Gator. People who live where he does call him +just 'Gator, but you and I would call him Alligator.</p> + +<p>At the mention of Old Ally, all Peter's curiosity was awakened, for Mrs. +Quack had said that foolish young ducks sometimes mistook him for an old +log floating in the water and didn't find out the difference until his +great mouth flew open and he swallowed them whole. At that Peter's eyes +threatened to pop right out of his head and every time he visited that +little pond <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>[Pg 95]</span>he pestered Mrs. Quack with questions about Old Ally the +'Gator and Mrs. 'Gator. It seemed as if he couldn't think of anything +else. And when Mrs. Quack just happened to mention that little 'Gators +are hatched from eggs just as her own children are, it was almost too +much for Peter to believe.</p> + +<p>"What?" he squealed, hopping up and down in excitement. "Do you mean to +tell me that anything as big as Old Ally, big enough to swallow you +whole, can come from an egg? I don't believe it! Besides, only birds lay +eggs."</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Peter, you must take that back!"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>cried Mrs. Quack.</p> + +<p>"Why must I take it back?" demanded Peter.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a>[Pg 96]</span>"Because as usual you've let your tongue run loose, and that is a bad +habit, Peter. It certainly is a bad habit. How about the Snake family?"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Peter, looking very foolish. "I forgot all about the Snakes. +They do lay eggs."</p> + +<p>"And how about Spotty the Turtle? Didn't he come from an egg?" persisted +Mrs. Quack.</p> + +<p>Peter looked more foolish than before, if that were possible. "Y-e-s," +he replied slowly and reluctantly.</p> + +<p>"Then don't be so quick to doubt a thing just because you've never seen +it," retorted Mrs. Quack. "I've seen Mrs. 'Gator build her nest more +than once, and I've seen her eggs, and I've seen the baby 'Gators; and +what is more, I'm not in the habit of telling things that I don't know +are so."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a>[Pg 97]</span>"I beg your pardon, Mrs. Quack." Peter was very humble. "I do indeed. +Please forgive me. Is—is Mrs. 'Gator's nest at all like yours?"</p> + +<p>Peter seemed so truly sorry for having doubted her that Mrs. Quack +recovered her good nature at once. "No," said she, "it isn't. If I +hadn't seen her make it, I wouldn't have known it was a nest. You see, +one spring I got hurt so that I couldn't take my usual long journey to +the Far North and had to spend the summer way down in the Southland +where I always lived in the winter, and that is how I happened to learn +about Mrs. 'Gator's nest and eggs and a lot of other things. Mrs. 'Gator +is lazy, but she is smart. She's smart enough to make Mr. Sun do her +work. What do you think of that?"</p> + +<p>Right away Peter was all excite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a>[Pg 98]</span>ment. You see, that sounded as if there +might be a story behind it. "I never have heard of such a thing!" he +cried. "How did she learn to do such a smart thing as that? Of course I +don't for a minute believe that she herself discovered a way to get Mr. +Sun to work for her. Probably it was her ever-so-great-grandmother who +first did it. Isn't that so, Mrs. Quack?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Quack nodded. "You've guessed it, Peter," said she. "It all +happened way, way back in the days when the world was young."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about it! Please, please tell me about it, Mrs. Quack, and the +first chance I get, I'll do something for you," begged Peter.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Quack carefully went over all her feathers to see that every one +was in place, for she is very particular about how she looks. When she +was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a>[Pg 99]</span>quite satisfied, she turned to Peter, fidgeting on the bank.</p> + +<p>"Way back in the days when the world was young," said she, "Old Mother +Nature made the first Alligators before she made the first birds, or the +first animals, so Old Ally and Mrs. 'Gator, who live way down south now, +belong to a very old family and are proud of it. In the beginning of +things there was very little dry land, as you may have heard, so old Mr. +and Mrs. 'Gator, who of course were not old then, were made to live in +the water with the fish. Old Mother Nature was experimenting then. She +was planning to make a great deal more land, and she wanted living +creatures on it, so she gave the 'Gators legs and feet instead of fins, +and lungs to breathe air instead of gills for breathing in the water as +fish do. Then, hav<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a>[Pg 100]</span>ing many other things to attend to, she told them +they would have to take care of themselves, and went about her business.</p> + +<p>"It didn't take Mr. and Mrs. 'Gator long to discover that their legs +were not of much use in the water, for they used their powerful tails +for swimming. Then one day Mrs. 'Gator crawled out on land and right +away discovered what those legs were for. She could go on dry land while +fishes could not. It didn't take her long to find out that nothing was +quite so fine as a sun-bath, as she lay stretched out on the bank, so +she and Mr. 'Gator spent most of their time on sunny days taking +sun-baths.</p> + +<p>"One day Old Mother Nature came along and whispered a wonderful secret +to Mrs. 'Gator. 'I am going to give you some eggs,' whispered Old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a>[Pg 101]</span> +Mother Nature, 'some eggs of your very own, and if you watch over them +and keep them warm, out of each one a baby 'Gator will some day creep. +But if you let those eggs get cold, there will be no babies. Don't +forget that you must keep them warm.'</p> + +<p>"Old Mother Nature was as good as her word. She gave Mrs. 'Gator twenty +beautiful white eggs, and Mrs. 'Gator was perfectly happy. Those eggs +were the most precious things in all the Great World. It seemed as if +she never would grow tired of looking at them and admiring them and of +dreaming of the day when her babies should come out of them. It was very +pleasant to lie there in the sun and dream of the babies to come from +those wonderful eggs. Suddenly, right into the midst of those pleasant +dreams, broke the memory of what Old Mother<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a>[Pg 102]</span> Nature had said about +keeping those eggs warm. All in a twinkling happiness was turned to +worry.</p> + +<p>"'What can I do? What can I do?' Mrs. 'Gator kept saying over and over. +'However can I keep them warm when Mr. Sun goes to bed at night? Oh, +dear! Oh, dear! My beautiful eggs never, never will turn to darling +babies! What can I do?'</p> + +<p>"All this time Mr. 'Gator was a great deal more interested in making +himself comfortable than he was in those eggs. He had picked out a place +where all day long Mr. Sun poured down his warmest rays, and he had dug +a place to sprawl out in comfortably. The sand he had thrown in a pile +at one side. When Mrs. 'Gator went to consult Mr. 'Gator about those +precious eggs and her worries when the cool of evening had come, she +hap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a>[Pg 103]</span>pened to put one foot in that loose pile of sand, and she found that +while the sand on the outside was already cool, that down inside the +pile was still warm. A clever idea came to her like a flash.</p> + +<p>"First she sent Mr. 'Gator into the water to get his supper. Then she +scooped a hole in that pile of warm sand, and in it she put her precious +eggs and carefully covered them up with sand. When this was done she +stretched out close by to keep watch and see that nothing disturbed +those treasures. That was a very anxious night for Mrs. 'Gator. The sand +on which she lay grew very cool. When at last day came and Mr. Sun once +more began to shine, she opened that pile of sand and great was her joy +to find that inside it was still warm. When Mr. 'Gator came crawling out +of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>[Pg 104]</span>the water to spend the day in that comfortable bed he had dug, she +chased him away and was so cross that he went off grumbling and dug +another bed. Mrs. 'Gator waited until Mr. Sun had made the sand very +warm indeed, and then she made a great mound of it, and in the middle +of it were her precious eggs. Night and day she kept guard, and all the +time she worried lest those eggs should not be warm enough. Then one day +twenty baby 'Gators dug their way out of that mound of sand. Yes, Sir, +they did.</p> + +<p>"All this happened long, long ago when the world was young, and ever +since then 'Gators have lived only way down south, where it is very warm +and where Mr. Sun will hatch their eggs for them. And today it is done +just as I've told you, for I've seen with my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>[Pg 105]</span>own eyes Mrs. 'Gator build +her nest, cover her eggs, and then lie around while Mr. Sun did the work +for her. What do you think of that?"</p> + +<p>"I think that if you hadn't told me that you had seen it with your own +eyes, Mrs. Quack, I should think it a fairy story," replied Peter.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a>[Pg 106]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a>[Pg 107]</span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a>[Pg 108]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a>[Pg 109]</span></p> +<h3>VIII</h3> + +<h4>WHERE MR. QUACK GOT HIS WEBBED FEET</h4> + + +<p>Twice every year, in the early spring and in the late fall, Peter Rabbit +watches the Smiling Pool with a great deal of eagerness. Can you guess +why? It is because two very good friends of Peter's are in the habit of +stopping there for a few days for rest and refreshment before continuing +the long journey which they are obliged to make. They are Mr. and Mrs. +Quack, the Mallard Ducks. Peter is very fond of them, and when the time +for their arrival draws near, Peter watches for them with a great deal +of anxiety. You see they have told him something <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a>[Pg 110]</span>of the terrible +dangers which they always encounter on these long journeys, and so Peter +is always afraid that something terrible may have happened to them, and +it is a great relief when he finds them swimming about in the Smiling +Pool.</p> + +<p>One reason Peter is so fond of Mr. and Mrs. Quack is because they always +have a story for him. Sometimes it is a story of adventure, a tale of +terrible danger and narrow escapes. Sometimes it is about their home in +the far Northland, and again it is about the wonderful Southland where +they spend the winter. But the story that Peter likes best is the one +about where and how the Quack family got their funny, webbed feet. Mr. +Quack doesn't think those feet funny at all, but Peter does. He never +grows tired of watching Mr. and Mrs. Quack use them, because, you <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a>[Pg 111]</span>know, +they are used so differently from other feet. And always he goes back to +the dear Old Briar-patch with renewed admiration for the wisdom of Old +Mother Nature.</p> + +<p>Peter noticed those feet the first time he met Mr. and Mrs. Quack. He +couldn't help but notice them. It happened that Mr. and Mrs. Quack were +out on the bank of the Smiling Pool as Peter came hurrying over in his +usual way, lipperty-lipperty-lip. They heard him coming and not knowing +at first who it was they at once started for the water. Peter never will +forget the funny way in which they waddled. He never had seen anybody +quite so awkward. But when they reached the water he forgot to laugh. He +simply stared open-mouthed in astonishment. You see there they were as +graceful as they had been awkward on land.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a>[Pg 112]</span> Afterward, when Peter had +become acquainted with them and they were the best of friends, he +ventured to speak of their queer feet.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said he, "you have the most interesting feet of anybody I +know of. They are so broad that the first time I saw them I couldn't +believe my own eyes. I didn't suppose anybody had such broad feet. I +suppose there is some special reason why they are so broad and why your +legs are so short. Do you know how Mother Nature happened to give you +feet so different from the feet of other birds, Mr. Quack?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Quack chuckled. "I tell you what it is, Peter," said he, "if you'll +tell me why it is you have such long hind legs and such a funny short +tail, I'll tell you why it is that Mrs. Quack and I have such broad +feet, though I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a>[Pg 113]</span>must confess that I don't see anything odd about them."</p> + +<p>Peter agreed at once. He told Mr. and Mrs. Quack all about what happened +to his grandfather a thousand times removed, the very first Rabbit, way +back when the world was young, and how ever since then all Rabbits have +had long hind legs and short tails. When he had finished Mr. Quack +thoughtfully scratched his handsome green head, looked at his reflection +in the Smiling Pool to make sure that he was looking his very best, +looked behind to see that the feathers in the tip of his tail had the +proper curl, and then gazed off over the Green Meadows with a far-away +look in his eyes as if he were looking way back to the time he was to +tell about. At last, just as Peter Rabbit was beginning to lose patience +Mr. Quack began.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a>[Pg 114]</span>"It must be, Peter," said he, "that my +great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather lived just about the same time as +your great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather, way back in the days when +the world was young. Perhaps they knew each other. Perhaps they were +acquainted just as you and I are now. Anyway, according to what has been +handed down in the family, Grandfather Quack was very much such a +looking fellow as I am now, except in the matter of his bill and feet. +His bill was not broad like mine but more like the bills of other birds, +and his feet were like the feet of Mr. Grouse and Bob White. They were +made for scratching, and there was nothing between the toes. You see, +Old Mother Nature was experimenting. She made everybody a little +different from everybody else and then started <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a>[Pg 115]</span>them forth in the Great +World to shift for themselves and to find out what they really needed +that they hadn't got.</p> + +<p>"Old Mr. Quack, my great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather, soon +discovered one thing, and that was that his legs were too short for him +to get around very fast. When he walked, everybody laughed at him. When +he tried to run, they laughed harder than ever. He didn't mind this so +very much, though he did a little. Nobody likes to be laughed at, +especially when it is because of something they cannot help. But what he +did mind was the fact that his neighbors could run about so much faster +than he that they got all the best of the food, and quite often he went +hungry.</p> + +<p>"One day he happened to be sitting on the bank of the Smiling Pool, +think<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a>[Pg 116]</span>ing the matter over and wondering what he had best do, when Mr. +Fox stole up behind him and startled him so that he lost his balance and +tumbled down the bank into the water. This frightened him more than +ever, and he flapped about and squawked and squawked and flapped until +Mr. Fox nearly split his sides laughing at him. And when he was quite +out of breath, Mr. Quack discovered that he was making all this fuss for +nothing. He didn't sink, but floated on the water, and what was more the +water didn't get under his feathers at all. When he tried to walk, of +course he couldn't, and he had a funny feeling because his feet didn't +touch anything and felt so very useless. But he kept moving them back +and forth, and pretty soon he discovered that he moved ahead. Of course +he moved very slowly, be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>[Pg 117]</span>cause his feet were not made for use in the +water, but he moved, and that was enough. He knew then that he could get +back to land. Then he tried his wings and he found that he could rise +into the air from the water quite as easily as from the land. Right then +and there all fear of the water left him. In fact, he liked it.</p> + +<p>"Little by little, Grandfather Quack began to understand that he had +made a great discovery. He had discovered the safest place in all the +Great World for him. Out on the water he was safe from Mr. Fox and Mr. +Wolf and all the other four-footed hunters. So he took to spending most +of his time on the water or near it. When he wanted a nap, he would hide +among the rushes that grew in the water. 'If only I didn't have to leave +the water for food!' sighed Grandfather Quack. 'If <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a>[Pg 118]</span>only I could find +food here, I would never leave the water.'</p> + +<p>"At the time he was squatting at the very edge of the Smiling Pool. +Presently he noticed a funny water bug crawling on the bottom where the +water was only an inch or two deep. 'I wonder if that fellow is good to +eat,' thought he, and almost without thinking he plunged his head under +water and caught the bug. It was good. Grandfather Quack at once started +to look for more, and while doing this he discovered that there were a +great many seeds from the rushes scattered about in the mud at the +bottom of the Smiling Pool, and that these also were good to eat. Then +quite by accident he got hold of a tender root in the mud and found that +this was especially good.</p> + +<p>"This was enough for Grandfather<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>[Pg 119]</span> Quack. He had found that he could get +plenty to eat without leaving the Smiling Pool. Moreover, he didn't have +to share it with anybody, because there was no one else who thought of +looking for food there. He knew when he was well off. So Grandfather +Quack grew fat and was happy. The only things that bothered him were the +slowness with which he had to pick up seeds, one at a time, and the +slowness with which he could paddle about, for you couldn't really call +it swimming. But in spite of these things he was happy and made the best +of his lot.</p> + +<p>"One day he tugged and tugged at a root with his head under water. When +at last he had to bring his head up for a breath, whom should he +discover but Old Mother Nature watching him from the opposite bank. +'Come <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a>[Pg 120]</span>over here, Mr. Quack, and tell me all about it,' she commanded.</p> + +<p>"Grandfather Quack started across the Smiling Pool, but because his feet +were not made for swimming, it took him a long time to get there. Old +Mother Nature smiled as she watched him. 'You look better on the water +than you do on land,' said she. 'In fact, I believe that is just where +you belong. Now tell me how you happened to take to the water.'</p> + +<p>"Grandfather Quack told her the whole story and how Old Mother Nature +did laugh when he described how frightened he was when he fell in that +time. Suddenly she reached out and caught him by the bill. 'I don't +think much of that bill for poking about in the mud,' said she. 'How +will this do?' She let go, and Grandfather Quack found he had a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a>[Pg 121]</span>broad +bill just suited for getting food out of the mud. Then Old Mother Nature +bade him hold forth first one foot and then the other. Between the toes +she stretched a tough skin clear to the toe nails. 'Now let me see you +swim,' said she.</p> + +<p>"Grandfather Quack tried. He kicked one foot and then the other, and to +his great joy he shot along swiftly. When he drew his feet back for +another kick his toes closed together, and so his feet came through the +water easily. But when he kicked back they were wide spread, and the +skin between them pushed against the water, and drove him ahead. It was +wonderful! It was splendid! He hurried over to Old Mother Nature, and +with tears of joy in his eyes he thanked her. And from that day to this +members of my family have had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>[Pg 122]</span>the same broad bills and webbed feet, and +have lived on the water," concluded Mr. Quack.</p> + +<p><a name="illus-02" id="illus-02"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-02.jpg" alt="Peter noticed those feet the first time he met Mr. and +Mrs. Quack." title="Peter noticed those feet the first time he met Mr. and +Mrs. Quack." /></div> +<h4>Peter noticed those feet the first time he met Mr. and +Mrs. Quack.<br /><a href='#Page_111'><b>Page 111</b></a></h4> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a>[Pg 123]</span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a>[Pg 124]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a>[Pg 125]</span></p> +<h3>IX</h3> + +<h4>WHERE THUNDERFOOT THE BISON GOT HIS HUMP</h4> + + +<p>Thunderfoot the Bison, often called Buffalo, is not a handsome fellow, +as you very well know if you have seen him or a picture of him. His head +is carried low, very near the ground, and on his shoulders is a great +hump. No, you wouldn't call him handsome. You would hardly call him +good-looking even. In fact, you would, I suspect, call him homely. +Certainly there is nothing about him to suggest pride. Yet according to +the story Digger the Badger once told<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a>[Pg 126]</span> Peter Rabbit, pride and nothing +less was the cause of that big hump which makes Thunderfoot appear so +clumsy and homely.</p> + +<p>Peter Rabbit, as you know, is very fond of stories. In this respect he +is very like some other folks I know. Anyway, he never misses a chance +for a story if he can help it. He had discovered that Digger the Badger +and Old Man Coyote, both of whom had come to the Green Meadows from the +Far West, were full of stories about their neighbors of the distant +prairies, folk whom Peter never had seen. Sometimes when he had nothing +else to do, Old Man Coyote would come over to the dear Old Briar-patch +and tell stories to Peter, who sat safe behind the brambles. Perhaps Old +Man Coyote hoped that Peter would become so interested that he would +forget and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a>[Pg 127]</span>come out of the dear Old Briar-patch. But Peter never did.</p> + +<p>But most of the stories of the people of the Far West Peter got from +Digger the Badger because, you see, he wasn't afraid to go beg for them. +He knew that Digger couldn't catch him if he wanted to, and so when +Grandfather Frog hadn't a story for him, Peter would go tease Digger for +one. It was thus that he heard about Thunderfoot the Bison and where he +got that great hump of his.</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose," said Peter, "that there are any very big people out +there on those prairies where you used to live any more than there are +here on the Green Meadows. All the very big people seem to prefer to +live in the Green Forest."</p> + +<p>"It is that way now, I must admit," said Digger the Badger, "but it +wasn't <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a>[Pg 128]</span>so in the old days, in the good old days when there were no +terrible guns, and Thunderfoot and his followers shook the ground with +their feet." Digger shook his head sadly.</p> + +<p>Instantly Peter pricked up his ears. "Who was Thunderfoot?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>Digger looked at Peter with such a look of pity for Peter's ignorance +that Peter felt almost ashamed. "He doesn't live here and never did, so +far as I have heard, so how should I know anything about him?" he added +a wee bit defiantly.</p> + +<p>"If that's the case," replied Digger, "it is time you learned about the +Lord of the Prairies."</p> + +<p>"But I want to know about Thunderfoot first!" cried Peter. "You can tell +me about the Lord of the Prairies another time."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a>[Pg 129]</span>"Were you born stupid or have you grown so?" asked Digger impatiently. +Then without waiting for an answer he added: "Thunderfoot was the Lord +of the Prairies. He ruled over the Wide Prairies just as Old King Bear +ruled in the Green Forest. He ruled by might. He ruled because no one +dared deny him the right to rule. He ruled because of his great size and +his great strength. And all who lived on the Wide Prairies looked up to +him and admired him and bowed before him and paid him the utmost +respect. When he and his followers ran the earth shook, and the noise +was like thunder, and everybody hastened to get out of the way and to +warn his neighbors, crying: 'Here comes my Lord of the Prairies! Make +way! Make way!' And truly Thunderfoot and his followers were a +magnificent <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a>[Pg 130]</span>sight, so my great-grandfather told me, and he had it from +his great-grandfather, who was told so by his great-grandfather, who saw +it all with his own eyes. But that was in the days before Thunderfoot's +head was brought low, and he was given the great hump which none of his +descendants have ever been able to get rid of."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about that hump and where my Lord of the Prairies, Thunderfoot +the Bison, got it!" begged Peter, with shining eyes. That there was a +story he hadn't the least doubt.</p> + +<p>Digger the Badger flattened himself out on the ground, and into his eyes +crept a dreamy, far-away look as if he were seeing things a great, great +way off. "Way back In the days when the world was young, so my +great-grandfather said," he began, "Thunderfoot, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a>[Pg 131]</span>the first Bison, was +given the Wide Prairies for a kingdom by Old Mother Nature and strode +forth to take possession. Big was he, the biggest of all living +creatures thereabouts. Strong was he with a strength none cared to test. +And he was handsome. He held his head proudly. All who lived on the Wide +Prairies admired him with a great admiration and hastened to pay homage +to him.</p> + +<p>"For a long time he ruled wisely. All the other people brought their +disputes to him to be settled, and so wisely did he decide them that the +fame of his wisdom spread even beyond the Wide Prairies and was talked +about in the Green Forest. The humblest of his subjects could come to +him freely and be sure of a hearing and that justice would be done. Big +as he was and mighty as he was, he took the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a>[Pg 132]</span>greatest care never to +forget the rights of others.</p> + +<p>"But there came a time when flattery turned his head, as the saying is. +Mr. Coyote and Mr. Fox were the chief flatterers, and in all the Great +World there were no smoother tongues than theirs. They never lost an +opportunity to tell him how handsome he was, and how mighty he was, and +how they admired him and looked up to him, and how unequaled was his +wisdom. You see, being themselves dishonest and mischief-makers, they +frequently were in trouble with their neighbors and would have to appear +before Thunderfoot for judgment. Even when it went against them they +praised the wisdom of it, admitting that they were in the wrong and +begging forgiveness, all of which was very flattering to Thunderfoot.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a>[Pg 133]</span>"Little by little, without knowing it, he yielded to the flattery of +Mr. Coyote and Mr. Fox. He liked to hear the pleasant things they said. +Little by little it became easier to find them in the right than in the +wrong when they were accused of wronging their neighbors. Of course they +flattered him still more. They hinted to him that it was beneath the +dignity of one so big and strong and handsome to take notice of the very +small and humble people like Mr. Meadow Mouse and Mr. Toad and Mr. +Meadow Lark and others of his subjects.</p> + +<p>"Gradually the little people of the Wide Prairies began to notice a +change in Thunderfoot. He became proud and vain. He openly boasted of +his strength and fine appearance. When he met them he passed them +haughtily, not seeing them at all, or at least ap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a>[Pg 134]</span>pearing not to. No +longer did he regard the rights of others. No longer did he watch out +not to crush the nest of Mrs. Meadow Lark or to step on the babies of +Danny Meadow Mouse. It came about that when the thunder of his feet was +heard, those with homes on the ground shivered with fright and hoped +that my Lord of the Prairies would not come their way.</p> + +<p>"One day, as he raced over the Wide Prairies for no reason but that he +felt like running, Mr. Meadow Lark flew to meet him. Mr. Meadow Lark was +in great distress. 'Turn aside, my Lord!' he begged. 'Turn aside, my +Lord of the Prairies, for before you lies my nest with four precious +eggs, and I fear you will step on them!'</p> + +<p>"Thunderfoot the Bison, Lord of the Wide Prairies, tossed his head.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a>[Pg 135]</span> 'If +you will build your nest where it can be trodden on, you can't expect me +to look out for it,' said he. 'If anything so unfortunate happens to it, +it is your own fault, and you mustn't blame me.' And he neither looked +down to see where he was putting his feet nor turned aside so much as an +inch. On he galloped, and presently with a cry of fright out from +beneath his feet flew Mrs. Meadow Lark, and at the very next step he +trod on the little nest in the grass and crushed the four eggs.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Coyote, who was racing beside him on one side and saw what had +happened, grinned. Mr. Fox, who was racing beside him on the other side +and saw what had happened, grinned. Seeing them grin, Thunderfoot +himself grinned. Thus grinning heartlessly, they continued to run until +they came <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a>[Pg 136]</span>to a place where Mother Nature walked among the flowers of +the Wide Prairies. Mr. Coyote and Mr. Fox, whose heads were not held so +high, saw her in time to put their tails between their legs and slink +away. Thunderfoot, holding his head high, failed to see her until he was +so close to her that it was with difficulty he stopped before running +her down.</p> + +<p>"'My Lord of the Prairies seems in fine spirits,' said Mother Nature +softly. 'Is all well with my Lord?'</p> + +<p>"Thunderfoot tossed his head proudly. 'All is well,' said he.</p> + +<p>"'I am sorry that others cannot say as much,' replied Mother Nature, and +all the softness was gone from her voice, and it was sharp. 'I seem to +hear the sobs of a broken-hearted little Meadow Lark,' she continued. +'Little though she be and humble, she is as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a>[Pg 137]</span>much to me as is my Lord of +the Prairies who has made her suffer.'</p> + +<p>"Stooping swiftly, Mother Nature picked up her staff and with it struck +Thunderfoot on the neck, so that his head was brought low, and in fear +of another blow he humped his shoulders up. 'Thus shall you be, still +big, still strong, but hump-shouldered and carrying your head low in +shame, no longer Lord of the Prairies, until such time as you restore to +Mrs. Meadow Lark the eggs you destroyed,' said she, and turned her back +on him.</p> + +<p>"It was so. From that day on, Thunderfoot ceased to rule over the Wide +Prairies. He was hump-shouldered and he carried his head low, looking +and looking for the eggs he never could find to restore to Mrs. Meadow +Lark. And though his children and his children's children be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a>[Pg 138]</span>came many, +there never was one without the hump or who ceased to carry his head low +in shame," concluded Digger the Badger.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a>[Pg 139]</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a>[Pg 140]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a>[Pg 141]</span></p> +<h3>X</h3> + +<h4>WHERE LIMBERHEELS GOT HIS LONG TAIL.</h4> + + +<p>Have you ever seen Limberheels the Jumping Mouse when he was in a hurry? +If you have, very likely the first time you felt very much as Peter +Rabbit did when he saw Limberheels for the first time. He was hopping +along across the Green Meadows with nothing much on his mind when from +right under his wobbly nose something shot into the air over the tops of +the grasses for eight or ten feet and then down and out of sight. Peter +rubbed his eyes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a>[Pg 142]</span>"Did I see it, or didn't I? And if I did, what was it?" gasped Peter.</p> + +<p>A squeaky little laugh answered him. "You saw it all right, Peter, but +it isn't polite to call any one it. He would be quite provoked if he had +heard you. That was my cousin, Limberheels," replied a voice quite as +squeaky as the laugh had been.</p> + +<p>Peter turned to see the bright eyes of Danny Meadow Mouse twinkling at +him from the entrance to a tiny little path that joined the bigger path +in which Peter was sitting.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Danny!" he exclaimed. "Do you mean to tell me that was a +relative of yours? Since when have any of your relatives taken to +flying?"</p> + +<p>Danny chuckled. "He wasn't flying," he retorted. "He just jumped, that +was all." Danny chuckled again, for he knows that Peter considers +him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a>[Pg 143]</span>self quite a jumper and is inclined to be a bit jealous of any one +else who pretends to jump save his cousin, Jumper the Hare.</p> + +<p>"Jumped!" snorted Peter. "Jumped! Do you expect me to believe that any +Mouse can jump like that? I didn't get a good look at that fellow, but +whoever he is I tell you he flew. Nobody can jump like that."</p> + +<p>Danny chuckled again. "Wait a minute, Peter," said he. He disappeared, +and Peter waited. He waited one minute, two minutes, three minutes, and +then suddenly Danny poked his head out from the grass beside the path. +"Here he is, Peter," said he, coming wholly out into the path. "Let me +introduce my cousin, Limberheels."</p> + +<p>As he spoke the grass beside him rustled, and out crept some one beside +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a>[Pg 144]</span>whom Danny Meadow Mouse looked big, clumsy and homely. One glance was +enough to tell Peter that the stranger was a sure-enough member of the +Mouse family, but such a member as he never had seen before. He was trim +and slender. He wore a reddish-brown coat with a white waistcoat. But +the things that made Peter stare very impolitely were his tail and his +legs. His tail was nearly twice as long as his body, slim and tapering, +and his hind legs were very long, while his fore legs were short. It +took only one glance to convince Peter that here was a born jumper. Any +one built like that <i>must</i> jump.</p> + +<p>"You two must become acquainted and be friends," continued Danny Meadow +Mouse. "Peter is one of my best friends, Limberheels. He wouldn't hurt a +flea. I'm sure that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a>[Pg 145]</span>from now on he will be one of your best friends."</p> + +<p>"I'll be happy to," said Peter promptly. "Danny has been telling me what +a wonderful jumper you are. Would you mind showing me how you jump? I +guess you jumped right in front of me a few minutes ago, but I was so +surprised that I didn't really see you."</p> + +<p>"I guess I did," replied Limberheels rather timidly. "You see, I didn't +hear you coming until you were almost on top of me, and then I didn't +know who it was so I got away as quickly as I could. I'll be ever so +glad to have you for a friend and next time I won't run away."</p> + +<p>"Show him how you can jump," interrupted Danny Meadow Mouse. "He +wouldn't believe me when I told him that you didn't fly."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a>[Pg 146]</span>Limberheels grinned rather sheepishly. "Of course I didn't fly," said +he. "No animal can fly but Flitter the Bat. I just jumped like this."</p> + +<p>With a tremendous spring from his long hind legs Limberheels leaped, +while Peter Rabbit stared, his mouth wide open with astonishment. He +hadn't dreamed that any one could jump so far in proportion to his size +as this slim, trim little cousin of Danny's. Later, after Limberheels +had jumped for Peter's benefit until he was tired and had gone to hunt +for a lunch of grass seeds, Peter wanted to know all about Limberheels.</p> + +<p>"Never in my life have I seen such jumping," he declared. "And never +have I seen such a tail. I thought Whitefoot the Wood Mouse had a fine +tail, but it doesn't compare with that of Limberheels."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a>[Pg 147]</span>"It is a fine tail," replied Danny, whose own tail, as you know, is +very short.</p> + +<p>"It is a fine tail," he repeated rather wistfully. "Would you like to +hear where he got it?"</p> + +<p>"I know," retorted Peter with a grin. "He got it from his father, who +got it from his father, and so on way back to the days when the world +was young." Then, seeing a look of disappointment on Danny's face, and +eager for a story as usual, he added: "But I would like to know how such +a tail as that came in the family."</p> + +<p>Danny brightened up at once. "It's funny how things come about in this +world," he began. "The great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather of +Limberheels, the first one, you know, was quite an ordinary Mouse when +Old Mother Nature made him and started <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a>[Pg 148]</span>him out to make his way in the +Great World. He was little, one of the smallest of the family, and his +tail was short, no longer than mine. His hind legs were like those of +all his relatives. He ran about just as his relatives did. He was so +small and kept out of sight so much that he didn't even have a name. +There was nothing about him to suggest a name.</p> + +<p>"For a long time he was contented and happy. Then one day he happened to +see Mr. Hare jump. It seemed to him the most wonderful thing in the +world that any one should be able to jump like that. So he began to +spend most of his spare time where he could watch Mr. Hare. One day Old +Mother Nature happened along unseen by him, as he was watching Mr. Hare +jump, and she overheard him say very, very wistfully, 'How I wish I +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a>[Pg 149]</span>could jump like that! I wish I had long hind legs like Mr. Hare.'</p> + +<p>"Old Mother Nature's kindly eyes twinkled. 'That's easily arranged,' +said she. 'If you think long hind legs will be of more use to you than +the ones you have, you shall have them.'</p> + +<p>"The next morning when little Mr. Mouse awoke, he discovered that in the +night something had happened to his hind legs. They were very long and +strong, regular jumping legs like those of Mr. Hare. Of course he was in +such a great hurry to try them that he couldn't wait for his breakfast. +He began by making little short hops, and in no time at all he was +getting about splendidly. At last he got up his courage to try a long +jump. Up in the air he shot, and then something happened. Yes, Sir, +something happened. He couldn't kept his balance. He turned <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a>[Pg 150]</span>two or +three somersaults and landed on his back.</p> + +<p>"'I guess,' said he to himself, 'I've got to <i>learn</i> to make long +jumps.' So he kept trying and trying, but always with the same +result—he never knew when, where, or how he was going to land. As long +as he made short jumps he had no trouble, but every time he tried a long +jump he lost his balance, and try as he would he couldn't discover why. +So at last he gave up trying and contented himself with short jumps. +Finally Old Mother Nature came that way again.</p> + +<p>"'How do you like your long hind legs?' she asked.</p> + +<p>"'Very much, thank you,' replied little Mr. Mouse politely.</p> + +<p>"'Let me see you jump,' said Old Mother Nature.</p> + +<p>"Little Mr. Mouse made half a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a>[Pg 151]</span>dozen little jumps. They were not much +more than hops. 'You don't call that jumping, do you?' laughed Old +Mother Nature. 'With such long, strong legs as I've given you, you ought +to be one of the best jumpers anywhere about. Now let me see you make a +long jump.'</p> + +<p>"Little Mr. Mouse tried his best to think of some excuse, but he +couldn't. So he made a long jump, and the usual thing happened—he +turned two or three somersaults and landed on his back. Old Mother +Nature looked astonished. Then she laughed until she had to hold her +sides. 'Do it again,' she commanded.</p> + +<p>"With the most shamefaced air that you can imagine, little Mr. Mouse +jumped again. Old Mother Nature watched him closely. 'Come here to me,' +said she as he scrambled to his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a>[Pg 152]</span>feet after his tumble. 'It's all my +fault,' said she kindly, as he obeyed her. 'It was very stupid of me. +What you need is a long tail to balance you on a long jump. That short +tail is all right for short jumps, but it won't do for long jumps. It +won't do at all. I should have thought of that when I made your legs +long.'</p> + +<p>"She reached down and took hold of the tip of that little short tail and +drew it out until it was long, almost twice as long as the body of +little Mr. Mouse. 'Now jump,' she commanded, 'and jump with all your +might.'</p> + +<p>"A little fearfully but with the beginning of a little hope Mr. Mouse +jumped with all his might. Away he sailed straight and true and landed +lightly on his feet so far from where he had left the ground that he +could hardly believe his own eyes as he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a>[Pg 153]</span>looked back. Mother Nature was +smiling.</p> + +<p>"'There you are, Mr. Limberheels. I guess that that will make you quite +the most wonderful jumper of all my children,' said she.</p> + +<p>"And so it was that little Mr. Mouse, all at one time, became possessed +of a long tail, a name, and the ability to out jump all his neighbors," +concluded Danny Meadow Mouse. "Do you know," he added wistfully, +"sometimes I envy my cousin Limberheels."</p> + +<p>"I envy him myself," declared Peter.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a>[Pg 154]</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a>[Pg 155]</span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a>[Pg 156]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a>[Pg 157]</span></p> +<h3>XI</h3> + +<h4>WHERE OLD MR. GOBBLER GOT THE STRUTTING HABIT</h4> + + +<p>Peter Rabbit never will forget the first time he saw Big Tom Gobbler. It +was very early one spring morning, when Peter was not yet old enough to +have made the acquaintance of all the people who live in the Green +Forest, and when it seemed as if the chief thing in life with him was to +satisfy his curiosity about the ways of the Great World. Several times +when he had been hopping along, lipperty-lipperty-lip, through the Green +Forest just after sun-up, he had heard a strange sound quite un<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a>[Pg 158]</span>like any +other of all the many sounds his long ears had learned to know. He knew +that it was the voice of some one who lived in the Green Forest, but +though he had looked and looked he had been unable to discover the owner +of that voice.</p> + +<p>On this particular morning Peter happened to be sitting under some ferns +on the edge of a little open space among the trees when again he heard +that strange voice. It seemed to come from somewhere back in the woods +in the very direction from which he had just come. "Gobble-obble-obble!" +said the voice, and again a moment later "Gobble-obble-obble!"</p> + +<p>Peter was just preparing to go back to see if he could find the owner of +that voice when the noise of great wings caused him to look up just in +time to see a bigger bird than he ever <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a>[Pg 159]</span>had even dreamed of coming +swiftly over the tree-tops. With his eyes popping out and his mouth wide +open with astonishment, Peter saw the great bird set its wings and sail +down into the little opening on the edge of which Peter was sitting. The +instant this great bird was on the ground, he stood as still as if he +were made of stone, his long neck stretched up. Only the shine of a pair +of the sharpest eyes Peter ever had seen showed that he was alive.</p> + +<p>Peter held his breath, and it was so still that you could have heard a +leaf drop had you been there. When at last the stranger moved, it was +his head only. He turned it suddenly to the right and a moment later to +the left. It was plain that he was listening for suspicious sounds. All +the time his bright eyes searched the edge of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a>[Pg 160]</span>opening until Peter, +although he was well hidden, felt that he must be seen. At last, +satisfied that all was safe, the stranger drew in his neck and began to +walk about, pecking at the ground here and there and swallowing what he +picked up, though what it was Peter couldn't tell.</p> + +<p>A sound seemed to catch the stranger's quick ears, for he stopped and +stared very hard at a little clump of brush. Peter stared at it too. At +first he saw nothing, but presently he saw a head poked out, and this +also was a stranger. Peter glanced at the big stranger in the opening, +and for a minute he wondered if it could be that something was wrong +with his eyes. Never had he seen such a change in anybody. This stranger +didn't look like the same bird at all. He was swelled up until Peter was +afraid he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a>[Pg 161]</span>would burst. His tail was spread out like a great fan. His +head was laid back on his humped shoulders. His wings were dropped until +the stiffly spread feathers brushed the ground. His head and neck were +as red as blood, and there were no feathers on either. All the feathers +of his body were ruffed out so that the sun shone on them and made them +shimmer and shine in colors that seemed to constantly change.</p> + +<p>Back and forth in front of the brush from which the other stranger was +peeping very shyly this great bird strutted. He would stand still so +that the sun would fall full on his shining coat and show it off to the +best advantage, and at the same time he would draw in a great deal of +air and then puff it out all at once. Then he would walk a few steps, +turn, drag <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a>[Pg 162]</span>his wings on the ground to make them rustle, wheel, and run +a few steps. Never had Peter seen such vanity, such conceit, such +imposing, puffed-up pride. He watched until he grew tired, and then he +stole away and hurried over to the Smiling Pool to tell Grandfather Frog +all about it and ask who these strangers were.</p> + +<p>"Chug-a-rum!" exclaimed Grandfather Frog, opening his big mouth very +wide to laugh at Peter and his excitement. "That was Big Tom Gobbler, +and he was doing all that for the benefit of Mrs. Gobbler, who was +hiding in that brush. It was her head you saw. Big Tom is the most +conceited fellow in the Green Forest. He dearly loves to strut. He is +just like his father and his grandfather and his great-grandfather. The +Gobblers never have gotten over strutting since Old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a>[Pg 163]</span> Mr. Gobbler, the +first of the family, got the habit."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about it. Please, Grandfather Frog, tell me about it," begged +Peter. "How did Old Mr. Gobbler get the habit?"</p> + +<p>Grandfather Frog chuckled. "He got it from admiring his own reflection +in a pool of water," said he. "You see, in those days way back when the +world was young, people had more time to form habits than they do now. +With plenty to eat and little to do, they had more time to think about +themselves than they do now. Old Mr. Gobbler soon discovered that he was +the biggest of all the birds in that part of the Great World where he +lived, and this discovery was, I suspect, the beginning of his vanity. +Then one day as he was walking along, he came to a little pool of water. +It was very clear, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>[Pg 164]</span>and there wasn't a ripple on the surface. There for +the first time Mr. Gobbler saw his reflection. The more he looked, the +better he liked his own appearance. He spread his tail just to see how +it would look in the water. Then he puffed himself out and strutted.</p> + +<p>"'There is nobody to compare with me,' thought he, and strutted more +than ever.</p> + +<p>"After that he used to steal away every day to admire himself in that +little pool of water. He tried new ways of strutting and of puffing +himself out. After a while he was no longer content to admire himself. +He wanted others to admire him. So the first chance he got he began to +strut and show off all his grand airs before Mrs. Gobbler. At first she +paid no attention to him. At least that is the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a>[Pg 165]</span>way she appeared. She +would turn her back on him and walk off into the bushes. This made Old +Mr. Gobbler very angry until he discovered that she would tiptoe back +and watch him admiringly when she thought he didn't know it. That made +him strut all the more.</p> + +<p>"At first all the neighbors used to gather around and admire him and +tell him how handsome he was until his head was quite turned, as the +saying is, and he spent most of his time strutting and showing off. Then +he took to bragging and boasting that there was no bird to compare with +him. Thus he became quite unbearable, and all his neighbors would turn +their backs on him when they saw him coming. Only Mrs. Gobbler continued +to watch in secret and to admire him.</p> + +<p>"Now in those days Mr. Gobbler <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a>[Pg 166]</span>didn't have a red head and neck. One day +Old Mother Nature happened along when Mr. Gobbler was strutting and +boasting how big and brave he was. He didn't see her, and she watched +him quietly for a few minutes. Then she slipped away and hunted up Mr. +Wolf.</p> + +<p>"'I want you to steal over where Mr. Gobbler is strutting,' said she, +'and suddenly spring out at him as if you intended to catch him.'</p> + +<p>"Mr. Wolf grinned and trotted off to do her bidding. He found Mr. +Gobbler swelled up until he looked as if he must burst, and bragging to +Mrs. Gobbler.</p> + +<p>"'I'm the biggest of all the birds,' bragged Mr. Gobbler. 'I'm afraid of +no one. While you have me with you, my dear, you have nothing in all the +Great World to fear.'</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a>[Pg 167]</span>"Just then out sprang Mr. Wolf with all his long, sharp teeth showing. +Mr. Gobbler gave a yelp of fright. He lost his swelled-up appearance as +suddenly as a bubble flattens out when it is pricked. With a frantic +beating of his wings he took to the air. Being in such a fright, he +didn't see where he was going, and struck his head against a sharp twig, +which tore the skin, for there were no feathers to protect it, and made +it bleed. The blood ran all over his head and down his neck, though he +really was hardly hurt at all. From the top of a tall tree he looked +down. There stood Old Mother Nature, looking up at him.</p> + +<p>"'Mr. Gobbler,' said she, 'you have acquired a bad habit, a very bad +habit. Hereafter, whenever you become vain and strut, your head and neck +shall become as red as they now are, as a re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a>[Pg 168]</span>minder to you and all who +see you of how silly it is to be vain and boastful.'</p> + +<p>"And so it was. And so it is with Big Tom Gobbler to this day. There is +nothing in the world more foolish than vanity," concluded Grandfather +Frog.</p> + +<p><a name="illus-03" id="illus-03"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-03.jpg" alt="Don't call me Striped Chipmunk, and don't call me +Gopher! said he." title="Don't call me Striped Chipmunk, and don't call me +Gopher! said he" /></div> +<h4>"Don't call me Striped Chipmunk, and don't call me +Gopher!" said he.<br /><a href='#Page_172'><b>Page 172</b></a></h4> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a>[Pg 169]</span></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a>[Pg 170]</span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a>[Pg 171]</span></p> +<h3>XII</h3> + +<h4>WHERE SEEK-SEEK GOT HIS PRETTY COAT</h4> + + +<p>Peter Rabbit never will forget the first time he saw Seek-Seek the +Ground Squirrel, often wrongly called Gopher or Gopher Squirrel, but +whose real name is Spermophile, which means seed eater. Peter won't +forget that meeting, because of the funny mistake he made and the +foolish feeling he had as a result of it. You see, Peter didn't know +that there was such a person as Seek-Seek. He was hopping along across +the Green Meadows in his usual happy-go-lucky way when, right in front +of him, he saw what at first he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a>[Pg 172]</span>took to be a stake, a small stake, +driven in the ground. But as he drew nearer, it suddenly moved. It +wasn't a stake at all, but a very lively small person in a striped coat +who had been sitting up very straight and motionless.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Striped Chipmunk! What are you doing way out here so far from +the old stone wall?" exclaimed Peter.</p> + +<p>The small person in the striped coat whirled and faced Peter with +snapping eyes. "Don't call me Striped Chipmunk, and don't call me +Gopher!" said he very fiercely for so small a person. "I am neither one. +I am Seek-Seek the Ground Squirrel, and I'll thank you to call me by my +own name. I am getting everlastingly tired of being called the names of +other people."</p> + +<p>Peter looked very foolish. "I beg your pardon," said he. "I do indeed. +I'm sorry. Perhaps you don't know it, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a>[Pg 173]</span>but you look very much like +Striped Chipmunk, who is one of my best friends. You look so much like +him that I thought you must be him. I wonder if you are related to him."</p> + +<p>"Certainly I'm related to him, or he is related to me, whichever way you +please to put it," snapped Seek-Seek. "We are cousins. But he is a Rock +Squirrel, and I am a Ground Squirrel which is altogether different. You +don't find me where there are rocks and stones in the way if I know it. +Besides, if you used your eyes, you would see that we are not dressed +alike either. Just because we both happen to wear stripes is no reason +why we should be mistaken for each other."</p> + +<p>Peter looked at Seek-Seek more closely than he had, and at once he made +a discovery. "Why!" he exclaimed, "your coat has more stripes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a>[Pg 174]</span>than +Striped Chipmunk's has, hasn't it?"</p> + +<p>"I should hope so," retorted Seek-Seek.</p> + +<p>"And it has little rows of spots, too!" cried Peter. "If I had noticed +those spots at first, I wouldn't have made such a foolish mistake. I do +believe that your coat is prettier than Striped Chipmunk's, and I had +thought his as pretty as a coat can be."</p> + +<p>Seek-Seek looked rather pleased, though he tried not to. "Huh!" he +sniffed. "Of course it's prettier. It took you a long time to find it +out. I wouldn't trade coats with Striped Chipmunk or anybody else of my +acquaintance."</p> + +<p>"Neither would I if I were in your place," declared Peter. "I wish Old +Mother Nature had given me a coat like that." He said this so wistfully +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a>[Pg 175]</span>that Seek-Seek, who had started to laugh, turned his head so that Peter +might not know it. "I'm afraid it wouldn't look so well on one as big as +you," he replied. "Anyway, you wouldn't be able to hide from your +enemies as you can now."</p> + +<p>"That's so," said Peter thoughtfully. "I would be easily seen in a coat +like that, for a fact. I hadn't thought of that. I guess Old Mother +Nature knows best. I—I wonder how she ever happened to think of a coat +like yours."</p> + +<p>Seek-Seek chuckled. He had quite forgotten that he had felt offended +because Peter had mistaken him for his cousin, Striped Chipmunk. He +enjoyed Peter's admiration of his coat. He is naturally rather +talkative, and like most folks he enjoyed talking about himself.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a>[Pg 176]</span>"This coat," said he, "has been in the family a very great while. Of +course, I don't mean this particular coat that I am wearing," he +hastened to add, as he saw Peter beginning to grin. "I mean this style +of coat has been in the family a very long time. My father was dressed +just as I am. So was his father and—"</p> + +<p>"I know," interrupted Peter. "You were going to say that so were all +your grandfathers way back to the days when the world was young, and Old +Mother Nature made the very first one of your family. It's funny to me +that all the interesting things happened such a long time ago. Now +wasn't that what you were going to say?"</p> + +<p>Seek-Seek admitted that it was, and looked a little disappointed that +Peter had guessed it. But a second later he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>[Pg 177]</span>felt better when Peter +asked him very politely but very earnestly for the story of how the +first Ground Squirrel got such a pretty coat. "There is a story. I know +there is a story," declared Peter. "Won't you tell it to me please, +Seek-Seek?"</p> + +<p>Now Peter didn't want to hear it any more than Seek-Seek wanted to tell +it, so while Peter squatted down comfortably, Seek-Seek sat up very +straight and began the story.</p> + +<p>"First of all, you must know that Seek-Seek is an old family name which +has been handed down just as the pattern of my coat has been. The very +first of all my great-great-grandfathers was called Seek-Seek. When Old +Mother Nature made Seek-Seek she must have had two families in mind at +one time, the Marmot family and the Squirrel family, for she made him a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a>[Pg 178]</span>little like each, so that in his looks he sort of fitted in between the +two. Mother Nature told him that he was a member of the Squirrel family +and set him free to find a place for himself in the Great World.</p> + +<p>"Now it didn't take Grandfather Seek-Seek long to find out that though +he might be a member of the Squirrel family, Old Mother Nature had +failed to furnish him with the right kind of claws for climbing trees, +as most of his cousins did. True, he could climb a little, but it was +not easy, and he felt anything but comfortable off the ground. But if +those claws were of little use for climbing they were splendid tools for +digging, just as are the claws of the Marmot family. So Old Mother +Nature must have been thinking of the Marmots when she fashioned those +claws.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a>[Pg 179]</span>"At first Seek-Seek wandered about trying to find a place for himself +in the Great World. Being a Squirrel, he tried to live as did his +cousins, Mr. Red Squirrel and Mr. Gray Squirrel, but on account of those +claws he didn't make much of a success of it. Then one day he met Mr. +Chipmunk. They stopped and stared at each other in surprise because, you +know, their coats were so much alike. At that time Seek-Seek was wearing +plain stripes, just as Striped Chipmunk does to this day.</p> + +<p>"'What do you mean by stealing my coat?' demanded Mr. Chipmunk angrily.</p> + +<p>"'I was just about to ask you the same question,' retorted Seek-Seek.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Chipmunk had a sharp reply right on the tip of his tongue, but he +checked it just in time. 'What's the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a>[Pg 180]</span>use of quarreling over something +neither of us had anything to do with?' said he. 'It must be that we are +cousins. Where do you live?'</p> + +<p>"Seek-Seek explained that he didn't live anywhere in particular but was +trying to find his place in the Great World. He told how he had tried to +live like the other Squirrels and failed. 'I know! I know all about it,' +interrupted Mr. Chipmunk. 'I've been all through it. The place for us is +on the ground or at least close to it. Come see how I live.'</p> + +<p>"So Seek-Seek went with Mr. Chipmunk and saw how he lived among the +rocks and stones. For a time he tried living there too, but he didn't +like the rocks and stones much better than he did the trees. Besides, +all the neighbors were forever mistaking him for Mr. Chipmunk because +they looked so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a>[Pg 181]</span>much alike, and he didn't like this. One day he wandered +out on the Green Meadows. It was very lovely out there among the grasses +and flowers. He wandered farther and farther, and the farther he +wandered the better he liked it. By and by he came to the home of +Yap-Yap the Prairie Dog, who is one of the Marmot family, as you know.</p> + +<p>"'A home like that would suit me,' thought Grandfather Seek-Seek +wistfully, as he journeyed on. 'I wonder if I could dig one. I believe +I'll try.'</p> + +<p>"So when he found a place to suit him he began to dig. There were no +stones to hurt his feet and dull his nails, and he actually enjoyed +digging. So he dug and dug until he had a wonderful underground home. +All about were plenty of seeds and tender grasses to eat, and he was +happy. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a>[Pg 182]</span>had found his place in the Great World. Then one day along +came Old Mother Nature. 'Hello, Mr. Chipmunk,' she exclaimed, as she +caught sight of his striped coat, 'what are you doing way out here?'</p> + +<p>"Then she discovered her mistake. 'Dear me,' said she, 'this will never +do at all. If I can't tell my own children apart, how can I expect +others to? Your coat is altogether too much like that of Mr. Chipmunk. I +must change it. I certainly must change it.'</p> + +<p>"She leaned over and lightly tapped Seek-Seek right down the length of +the broadest brown stripe of his coat. Wherever her finger touched a +little spot of yellow was left. Then she did the same thing to each of +the other brown stripes. When she had finished Grandfather Seek-Seek had +a coat exactly like the one I am now wearing, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a>[Pg 183]</span>and his cup of happiness +was filled to the brim. From that day on he never was mistaken for Mr. +Chipmunk or any one else. That's the story of my coat, and now I must +get busy collecting seeds for my storehouse," concluded Seek-Seek. "Come +and see me again, Peter Rabbit."</p> + +<p>"I will," replied Peter, as he started for the dear Old Briar-patch to +tell Mrs. Peter all about Seek-Seek and his pretty coat.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a>[Pg 184]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a>[Pg 185]</span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a>[Pg 186]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a>[Pg 187]</span></p> +<h3>XIII</h3> + +<h4>WHERE OLD MR. OSPREY LEARNED TO FISH</h4> + + +<p>Peter Rabbit had seen a very strange thing. It was strange to Peter, +anyway. It gave him something to think about, and this, I am sure you +will agree, was a most excellent thing, for it kept him out of mischief +for a while. He had been over to the Smiling Pool for a call on Jerry +Muskrat and had just started back for the dear Old Briar-patch when he +chanced to look over in the direction of the Big River. Coming straight +towards him, but high in the air, was a big bird, a bird with broad +wings. Peter didn't have to look twice to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a>[Pg 188]</span>know that it was a member of +the Hawk family. At first he thought it was Redtail. Then he caught a +flash of white, and he thought it was Whitetail the Marsh Hawk, in spite +of the fact that it didn't fly like him. Peter didn't stop to think of +that. It was enough for him that a member of the Hawk family was headed +that way, and he didn't care a twitch of his funny little tail which +member it was. He felt that the stomach of one was quite as undesirable +a place for Peter Rabbit as the stomach of another, and he had no +intention of filling any if he could help it.</p> + +<p>He remembered that there was an old house of Johnny Chuck's under the +Big Hickory-tree on the bank of the Smiling Pool, and he wasted no time +in getting there, lipperty-lipperty-lip, as fast as he could go. He +would stay <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a>[Pg 189]</span>there until the way was clear to get home to the dear Old +Briar-patch. As soon as he was safe in the old house of Johnny Chuck, he +turned and poked his head out of the doorway. He wanted to see if any +one would be caught. He hoped not, but if any one was caught, he wanted +to see. You know Peter never misses anything if he can help it. On came +Mr. Hawk, and when he was right over the Smiling Pool, he turned and +made a short circle high in the air. Then Peter saw that he had a white +waist-coat and was a stranger.</p> + +<p>"I wonder who he is?" thought Peter, staring very hard. "He's bigger +than either Redtail or Whitetail. I hope he isn't going to make his home +here, because we have trouble enough as it is."</p> + +<p>Suddenly Mr. Hawk paused high up <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a>[Pg 190]</span>in the air, then closed his wings and +shot straight down like an arrow. Plunge! Peter couldn't believe his own +eyes. Mr. Hawk actually had disappeared in the Smiling Pool! A second +later there was a great splashing, and out of the water rose Mr. Hawk, +flapping his great wings heavily, scattering spray in all directions. +Up, up he went, and then Peter saw that in his great claws was a fish. +Peter watched him fly away with the fish, and when he felt that it was +quite safe to do so, he came out. Over on the end of an old log among +the bulrushes sat Jerry Muskrat just where Peter had left him. It was +very plain that Jerry hadn't been the least bit frightened by Mr. Hawk. +Peter couldn't understand it. His eyes fairly popped out of his head +with excitement and curiosity.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a>[Pg 191]</span>"Who was that?" he asked eagerly.</p> + +<p>"That? Why, that was Plunger the Osprey, though some people call him +Fish Hawk," replied Jerry. "I thought everybody knew him. Why did you +run away, Peter? He wouldn't hurt you."</p> + +<p>"Huh! I wouldn't trust <i>any</i> Hawk!" snapped Peter.</p> + +<p>"Which goes to show how little you know!" retorted Jerry Muskrat. +"Plunger never bothers anybody but the fish, but he surely is a terror +to them. Old Mother Nature knew what she was doing when she made +fishermen out of that family, didn't she?"</p> + +<p>"She certainly did, though I've never heard how she came to do it. How +did it happen, Jerry?" Peter was doing some fishing himself. He was +fishing for a story.</p> + +<p>Jerry Muskrat grinned. "Think <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a>[Pg 192]</span>you'll sleep any better if I tell you?" +he inquired.</p> + +<p>Peter grinned back and nodded. So Jerry Muskrat told him this story:</p> + +<p>"Way back in the days when the world was young, and the +great-great-ever-so-great-grandfathers of all the little people of the +Green Meadows and the Green Forest of today were being started out in +life by Old Mother Nature, they had everything to learn. The Great World +was a new place, and they were new in it. No one knew exactly his place +or what was expected of him, and Old Mother Nature was too busy to be +bothered with questions. She expected each one to work out for himself a +way in which to make himself useful, or at least to take care of +himself, without bothering her. If he couldn't do that, she didn't want +him around at all, and the sooner some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a>[Pg 193]</span>thing happened to him the better. +So the Great World began to be peopled with birds and animals.</p> + +<p>"It didn't take them long to learn that it wouldn't be possible for all +to live if they all ate the same kind of food. So some learned to eat +one thing and some another, and all went happily until there came a time +when all food was scarce, and more stomachs were empty than full. You've +heard about that hard time and sad time?"</p> + +<p>Peter nodded, and Jerry took a drink of water and then went on with his +tale.</p> + +<p>"Of course, that was really a very dreadful time, for it was then that +the strong began to hunt the weak, and fear was born into the world. And +yet I guess it wasn't wholly bad. Nothing is, so far as I can find out. +Anyway, because of that hard time, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a>[Pg 194]</span>everybody became a little smarter +than before. You know an empty stomach sharpens wit, and fear puts a +fine edge on it. Now Mr. Osprey, who was one of the biggest of the +cousins of old King Eagle, couldn't get over a feeling of meanness +whenever he hunted those smaller than himself. One day he caught little +Mr. Sparrow when little Mr. Sparrow was so busy that he forgot to watch +out.</p> + +<p>"'I'm powerful sorry, Mr. Sparrow,' apologized Mr. Osprey, 'but there's +an emptiness just about your size in my stomach, and it won't give me +any peace of mind until it's filled. I hate to make a neighbor +uncomfortable, and I'll be just as quick and accommodating about this +little matter as I can. If you'll just shut your eyes, you won't see +anything unpleasant, and I won't be a minute in getting that peace of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a>[Pg 195]</span>mind I've been without so long. I just must have it, or I wouldn't +bother you at all. I hope you won't hold it against me, Mr. Sparrow.'</p> + +<p>"Mr. Osprey was so nice and polite about it that little Mr. Sparrow +perked up a little and started his wits working. He tried to be just as +nice and polite as Mr. Osprey. 'I know just how you feel, Mr. Osprey,' +said he, in a trembling voice, 'and during these hard times I've had +that same ailment of the mind because of lonesomeness of the stomach, +which is troubling you. So long as that emptiness is filled, I don't +suppose it matters to you if I shouldn't happen to fill it.'</p> + +<p>"'Not at all,' replied Mr. Osprey.</p> + +<p>"'Mr. Osprey,' said little Mr. Sparrow very earnestly, 'if I were in +your place, I never would go hungry. No, Sir, I never would go hungry. +And I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>[Pg 196]</span>certainly never, never would trouble any of my neighbors who wear +feathers. I certainly would feel most happy if Old Mother Nature had +given me what she has given you. Indeed I would.'</p> + +<p>"Mr. Osprey looked down at little Mr. Sparrow and blinked at him in a +puzzled way. 'What has Old Mother Nature given me that you would be +happy to have?' he asked.</p> + +<p>"'Fishhooks!' replied little Mr. Sparrow, pointing to Mr. Osprey's great +claws, 'the finest fishhooks in the world. You don't hear Billy Mink or +Little Joe Otter or Mr. Heron complaining about hard times. Why? Because +they don't know what hard times are. There are plenty of fish to be +caught, and when they are hungry they go fishing. Fish are very filling +and satisfying, I've heard say. When<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a>[Pg 197]</span> I flew across the Smiling Pool a +little while ago, I saw a fat fish taking a sun-bath right close to the +top of the water. Seemed like he was just waiting for some one with +hooks to come along and snatch him right out of the water.'</p> + +<p>"'Where'd you say that fish was?' asked Mr. Osprey.</p> + +<p>"'If you'll let me go, I'll show you,' replied little Mr. Sparrow.</p> + +<p>"So Mr. Osprey let little Mr. Sparrow go, but he followed him right +close. Mr. Sparrow led the way straight to the Smiling Pool. Sure +enough, there was the big fish taking a sun-bath. Mr. Osprey hardly wet +his feet putting those big hooks into that fish. He flew away with it, +and presently he was rid of that emptiness in his stomach and had back +his peace of mind. After that, whenever he was hungry, he went <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a>[Pg 198]</span>fishing +instead of hunting the birds and the animals. By practice he learned how +to use those big fishhooks of his and became one of the smartest of all +fishermen. He and little Mr. Sparrow became great friends, in fact, such +friends that when Mr. Osprey built a great nest, little Mr. Sparrow +built his right in the side of it, and there he was perfectly safe from +others who might be hunting him. And it's been just that way ever since. +If you wore scales instead of fur, and lived in the water instead of on +the land, Peter Rabbit, you would have reason to fear Plunger the +Osprey, but as it is, you are safer when he is about than when he isn't. +There comes old Redtail the Hawk. You'd better get out of sight, Peter."</p> + +<p>Peter did.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a>[Pg 199]</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a>[Pg 200]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a>[Pg 201]</span></p> +<h3>XIV</h3> + +<h4>WHERE OLD MR. BOB-CAT LEFT HIS HONOR</h4> + + +<p>Of all those who are forever trying to catch Peter Rabbit, he fears none +more than Yowler the Bob-cat. And from that fear has grown hate. You +will find it true all through life that hate often springs from great +fear. Peter isn't much given to hate, but he does hate Yowler the +Bob-cat. It is partly because of his fear of Yowler, but it is still +more because he feels that Yowler is not fair in his hunting. He has no +honor. There are many others whom Peter fears,—Reddy Fox, Old Man +Coyote, Hooty the Owl,—and with very good <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a>[Pg 202]</span>reason. But Peter considers +that these hunt him fairly. He knows when and where to be on the watch +for them.</p> + +<p>But with Yowler it is altogether different. Yowler hides beside one of +Peter's favorite little paths, and there he waits patiently for +unsuspecting Peter to come along. He waits and watches much as Black +Pussy, who is a cousin of Yowler, waits and watches at a mousehole. +Peter feels that it doesn't give him a chance, and everybody is entitled +to at least a chance to live.</p> + +<p>"I hate him! hate him! hate him!" exclaimed Peter fiercely, as he +crawled under the very middle of a great pile of brush after the +narrowest of narrow escapes. He had been hopping along one of his +favorite little paths without a thought of danger. Presently he came to +a little branch path. There he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a>[Pg 203]</span>hesitated. He had intended to keep on +along the main path, but suddenly he had a feeling that it would be +better to take the branch path. He knew no reason why he shouldn't keep +on as he had planned. It was just a feeling that it would be better to +take the other path, a feeling without any real reason. So he hesitated +and finally turned down the little branch path. As he did so he caught a +glimpse of a brown form moving stealthily from behind a log farther up +the main little path. It was moving swiftly in the direction of the +little branch path. That glimpse was enough for Peter. That stealthy +form could be but one person—Yowler the Bob-cat. He turned and darted +back the way he had come and then off to one side to the great pile of +brush under which he had crawled.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a>[Pg 204]</span>"Who is it you hate?" asked a voice.</p> + +<p>For just a second Peter was startled, then he recognized the voice of +Mrs. Grouse, one of his very best friends. "Yowler the Bob-cat," said he +as fiercely as before.</p> + +<p>"I don't love him myself," replied Mrs. Grouse. "I suspected that he was +somewhere about, and that is why I am here. Did you see him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Peter, "I saw him. He was hiding beside my favorite little +path, and it is a wonder I didn't hop straight into his jaws. That +fellow doesn't hunt fairly. He doesn't give us a chance. He hasn't any +honor."</p> + +<p>"Honor!" exclaimed Mrs. Grouse. "Honor! Of course he hasn't any honor. +There hasn't been any honor in Yowler's family since old Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a>[Pg 205]</span> Bob-cat, +the first of all the Bob-cats, left his honor in Turkey Wood, way back +in the days when the world was young, and failed to get it again. Honor! +Of course Yowler hasn't any. What could you expect?"</p> + +<p>At once Peter was all ears. "I've never heard about that," said he. +"Tell me about it, Mrs. Grouse. We've got to stay right where we are for +a long time to make sure that Yowler has given us up and gone away, so +you will have plenty of time to tell me the story. Where was Turkey +Wood, and how did old Mr. Bob-cat happen to leave his honor there?"</p> + +<p>"He didn't happen to; he did it deliberately," replied Mrs. Grouse. "You +see, it was like this: In the beginning of things, when Old Mother +Nature made the first little people and the first big people of the +Green Forest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a>[Pg 206]</span>and the Green Meadows, she was too busy to watch over them +all the time, so for a while she put them on their honor not to harm one +another or interfere with one another in any way, for she wanted them to +live in peace and happiness and raise families to people the Great +World.</p> + +<p>"Now it chanced that Mr. and Mrs. Gobbler, the first of the Turkey +family, chose a certain little grove of trees in which to make their +home, and it became known as Turkey Wood. There, in course of time, Mrs. +Turkey made her nest on the ground, well hidden among some bushes, and +in it laid twelve big eggs. It was the day on which she laid the twelfth +big egg that old Mr. Bob-cat, who, of course, wasn't old then, took it +into his head to prowl about in Turkey Wood. Already Mr. Bob-cat had +begun to form a sneaky <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a>[Pg 207]</span>habit of stealth. He was very fond of watching +his neighbors to find out what they were about, and it was this fondness +of minding the business of other people instead of his own that was +making him sneaky and stealthy, for of course he didn't want any one to +know what he was doing.</p> + +<p>"It happened that as he stole into Turkey Wood, Mrs. Gobbler left her +nest to get a bite to eat. Mr. Bob-cat saw her, but she didn't see him. +He crouched flat until she was out of sight.</p> + +<p>"'She seemed mighty careful about how she slipped out of those bushes,' +thought Mr. Bob-cat. 'She acted as if she didn't want to be seen. I +wonder why. I wonder if she has a secret hidden in those bushes. I +suppose the way to find out is to look.'</p> + +<p>"First making sure that no one saw him, Mr. Bob-cat crept in his sneaky +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"></a>[Pg 208]</span>way into the bushes, and it didn't take him long to find that nest with +the twelve big eggs. He didn't know what they were, for they were the +first eggs he had ever seen. He stared at them and wondered if they were +good to eat. He glanced this way and that way to be sure that no one was +watching him.</p> + +<p>"'Don't touch them,' warned something inside of him. 'These belong to +Mrs. Gobbler, and Old Mother Nature has put you on your honor not to +interfere with others or their affairs.'</p> + +<p>"'It won't do any harm just to touch them and see what they are like,' +said another little tempting voice inside of him.</p> + +<p>"'Remember your honor,' warned the first little voice.</p> + +<p>"'Bother my honor! I'm not going to do any harm,' muttered Mr. Bob-cat, +and picked up one of the eggs in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209"></a>[Pg 209]</span>his mouth. He tried it with his teeth +to see if it was hard, and of course he put his teeth right through the +shell. He started to put it back in a hurry, but just then he noticed a +good taste in his mouth. The inside of that egg was good to eat, very +good indeed!</p> + +<p>"'One won't be missed,' thought Mr. Bob-cat, and then, fearing that Mrs. +Gobbler would return, he bounded away, taking the egg with him.</p> + +<p>"When Mrs. Gobbler returned, she did miss that egg. She looked all about +for it, but there was nothing to show what had become of it. With a +troubled mind she began to sit on her eggs. She was so worried that she +didn't leave them until she simply <i>had</i> to get something to eat.</p> + +<p>"Meanwhile Mr. Bob-cat had eaten that egg, and it had tasted so good +that he could think of nothing but how <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a>[Pg 210]</span>he could get another. So at the +first opportunity he sneaked back to Turkey Wood, and without making a +sound crept in among the bushes until he could see Mrs. Gobbler sitting +on her eggs. There he lay and watched and watched until Mrs. Gobbler +left to get something to eat. No sooner was she out of sight than Mr. +Bob-cat stole to the nest.</p> + +<p>"'Remember your honor,' warned the little voice inside.</p> + +<p>"'Bother honor. I'd rather have an egg,' muttered Mr. Bob-cat, and +pulled one out of the nest. He bit a hole in one end and sucked out the +contents. It was so good he took another. This led to a third, and +finally Mr. Bob-cat had sucked every one of those eggs. Then silently he +sneaked away—away from Turkey Wood to a distant part of the Green +Forest. Behind him in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a>[Pg 211]</span> Turkey Wood he left a nestful of empty shells and +his honor.</p> + +<p>"'Nobody knows who did it, and nobody ever will find out,' thought Mr. +Bob-cat, but all the time he knew that he had left his honor behind, and +this made him more sneaky than ever. He never would meet any one face to +face. You know that is something that one who has lost his honor never +can do. It wasn't long before all his neighbors knew that he was without +honor, and so would have nothing to do with him. They shunned him. He +grew to be more and more of a sneak. And all the time he believed that +no one knew what he had done or where he had left his honor.</p> + +<p>"But Old Mother Nature knew. Of course Mrs. Gobbler told her what had +happened to her eggs. Old Mother Nature told her to make a new nest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"></a>[Pg 212]</span>and +hide it more carefully than before, which Mrs. Gobbler did and hatched +out ten fine young Gobblers. Meanwhile Old Mother Nature went about her +business, but all the time she was watching to see who would fail to +look her straight in the face. The first time she met Mr. Bob-cat he +tried to slip past unseen. When Old Mother Nature stepped in front of +him, he couldn't look her in the face, try as he would.</p> + +<p>"'Ah-ha!' said she. 'You are the one who left his honor in Turkey Wood. +From this time forth you shall be an outcast, friendless and alone, +hated by every one.'</p> + +<p>"And so it was, and has been ever since. And so it is with Yowler today. +You said truly, Peter, that he hasn't any honor. Isn't it dreadful?"</p> + +<p>And Peter agreed that it is.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"></a>[Pg 213]</span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214"></a>[Pg 214]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215"></a>[Pg 215]</span></p> +<h3>XV</h3> + +<h4>WHERE DIPPY THE LOON GOT THE NAME OF BEING CRAZY</h4> + + +<p>As you all know, Peter Rabbit is out and about at a time when most folks +are snugly tucked in bed. The fact is, Peter is very fond of roaming +around at night. He says he feels safer then in spite of the fact that +some of his smartest enemies are also out and about, among them Hooty +the Owl and Reddy Fox and Old Man Coyote. The two latter also hunt by +day when the fancy takes them or they have been so unsuccessful at night +that their stomachs won't give them any peace, and Peter is sure that +though they can see very well at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216"></a>[Pg 216]</span>night, they can see still better in +the light of day. Anyway, that is one of the reasons he gives for his +own liking for roaming after jolly, round, red Mr. Sun has gone to bed +behind the Purple Hills.</p> + +<p>Now it happened one moonlight night that Peter had ventured way over +almost to the Big River. He had heard Hooty the Owl's fierce hunting +call far off in the Green Forest. He had heard Reddy Fox barking up in +the Old Pasture. So Peter felt quite safe. He felt so safe that he had +almost forgotten that there could be such a thing as fear. And then, +from the direction of the Big River, there came such a sound as Peter +never had heard before. It was a sound that made his heart seem to quite +stop beating for an instant. It was a sound that sent cold chills racing +and chas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"></a>[Pg 217]</span>ing all over him. It was a sound that made him wish with all +his might that he was that instant right in the heart of the dear Old +Briar-patch instead of way over there near the bank of the Big River.</p> + +<p>He didn't waste much time getting back to the dear Old Briar-patch, once +he was sure his heart hadn't really stopped beating. The way he went +across the Green Meadows, lipperty-lipperty-lip, lipperty-lipperty-lip, +was positive proof that in spite of his fright his heart was quite all +right. He didn't run a little way, stop, run a little farther and stop +again, as is his usual way. He kept lipperty-lipperty-lipping without a +single stop until he reached the edge of the dear Old Briar-patch and +once more felt really safe. Two or three times he had felt that he must +stop to get his breath, but each <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a>[Pg 218]</span>time that sound, that dreadful sound, +had seemed to be following right at his heels, and he had suddenly +discovered that he didn't need to stop after all.</p> + +<p>But having reached the dear Old Briar-patch Peter stopped and panted for +breath while he anxiously watched for the appearance of some unknown +enemy following him. It was then that he realized that that sound came +from the Big River, and that whoever made it had not left the Big River +at all. It made Peter feel a wee bit foolish as he thought how he had +been sure that there was danger right at his very heels all the way +home, when all the time there hadn't been any danger at all.</p> + +<p>Peter sat there and listened, and despite the fact that he now felt +absolutely safe, the cold chills ran over <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"></a>[Pg 219]</span>him every time he heard it. +It was a voice; Peter was sure of that. It was a voice, but such a voice +as Peter never in his life had heard before. It was quite as bad if not +worse than the voice of Old Man Coyote. In a way it reminded him of Old +Man Coyote's voice, but while Old Man Coyote's voice sounded like many +voices in one, it was not so fearsome as this voice, for this voice +sounded like a human voice, yet wasn't. Something inside Peter told him +that it wasn't a human voice, in spite of its sounding so.</p> + +<p>The next morning Peter ran over to the Smiling Pool to ask Grandfather +Frog if he had any idea who could have such a voice as that. When he +tried to tell Grandfather Frog what that voice was like, he couldn't. He +just couldn't describe it.</p> + +<p>"It was the lonesomest and craziest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220"></a>[Pg 220]</span>sound I've ever heard," declared +Peter, "and that is all I can tell you. It was crazier than the voice of +Old Man Coyote."</p> + +<p>"That is all you need tell me," chuckled Grandfather Frog. "That was the +voice of Dippy the Loon. And let me tell you something, Peter: you are +not the first one to think his voice has a crazy sound. Oh, my, no! No, +indeed! Why, a lot of people think Dippy <i>is</i> crazy, and when any one +does queer things they say of him that he is 'crazy as a Loon.'</p> + +<p>"But is he crazy?" asked Peter.</p> + +<p>"Chug-a-rum!" exclaimed Grandfather Frog. "Chug-a-rum! Not half so +crazy as you are, Peter, coming over here to the Smiling Pool in +broad daylight. He likes to be thought crazy, just as his +great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather did before him, that's all. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221"></a>[Pg 221]</span>Everybody thought his great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather was crazy, +and it paid Mr. Loon to have them think so. So he did his best to make +them keep thinking so."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about it. Do please tell me about it, Grandfather Frog," begged +Peter. "Please, please, please."</p> + +<p>Now how could Grandfather Frog resist that? He couldn't. He didn't even +try to. He just cleared his throat once or twice and began.</p> + +<p>"Once on a time, long, long ago, lived the very first of all the Loons, +the ever-and-ever-and-ever-so-great-grandfather of Dippy, whose voice +frightened you so last night."</p> + +<p>"How did you know it frightened me?" exclaimed Peter, for he had taken +care not to tell Grandfather Frog anything about that.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222"></a>[Pg 222]</span>Grandfather Frog chuckled and went right on with his story. "Right from +the beginning Mr. Loon was a mighty independent fellow. It didn't take +him long to find out that Old Mother Nature had too much to do to waste +any time on those who didn't try to take care of themselves, and that +those would live longest who were smartest and most independent. He had +sharp eyes, had old Mr. Loon, just as Dippy has today, and he used them +to good account. He saw at once that with so many birds and animals +living on the land it was likely to get crowded after a while, and that +when such became the case, it was going to be mighty hard work for some +to get a living. So Mr. Loon went to Mother Nature and told her that if +she had no objections he would like a pair of swimming feet and would +live on the water.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223"></a>[Pg 223]</span>"Now Old Mother Nature had just fitted out Mr. Duck with a pair of +webbed feet that he might swim, so she was quite prepared to fit Mr. +Loon out in like manner.</p> + +<p>"'I suppose,' said she, 'that you want a bill like Mr. Duck's.'</p> + +<p>"Mr. Loon shook his head. 'Thank you,' said he, 'but I would prefer a +sharp bill to a broad one.'</p> + +<p>"'How is that?' exclaimed Mother Nature. 'Mr. Duck has been delighted +with his bill ever since I gave it to him.'</p> + +<p>"'And with good reason,' replied Mr. Loon. 'Did I propose to live as Mr. +Duck lives, I should want a bill just like his, but I find that fish are +more to my liking. Also I have noticed that there are fewer who eat +fish.'</p> + +<p>"So Mother Nature gave him the kind of bill he wanted, and Mr. Loon +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224"></a>[Pg 224]</span>went about his business. He managed to get fish enough to keep from +going hungry, but he found that the only way he could do it was to sit +perfectly still until a fish swam within reach and then strike swiftly. +In fact, his fishing was much like that of Mr. Heron, save that the +latter stood instead of sitting. Success was chiefly the result of luck +and patience.</p> + +<p>"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, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225"></a>[Pg 225]</span>and he saw that the power which drove them +through the water came from their tails. Mr. Loon grew very thoughtful.</p> + +<p>"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.'</p> + +<p>"Mother Nature was surprised. She looked it. 'But you'll hardly be able +to walk at all with your legs there!' she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"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.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226"></a>[Pg 226]</span> 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.</p> + +<p>"So little by little it was spread about among all the other people +that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227"></a>[Pg 227]</span> 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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228"></a>[Pg 228]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229"></a>[Pg 229]</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230"></a>[Pg 230]</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231"></a>[Pg 231]</span></p> +<h3>XVI</h3> + +<h4>WHERE BIG-HORN GOT HIS CURVED HORNS</h4> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232"></a>[Pg 232]</span>Peter happened along as Digger sat there on his doorstep watching his +shadow grow longer, so he sat down at a safe and respectful distance and +helped Digger watch his shadow grow longer. Peter delights in doing +things like this, because it isn't hard work at all. It is only when +there is real work concerned that Peter loses interest. A lot of people +are just like Peter in this respect.</p> + +<p>Peter gazed over at the Old Pasture and he, too, saw Farmer Brown's +Sheep and the big Ram with the curving horns at his head. For a long +time Peter had greatly admired those horns, though he never had told any +one so. He had admired those horns because they were different from any +other horns Peter ever had seen. They looked perfectly useless for +fighting because they curved so that the points <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233"></a>[Pg 233]</span>never could be made to +hurt any one, but just the same Peter admired them. Now as he watched he +spoke aloud, without thinking what he was doing.</p> + +<p>"I wish I had a pair of horns like those," said he wistfully.</p> + +<p>Digger the Badger stopped watching his shadow, and turned to stare at +Peter. Then he laughed until finally he choked. Peter looked at him in +surprise.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with you, Mr. Badger?" asked he. "What is there to +laugh at?"</p> + +<p>"Only you, Peter. Only you," replied Digger faintly, for he had laughed +so hard that he had almost lost his voice. "I am afraid you would find a +pair of horns like those rather heavy, Peter, rather heavy."</p> + +<p>Peter grinned. "Of course I didn't really mean that," said he. "Of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234"></a>[Pg 234]</span>course not. I was just thinking how nice it would be to have such fine +horns, if one were big enough to have horns. I don't believe there are +any other such horns in all the Great World."</p> + +<p>"And that shows how little you know about the Great World, Peter," +retorted Digger the Badger.</p> + +<p>"Did you ever see such horns before?" demanded Peter.</p> + +<p>"No, I never did," confessed Digger, "but I've heard my grandfather +tell of Sheep that live on the tops of the great mountains as free +as Light-foot the Deer or any other of the Green Forest people, +and with horns so large that they, the Sheep, are called Big-Horns. +From what I have heard my grandfather say, those horns over there of +Mr. Ram's are nothing to brag about. No, Sir, they are nothing to brag +about. One of those wild, free <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235"></a>[Pg 235]</span>cousins of Mr. Ram over there would +laugh at those horns. But they are funny horns, and they've been +like that always since the days of the first great Ram, the +great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather of all the Sheep, so my +grandfather told me. It was way back in those long-ago days that they +became curved and quite useless for fighting, and all because of old +Big-Horn going about with a chip on his shoulder."</p> + +<p>Peter pricked up his ears. "That was a funny thing for Big-Horn to be +doing," said he. "What under the sun did he have a chip on his shoulder +for? And what harm was there in that, even if he did?"</p> + +<p>Once more Digger began to laugh. "Peter," said he, "you certainly are +the funniest fellow I know. Of course old Big-Horn didn't really have a +chip <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236"></a>[Pg 236]</span>on his shoulder. That is just a saying, Peter, just a saying. When +any one goes about looking for trouble and ready to quarrel at the least +pretext, he is said to be carrying a chip on his shoulder and daring +anybody to knock it off."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Peter.</p> + +<p>"And so," continued Digger, "Big-Horn didn't have anything to do with a +really, truly chip, but just went about always trying to get somebody to +fight with him. It wasn't that Big-Horn was ugly. He wasn't. You see Old +Mother Nature had given him great strength. Yes, Sir, for his size +Big-Horn was very strong, and in that strength be took great pride. And +Mother Nature had given him a pair of very large and strong horns with +which to defend himself if there should be need. Those horns were almost +straight, and with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237"></a>[Pg 237]</span> Big-Horn's great strength behind them, they were +truly dangerous weapons. He didn't think of that. No, Sir, he didn't +think of that. He was just brimming full of life, and he dearly loved to +try his strength against the strength of others. It got so that the +instant he saw anybody, down would go his head and at them he would go +full tilt.</p> + +<p>"It was great fun—for him. Sometimes he got the worst of it, as when +Old King Bear stepped aside at the very last instant and hit him such a +clip with his great paw that Big-Horn was sent rolling over and over and +lost his breath for a few minutes. But usually it was the other who got +the worst of it, for those great, sharp-pointed horns of Big-Horn's tore +and hurt. Indeed, even when he tried to be gentle with those smaller +than him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238"></a>[Pg 238]</span>self he was forever hurting some one.</p> + +<p>"Finally some of his neighbors wished to go to Old Mother Nature and +complain about Big-Horn, but others were against this plan because they +knew that Old Mother Nature was quite loaded down with cares and worries +as it was. So instead they called a meeting to which everybody except +Big-Horn was invited. If Big-Horn could have heard all that was said +about him, his ears surely would have burned. Every one was of the +opinion that something must be done, but just what no one could suggest. +At last, just when it seemed that the meeting would break up without +anything being done, Old Man Coyote stepped forward. Now Old Man Coyote +already was known as a very clever fellow, more clever even than Mr. +Fox, though it would never have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239"></a>[Pg 239]</span>done to say so where it would get back +to the ears of Mr. Fox.</p> + +<p>"'Friends and neighbors,' said Old Man Coyote, 'it seems to me a very +simple matter to teach Neighbor Big-Horn a lesson that he will not soon +forget. Being rather bashful, I haven't liked to suggest it before, +because I thought surely some one else would do it. I suggest that some +one be selected to fight Big-Horn, and when that one can fight no +longer, some one else be selected to fight him, and so on until he gets +tired, and some one can whip him. Then I think he will have had enough +of fighting.'</p> + +<p>"Up spoke Mr. Fox and he winked at his neighbor on the right and he +winked at his neighbor on the left. 'That is a very good idea of +Neighbor Coyote's,' said he, 'a very good idea indeed, and I suggest +that Mr. Coyote <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240"></a>[Pg 240]</span>be selected for the honor of being the first one to +fight Big-Horn.' Mr. Fox grinned in a sly way, and everybody else +grinned, for everybody knew that Old Man Coyote never was known to fight +when there was a chance to run away. So with one accord everybody agreed +with Mr. Fox, and Old Man Coyote was selected as the first one to face +Big-Horn. To everybody's surprise, Old Man Coyote made no objections. +Instead he expressed himself as highly honored, and said that he hoped +to do so well that there would be no need for others to fight Big-Horn. +So it was arranged that Big-Horn should be invited to fight Old Man +Coyote the very next day.</p> + +<p>"You may be sure that everybody was on hand the next day to see that +fight. No one expected Old Man Coyote to appear. But he did. Yes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241"></a>[Pg 241]</span> Sir, +he did. He was right on hand at the appointed time. Big-Horn hadn't been +told whom he was to fight, and when he found that it was Old Man Coyote, +he was disappointed. You see, there was no anger in Big-Horn's fighting; +he fought just for the love of using his great strength and big horns. +Fighting was fun to him, and he wanted some one who would stand up to +him. As soon as it was explained to him that when he had disposed of Old +Man Coyote there would be some one else for him to fight (Mr. Deer had +offered to be the next), he felt better. Mr. Deer had horns and was +somewhere near his size.</p> + +<p>"Old Man Coyote slipped around until he had his back to a great rock. +'I'm ready any time,' said he.</p> + +<p>"Big-Horn, who had been stamping with impatience, lowered his head so +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242"></a>[Pg 242]</span>that his horns pointed straight at Old Man Coyote. He grinned as he did +it, for he saw that with that great rock behind him, Old Man Coyote +would have no chance to run away as he always had done in the past. +Everybody else saw the same thing, and wondered what could have happened +to make Old Man Coyote so stupid as to do such a thing as that, he who +always had been accounted so clever. But they had hardly time to think +of this, for with a snort Big-Horn bounded forward. All the others held +their breath as they saw those great horns driving straight at Old Man +Coyote, who was crouched with his back to the great rock. Then everybody +closed their eyes for a second, for nobody wanted to see Old Man Coyote +killed, and everybody <i>knew</i> that that was what was going to happen.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243"></a>[Pg 243]</span>"Then there was a crash, and everybody's eyes flew open. There lay +Big-Horn on the ground, looking mighty puzzled, as if he wasn't quite +sure what had happened. And there sat Old Man Coyote, grinning at him! +They were still staring at Old Man Coyote as if they couldn't believe +their own eyes when some one cried, 'Look at the horns of Big-Horn!'</p> + +<p>"Instead of being long and straight, those great horns were curved over +and round into almost a circle, and there was no longer danger from +their sharp points. What had happened? Why, at just the right instant +Old Man Coyote had leaped over Big-Horn, and Big-Horn had butted into +that great rock with all his might. He had hit so hard, biff! bang! that +he had bent his horns, just as crafty, clever Old Man Coyote had hoped +he would.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244"></a>[Pg 244]</span>"When Old Mother Nature heard of the affair and saw those bent horns, +she chuckled at the cleverness of Old Man Coyote and decided to leave +those horns just as they were for the safety of Big-Horn's neighbors. +And so they remained as long as Big-Horn lived, and just so have been +the horns in his family from that day to this," concluded Digger, and +once more began to watch his shadow grow longer.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOTHER WEST WIND "WHERE" STORIES***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 17250-h.txt or 17250-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/2/5/17250">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/2/5/17250</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Burgess, Illustrated by Harrison Cady + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Mother West Wind "Where" Stories + + +Author: Thornton W. Burgess + + + +Release Date: December 7, 2005 [eBook #17250] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOTHER WEST WIND "WHERE" STORIES*** + + +E-text prepared by Janet Blenkinship, Brian Sogard, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 17250-h.htm or 17250-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/2/5/17250/17250-h/17250-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/2/5/17250/17250-h.zip) + + + + + +MOTHER WEST WIND "WHERE" STORIES + +by + +THORNTON W. BURGESS + +Illustrations by Harrison Cady + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "Then there was a crash, and everybody's eyes flew open." +FRONTISPIECE. _See Page 243._] + +Burgess Trade Quaddies Mark + +Grosset & Dunlap +Publishers New York +By arrangement with Little, Brown, and Company +Copyright, 1918, +by Thornton W. Burgess. +All rights reserved +Printed in the United States of America + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. WHERE GRANDFATHER FROG GOT + HIS BIG MOUTH 1 + + II. WHERE MISER THE TRADE RAT + FIRST SET UP SHOP 17 + + III. WHERE YAP-YAP THE PRAIRIE DOG + USED HIS WITS 31 + + IV. WHERE YELLOW-WING GOT HIS + LIKING FOR THE GROUND 47 + + V. WHERE LITTLE CHIEF LEARNED TO MAKE HAY 61 + + VI. WHERE GLUTTON THE WOLVERINE GOT HIS NAME 77 + + VII. WHERE OLD MRS. 'GATOR MADE + THE FIRST INCUBATOR 91 + + VIII. WHERE MR. QUACK GOT HIS + WEBBED FEET 107 + + IX. WHERE THUNDERFOOT THE BISON + GOT HIS HUMP 123 + + X. WHERE LIMBERHEELS GOT HIS + LONG TAIL 139 + + XI. WHERE OLD MR. GOBBLER GOT THE + STRUTTING HABIT 155 + + XII. WHERE SEEK-SEEK GOT HIS + PRETTY COAT 169 + + XIII. WHERE OLD MR. OSPREY LEARNED + TO FISH 185 + + XIV. WHERE OLD MR. BOB-CAT LEFT HIS + HONOR 199 + + XV. WHERE DIPPY THE LOON GOT THE + NAME OF BEING CRAZY 213 + + XVI. WHERE BIG-HORN GOT HIS CURVED + HORNS 229 + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + PAGE + + "THEN THERE WAS A CRASH, AND EVERYBODY'S + EYES FLEW OPEN" _FRONTISPIECE_ + + "LITTLE CHIEF'S FATHER TAUGHT HIM HOW + TO MAKE HAY" 74 + + PETER NOTICED THOSE FEET THE FIRST TIME + HE MET MR. AND MRS. QUACK 122 + + "DON'T CALL ME STRIPED CHIPMUNK, AND + DON'T CALL ME GOPHER!" SAID HE 170 + + + + +MOTHER WEST WIND "WHERE" STORIES + + + + +I + +WHERE GRANDFATHER FROG GOT HIS BIG MOUTH + + +Everybody knows that Grandfather Frog has a big mouth. Of course! It +wouldn't be possible to look him straight in the face and not know that +he has a big mouth. In fact, about all you see when you look Grandfather +Frog full in the face are his great big mouth and two great big goggly +eyes. He seems then to be all mouth and eyes. + +Anyway, that is what Peter Rabbit says. Peter never will forget the +first time he saw Grandfather Frog. Peter was very young then. He had +run away from home to see the Great World, and in the course of his +wanderings he came to the Smiling Pool. Never before had he seen so much +water. The most water he had ever seen before was a little puddle in the +Lone Little Path. So when Peter, who was only half grown then, hopped +out on the bank of the Smiling Pool and saw it dimpling and smiling in +the sunshine, he thought it the most wonderful thing he ever had seen. +The truth is that in those days Peter was in the habit of thinking +everything he saw for the first time the most wonderful thing yet, and +as he was continually seeing new things, and as his eyes always nearly +popped out of his head whenever he saw something new, it is a wonder +that he didn't become pop-eyed. + +Peter stared and stared at the Smiling Pool, and little by little he +began to see other things. First he noticed the bulrushes growing with +their feet in the water. They looked to him like giant grass, and he +began to be a little fearful lest this should prove to be a sort of +magic place--a place of giants. Then he noticed the lily-pads, and he +stared very hard at these. They looked like growing things, and yet they +seemed to be floating right on top of the water. It wasn't until a Merry +Little Breeze came along and turned the edge of one up so that Peter saw +the long stem running down in the water out of sight, that he was able +to understand how those lily-pads could be growing there. He was still +staring at those lily-pads when a great deep voice said: + +"Chug-a-rum! Chug-a-rum! Don't you know it isn't polite to stare at +people?" + +That voice was so unexpected and so deep that Peter was startled. He +jumped, started to run, then stopped. He wanted to run, but curiosity +wouldn't let him. He simply couldn't run away until he had found out +where that voice came from and to whom it belonged. It seemed to Peter +that it had come from right out of the Smiling Pool, but look as he +would, he couldn't see any one there. + +"If you please," said Peter timidly, "I'm not staring at anybody." All +the time he was staring down into the Smiling Pool with eyes fairly +popping out of his head. + +"Chug-a-rum! Have a care, young fellow! Have a care how you talk to your +elders. Do you mean to be impudent enough to tell me to my face that I +am not anybody?" The voice was deeper and gruffer than ever, and it made +Peter more uncomfortable than ever. + +"Oh, no, Sir! No, indeed!" exclaimed Peter. "I don't mean anything of +the kind. I--I--well, if you please, Sir, I don't see you at all, so how +can I be staring at you? I'm sure from the sound of your voice that you +must be somebody very important. Please excuse me for seeming to stare. +I was just looking for you, that is all." + +A little movement in the water close to a big green lily-pad caught +Peter's eyes, and then out on the big green lily-pad climbed Grandfather +Frog. If Peter had stared before he doubly stared now, eyes and mouth +wide open. Grandfather Frog was looking his very best in his handsome +green coat and white-and-yellow waistcoat. But Peter had hardly noticed +these at all. + +"Why, you're all mouth!" he exclaimed, and then looked very much ashamed +of his impoliteness. + +Grandfather Frog's great goggly eyes twinkled. He knew that Peter was +very young and innocent and just starting out in the Great World. He +knew that Peter didn't intend to be impolite. + +"Not quite," said he good-naturedly. "Not quite all mouth, though I must +admit that it is of good size. The fact is, I wouldn't have it a bit +smaller if I could. If it were any smaller, I should miss many a good +meal, and if I were forced to do that, I am afraid I should be very +ill-tempered indeed. The truth is, I am very proud of my big mouth. I +don't know of any one who has a bigger one for their size." + +He opened his mouth wide, and it seemed to Peter that Grandfather +Frog's whole head simply split in halves. He hadn't supposed anybody in +all the Great World possessed such a mouth. + +"Where did you get it?" gasped Peter, and then felt that he had asked a +very foolish question. + +Grandfather Frog chuckled. "I got it from my father, and he got his from +his father, and so on, way back to the days when the world was young and +the Frogs ruled the world," said he. "Would you like to hear about it?" + +"I'd love to!" cried Peter. So he settled himself comfortably on the +bank of the Smiling Pool for the first of many, many stories he was to +hear from Grandfather Frog. + +"Chug-a-rum!" began Grandfather Frog. You know he always begins a story +that way. "Chug-a-rum! Once upon a time the Great World was mostly +water, and most of the people lived in the water. It was in those days +that my great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather lived. Those were happy +days for the Frogs. Yes, indeed, those were happy days for the Frogs. Of +course they had enemies, but those enemies were all in the water. They +didn't have to be watching out for danger from the air and from the +land, as I do now. There was plenty to eat and little to do, and the +Frog tribe increased very fast. In fact, the Frogs increased so fast +that after a while there wasn't plenty to eat. That is, there wasn't +plenty of the kind of food they had been used to, which was mostly water +plants, and water bugs and such things. + +"Of course there were many fish, and these also increased very fast, +and the big fish ate the Frogs whenever they could catch them, just as +they do to this day. The big fish also ate the little fish, and it +wasn't long before the Frogs and the little fish took to living where +the water was not deep enough for the big fish to swim, and this made it +all the harder to get enough to eat. The mouths of the Frogs in those +days were not big. In fact, they were quite small. You see, living on +the kind of food they did, they had no need of big mouths. + +"One day as a Great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather Frog sat with just +his head out of water, wondering what it would seem like to have his +stomach really filled, a school of little fish came swimming about him, +and it popped into his head that if little fish were good for big fish +to eat, they might be good for a Frog to eat. So he caught the first +one that came within reach, and he found it was good to eat. He liked it +so well that after that he caught fish whenever he could. Of course he +swallowed them whole. He had to, because he had no chewing or biting +teeth. + +"Now the Frogs always have been famous for their appetites, and +Great-grandfather Frog found that it took a great many of these teeny +weeny fish to make a comfortable meal. He was thinking of this one day +when a larger fish came within reach, and almost without realizing what +he was doing Great-grandfather snapped at and caught him. He caught the +fish by the tail and at once began to swallow it, which, of course, was +no way to swallow a fish. But Great-grandfather Frog had much to learn +in those day, and so he tried to swallow that fish tail first instead +of head first. He got the tail down and the smallest part of the body, +and then that fish stuck. Yes, Sir, that fish stuck. The fact was, +Great-grandfather Frog's mouth wasn't wide enough. It was bad enough not +to be able to swallow all of that fish, but what was worse was the +discovery that he couldn't get up again what he had swallowed. That fish +was stuck! It would go neither down nor up. + +"Poor Great-grandfather Frog was in a terrible fix. Big tears rolled +down his cheeks. He choked and choked and choked, until it looked very +much as if he might choke to death. Just in time, in the very nick of +time, who should come along but Old Mother Nature. She saw right away +what the trouble was, and she pulled out the fish. Then she asked how +that fish had happened to be in such a place as Great-grandfather Frog's +mouth. When he could get his breath, he told her all about it--how food +had been getting scarce and how he had discovered that fish were good to +eat, and how he had make a mistake in catching a fish too big for his +mouth. Old Mother Nature looked thoughtful. She saw the great numbers of +young fish. Suddenly she reached over and put a finger in +Great-grandfather Frog's mouth and stretched it sideways. Then she did +the same thing to the other corner. Great-grandfather Frog's mouth was +three times as big as it had been before. + +"'Now,' said she, 'I don't believe you'll have any more trouble, and I'm +going to do the same thing for all the other Frogs.' + +"She did that very day, and from then on the Frogs no longer had any +trouble in getting plenty to eat. So that is where I got my big mouth, +and I tell you right now I wouldn't trade it for anything anybody else +has got," concluded Grandfather Frog, as he snapped up a foolish green +fly who came too near. + +"I think it is splendid, perfectly splendid," cried Peter. "I wish I had +one just like it." And then he wondered why Grandfather Frog laughed so +hard. + + + + +II + +WHERE MISER THE TRADE RAT FIRST SET UP SHOP + + +It was quite by accident that Peter Rabbit first heard of Miser the +Trade Rat. You know how it is with Peter; he is forever using those big +ears of his to learn interesting things. That is what ears are for; but +there is a right way and a wrong way to use them, and I am afraid that +Peter isn't always over-particular in this respect. I suspect, in fact I +know, that Peter sometimes listens when he has no business to listen and +knows he has no business to listen. Again he sometimes overhears things +quite by accident when he cannot very well help hearing. It was in this +way that he first heard of Miser the Trade Rat. + +Peter had crept into a hollow log in the Green Forest to rest and to +feel absolutely safe while he was doing it. He had been there only a +little while when he heard light footsteps outside and a moment later a +voice which made him shiver a little in spite of himself and the +knowledge that he was perfectly safe. The footsteps and the voice were +Old Man Coyote's. + +Very carefully Peter peeped out. Old Man Coyote had sat down close by +the log in which Peter was hiding. On a dead tree close at hand sat Ol' +Mistah Buzzard, who had come up from way down south for the summer, and +it was to him that Old Man Coyote was talking. + +"I was over by Farmer Brown's barn last night," said Old Man Coyote, +"and I caught a glimpse of Robber the Brown Eat. What a disgrace he is +to the whole Rat tribe! For that matter, he is a disgrace to all who +live on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest. He isn't much like +his cousin, Miser the Trade Rat." + +"Mah goodness! Do yo' know Miser?" exclaimed Ol' Mistah Buzzard. + +"Do I know Miser? I should say I do!" replied Old Man Coyote. "I've +tried to catch him enough times to know him. He kept a junk shop very +near where I used to live way out west. Do you know him, Mr. Buzzard?" + +"Ah cert'nly does," chuckled Ol' Mistah Buzzard. "Ah cert'nly does. Ah +never did see such a busy fellow as he is. Ah done see his junk shop +many times, and always it done be growin' bigger. Ah wonders, Brer Coyote, +if yo' ever heard the story of his Great-great-ever-so-great-gran'-daddy, +the first of the family, and how and where he started the business that's +been kept in the family ever since." + +"No," said Old Man Coyote, "I never did, and I've wondered about it a +great deal." + +Peter Rabbit almost forgot that he was hiding. He was so eager to hear +that story that he was right on the point of speaking up and begging Ol' +Mistah Buzzard to tell it when he remembered Old Man Coyote. Just in the +nick of time he clapped a hand over his mouth. It seemed to Peter a +long, long time before Old Man Coyote said: + +"I'd like to hear that story, Mr. Buzzard, if it isn't too much to ask +of you." + +"Not at all, Brer Coyote; not at all. Ah'll be mor'n pleased to tell it +to yo'. Ah cert'nly will," said Ol' Mistah Buzzard, and Peter settled +himself comfortably to listen. + +"Yo' see it was this way," began Ol' Mistah Buzzard. "Ah got it from mah +gran'daddy, and he got it from his gran'daddy, and his gran'daddy got it +from--" + +"I know," interrupted Old Man Coyote. "It was handed down from your +greatest-great-grandfather, who lived in the days when the world was +young and what you are going to tell me about happened. Isn't that it?" + +"Yes, Suh," replied Ol' Mistah Buzzard. "Yes, Suh, that's it. Ol' Mother +Nature treat 'em all alike in those days. She's a right smart busy +person, and she ain't got no time fo' to answer foolish questions. No, +Suh, she ain't. So, quick as she get a new kind of critter made, she +turn him loose and tell him if he want to live he got to be right smart +and find out for hisself how to do it. Ah reckons yo' know all about +that, Brer Coyote." + +Old Man Coyote nodded, and Ol' Mistah Buzzard scratched his bald head +gently as if trying to stir up his memory. Peter Rabbit almost squealed +aloud in his impatience while he waited for Ol' Mistah Buzzard to go on. + +"When Ol' Mother Nature made Brer Trade Rat in the beginning and turned +him loose in the Great World, he was just plain Mistah Rat and nothing +more, same as his no 'count cousin, Robber the Brown Rat," continued Ol' +Mistah Buzzard. "He had to win a name for hisself same as ev'ybody else. +He had mighty sharp wits, had this Mistah Rat, and directly he found he +had to shift for hisself he began to study and study and study what he +gwine to do to live well and be happy. He watched his neighbors to see +what they did, and it didn't take him long to find out that if he would +be respected he must have a home. Those without homes were mostly no +'count folks, same as they are today. + +"So Brer Rat made a nest close to the trunk of a tree on the edge of the +Green Forest, a soft, warm nest, and in collectin' the stuff to make it +of he learned the joy of bein' busy. Person'ly, yo' understand, Ah +thinks he was all wrong. Ah never am so happy as when Ah can take a +sun-bath with nothin' to do. But Brer Rat was never so happy as when he +was busy, and when he got that li'l nest finished time began to hang +heavy on his hands. Yes, Suh, it cert'nly did. Just because he didn't +have anything else to do he began to add a little more to his house. One +day he stepped on a thorn. 'Ouch!' cried Brer Rat, and then right away +forgot the pain in a new idea. He would cover his house with thorns, +leavin' just a little secret entrance for hisself! Then he would be +safe, wholly safe from his big neighbors, some of whom had begun to look +at him with such a hungry look in their eyes that they made him right +smart uncomfortable. So he spent his time, did Brer Rat, in huntin' for +the longest and sharpest thorns and in cuttin' the branches on which +they grew. These he carried to his house and piled them around it and on +it until it had become a great pile with sharp thorns stickin' out in +every direction, and the hungriest of the big people of the forest +passed it at a respectful distance. + +"When Brer Rat had all the thorns he needed and more, he began to +collect other things and added these to his pile. Yo' see, he had found +that it was great fun to collect things; to find the queerest things he +could and bring them home and look at them and wonder about them. So +little by little his house became a sort of junk shop, the very first +one in all the Great World. Bright stones and shells, bones, anything +that caught his bright eyes and pleased them, he brought home. When he +was tired of huntin' fo' food or more strange things he would sit and +gloat over his treasures and play with them. And then the first thing he +knew he had a name. Yes, Suh, he had a name. He was called Miser. + +"Of course Brer Miser hadn't lived ve'y long befo' he found out that +one law of the Great World was that things belonged to whoever could get +them and keep them. He saw that some thought themselves ve'y smart when +they stole from their neighbors. Brer Miser didn't like this at all. He +was ve'y, ye'y honest, was Brer Miser. Perhaps he wasn't really much +tempted, not fo' a long time anyway. + +"But at last came a time when he was tempted. Quite by accident he found +one of Mr. Squirrel's storehouses. In it were some nuts different from +any he ever had seen befo'. 'Brer Squirrel won't mind if Ah taste just +one,' said he, and did it. It tasted good; it tasted ve'y good indeed. +Brer Miser began to wish he had some nuts like those. When he got home +he couldn't think of anything but how good those nuts tasted. He knew +that all he had to do was to watch until Brer Squirrel was away and +then go he'p hisself. He knew that was just what any of his neighbors +would do in his place. But Brer Miser couldn't make it seem just right +any way he looked at it. He was too honest, was Brer Miser, to do +anything like that. + +"He was sitting staring at his treasures but thinking about those nuts +when an idea popped into his head, an idea that made him smile until Ah +reckons he most split his cheeks. 'Ah knows what Ah'll do,' said he. +'Ah'll just he'p mahself to some of those nuts and Ah'll leave something +of mine in place of them. That's what Ah'll do.' + +"And that's what he did do. He picked out a bright shell of which he was +very fond and he left it in Brer Squirrel's storehouse to pay fo' the +nuts that he took. After that he always helped himself to anything he +wanted, but he always left something to pay fo' it. It wasn't long befo' +his neighbors found out what he was doing, and then they called him +Miser the Trade Rat. Whenever anybody found something he didn't want +hisself, he took it to the little junk shop of Miser the Trade Rat and +traded it fo' something else, or left it where Miser would find it, +knowing that Miser would leave something in its place. + +"And it's been just so with Miser's family ever since. There is one Rat +who is a credit to his family instead of a disgrace," concluded Ol' +Mistah Buzzard. + + + + +III + +WHERE YAP-YAP THE PRAIRIE DOG USED HIS WITS + + +Peter Rabbit had just had a great fright. He is used to having great +frights, but this time it was a different kind of a fright. It was not +for himself that he had been afraid but for one of his old friends and +neighbors. Now that it was over, Peter drew a little breath of sheer +relief. + +You see it was this way: Peter had started over for a call on Johnny +Chuck. When he reached Johnny Chuck's house he found no one at home. At +first he thought he would go look for Johnny, for he knew that Johnny +must be somewhere near, as he never goes far from his own doorstep. Then +he changed his mind and decided to wait for Johnny to return. So he +stretched himself out in some tall grass beside Johnny Chuck's house, +intending to jump out and give Johnny a scare when he came home. Hardly +had he settled himself when he heard Johnny coming, and he knew by the +sounds that Johnny was running from some danger. + +Very, very carefully Peter raised his head to see. Then he ducked it +again and held his breath. Johnny Chuck was running as Peter never had +seen him run before and with very good reason. Just a few jumps behind +Johnny's twinkling little black heels was Old Man Coyote. It looked to +Peter as if Old Man Coyote certainly would catch Johnny Chuck this time. +He was so frightened for Johnny that he quite forgot that he himself +might be in danger. Head first through his doorway plunged Johnny, and +Old Man Coyote's teeth snapped together on nothing. + +Old Man Coyote backed away a few steps and sat down with his head on one +side as he studied Johnny Chuck's house in the ground. It was plain to +be seen that he was trying to make up his mind whether it would be worth +while to try to dig Johnny out. Presently Johnny came half-way up his +long hall where he could look out. Then he began to scold Old Man +Coyote. Old Man Coyote grinned. + +"I give up, Johnny Chuck," said he. "You did well when you made your +home between the roots of this old tree. If it wasn't for those roots, +I certainly would dig you out. As it is you are safe. You remind me very +much of your cousin, Yap-Yap the Prairie Dog, who lives out where I came +from. There's a fellow who certainly knows how to make a house in the +ground. He doesn't have to depend on the roots of trees to keep from +being dug out. Well, I guess it is a waste of time to hang around here. +You'll make just as good a dinner some other time as you would now, so +I'll wait until then." Old Man Coyote grinned wickedly and trotted off. + +Now at the mention of Yap-Yap the Prairie Dog, the long ears of Peter +Rabbit had pricked up at once. It was the first time he had heard of +Yap-Yap, and when at last Johnny Chuck ventured out Peter was as full of +questions as a pea-pod is of peas. But Johnny Chuck knew nothing about +his cousin, Yap-Yap, and wasn't even interested in him. So finally Peter +left him and went back home to the dear Old Briar-patch. But he couldn't +get Yap-Yap out of his mind, and he resolved that the first chance he +got he would ask Old Man Coyote about him. The chance came that very +night. Old Man Coyote came along by the dear Old Briar-patch and stopped +to peer in and grin at Peter. Peter grinned back, for he knew that under +those friendly brambles he was quite safe. + +"I heard what you said to Johnny Chuck about his cousin, Yap-Yap," said +Peter. + +Old Man Coyote looked as surprised as he felt. "Where were you?" he +demanded gruffly. + +"Lying flat in the grass close by Johnny Chuck's house," replied Peter, +and grinned more broadly than ever. + +"And to think I didn't know it!" sighed Old Man Coyote. "When I failed +to catch Johnny Chuck, I thought I had missed only one dinner, but it +seems I missed two. Next time I shall look around a little more sharply. +Do you know, the sight of Johnny Chuck always makes me homesick, he +reminds me so much of his cousin, Yap-Yap, and the days when I was +young." + +"I didn't know that Johnny Chuck had a cousin until you mentioned it," +said Peter. "Does he look like Johnny? Won't you tell me about him, Mr. +Coyote?" + +"Seeing that I haven't anything in particular to do, I don't know but I +will," replied Old Man Coyote, who happened to be feeling very +good-natured. "Many and many a time I have chased Yap-Yap into his +house. Seems as if I can hear the rascal scolding me and calling me +names right this minute. He used to get me so provoked that it was all I +could do to keep from trying to dig him out." + +"Why didn't you?" asked Peter. + +"Because it would have meant a waste of time, sore feet, and nothing to +show for my trouble," retorted Old Man Coyote. "Yap-Yap never has +forgotten what his great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather learned when he +first took to living on the open prairie." + +"What did he learn? Tell me about it, Mr. Coyote," begged Peter. + +"He learned to use his wits," replied Old Man Coyote, with a provoking +grin. "He learned to use his wits, that's all." + +"Please tell me about it, Mr. Coyote. Please," begged Peter. + +"Once upon a time," began Old Man Coyote, "so my grandfather told me, +and he got it from his grandfather, who got it from his grandfather, +who--" + +"I know," interrupted Peter. "It happened in the days when the world was +young." + +Old Man Coyote looked at Peter very hard as if he had half a mind not to +tell the story, but Peter looked so innocent and so eager that he began +again. "Once upon a time lived the great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather +of Yap-Yap, the very first of all the Prairie Dogs, and his name was +Yap-Yap too. He was own cousin to old Mr. Woodchuck, who of course +wasn't old then, and the two cousins looked much alike, save that +Yap-Yap was a little smaller than Mr. Woodchuck and perhaps a little +smarter looking. + +"From the very beginning Yap-Yap was a keen lover of the great open +spaces. Trees were all very well for those who liked them, but he +preferred to have nothing above him but the blue, blue sky. It seemed to +him that he never could find a big enough open space, so he never stayed +very long in any one place, but kept pushing on and on, looking for a +spot in the Great World that would just suit him. At last he came to the +edge of the Green Forest, and before him, as far as he could see, +stretched the Green Meadows. At least it was like the Green Meadows, +only a million thousand times as big as the Green Meadows we are on now, +Peter, and was really the Great Prairie. + +"Yap-Yap looked and looked, then he drew a long breath of pure joy and +started out across the green grass. On and on he went, until when he sat +up and looked this way or that way or the other way he could see nothing +but grass and flowers, and over him was naught but the blue, blue sky. +He had found the great open space of which he had dreamed, and he was +happy. So he ate and slept and played with the Merry Little Breezes and +grew fat. + +"Then one day came Skimmer the Swallow and brought him news of the hard +times which had come to the rest of the Great World and how as a result +the big and the strong were hunting the small and the weak in order that +they themselves might live. When Skimmer had gone, Yap-Yap grew uneasy. +What if some of the big and strong people he had known should come out +there in quest of food and should find him? There was no place in which +to hide. There was no cave or hollow log. + +"Yap-Yap looked at the strong claws Old Mother Nature had given him and +an idea came to him. He would dig a hole in the ground. So he dug a hole +on a long slant very much like the hole of Johnny Chuck; but when it was +finished a little doubt crept into his head and grew and grew. What was +to prevent some one who was very hungry from digging him out? So he +moved on a little way and started another hole, and this time he made it +almost straight down. Every day he made that hole deeper until it was +many feet deep. Then he made a turn in it and dug a long tunnel, at the +end of which he hollowed out a comfortable bedroom and lined it with +grass. When it was finished he was quite satisfied. + +"'I don't believe,' said he, 'that any one will have the patience to dig +to the bottom of this.' + +"So at night he slept in his bed at the end of his long hall far below +the surface, but all day he spent above ground, for he dearly loved the +sunshine. All went well until there came a time of heavy rains. Then +Yap-Yap discovered that the water ran down his hole, and if he didn't do +something, he was likely to be drowned out. Right away he set his sharp +wits to work. He noticed that when the water on the surface reached the +little piles of sand he had made, it ran around them. So he made a great +mound of sand around his hole with the entrance in the middle and +pressed it firm on the inside so that the rain would not wash it down +in. Then, although the water stood all around, it no longer ran down in +his house. In fair weather that mound was a splendid place on which to +sit and watch for danger. So once more Yap-Yap was happy and care-free, +all because he had used his wits. + +"And from that day to this the Prairie Dogs have made their houses in +just that way, and no one that I know cares to try to dig one out," +concluded Old Man Coyote. + + + + +IV + +WHERE YELLOW-WING GOT HIS LIKING FOR THE GROUND + + +Peter Rabbit was hopping along on the edge of the Green Meadows, looking +for a new patch of sweet clover. It was very beautiful that morning, and +Peter was in the best of spirits. It was good just to be alive. Every +once in a while Peter would jump up and kick his long heels together +just from pure happiness. He was so happy that he didn't pay particular +attention to where he was going or what was about him. The result was +that Peter got a fright. Right from under his very nose something sprang +out of the grass so suddenly and so wholly unexpectedly that Peter very +nearly tumbled over backward. He made two long jumps off to one side and +then turned to see what had startled him so. But all he saw was an old +feathered acquaintance headed towards the Old Orchard. He seemed to +bound along through the air much as Peter bounds along over the ground +when he is in a hurry. It was Yellow-Wing the Flicker. + +Peter grinned and looked a little foolish. He felt a little foolish. You +know it always makes you feel foolish to be frightened when there is +nothing to be afraid of. Peter watched Yellow-Wing until he disappeared +among the trees of the Old Orchard, from which presently his voice +sounded clear and loud, and in it there was a mocking note as if +Yellow-Wing were laughing at him. Peter suspected that he was. But +Peter was feeling too happy to mind being laughed at. In fact, he +chuckled himself. It was something of a joke to be frightened by one who +was so wholly harmless. Peter recalled how many times he had frightened +other people and thought it the best of jokes. + +Peter went on until he found a new patch of sweet clover. Then he forgot +all about Yellow-Wing. He was too busy filling that big stomach of his +to think of anything else. When he couldn't find room for another leaf +of clover he went home to the dear Old Briar-patch, and there in his +favorite spot he settled himself to rest and think or dream as the case +might be. Presently his thoughts returned to Yellow-Wing, and he +chuckled again at the memory of his fright that morning. And then for +the first time it struck Peter as queer that Yellow-Wing should have +been out there on the Green Meadows on the ground. He often had seen +Yellow-Wing on the ground, but until that moment there never had seemed +anything queer about that. Now, however, it suddenly came to Peter that +Yellow-Wing belonged in trees, not on the ground. + +Peter scratched his long left ear with his long left hind foot, which +was a sign that he was thinking of something that puzzled him. "He +belongs to the Woodpecker family," thought Peter, "and never have I seen +any of his relatives on the ground. They get all their food in the +trees. Now why is Yellow-Wing so different from his relatives?" + +The more Peter thought about it, the queerer it seemed that a Woodpecker +should spend so much time on the ground, or visit the ground at all, +for that matter. But just wondering about it didn't get him anywhere, +and at last Peter decided that the only way to find out would be to ask +questions. So Peter made up his mind to watch for Yellow-Wing and ask +him all about it the first chance he got. + +The chance came the very next day in the very same place where Peter had +been so startled. This time he was on the watch and saw Yellow-Wing very +busy about something. Peter stole up within speaking distance. + +"Good morning, Yellow-Wing," said he. "I wonder if you will tell me +something." + +It was Yellow-Wing's turn to be startled, for he had not seen Peter +approaching. He half lifted his wings to fly, but when he saw who it +was, he changed his mind. + +"It all depends on what it is you want me to tell you," he replied +rather shortly. + +"It is just this," replied Peter. "Why do you spend so much time on the +ground?" + +"That's easily answered," laughed Fellow-Wing. "I do it because it is +the easiest way to get enough to eat." + +Peter looked as surprised as he felt. "I thought that all your family +got their living in the trees!" he exclaimed. + +"All do but me," replied Yellow-Wing a wee bit testily. "But I don't +have to do what they do just because they do it. No, Siree, I'm +independent! Do you like ants, Peter?" + +"What?" exclaimed Peter. + +"I asked if you like ants," repeated Yellow-Wing. + +"I've never tried them," Peter replied, "but I've heard Old Mr. Toad +say they are very nice." + +"They are," said Yellow-Wing. "They are more than nice--they are +de-li-cious. It is because of them that I spend so much time on the +ground. Ants changed the habits of the Flicker branch of the Woodpecker +family. I wouldn't be surprised if we became regular ground birds one of +these days." + +Peter looked puzzled. He kept turning it over in his mind as he watched +Yellow-Wing plunge his long stout bill into an ant hill and then gobble +up the ants as they came rushing out to see what the trouble was. + +"I don't see how ants could change the habits of anybody," he ventured +after a while. + +Yellow-Wing's eyes twinkled. "Why don't you learn to eat them?" he +demanded. "If you would, they might change _your_ habits. The beginning +of the change in the habits of my folks began a long time ago." + +"Way back in the beginning of things, when the world was young?" asked +Peter. + +"No, not quite so far back as that," replied Yellow-Wing. +"Great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather, who was the first Flicker, was, +of course, a member of the Woodpecker family, and he got his living in +regular Woodpecker fashion. It never entered his head to look for food +anywhere but in the trees, and I don't suppose that it ever entered his +head to set foot on the ground. It was the same with his children and +his children's children for a long time. + +"But though they lived as true Woodpeckers should, the Flickers always +were a bit sharper-witted and more independent than most of their +relatives. For one thing they had discovered that ants were fine eating +and that great numbers of them were to be found running up and down the +trunks of certain trees. So the Flickers used to look for these trees +and feast on the ants. It saved a lot of labor. A stomachful of ants +could be picked from the trunk of a tree in the time it would take to +dig out one worm in the wood, to say nothing of the saving of hard work. + +"One day a few years ago my great-great-great-grandfather, so the story +goes, had stuffed himself with ants from the trunk of a tree and had +settled himself for a rest. From where he sat he could see a procession +of ants going up and down the tree, and he got to wondering where they +all came from and where they all went to. So he watched and presently +discovered that that double line of ants led out along the ground from +the foot of the tree. This made him still more curious and he followed +it, flying along just over it. He had gone but a short distance when he +came to a little mound of sand, and there the line of ants ended. +Grandfather Flicker flew up in a tree from which he could look right +down on that mound, and it didn't take him long to discover that those +ants were going in and out of little holes in that mound. + +"'As I live, that must be their home!' exclaimed he. 'That place is +alive with them. What a place to fill one's stomach! I never was on the +ground in my life, but the next time I'm hungry, I'm going to see what +the ground is like. I won't have to stay on it long to get my dinner +here.' + +"Grandfather Flicker was as good as his word. When he was ready for +another meal, he flew down to that ant hill. He found that when he +plunged his bill into it, the ants fairly poured out to see what was +happening, and all he had to do was to thrust out his long sticky tongue +and lick them up. Never in all his life before had he filled his stomach +so easily. After that, instead of wasting time hunting for worms and +insects in the trees where he could find only one at a time, Grandfather +Flicker kept his eyes open for ant hills on the ground. He taught his +children to do the same thing. That was the beginning of the change of +habits with the Flickers. Ever since we have spent more and more time on +the ground, so that now we feel quite at home there. We still get some +of our food in the trees by way of variety, and we make our homes there, +but a good big part of our food we get just as I am doing now." + +With this Yellow-Wing once more plunged his bill into the ant hill and +licked up a dozen ants who had come rushing out to see what was going +on. And so once more the curiosity of Peter Rabbit was satisfied, and he +had learned something. + + + + +V + +WHERE LITTLE CHIEF LEARNED TO MAKE HAY + + +No one in all the Great World thinks more of the present and less of the +future than does careless, happy-go-lucky Peter Rabbit. Everybody who +knows Peter at all knows that Peter doesn't waste any time worrying over +what may happen in a day that may never be. So Peter isn't thrifty as +are Happy Jack Squirrel and Chatterer the Red Squirrel and Whitefoot the +Wood Mouse and Paddy the Beaver and Striped Chipmunk. + +"I've got enough to eat today, and enough is enough, so what is the use +of working when I don't have to?" says Peter. "I don't believe in +working today so that I won't have to work tomorrow, because when +tomorrow comes there may be no need of working, and then I would feel +that I had wasted all this good time today." No, Peter isn't the least +bit thrifty. + +It is the same way with Peter's big cousin, Jumper the Hare. The truth +is the whole family is happy-go-lucky. Happy Jack Squirrel says that +every blessed one of them is shiftless. It does look that way. It is a +pity that Peter and Jumper never have learned a lesson from Little Chief +Hare, who is commonly supposed to be a relative of theirs, although, as +a matter of fact, he is neither a Hare nor a Rabbit, but is a Pika, +which is another family altogether. He is also called a Coney and +sometimes the Calling Hare. But if you want sure-enough proof that he +is neither a Rabbit nor a Hare, just watch him, if you are lucky enough +to have a chance, cut and dry and store away a great pile of hay for +winter use. No true member of Peter's family ever would think of doing +such a thing as that, more is the pity. + +Peter never has seen Little Chief, because Little Chief lives high up on +a mountain of the Far West among the rocks where Peter would never go, +even if he could, but he has heard all about him. Old Man Coyote told +him all about him, and he got the story from his grandfather, who got it +from his grandfather, who had one time visited the great mountain where +Little Chief's ever-so-great-grandfather lived in the very place where +Little Chief lives now. Old Man Coyote had chased Peter into the dear +Old Briar-patch one cold winter day, and as he peered through the +brambles at Peter he noticed that Peter was very thin, very thin indeed. +Old Man Coyote grinned. + +"I'm just as well pleased not to have caught you this time, Peter," said +he. "You wouldn't make much of a dinner just now. When I dine I want +something more than skin and bones. It must be that you are having as +hard work as I am to get a living these days." + +"I am," replied Peter. "With all this snow and ice on the ground, there +is nothing to eat but bark and such tender twigs as I can reach, and +they are not very filling. But they'll keep me alive until better times +come, and then perhaps I'll get fat enough to suit you." It was Peter's +turn to grin. + +Old Man Coyote grinned back good-naturedly. "I should think, Peter," +said he, "that when there is so much sweet grass and clover in the +summer, you would make some of it into hay and store it away for winter, +as Little Chief Hare does. There's the thrifty little hay-maker for +you!" + +"Who is Little Chief, and where did he learn to make hay?" demanded +Peter, his ears standing straight up with curiosity. + +Old Man Coyote likes to tell a story once in a while, and having nothing +else to do just then, he sat down just outside the dear Old Briar-patch +and told Peter all about Little Chief and his hay-making. + +"Of course," said he, "Little Chief's father taught him how to make hay, +and his father's father taught him, and so on way back to the days when +the world was young and Old Mother Nature made the first Pika or Coney, +whichever you please to call him, and set him free on a great mountain +to prove whether he was worthy to live or was so helpless that there was +no place for him in the Great World. Now Mr. Pika, who was promptly +called Little Chief, no one remembers now just why, was exactly like +Little Chief of today. He was just about a fourth as big as you, Peter. +In fact, he looked a lot like one of your babies, excepting his legs and +his ears. His legs were short and rather weak, and his ears were short +and rounded. He was very gentle and timid. He had neither the kind of +teeth and claws for fighting nor long legs for running away, and it did +seem as if Little Chief's chances of a long life and a happy one were +very slim indeed, especially as it happened that he was set free to +shift for himself just at the beginning of the hard times, when the big +and strong had begun to hunt the small and weak. + +"For a while Little Chief had a hard time of it and so many narrow +escapes that his heart was in his mouth most of the time. In trying to +keep out of the way of his enemies he kept climbing higher and higher up +the mountain, for the higher he got the fewer enemies he found. At last +he came to a big rock-slide above where the trees grew, and where there +was nothing but broken stone and big rocks. The sun lay there very warm, +and Little Chief crept out among the stones to take a sun-bath; as he +squatted there it would have taken keen eyes indeed to tell him from a +stone himself, though he didn't know this. + +"After he had had a good rest, and jolly Mr. Sun had moved so that +Little Chief was no longer in the warm rays, Little Chief decided to +look about a little. It didn't take him long to discover that there were +wonderful little winding galleries and hiding-places down among the +stones. These led to little cracks and caves deep down in the mountain +side. Little Chief was tickled almost to death. + +"'This is the place for me!' he cried. 'No one ever will think to look +for me up here, and if they should they couldn't find me, for no one, +not even King Bear, could pull away these stones fast enough to catch +me. All day long I can enjoy the sun, and at night I can sleep in +perfect safety in one of these little caves.' + +"So Little Chief made his home in the rock-slide high up on the mountain +and was happy, for it was just as he thought it would be--no one +thought of looking in that bare place for him. For food he ate the pea +vines and grasses and other green things that grew just at the edge of +the rock-slide and was perfectly happy. One day he decided he would take +some of his dinner into his little cave and eat it there. So he cut a +little bundle of pea vine and other green things. He left his little +bundle on a flat rock in the sun while he went to look for something +else and then forgot all about it. It didn't enter his head again until +a few days later he happened along by that flat rock and discovered that +little bundle. The pea vines and grasses were quite dry, just like the +hay Farmer Brown's boy helps his father store away in the barn every +summer. + +"'I guess I don't want to eat that,' said Little Chief, 'but it will +make me a very nice bed.' So he carried it home and made a bed of it. +There wasn't quite enough, so the next day he cut some more and carried +it home at once. But this, being green, soon soured and smelled so badly +that he was forced to take it out and throw it away. That set him to +thinking. Why was the first he had brought in so dry and sweet and +pleasant? Why didn't it spoil as the other had done? He cut some more +and spread it out on the big flat rock and once again he forgot. When he +remembered and went to look at it two or three days later, he found it +just like the first, dry and sweet and very pleasant to smell. This he +took home to add to his bed. Then he took home some more that was green, +and this spoiled just as the other had done. + +"Little Chief was puzzling over this as he squatted on a rock taking a +sun-bath. The sun was very warm and comforting. After a while the rock +on which he sat grew almost hot. Little Chief had brought along a couple +of pieces of pea vine on which to lunch, but not being hungry he left +them beside him on the rock. By and by he happened to glance at them. +They had wilted and already they were beginning to dry. An idea popped +into his funny little head. + +"'It's the sun that does it!' he cried. + +"Up he jumped and scampered away to cut some more and spread it out on +the rocks. Then he discovered that the pea vine which he spread in the +sun dried as he wanted it to, while any that happened to be left in the +shadow of a rock didn't dry so well. He had learned how to make hay. He +was the first hay-maker in the Great World. He soon had more than +enough for a bed, but he kept on making hay and storing it away just +for fun. Then came cold weather and all the green things died. There was +no food for Little Chief. He hunted and hunted, but there was nothing. +Then because he was so hungry he began to nibble at his hay. It tasted +good, very good indeed. It tasted almost as good as the fresh green +things. Little Chief's heart gave a great leap. He had food in plenty! +He had nothing to worry about, for his hay would last him until the +green things came again, as come they would, he felt sure. + +"And so it proved. And that is how Little Chief the Pika learned to make +hay while the sun shone in the days of plenty. He taught his children +and they taught their children, and Little Chief of today does it just +as his great-great-ever-so-great-grand-daddy did. I don't see why you +don't do the same thing, Peter. You would make me a great deal finer +dinner if you did." + +"Perhaps that is the reason I don't," replied Peter with a grin. + +[Illustration: "Little Chief's father taught him how to +make hay." _Page 67._] + + + + +VI + +WHERE GLUTTON THE WOLVERINE GOT HIS NAME + + +Glutton the Wolverine is a dweller in the depths of the Great Forests of +the Far North, and it is doubtful if Peter Rabbit would ever have known +that there is such a person but for his acquaintance with Honker the +Goose, who spends his summers in the Far North, but each spring and fall +stops over for a day or two in a little pond in the Green Forest, a pond +Peter often visits. This acquaintance with Honker and Peter's +everlasting curiosity have resulted in many strange stories. At least +they have seemed strange to Peter because they have been about furred +and feathered people whom Peter has never seen. And one of the strangest +of these is the story of how Glutton the Wolverine got his name. + +Of course you know what a glutton is. It is one who is very, very, very +greedy and eats and eats as if eating were the only thing in life worth +while. It is one who is all the time thinking of his stomach. No one +likes to be called a glutton. So when Honker the Goose happened to +mention Glutton, it caused Peter to prick up his ears at once. + +"Who's a glutton?" he demanded. + +"I didn't say any one was a glutton," replied Honker. "I was speaking of +Glutton the Wolverine who lives in the Great Forests of the Far North, +and whom everybody hates." + +"Is Glutton his name?" asked Peter, wrinkling his brows in perplexity, +for it seemed a very queer name for any one. + +"Certainly," replied Honker. "Certainly that is his name, and a very +good name for him it is. But then of course it is because he _is_ a +glutton that he is named Glutton. Rather I should say that is the reason +the first Wolverine was named Glutton. The name has been handed down +ever since, and it fits Mr. Wolverine of today quite as well as ever it +did his great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather." + +"Tell me about it," Peter begged. "Please tell me about it." + +"Tell you about what?" asked Honker, pretending not to understand. + +"About how the first Wolverine got the name of Glutton," replied Peter +promptly. "There must have been a very good reason, and if there was a +very good reason, there must be a story. Please, Honker, tell me all +about it." + +Honker swam a little way out from shore, and with head held high and +very still, he looked and listened and listened and looked until he was +quite certain that no danger lurked near. Then he swam back to where +Peter was sitting on the bank. + +"Peter," said he, "I never in all my born days have seen such a fellow +for questions as you are. If I lived about here, I think I should swim +away every time I saw you coming. But as I only stop here for a day or +two twice a year, I guess I can stand it. Besides, you really ought to +know something about some of the people who live in the Great Forest. It +is shameful, Peter, that you should be so ignorant. And so if you will +promise not to ask for another story while I am here, I will tell you +about Glutton the Wolverine." + +Of course Peter promised. He wanted that story so much that he would +have promised anything. So Honker told the story, and here it is just as +Peter heard it. + +"Once upon a time long, long, long ago, the first Wolverine was sent out +to find a place for himself in the Great World just as every one else +had been sent out. Old Mother Nature had told him that he was related to +Mr. Weasel and Mr. Mink and Mr. Fisher and Mr. Skunk, but no one would +have guessed it just to look at him. In fact, some of his new neighbors +were inclined to think that he was related to Old King Bear. Certainly +he looked more like King Bear than he did like little Mr. Weasel. But +for his bushy tail he would have looked still more like a member of the +Bear family. He was clumsy-looking. He was rather slow moving, but he +was strong, very strong for his size. And he had a mean disposition. +Yes, Sir, Mr. Wolverine had a mean disposition. He had such a mean +disposition that he would snarl at his own reflection in a pool of +water. + +"Now you know as well as I do that no one with a mean disposition has +any friends. It was so with Mr. Wolverine. When his neighbors found out +what a mean disposition he had, they let him severely alone. They would +go out of their way to avoid meeting him. This made his disposition all +the meaner. He didn't really care because his neighbors would have +nothing to do with him. No, he didn't really care, for the simple reason +that he didn't want anything to do with them. But just the same it made +him angry to have them show that they didn't want to have anything to do +with him. Every time he would see one of them turn aside to avoid +meeting him, he would snarl under his breath, and his eyes would glow +with anger; he would resolve to get even. + +"Being slow in his movements because of his stout build, he early +realized that he must make nimble wits make up for the lack of nimble +legs. He also learned very early in life that patience is a virtue few +possess, and that patience and nimble wits will accomplish almost +anything. So, living alone in the Great Forest, he practised patience +until no one in all the Great World could be more patient than he. No +one knew this because, you see, everybody kept away from him. And all +the time he was practising patience, he was studying and studying the +other people of the Great Forest, both large and small, learning all +their habits, how they lived, where they lived, what they ate, and all +about them. + +"'One never knows when such knowledge may be useful,' he would say to +himself. 'The more I know about other people and the less they know +about me the better.' + +"So Mr. Wolverine kept out of sight as much as possible, and none knew +how he lived or where he lived or anything about him save that he had a +mean disposition. Patiently he watched the other people, especially +those of nimble wits who lived largely by their cunning and +cleverness--Mr. Fox, Mr. Coyote, Mr. Lynx and his own cousins, Mr. Mink +and Mr. Weasel. From each one he learned something, and at last he was +more cunning and more clever than any of them or even than all of them, +for that matter. + +"Living alone as he did, and having a mean disposition, he grew more and +more sullen and savage until those who at first had avoided him simply +because of his mean disposition now kept out of his way through fear, +for his claws were long and his strength was great and his teeth were +sharp. It didn't take him long to discover that there were few who did +not fear him, and he cunningly contrived to increase this fear, for he +had a feeling that the time might come when it would be of use to him. + +"The time did come. As you know, there came a time when food was scarce, +and everybody, or almost everybody, had hard work to get enough to keep +alive. Mr. Wolverine didn't. The fact is, Mr. Wolverine lived very well +indeed. He simply reaped the reward of his patience in learning all +about the ways of his neighbors, of his nimble wits and of the fear +which he inspired. Instead of hunting for food himself, he depended on +his neighbors to hunt for him. They didn't know they were hunting for +him, but somehow whenever one of them had secured a good meal, Mr. +Wolverine was almost sure to happen along. A growl from him was enough, +and that meal was left in his possession. + +"Knowing how scarce food was and the uncertainty of when he would get +the next meal, Mr. Wolverine always made it a point on these occasions +to stuff himself until it was a wonder his skin didn't burst. If there +was more than he could eat, he would take a nap right there, and because +of fear of him the rightful owner of the food would not dare take what +was left. When he awoke Mr. Wolverine would finish what remained. + +"Those who secured more food than they could eat and tried to store away +the rest found that no matter how cunningly they chose a hiding-place +for it and covered their tracks, Mr. Wolverine was sure to find it. In +fact, he made a business of robbing storehouses, and the habit of +greediness became so strong that he would stuff himself at one +storehouse and immediately start for another. When it did happen that he +couldn't eat all he found and yet didn't want to stay until he could +finish it, he would tear to bits all that remained and scatter it all +about. You know I told you he had a mean disposition. + +"Even when good times returned and there was no possible excuse for +such greed, Mr. Wolverine continued to stuff himself until it seemed +that instead of eating in order to live, as the rest of us do, he lived +in order to eat. Of course it wasn't long before some one called him a +glutton, and presently he was named Glutton, and no one called him +anything else. Glutton by name and a glutton in habit he remained as +long as he lived. Both name and habits he handed down to his children +and they to their children. So it is that today there is no more cunning +thief, no greedier rascal, and no one with a meaner disposition in all +the Great Woods of the Far North than Glutton the Wolverine." + +"Queer how a habit will stick, isn't it?" said Peter thoughtfully. + +"Particularly a bad habit," added Honker. + + + + +VII + +WHERE OLD MRS. 'GATOR MADE THE FIRST INCUBATOR + + +Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Quack the Mallard Duck are great friends. They +have been great friends ever since Peter tried to help Mrs. Quack when +she and Mr. Quack had spent a whole summer on a little pond hidden deep +in the Green Forest because Mr. Quack had a broken wing and so he and +Mrs. Quack simply couldn't keep on to their home in the Far North for +which they had started. During that long summer Peter had become very +well acquainted with them. In fact he visited them very often, for as +you know, Peter is simply brimming over with curiosity, and there were +wonderful things which Mr. and Mrs. Quack could tell him, for they are +great travelers. + +Now once, as Mrs. Quack was telling Peter about the far-away Southland +where she and Mr. Quack and many other birds spend each winter, she +mentioned Old Ally the 'Gator. People who live where he does call him +just 'Gator, but you and I would call him Alligator. + +At the mention of Old Ally, all Peter's curiosity was awakened, for Mrs. +Quack had said that foolish young ducks sometimes mistook him for an old +log floating in the water and didn't find out the difference until his +great mouth flew open and he swallowed them whole. At that Peter's eyes +threatened to pop right out of his head and every time he visited that +little pond he pestered Mrs. Quack with questions about Old Ally the +'Gator and Mrs. 'Gator. It seemed as if he couldn't think of anything +else. And when Mrs. Quack just happened to mention that little 'Gators +are hatched from eggs just as her own children are, it was almost too +much for Peter to believe. + +"What?" he squealed, hopping up and down in excitement. "Do you mean to +tell me that anything as big as Old Ally, big enough to swallow you +whole, can come from an egg? I don't believe it! Besides, only birds lay +eggs." + + "Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, + Peter, you must take that back!" + +cried Mrs. Quack. + +"Why must I take it back?" demanded Peter. + +"Because as usual you've let your tongue run loose, and that is a bad +habit, Peter. It certainly is a bad habit. How about the Snake family?" + +"Oh!" said Peter, looking very foolish. "I forgot all about the Snakes. +They do lay eggs." + +"And how about Spotty the Turtle? Didn't he come from an egg?" persisted +Mrs. Quack. + +Peter looked more foolish than before, if that were possible. "Y-e-s," +he replied slowly and reluctantly. + +"Then don't be so quick to doubt a thing just because you've never seen +it," retorted Mrs. Quack. "I've seen Mrs. 'Gator build her nest more +than once, and I've seen her eggs, and I've seen the baby 'Gators; and +what is more, I'm not in the habit of telling things that I don't know +are so." + +"I beg your pardon, Mrs. Quack." Peter was very humble. "I do indeed. +Please forgive me. Is--is Mrs. 'Gator's nest at all like yours?" + +Peter seemed so truly sorry for having doubted her that Mrs. Quack +recovered her good nature at once. "No," said she, "it isn't. If I +hadn't seen her make it, I wouldn't have known it was a nest. You see, +one spring I got hurt so that I couldn't take my usual long journey to +the Far North and had to spend the summer way down in the Southland +where I always lived in the winter, and that is how I happened to learn +about Mrs. 'Gator's nest and eggs and a lot of other things. Mrs. 'Gator +is lazy, but she is smart. She's smart enough to make Mr. Sun do her +work. What do you think of that?" + +Right away Peter was all excitement. You see, that sounded as if there +might be a story behind it. "I never have heard of such a thing!" he +cried. "How did she learn to do such a smart thing as that? Of course I +don't for a minute believe that she herself discovered a way to get Mr. +Sun to work for her. Probably it was her ever-so-great-grandmother who +first did it. Isn't that so, Mrs. Quack?" + +Mrs. Quack nodded. "You've guessed it, Peter," said she. "It all +happened way, way back in the days when the world was young." + +"Tell me about it! Please, please tell me about it, Mrs. Quack, and the +first chance I get, I'll do something for you," begged Peter. + +Mrs. Quack carefully went over all her feathers to see that every one +was in place, for she is very particular about how she looks. When she +was quite satisfied, she turned to Peter, fidgeting on the bank. + +"Way back in the days when the world was young," said she, "Old Mother +Nature made the first Alligators before she made the first birds, or the +first animals, so Old Ally and Mrs. 'Gator, who live way down south now, +belong to a very old family and are proud of it. In the beginning of +things there was very little dry land, as you may have heard, so old Mr. +and Mrs. 'Gator, who of course were not old then, were made to live in +the water with the fish. Old Mother Nature was experimenting then. She +was planning to make a great deal more land, and she wanted living +creatures on it, so she gave the 'Gators legs and feet instead of fins, +and lungs to breathe air instead of gills for breathing in the water as +fish do. Then, having many other things to attend to, she told them +they would have to take care of themselves, and went about her business. + +"It didn't take Mr. and Mrs. 'Gator long to discover that their legs +were not of much use in the water, for they used their powerful tails +for swimming. Then one day Mrs. 'Gator crawled out on land and right +away discovered what those legs were for. She could go on dry land while +fishes could not. It didn't take her long to find out that nothing was +quite so fine as a sun-bath, as she lay stretched out on the bank, so +she and Mr. 'Gator spent most of their time on sunny days taking +sun-baths. + +"One day Old Mother Nature came along and whispered a wonderful secret +to Mrs. 'Gator. 'I am going to give you some eggs,' whispered Old +Mother Nature, 'some eggs of your very own, and if you watch over them +and keep them warm, out of each one a baby 'Gator will some day creep. +But if you let those eggs get cold, there will be no babies. Don't +forget that you must keep them warm.' + +"Old Mother Nature was as good as her word. She gave Mrs. 'Gator twenty +beautiful white eggs, and Mrs. 'Gator was perfectly happy. Those eggs +were the most precious things in all the Great World. It seemed as if +she never would grow tired of looking at them and admiring them and of +dreaming of the day when her babies should come out of them. It was very +pleasant to lie there in the sun and dream of the babies to come from +those wonderful eggs. Suddenly, right into the midst of those pleasant +dreams, broke the memory of what Old Mother Nature had said about +keeping those eggs warm. All in a twinkling happiness was turned to +worry. + +"'What can I do? What can I do?' Mrs. 'Gator kept saying over and over. +'However can I keep them warm when Mr. Sun goes to bed at night? Oh, +dear! Oh, dear! My beautiful eggs never, never will turn to darling +babies! What can I do?' + +"All this time Mr. 'Gator was a great deal more interested in making +himself comfortable than he was in those eggs. He had picked out a place +where all day long Mr. Sun poured down his warmest rays, and he had dug +a place to sprawl out in comfortably. The sand he had thrown in a pile +at one side. When Mrs. 'Gator went to consult Mr. 'Gator about those +precious eggs and her worries when the cool of evening had come, she +happened to put one foot in that loose pile of sand, and she found that +while the sand on the outside was already cool, that down inside the +pile was still warm. A clever idea came to her like a flash. + +"First she sent Mr. 'Gator into the water to get his supper. Then she +scooped a hole in that pile of warm sand, and in it she put her precious +eggs and carefully covered them up with sand. When this was done she +stretched out close by to keep watch and see that nothing disturbed +those treasures. That was a very anxious night for Mrs. 'Gator. The sand +on which she lay grew very cool. When at last day came and Mr. Sun once +more began to shine, she opened that pile of sand and great was her joy +to find that inside it was still warm. When Mr. 'Gator came crawling out +of the water to spend the day in that comfortable bed he had dug, she +chased him away and was so cross that he went off grumbling and dug +another bed. Mrs. 'Gator waited until Mr. Sun had made the sand very +warm indeed, and then she made a great mound of it, and in the middle +of it were her precious eggs. Night and day she kept guard, and all the +time she worried lest those eggs should not be warm enough. Then one day +twenty baby 'Gators dug their way out of that mound of sand. Yes, Sir, +they did. + +"All this happened long, long ago when the world was young, and ever +since then 'Gators have lived only way down south, where it is very warm +and where Mr. Sun will hatch their eggs for them. And today it is done +just as I've told you, for I've seen with my own eyes Mrs. 'Gator build +her nest, cover her eggs, and then lie around while Mr. Sun did the work +for her. What do you think of that?" + +"I think that if you hadn't told me that you had seen it with your own +eyes, Mrs. Quack, I should think it a fairy story," replied Peter. + + + + +VIII + +WHERE MR. QUACK GOT HIS WEBBED FEET + + +Twice every year, in the early spring and in the late fall, Peter Rabbit +watches the Smiling Pool with a great deal of eagerness. Can you guess +why? It is because two very good friends of Peter's are in the habit of +stopping there for a few days for rest and refreshment before continuing +the long journey which they are obliged to make. They are Mr. and Mrs. +Quack, the Mallard Ducks. Peter is very fond of them, and when the time +for their arrival draws near, Peter watches for them with a great deal +of anxiety. You see they have told him something of the terrible +dangers which they always encounter on these long journeys, and so Peter +is always afraid that something terrible may have happened to them, and +it is a great relief when he finds them swimming about in the Smiling +Pool. + +One reason Peter is so fond of Mr. and Mrs. Quack is because they always +have a story for him. Sometimes it is a story of adventure, a tale of +terrible danger and narrow escapes. Sometimes it is about their home in +the far Northland, and again it is about the wonderful Southland where +they spend the winter. But the story that Peter likes best is the one +about where and how the Quack family got their funny, webbed feet. Mr. +Quack doesn't think those feet funny at all, but Peter does. He never +grows tired of watching Mr. and Mrs. Quack use them, because, you know, +they are used so differently from other feet. And always he goes back to +the dear Old Briar-patch with renewed admiration for the wisdom of Old +Mother Nature. + +Peter noticed those feet the first time he met Mr. and Mrs. Quack. He +couldn't help but notice them. It happened that Mr. and Mrs. Quack were +out on the bank of the Smiling Pool as Peter came hurrying over in his +usual way, lipperty-lipperty-lip. They heard him coming and not knowing +at first who it was they at once started for the water. Peter never will +forget the funny way in which they waddled. He never had seen anybody +quite so awkward. But when they reached the water he forgot to laugh. He +simply stared open-mouthed in astonishment. You see there they were as +graceful as they had been awkward on land. Afterward, when Peter had +become acquainted with them and they were the best of friends, he +ventured to speak of their queer feet. + +"Do you know," said he, "you have the most interesting feet of anybody I +know of. They are so broad that the first time I saw them I couldn't +believe my own eyes. I didn't suppose anybody had such broad feet. I +suppose there is some special reason why they are so broad and why your +legs are so short. Do you know how Mother Nature happened to give you +feet so different from the feet of other birds, Mr. Quack?" + +Mr. Quack chuckled. "I tell you what it is, Peter," said he, "if you'll +tell me why it is you have such long hind legs and such a funny short +tail, I'll tell you why it is that Mrs. Quack and I have such broad +feet, though I must confess that I don't see anything odd about them." + +Peter agreed at once. He told Mr. and Mrs. Quack all about what happened +to his grandfather a thousand times removed, the very first Rabbit, way +back when the world was young, and how ever since then all Rabbits have +had long hind legs and short tails. When he had finished Mr. Quack +thoughtfully scratched his handsome green head, looked at his reflection +in the Smiling Pool to make sure that he was looking his very best, +looked behind to see that the feathers in the tip of his tail had the +proper curl, and then gazed off over the Green Meadows with a far-away +look in his eyes as if he were looking way back to the time he was to +tell about. At last, just as Peter Rabbit was beginning to lose patience +Mr. Quack began. + +"It must be, Peter," said he, "that my +great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather lived just about the same time as +your great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather, way back in the days when +the world was young. Perhaps they knew each other. Perhaps they were +acquainted just as you and I are now. Anyway, according to what has been +handed down in the family, Grandfather Quack was very much such a +looking fellow as I am now, except in the matter of his bill and feet. +His bill was not broad like mine but more like the bills of other birds, +and his feet were like the feet of Mr. Grouse and Bob White. They were +made for scratching, and there was nothing between the toes. You see, +Old Mother Nature was experimenting. She made everybody a little +different from everybody else and then started them forth in the Great +World to shift for themselves and to find out what they really needed +that they hadn't got. + +"Old Mr. Quack, my great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather, soon +discovered one thing, and that was that his legs were too short for him +to get around very fast. When he walked, everybody laughed at him. When +he tried to run, they laughed harder than ever. He didn't mind this so +very much, though he did a little. Nobody likes to be laughed at, +especially when it is because of something they cannot help. But what he +did mind was the fact that his neighbors could run about so much faster +than he that they got all the best of the food, and quite often he went +hungry. + +"One day he happened to be sitting on the bank of the Smiling Pool, +thinking the matter over and wondering what he had best do, when Mr. +Fox stole up behind him and startled him so that he lost his balance and +tumbled down the bank into the water. This frightened him more than +ever, and he flapped about and squawked and squawked and flapped until +Mr. Fox nearly split his sides laughing at him. And when he was quite +out of breath, Mr. Quack discovered that he was making all this fuss for +nothing. He didn't sink, but floated on the water, and what was more the +water didn't get under his feathers at all. When he tried to walk, of +course he couldn't, and he had a funny feeling because his feet didn't +touch anything and felt so very useless. But he kept moving them back +and forth, and pretty soon he discovered that he moved ahead. Of course +he moved very slowly, because his feet were not made for use in the +water, but he moved, and that was enough. He knew then that he could get +back to land. Then he tried his wings and he found that he could rise +into the air from the water quite as easily as from the land. Right then +and there all fear of the water left him. In fact, he liked it. + +"Little by little, Grandfather Quack began to understand that he had +made a great discovery. He had discovered the safest place in all the +Great World for him. Out on the water he was safe from Mr. Fox and Mr. +Wolf and all the other four-footed hunters. So he took to spending most +of his time on the water or near it. When he wanted a nap, he would hide +among the rushes that grew in the water. 'If only I didn't have to leave +the water for food!' sighed Grandfather Quack. 'If only I could find +food here, I would never leave the water.' + +"At the time he was squatting at the very edge of the Smiling Pool. +Presently he noticed a funny water bug crawling on the bottom where the +water was only an inch or two deep. 'I wonder if that fellow is good to +eat,' thought he, and almost without thinking he plunged his head under +water and caught the bug. It was good. Grandfather Quack at once started +to look for more, and while doing this he discovered that there were a +great many seeds from the rushes scattered about in the mud at the +bottom of the Smiling Pool, and that these also were good to eat. Then +quite by accident he got hold of a tender root in the mud and found that +this was especially good. + +"This was enough for Grandfather Quack. He had found that he could get +plenty to eat without leaving the Smiling Pool. Moreover, he didn't have +to share it with anybody, because there was no one else who thought of +looking for food there. He knew when he was well off. So Grandfather +Quack grew fat and was happy. The only things that bothered him were the +slowness with which he had to pick up seeds, one at a time, and the +slowness with which he could paddle about, for you couldn't really call +it swimming. But in spite of these things he was happy and made the best +of his lot. + +"One day he tugged and tugged at a root with his head under water. When +at last he had to bring his head up for a breath, whom should he +discover but Old Mother Nature watching him from the opposite bank. +'Come over here, Mr. Quack, and tell me all about it,' she commanded. + +"Grandfather Quack started across the Smiling Pool, but because his feet +were not made for swimming, it took him a long time to get there. Old +Mother Nature smiled as she watched him. 'You look better on the water +than you do on land,' said she. 'In fact, I believe that is just where +you belong. Now tell me how you happened to take to the water.' + +"Grandfather Quack told her the whole story and how Old Mother Nature +did laugh when he described how frightened he was when he fell in that +time. Suddenly she reached out and caught him by the bill. 'I don't +think much of that bill for poking about in the mud,' said she. 'How +will this do?' She let go, and Grandfather Quack found he had a broad +bill just suited for getting food out of the mud. Then Old Mother Nature +bade him hold forth first one foot and then the other. Between the toes +she stretched a tough skin clear to the toe nails. 'Now let me see you +swim,' said she. + +"Grandfather Quack tried. He kicked one foot and then the other, and to +his great joy he shot along swiftly. When he drew his feet back for +another kick his toes closed together, and so his feet came through the +water easily. But when he kicked back they were wide spread, and the +skin between them pushed against the water, and drove him ahead. It was +wonderful! It was splendid! He hurried over to Old Mother Nature, and +with tears of joy in his eyes he thanked her. And from that day to this +members of my family have had the same broad bills and webbed feet, and +have lived on the water," concluded Mr. Quack. + +[Illustration: Peter noticed those feet the first time he met Mr. and +Mrs. Quack. _Page 111._] + + + + +IX + +WHERE THUNDERFOOT THE BISON GOT HIS HUMP + + +Thunderfoot the Bison, often called Buffalo, is not a handsome fellow, +as you very well know if you have seen him or a picture of him. His head +is carried low, very near the ground, and on his shoulders is a great +hump. No, you wouldn't call him handsome. You would hardly call him +good-looking even. In fact, you would, I suspect, call him homely. +Certainly there is nothing about him to suggest pride. Yet according to +the story Digger the Badger once told Peter Rabbit, pride and nothing +less was the cause of that big hump which makes Thunderfoot appear so +clumsy and homely. + +Peter Rabbit, as you know, is very fond of stories. In this respect he +is very like some other folks I know. Anyway, he never misses a chance +for a story if he can help it. He had discovered that Digger the Badger +and Old Man Coyote, both of whom had come to the Green Meadows from the +Far West, were full of stories about their neighbors of the distant +prairies, folk whom Peter never had seen. Sometimes when he had nothing +else to do, Old Man Coyote would come over to the dear Old Briar-patch +and tell stories to Peter, who sat safe behind the brambles. Perhaps Old +Man Coyote hoped that Peter would become so interested that he would +forget and come out of the dear Old Briar-patch. But Peter never did. + +But most of the stories of the people of the Far West Peter got from +Digger the Badger because, you see, he wasn't afraid to go beg for them. +He knew that Digger couldn't catch him if he wanted to, and so when +Grandfather Frog hadn't a story for him, Peter would go tease Digger for +one. It was thus that he heard about Thunderfoot the Bison and where he +got that great hump of his. + +"I don't suppose," said Peter, "that there are any very big people out +there on those prairies where you used to live any more than there are +here on the Green Meadows. All the very big people seem to prefer to +live in the Green Forest." + +"It is that way now, I must admit," said Digger the Badger, "but it +wasn't so in the old days, in the good old days when there were no +terrible guns, and Thunderfoot and his followers shook the ground with +their feet." Digger shook his head sadly. + +Instantly Peter pricked up his ears. "Who was Thunderfoot?" he demanded. + +Digger looked at Peter with such a look of pity for Peter's ignorance +that Peter felt almost ashamed. "He doesn't live here and never did, so +far as I have heard, so how should I know anything about him?" he added +a wee bit defiantly. + +"If that's the case," replied Digger, "it is time you learned about the +Lord of the Prairies." + +"But I want to know about Thunderfoot first!" cried Peter. "You can tell +me about the Lord of the Prairies another time." + +"Were you born stupid or have you grown so?" asked Digger impatiently. +Then without waiting for an answer he added: "Thunderfoot was the Lord +of the Prairies. He ruled over the Wide Prairies just as Old King Bear +ruled in the Green Forest. He ruled by might. He ruled because no one +dared deny him the right to rule. He ruled because of his great size and +his great strength. And all who lived on the Wide Prairies looked up to +him and admired him and bowed before him and paid him the utmost +respect. When he and his followers ran the earth shook, and the noise +was like thunder, and everybody hastened to get out of the way and to +warn his neighbors, crying: 'Here comes my Lord of the Prairies! Make +way! Make way!' And truly Thunderfoot and his followers were a +magnificent sight, so my great-grandfather told me, and he had it from +his great-grandfather, who was told so by his great-grandfather, who saw +it all with his own eyes. But that was in the days before Thunderfoot's +head was brought low, and he was given the great hump which none of his +descendants have ever been able to get rid of." + +"Tell me about that hump and where my Lord of the Prairies, Thunderfoot +the Bison, got it!" begged Peter, with shining eyes. That there was a +story he hadn't the least doubt. + +Digger the Badger flattened himself out on the ground, and into his eyes +crept a dreamy, far-away look as if he were seeing things a great, great +way off. "Way back In the days when the world was young, so my +great-grandfather said," he began, "Thunderfoot, the first Bison, was +given the Wide Prairies for a kingdom by Old Mother Nature and strode +forth to take possession. Big was he, the biggest of all living +creatures thereabouts. Strong was he with a strength none cared to test. +And he was handsome. He held his head proudly. All who lived on the Wide +Prairies admired him with a great admiration and hastened to pay homage +to him. + +"For a long time he ruled wisely. All the other people brought their +disputes to him to be settled, and so wisely did he decide them that the +fame of his wisdom spread even beyond the Wide Prairies and was talked +about in the Green Forest. The humblest of his subjects could come to +him freely and be sure of a hearing and that justice would be done. Big +as he was and mighty as he was, he took the greatest care never to +forget the rights of others. + +"But there came a time when flattery turned his head, as the saying is. +Mr. Coyote and Mr. Fox were the chief flatterers, and in all the Great +World there were no smoother tongues than theirs. They never lost an +opportunity to tell him how handsome he was, and how mighty he was, and +how they admired him and looked up to him, and how unequaled was his +wisdom. You see, being themselves dishonest and mischief-makers, they +frequently were in trouble with their neighbors and would have to appear +before Thunderfoot for judgment. Even when it went against them they +praised the wisdom of it, admitting that they were in the wrong and +begging forgiveness, all of which was very flattering to Thunderfoot. + +"Little by little, without knowing it, he yielded to the flattery of +Mr. Coyote and Mr. Fox. He liked to hear the pleasant things they said. +Little by little it became easier to find them in the right than in the +wrong when they were accused of wronging their neighbors. Of course they +flattered him still more. They hinted to him that it was beneath the +dignity of one so big and strong and handsome to take notice of the very +small and humble people like Mr. Meadow Mouse and Mr. Toad and Mr. +Meadow Lark and others of his subjects. + +"Gradually the little people of the Wide Prairies began to notice a +change in Thunderfoot. He became proud and vain. He openly boasted of +his strength and fine appearance. When he met them he passed them +haughtily, not seeing them at all, or at least appearing not to. No +longer did he regard the rights of others. No longer did he watch out +not to crush the nest of Mrs. Meadow Lark or to step on the babies of +Danny Meadow Mouse. It came about that when the thunder of his feet was +heard, those with homes on the ground shivered with fright and hoped +that my Lord of the Prairies would not come their way. + +"One day, as he raced over the Wide Prairies for no reason but that he +felt like running, Mr. Meadow Lark flew to meet him. Mr. Meadow Lark was +in great distress. 'Turn aside, my Lord!' he begged. 'Turn aside, my +Lord of the Prairies, for before you lies my nest with four precious +eggs, and I fear you will step on them!' + +"Thunderfoot the Bison, Lord of the Wide Prairies, tossed his head. 'If +you will build your nest where it can be trodden on, you can't expect me +to look out for it,' said he. 'If anything so unfortunate happens to it, +it is your own fault, and you mustn't blame me.' And he neither looked +down to see where he was putting his feet nor turned aside so much as an +inch. On he galloped, and presently with a cry of fright out from +beneath his feet flew Mrs. Meadow Lark, and at the very next step he +trod on the little nest in the grass and crushed the four eggs. + +"Mr. Coyote, who was racing beside him on one side and saw what had +happened, grinned. Mr. Fox, who was racing beside him on the other side +and saw what had happened, grinned. Seeing them grin, Thunderfoot +himself grinned. Thus grinning heartlessly, they continued to run until +they came to a place where Mother Nature walked among the flowers of +the Wide Prairies. Mr. Coyote and Mr. Fox, whose heads were not held so +high, saw her in time to put their tails between their legs and slink +away. Thunderfoot, holding his head high, failed to see her until he was +so close to her that it was with difficulty he stopped before running +her down. + +"'My Lord of the Prairies seems in fine spirits,' said Mother Nature +softly. 'Is all well with my Lord?' + +"Thunderfoot tossed his head proudly. 'All is well,' said he. + +"'I am sorry that others cannot say as much,' replied Mother Nature, and +all the softness was gone from her voice, and it was sharp. 'I seem to +hear the sobs of a broken-hearted little Meadow Lark,' she continued. +'Little though she be and humble, she is as much to me as is my Lord of +the Prairies who has made her suffer.' + +"Stooping swiftly, Mother Nature picked up her staff and with it struck +Thunderfoot on the neck, so that his head was brought low, and in fear +of another blow he humped his shoulders up. 'Thus shall you be, still +big, still strong, but hump-shouldered and carrying your head low in +shame, no longer Lord of the Prairies, until such time as you restore to +Mrs. Meadow Lark the eggs you destroyed,' said she, and turned her back +on him. + +"It was so. From that day on, Thunderfoot ceased to rule over the Wide +Prairies. He was hump-shouldered and he carried his head low, looking +and looking for the eggs he never could find to restore to Mrs. Meadow +Lark. And though his children and his children's children became many, +there never was one without the hump or who ceased to carry his head low +in shame," concluded Digger the Badger. + + + + +X + +WHERE LIMBERHEELS GOT HIS LONG TAIL. + + +Have you ever seen Limberheels the Jumping Mouse when he was in a hurry? +If you have, very likely the first time you felt very much as Peter +Rabbit did when he saw Limberheels for the first time. He was hopping +along across the Green Meadows with nothing much on his mind when from +right under his wobbly nose something shot into the air over the tops of +the grasses for eight or ten feet and then down and out of sight. Peter +rubbed his eyes. + +"Did I see it, or didn't I? And if I did, what was it?" gasped Peter. + +A squeaky little laugh answered him. "You saw it all right, Peter, but +it isn't polite to call any one it. He would be quite provoked if he had +heard you. That was my cousin, Limberheels," replied a voice quite as +squeaky as the laugh had been. + +Peter turned to see the bright eyes of Danny Meadow Mouse twinkling at +him from the entrance to a tiny little path that joined the bigger path +in which Peter was sitting. + +"Hello, Danny!" he exclaimed. "Do you mean to tell me that was a +relative of yours? Since when have any of your relatives taken to +flying?" + +Danny chuckled. "He wasn't flying," he retorted. "He just jumped, that +was all." Danny chuckled again, for he knows that Peter considers +himself quite a jumper and is inclined to be a bit jealous of any one +else who pretends to jump save his cousin, Jumper the Hare. + +"Jumped!" snorted Peter. "Jumped! Do you expect me to believe that any +Mouse can jump like that? I didn't get a good look at that fellow, but +whoever he is I tell you he flew. Nobody can jump like that." + +Danny chuckled again. "Wait a minute, Peter," said he. He disappeared, +and Peter waited. He waited one minute, two minutes, three minutes, and +then suddenly Danny poked his head out from the grass beside the path. +"Here he is, Peter," said he, coming wholly out into the path. "Let me +introduce my cousin, Limberheels." + +As he spoke the grass beside him rustled, and out crept some one beside +whom Danny Meadow Mouse looked big, clumsy and homely. One glance was +enough to tell Peter that the stranger was a sure-enough member of the +Mouse family, but such a member as he never had seen before. He was trim +and slender. He wore a reddish-brown coat with a white waistcoat. But +the things that made Peter stare very impolitely were his tail and his +legs. His tail was nearly twice as long as his body, slim and tapering, +and his hind legs were very long, while his fore legs were short. It +took only one glance to convince Peter that here was a born jumper. Any +one built like that _must_ jump. + +"You two must become acquainted and be friends," continued Danny Meadow +Mouse. "Peter is one of my best friends, Limberheels. He wouldn't hurt a +flea. I'm sure that from now on he will be one of your best friends." + +"I'll be happy to," said Peter promptly. "Danny has been telling me what +a wonderful jumper you are. Would you mind showing me how you jump? I +guess you jumped right in front of me a few minutes ago, but I was so +surprised that I didn't really see you." + +"I guess I did," replied Limberheels rather timidly. "You see, I didn't +hear you coming until you were almost on top of me, and then I didn't +know who it was so I got away as quickly as I could. I'll be ever so +glad to have you for a friend and next time I won't run away." + +"Show him how you can jump," interrupted Danny Meadow Mouse. "He +wouldn't believe me when I told him that you didn't fly." + +Limberheels grinned rather sheepishly. "Of course I didn't fly," said +he. "No animal can fly but Flitter the Bat. I just jumped like this." + +With a tremendous spring from his long hind legs Limberheels leaped, +while Peter Rabbit stared, his mouth wide open with astonishment. He +hadn't dreamed that any one could jump so far in proportion to his size +as this slim, trim little cousin of Danny's. Later, after Limberheels +had jumped for Peter's benefit until he was tired and had gone to hunt +for a lunch of grass seeds, Peter wanted to know all about Limberheels. + +"Never in my life have I seen such jumping," he declared. "And never +have I seen such a tail. I thought Whitefoot the Wood Mouse had a fine +tail, but it doesn't compare with that of Limberheels." + +"It is a fine tail," replied Danny, whose own tail, as you know, is +very short. + +"It is a fine tail," he repeated rather wistfully. "Would you like to +hear where he got it?" + +"I know," retorted Peter with a grin. "He got it from his father, who +got it from his father, and so on way back to the days when the world +was young." Then, seeing a look of disappointment on Danny's face, and +eager for a story as usual, he added: "But I would like to know how such +a tail as that came in the family." + +Danny brightened up at once. "It's funny how things come about in this +world," he began. "The great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather of +Limberheels, the first one, you know, was quite an ordinary Mouse when +Old Mother Nature made him and started him out to make his way in the +Great World. He was little, one of the smallest of the family, and his +tail was short, no longer than mine. His hind legs were like those of +all his relatives. He ran about just as his relatives did. He was so +small and kept out of sight so much that he didn't even have a name. +There was nothing about him to suggest a name. + +"For a long time he was contented and happy. Then one day he happened to +see Mr. Hare jump. It seemed to him the most wonderful thing in the +world that any one should be able to jump like that. So he began to +spend most of his spare time where he could watch Mr. Hare. One day Old +Mother Nature happened along unseen by him, as he was watching Mr. Hare +jump, and she overheard him say very, very wistfully, 'How I wish I +could jump like that! I wish I had long hind legs like Mr. Hare.' + +"Old Mother Nature's kindly eyes twinkled. 'That's easily arranged,' +said she. 'If you think long hind legs will be of more use to you than +the ones you have, you shall have them.' + +"The next morning when little Mr. Mouse awoke, he discovered that in the +night something had happened to his hind legs. They were very long and +strong, regular jumping legs like those of Mr. Hare. Of course he was in +such a great hurry to try them that he couldn't wait for his breakfast. +He began by making little short hops, and in no time at all he was +getting about splendidly. At last he got up his courage to try a long +jump. Up in the air he shot, and then something happened. Yes, Sir, +something happened. He couldn't kept his balance. He turned two or +three somersaults and landed on his back. + +"'I guess,' said he to himself, 'I've got to _learn_ to make long +jumps.' So he kept trying and trying, but always with the same +result--he never knew when, where, or how he was going to land. As long +as he made short jumps he had no trouble, but every time he tried a long +jump he lost his balance, and try as he would he couldn't discover why. +So at last he gave up trying and contented himself with short jumps. +Finally Old Mother Nature came that way again. + +"'How do you like your long hind legs?' she asked. + +"'Very much, thank you,' replied little Mr. Mouse politely. + +"'Let me see you jump,' said Old Mother Nature. + +"Little Mr. Mouse made half a dozen little jumps. They were not much +more than hops. 'You don't call that jumping, do you?' laughed Old +Mother Nature. 'With such long, strong legs as I've given you, you ought +to be one of the best jumpers anywhere about. Now let me see you make a +long jump.' + +"Little Mr. Mouse tried his best to think of some excuse, but he +couldn't. So he made a long jump, and the usual thing happened--he +turned two or three somersaults and landed on his back. Old Mother +Nature looked astonished. Then she laughed until she had to hold her +sides. 'Do it again,' she commanded. + +"With the most shamefaced air that you can imagine, little Mr. Mouse +jumped again. Old Mother Nature watched him closely. 'Come here to me,' +said she as he scrambled to his feet after his tumble. 'It's all my +fault,' said she kindly, as he obeyed her. 'It was very stupid of me. +What you need is a long tail to balance you on a long jump. That short +tail is all right for short jumps, but it won't do for long jumps. It +won't do at all. I should have thought of that when I made your legs +long.' + +"She reached down and took hold of the tip of that little short tail and +drew it out until it was long, almost twice as long as the body of +little Mr. Mouse. 'Now jump,' she commanded, 'and jump with all your +might.' + +"A little fearfully but with the beginning of a little hope Mr. Mouse +jumped with all his might. Away he sailed straight and true and landed +lightly on his feet so far from where he had left the ground that he +could hardly believe his own eyes as he looked back. Mother Nature was +smiling. + +"'There you are, Mr. Limberheels. I guess that that will make you quite +the most wonderful jumper of all my children,' said she. + +"And so it was that little Mr. Mouse, all at one time, became possessed +of a long tail, a name, and the ability to out jump all his neighbors," +concluded Danny Meadow Mouse. "Do you know," he added wistfully, +"sometimes I envy my cousin Limberheels." + +"I envy him myself," declared Peter. + + + + +XI + +WHERE OLD MR. GOBBLER GOT THE STRUTTING HABIT + + +Peter Rabbit never will forget the first time he saw Big Tom Gobbler. It +was very early one spring morning, when Peter was not yet old enough to +have made the acquaintance of all the people who live in the Green +Forest, and when it seemed as if the chief thing in life with him was to +satisfy his curiosity about the ways of the Great World. Several times +when he had been hopping along, lipperty-lipperty-lip, through the Green +Forest just after sun-up, he had heard a strange sound quite unlike any +other of all the many sounds his long ears had learned to know. He knew +that it was the voice of some one who lived in the Green Forest, but +though he had looked and looked he had been unable to discover the owner +of that voice. + +On this particular morning Peter happened to be sitting under some ferns +on the edge of a little open space among the trees when again he heard +that strange voice. It seemed to come from somewhere back in the woods +in the very direction from which he had just come. "Gobble-obble-obble!" +said the voice, and again a moment later "Gobble-obble-obble!" + +Peter was just preparing to go back to see if he could find the owner of +that voice when the noise of great wings caused him to look up just in +time to see a bigger bird than he ever had even dreamed of coming +swiftly over the tree-tops. With his eyes popping out and his mouth wide +open with astonishment, Peter saw the great bird set its wings and sail +down into the little opening on the edge of which Peter was sitting. The +instant this great bird was on the ground, he stood as still as if he +were made of stone, his long neck stretched up. Only the shine of a pair +of the sharpest eyes Peter ever had seen showed that he was alive. + +Peter held his breath, and it was so still that you could have heard a +leaf drop had you been there. When at last the stranger moved, it was +his head only. He turned it suddenly to the right and a moment later to +the left. It was plain that he was listening for suspicious sounds. All +the time his bright eyes searched the edge of the opening until Peter, +although he was well hidden, felt that he must be seen. At last, +satisfied that all was safe, the stranger drew in his neck and began to +walk about, pecking at the ground here and there and swallowing what he +picked up, though what it was Peter couldn't tell. + +A sound seemed to catch the stranger's quick ears, for he stopped and +stared very hard at a little clump of brush. Peter stared at it too. At +first he saw nothing, but presently he saw a head poked out, and this +also was a stranger. Peter glanced at the big stranger in the opening, +and for a minute he wondered if it could be that something was wrong +with his eyes. Never had he seen such a change in anybody. This stranger +didn't look like the same bird at all. He was swelled up until Peter was +afraid he would burst. His tail was spread out like a great fan. His +head was laid back on his humped shoulders. His wings were dropped until +the stiffly spread feathers brushed the ground. His head and neck were +as red as blood, and there were no feathers on either. All the feathers +of his body were ruffed out so that the sun shone on them and made them +shimmer and shine in colors that seemed to constantly change. + +Back and forth in front of the brush from which the other stranger was +peeping very shyly this great bird strutted. He would stand still so +that the sun would fall full on his shining coat and show it off to the +best advantage, and at the same time he would draw in a great deal of +air and then puff it out all at once. Then he would walk a few steps, +turn, drag his wings on the ground to make them rustle, wheel, and run +a few steps. Never had Peter seen such vanity, such conceit, such +imposing, puffed-up pride. He watched until he grew tired, and then he +stole away and hurried over to the Smiling Pool to tell Grandfather Frog +all about it and ask who these strangers were. + +"Chug-a-rum!" exclaimed Grandfather Frog, opening his big mouth very +wide to laugh at Peter and his excitement. "That was Big Tom Gobbler, +and he was doing all that for the benefit of Mrs. Gobbler, who was +hiding in that brush. It was her head you saw. Big Tom is the most +conceited fellow in the Green Forest. He dearly loves to strut. He is +just like his father and his grandfather and his great-grandfather. The +Gobblers never have gotten over strutting since Old Mr. Gobbler, the +first of the family, got the habit." + +"Tell me about it. Please, Grandfather Frog, tell me about it," begged +Peter. "How did Old Mr. Gobbler get the habit?" + +Grandfather Frog chuckled. "He got it from admiring his own reflection +in a pool of water," said he. "You see, in those days way back when the +world was young, people had more time to form habits than they do now. +With plenty to eat and little to do, they had more time to think about +themselves than they do now. Old Mr. Gobbler soon discovered that he was +the biggest of all the birds in that part of the Great World where he +lived, and this discovery was, I suspect, the beginning of his vanity. +Then one day as he was walking along, he came to a little pool of water. +It was very clear, and there wasn't a ripple on the surface. There for +the first time Mr. Gobbler saw his reflection. The more he looked, the +better he liked his own appearance. He spread his tail just to see how +it would look in the water. Then he puffed himself out and strutted. + +"'There is nobody to compare with me,' thought he, and strutted more +than ever. + +"After that he used to steal away every day to admire himself in that +little pool of water. He tried new ways of strutting and of puffing +himself out. After a while he was no longer content to admire himself. +He wanted others to admire him. So the first chance he got he began to +strut and show off all his grand airs before Mrs. Gobbler. At first she +paid no attention to him. At least that is the way she appeared. She +would turn her back on him and walk off into the bushes. This made Old +Mr. Gobbler very angry until he discovered that she would tiptoe back +and watch him admiringly when she thought he didn't know it. That made +him strut all the more. + +"At first all the neighbors used to gather around and admire him and +tell him how handsome he was until his head was quite turned, as the +saying is, and he spent most of his time strutting and showing off. Then +he took to bragging and boasting that there was no bird to compare with +him. Thus he became quite unbearable, and all his neighbors would turn +their backs on him when they saw him coming. Only Mrs. Gobbler continued +to watch in secret and to admire him. + +"Now in those days Mr. Gobbler didn't have a red head and neck. One day +Old Mother Nature happened along when Mr. Gobbler was strutting and +boasting how big and brave he was. He didn't see her, and she watched +him quietly for a few minutes. Then she slipped away and hunted up Mr. +Wolf. + +"'I want you to steal over where Mr. Gobbler is strutting,' said she, +'and suddenly spring out at him as if you intended to catch him.' + +"Mr. Wolf grinned and trotted off to do her bidding. He found Mr. +Gobbler swelled up until he looked as if he must burst, and bragging to +Mrs. Gobbler. + +"'I'm the biggest of all the birds,' bragged Mr. Gobbler. 'I'm afraid of +no one. While you have me with you, my dear, you have nothing in all the +Great World to fear.' + +"Just then out sprang Mr. Wolf with all his long, sharp teeth showing. +Mr. Gobbler gave a yelp of fright. He lost his swelled-up appearance as +suddenly as a bubble flattens out when it is pricked. With a frantic +beating of his wings he took to the air. Being in such a fright, he +didn't see where he was going, and struck his head against a sharp twig, +which tore the skin, for there were no feathers to protect it, and made +it bleed. The blood ran all over his head and down his neck, though he +really was hardly hurt at all. From the top of a tall tree he looked +down. There stood Old Mother Nature, looking up at him. + +"'Mr. Gobbler,' said she, 'you have acquired a bad habit, a very bad +habit. Hereafter, whenever you become vain and strut, your head and neck +shall become as red as they now are, as a reminder to you and all who +see you of how silly it is to be vain and boastful.' + +"And so it was. And so it is with Big Tom Gobbler to this day. There is +nothing in the world more foolish than vanity," concluded Grandfather +Frog. + +[Illustration: "Don't call me Striped Chipmunk, and don't call me +Gopher!" said he. _Page 172._] + + + + +XII + +WHERE SEEK-SEEK GOT HIS PRETTY COAT + + +Peter Rabbit never will forget the first time he saw Seek-Seek the +Ground Squirrel, often wrongly called Gopher or Gopher Squirrel, but +whose real name is Spermophile, which means seed eater. Peter won't +forget that meeting, because of the funny mistake he made and the +foolish feeling he had as a result of it. You see, Peter didn't know +that there was such a person as Seek-Seek. He was hopping along across +the Green Meadows in his usual happy-go-lucky way when, right in front +of him, he saw what at first he took to be a stake, a small stake, +driven in the ground. But as he drew nearer, it suddenly moved. It +wasn't a stake at all, but a very lively small person in a striped coat +who had been sitting up very straight and motionless. + +"Hello, Striped Chipmunk! What are you doing way out here so far from +the old stone wall?" exclaimed Peter. + +The small person in the striped coat whirled and faced Peter with +snapping eyes. "Don't call me Striped Chipmunk, and don't call me +Gopher!" said he very fiercely for so small a person. "I am neither one. +I am Seek-Seek the Ground Squirrel, and I'll thank you to call me by my +own name. I am getting everlastingly tired of being called the names of +other people." + +Peter looked very foolish. "I beg your pardon," said he. "I do indeed. +I'm sorry. Perhaps you don't know it, but you look very much like +Striped Chipmunk, who is one of my best friends. You look so much like +him that I thought you must be him. I wonder if you are related to him." + +"Certainly I'm related to him, or he is related to me, whichever way you +please to put it," snapped Seek-Seek. "We are cousins. But he is a Rock +Squirrel, and I am a Ground Squirrel which is altogether different. You +don't find me where there are rocks and stones in the way if I know it. +Besides, if you used your eyes, you would see that we are not dressed +alike either. Just because we both happen to wear stripes is no reason +why we should be mistaken for each other." + +Peter looked at Seek-Seek more closely than he had, and at once he made +a discovery. "Why!" he exclaimed, "your coat has more stripes than +Striped Chipmunk's has, hasn't it?" + +"I should hope so," retorted Seek-Seek. + +"And it has little rows of spots, too!" cried Peter. "If I had noticed +those spots at first, I wouldn't have made such a foolish mistake. I do +believe that your coat is prettier than Striped Chipmunk's, and I had +thought his as pretty as a coat can be." + +Seek-Seek looked rather pleased, though he tried not to. "Huh!" he +sniffed. "Of course it's prettier. It took you a long time to find it +out. I wouldn't trade coats with Striped Chipmunk or anybody else of my +acquaintance." + +"Neither would I if I were in your place," declared Peter. "I wish Old +Mother Nature had given me a coat like that." He said this so wistfully +that Seek-Seek, who had started to laugh, turned his head so that Peter +might not know it. "I'm afraid it wouldn't look so well on one as big as +you," he replied. "Anyway, you wouldn't be able to hide from your +enemies as you can now." + +"That's so," said Peter thoughtfully. "I would be easily seen in a coat +like that, for a fact. I hadn't thought of that. I guess Old Mother +Nature knows best. I--I wonder how she ever happened to think of a coat +like yours." + +Seek-Seek chuckled. He had quite forgotten that he had felt offended +because Peter had mistaken him for his cousin, Striped Chipmunk. He +enjoyed Peter's admiration of his coat. He is naturally rather +talkative, and like most folks he enjoyed talking about himself. + +"This coat," said he, "has been in the family a very great while. Of +course, I don't mean this particular coat that I am wearing," he +hastened to add, as he saw Peter beginning to grin. "I mean this style +of coat has been in the family a very long time. My father was dressed +just as I am. So was his father and--" + +"I know," interrupted Peter. "You were going to say that so were all +your grandfathers way back to the days when the world was young, and Old +Mother Nature made the very first one of your family. It's funny to me +that all the interesting things happened such a long time ago. Now +wasn't that what you were going to say?" + +Seek-Seek admitted that it was, and looked a little disappointed that +Peter had guessed it. But a second later he felt better when Peter +asked him very politely but very earnestly for the story of how the +first Ground Squirrel got such a pretty coat. "There is a story. I know +there is a story," declared Peter. "Won't you tell it to me please, +Seek-Seek?" + +Now Peter didn't want to hear it any more than Seek-Seek wanted to tell +it, so while Peter squatted down comfortably, Seek-Seek sat up very +straight and began the story. + +"First of all, you must know that Seek-Seek is an old family name which +has been handed down just as the pattern of my coat has been. The very +first of all my great-great-grandfathers was called Seek-Seek. When Old +Mother Nature made Seek-Seek she must have had two families in mind at +one time, the Marmot family and the Squirrel family, for she made him a +little like each, so that in his looks he sort of fitted in between the +two. Mother Nature told him that he was a member of the Squirrel family +and set him free to find a place for himself in the Great World. + +"Now it didn't take Grandfather Seek-Seek long to find out that though +he might be a member of the Squirrel family, Old Mother Nature had +failed to furnish him with the right kind of claws for climbing trees, +as most of his cousins did. True, he could climb a little, but it was +not easy, and he felt anything but comfortable off the ground. But if +those claws were of little use for climbing they were splendid tools for +digging, just as are the claws of the Marmot family. So Old Mother +Nature must have been thinking of the Marmots when she fashioned those +claws. + +"At first Seek-Seek wandered about trying to find a place for himself +in the Great World. Being a Squirrel, he tried to live as did his +cousins, Mr. Red Squirrel and Mr. Gray Squirrel, but on account of those +claws he didn't make much of a success of it. Then one day he met Mr. +Chipmunk. They stopped and stared at each other in surprise because, you +know, their coats were so much alike. At that time Seek-Seek was wearing +plain stripes, just as Striped Chipmunk does to this day. + +"'What do you mean by stealing my coat?' demanded Mr. Chipmunk angrily. + +"'I was just about to ask you the same question,' retorted Seek-Seek. + +"Mr. Chipmunk had a sharp reply right on the tip of his tongue, but he +checked it just in time. 'What's the use of quarreling over something +neither of us had anything to do with?' said he. 'It must be that we are +cousins. Where do you live?' + +"Seek-Seek explained that he didn't live anywhere in particular but was +trying to find his place in the Great World. He told how he had tried to +live like the other Squirrels and failed. 'I know! I know all about it,' +interrupted Mr. Chipmunk. 'I've been all through it. The place for us is +on the ground or at least close to it. Come see how I live.' + +"So Seek-Seek went with Mr. Chipmunk and saw how he lived among the +rocks and stones. For a time he tried living there too, but he didn't +like the rocks and stones much better than he did the trees. Besides, +all the neighbors were forever mistaking him for Mr. Chipmunk because +they looked so much alike, and he didn't like this. One day he wandered +out on the Green Meadows. It was very lovely out there among the grasses +and flowers. He wandered farther and farther, and the farther he +wandered the better he liked it. By and by he came to the home of +Yap-Yap the Prairie Dog, who is one of the Marmot family, as you know. + +"'A home like that would suit me,' thought Grandfather Seek-Seek +wistfully, as he journeyed on. 'I wonder if I could dig one. I believe +I'll try.' + +"So when he found a place to suit him he began to dig. There were no +stones to hurt his feet and dull his nails, and he actually enjoyed +digging. So he dug and dug until he had a wonderful underground home. +All about were plenty of seeds and tender grasses to eat, and he was +happy. He had found his place in the Great World. Then one day along +came Old Mother Nature. 'Hello, Mr. Chipmunk,' she exclaimed, as she +caught sight of his striped coat, 'what are you doing way out here?' + +"Then she discovered her mistake. 'Dear me,' said she, 'this will never +do at all. If I can't tell my own children apart, how can I expect +others to? Your coat is altogether too much like that of Mr. Chipmunk. I +must change it. I certainly must change it.' + +"She leaned over and lightly tapped Seek-Seek right down the length of +the broadest brown stripe of his coat. Wherever her finger touched a +little spot of yellow was left. Then she did the same thing to each of +the other brown stripes. When she had finished Grandfather Seek-Seek had +a coat exactly like the one I am now wearing, and his cup of happiness +was filled to the brim. From that day on he never was mistaken for Mr. +Chipmunk or any one else. That's the story of my coat, and now I must +get busy collecting seeds for my storehouse," concluded Seek-Seek. "Come +and see me again, Peter Rabbit." + +"I will," replied Peter, as he started for the dear Old Briar-patch to +tell Mrs. Peter all about Seek-Seek and his pretty coat. + + + + +XIII + +WHERE OLD MR. OSPREY LEARNED TO FISH + + +Peter Rabbit had seen a very strange thing. It was strange to Peter, +anyway. It gave him something to think about, and this, I am sure you +will agree, was a most excellent thing, for it kept him out of mischief +for a while. He had been over to the Smiling Pool for a call on Jerry +Muskrat and had just started back for the dear Old Briar-patch when he +chanced to look over in the direction of the Big River. Coming straight +towards him, but high in the air, was a big bird, a bird with broad +wings. Peter didn't have to look twice to know that it was a member of +the Hawk family. At first he thought it was Redtail. Then he caught a +flash of white, and he thought it was Whitetail the Marsh Hawk, in spite +of the fact that it didn't fly like him. Peter didn't stop to think of +that. It was enough for him that a member of the Hawk family was headed +that way, and he didn't care a twitch of his funny little tail which +member it was. He felt that the stomach of one was quite as undesirable +a place for Peter Rabbit as the stomach of another, and he had no +intention of filling any if he could help it. + +He remembered that there was an old house of Johnny Chuck's under the +Big Hickory-tree on the bank of the Smiling Pool, and he wasted no time +in getting there, lipperty-lipperty-lip, as fast as he could go. He +would stay there until the way was clear to get home to the dear Old +Briar-patch. As soon as he was safe in the old house of Johnny Chuck, he +turned and poked his head out of the doorway. He wanted to see if any +one would be caught. He hoped not, but if any one was caught, he wanted +to see. You know Peter never misses anything if he can help it. On came +Mr. Hawk, and when he was right over the Smiling Pool, he turned and +made a short circle high in the air. Then Peter saw that he had a white +waist-coat and was a stranger. + +"I wonder who he is?" thought Peter, staring very hard. "He's bigger +than either Redtail or Whitetail. I hope he isn't going to make his home +here, because we have trouble enough as it is." + +Suddenly Mr. Hawk paused high up in the air, then closed his wings and +shot straight down like an arrow. Plunge! Peter couldn't believe his own +eyes. Mr. Hawk actually had disappeared in the Smiling Pool! A second +later there was a great splashing, and out of the water rose Mr. Hawk, +flapping his great wings heavily, scattering spray in all directions. +Up, up he went, and then Peter saw that in his great claws was a fish. +Peter watched him fly away with the fish, and when he felt that it was +quite safe to do so, he came out. Over on the end of an old log among +the bulrushes sat Jerry Muskrat just where Peter had left him. It was +very plain that Jerry hadn't been the least bit frightened by Mr. Hawk. +Peter couldn't understand it. His eyes fairly popped out of his head +with excitement and curiosity. + +"Who was that?" he asked eagerly. + +"That? Why, that was Plunger the Osprey, though some people call him +Fish Hawk," replied Jerry. "I thought everybody knew him. Why did you +run away, Peter? He wouldn't hurt you." + +"Huh! I wouldn't trust _any_ Hawk!" snapped Peter. + +"Which goes to show how little you know!" retorted Jerry Muskrat. +"Plunger never bothers anybody but the fish, but he surely is a terror +to them. Old Mother Nature knew what she was doing when she made +fishermen out of that family, didn't she?" + +"She certainly did, though I've never heard how she came to do it. How +did it happen, Jerry?" Peter was doing some fishing himself. He was +fishing for a story. + +Jerry Muskrat grinned. "Think you'll sleep any better if I tell you?" +he inquired. + +Peter grinned back and nodded. So Jerry Muskrat told him this story: + +"Way back in the days when the world was young, and the +great-great-ever-so-great-grandfathers of all the little people of the +Green Meadows and the Green Forest of today were being started out in +life by Old Mother Nature, they had everything to learn. The Great World +was a new place, and they were new in it. No one knew exactly his place +or what was expected of him, and Old Mother Nature was too busy to be +bothered with questions. She expected each one to work out for himself a +way in which to make himself useful, or at least to take care of +himself, without bothering her. If he couldn't do that, she didn't want +him around at all, and the sooner something happened to him the better. +So the Great World began to be peopled with birds and animals. + +"It didn't take them long to learn that it wouldn't be possible for all +to live if they all ate the same kind of food. So some learned to eat +one thing and some another, and all went happily until there came a time +when all food was scarce, and more stomachs were empty than full. You've +heard about that hard time and sad time?" + +Peter nodded, and Jerry took a drink of water and then went on with his +tale. + +"Of course, that was really a very dreadful time, for it was then that +the strong began to hunt the weak, and fear was born into the world. And +yet I guess it wasn't wholly bad. Nothing is, so far as I can find out. +Anyway, because of that hard time, everybody became a little smarter +than before. You know an empty stomach sharpens wit, and fear puts a +fine edge on it. Now Mr. Osprey, who was one of the biggest of the +cousins of old King Eagle, couldn't get over a feeling of meanness +whenever he hunted those smaller than himself. One day he caught little +Mr. Sparrow when little Mr. Sparrow was so busy that he forgot to watch +out. + +"'I'm powerful sorry, Mr. Sparrow,' apologized Mr. Osprey, 'but there's +an emptiness just about your size in my stomach, and it won't give me +any peace of mind until it's filled. I hate to make a neighbor +uncomfortable, and I'll be just as quick and accommodating about this +little matter as I can. If you'll just shut your eyes, you won't see +anything unpleasant, and I won't be a minute in getting that peace of +mind I've been without so long. I just must have it, or I wouldn't +bother you at all. I hope you won't hold it against me, Mr. Sparrow.' + +"Mr. Osprey was so nice and polite about it that little Mr. Sparrow +perked up a little and started his wits working. He tried to be just as +nice and polite as Mr. Osprey. 'I know just how you feel, Mr. Osprey,' +said he, in a trembling voice, 'and during these hard times I've had +that same ailment of the mind because of lonesomeness of the stomach, +which is troubling you. So long as that emptiness is filled, I don't +suppose it matters to you if I shouldn't happen to fill it.' + +"'Not at all,' replied Mr. Osprey. + +"'Mr. Osprey,' said little Mr. Sparrow very earnestly, 'if I were in +your place, I never would go hungry. No, Sir, I never would go hungry. +And I certainly never, never would trouble any of my neighbors who wear +feathers. I certainly would feel most happy if Old Mother Nature had +given me what she has given you. Indeed I would.' + +"Mr. Osprey looked down at little Mr. Sparrow and blinked at him in a +puzzled way. 'What has Old Mother Nature given me that you would be +happy to have?' he asked. + +"'Fishhooks!' replied little Mr. Sparrow, pointing to Mr. Osprey's great +claws, 'the finest fishhooks in the world. You don't hear Billy Mink or +Little Joe Otter or Mr. Heron complaining about hard times. Why? Because +they don't know what hard times are. There are plenty of fish to be +caught, and when they are hungry they go fishing. Fish are very filling +and satisfying, I've heard say. When I flew across the Smiling Pool a +little while ago, I saw a fat fish taking a sun-bath right close to the +top of the water. Seemed like he was just waiting for some one with +hooks to come along and snatch him right out of the water.' + +"'Where'd you say that fish was?' asked Mr. Osprey. + +"'If you'll let me go, I'll show you,' replied little Mr. Sparrow. + +"So Mr. Osprey let little Mr. Sparrow go, but he followed him right +close. Mr. Sparrow led the way straight to the Smiling Pool. Sure +enough, there was the big fish taking a sun-bath. Mr. Osprey hardly wet +his feet putting those big hooks into that fish. He flew away with it, +and presently he was rid of that emptiness in his stomach and had back +his peace of mind. After that, whenever he was hungry, he went fishing +instead of hunting the birds and the animals. By practice he learned how +to use those big fishhooks of his and became one of the smartest of all +fishermen. He and little Mr. Sparrow became great friends, in fact, such +friends that when Mr. Osprey built a great nest, little Mr. Sparrow +built his right in the side of it, and there he was perfectly safe from +others who might be hunting him. And it's been just that way ever since. +If you wore scales instead of fur, and lived in the water instead of on +the land, Peter Rabbit, you would have reason to fear Plunger the +Osprey, but as it is, you are safer when he is about than when he isn't. +There comes old Redtail the Hawk. You'd better get out of sight, Peter." + +Peter did. + + + + +XIV + +WHERE OLD MR. BOB-CAT LEFT HIS HONOR + + +Of all those who are forever trying to catch Peter Rabbit, he fears none +more than Yowler the Bob-cat. And from that fear has grown hate. You +will find it true all through life that hate often springs from great +fear. Peter isn't much given to hate, but he does hate Yowler the +Bob-cat. It is partly because of his fear of Yowler, but it is still +more because he feels that Yowler is not fair in his hunting. He has no +honor. There are many others whom Peter fears,--Reddy Fox, Old Man +Coyote, Hooty the Owl,--and with very good reason. But Peter considers +that these hunt him fairly. He knows when and where to be on the watch +for them. + +But with Yowler it is altogether different. Yowler hides beside one of +Peter's favorite little paths, and there he waits patiently for +unsuspecting Peter to come along. He waits and watches much as Black +Pussy, who is a cousin of Yowler, waits and watches at a mousehole. +Peter feels that it doesn't give him a chance, and everybody is entitled +to at least a chance to live. + +"I hate him! hate him! hate him!" exclaimed Peter fiercely, as he +crawled under the very middle of a great pile of brush after the +narrowest of narrow escapes. He had been hopping along one of his +favorite little paths without a thought of danger. Presently he came to +a little branch path. There he hesitated. He had intended to keep on +along the main path, but suddenly he had a feeling that it would be +better to take the branch path. He knew no reason why he shouldn't keep +on as he had planned. It was just a feeling that it would be better to +take the other path, a feeling without any real reason. So he hesitated +and finally turned down the little branch path. As he did so he caught a +glimpse of a brown form moving stealthily from behind a log farther up +the main little path. It was moving swiftly in the direction of the +little branch path. That glimpse was enough for Peter. That stealthy +form could be but one person--Yowler the Bob-cat. He turned and darted +back the way he had come and then off to one side to the great pile of +brush under which he had crawled. + +"Who is it you hate?" asked a voice. + +For just a second Peter was startled, then he recognized the voice of +Mrs. Grouse, one of his very best friends. "Yowler the Bob-cat," said he +as fiercely as before. + +"I don't love him myself," replied Mrs. Grouse. "I suspected that he was +somewhere about, and that is why I am here. Did you see him?" + +"Yes," said Peter, "I saw him. He was hiding beside my favorite little +path, and it is a wonder I didn't hop straight into his jaws. That +fellow doesn't hunt fairly. He doesn't give us a chance. He hasn't any +honor." + +"Honor!" exclaimed Mrs. Grouse. "Honor! Of course he hasn't any honor. +There hasn't been any honor in Yowler's family since old Mr. Bob-cat, +the first of all the Bob-cats, left his honor in Turkey Wood, way back +in the days when the world was young, and failed to get it again. Honor! +Of course Yowler hasn't any. What could you expect?" + +At once Peter was all ears. "I've never heard about that," said he. +"Tell me about it, Mrs. Grouse. We've got to stay right where we are for +a long time to make sure that Yowler has given us up and gone away, so +you will have plenty of time to tell me the story. Where was Turkey +Wood, and how did old Mr. Bob-cat happen to leave his honor there?" + +"He didn't happen to; he did it deliberately," replied Mrs. Grouse. "You +see, it was like this: In the beginning of things, when Old Mother +Nature made the first little people and the first big people of the +Green Forest and the Green Meadows, she was too busy to watch over them +all the time, so for a while she put them on their honor not to harm one +another or interfere with one another in any way, for she wanted them to +live in peace and happiness and raise families to people the Great +World. + +"Now it chanced that Mr. and Mrs. Gobbler, the first of the Turkey +family, chose a certain little grove of trees in which to make their +home, and it became known as Turkey Wood. There, in course of time, Mrs. +Turkey made her nest on the ground, well hidden among some bushes, and +in it laid twelve big eggs. It was the day on which she laid the twelfth +big egg that old Mr. Bob-cat, who, of course, wasn't old then, took it +into his head to prowl about in Turkey Wood. Already Mr. Bob-cat had +begun to form a sneaky habit of stealth. He was very fond of watching +his neighbors to find out what they were about, and it was this fondness +of minding the business of other people instead of his own that was +making him sneaky and stealthy, for of course he didn't want any one to +know what he was doing. + +"It happened that as he stole into Turkey Wood, Mrs. Gobbler left her +nest to get a bite to eat. Mr. Bob-cat saw her, but she didn't see him. +He crouched flat until she was out of sight. + +"'She seemed mighty careful about how she slipped out of those bushes,' +thought Mr. Bob-cat. 'She acted as if she didn't want to be seen. I +wonder why. I wonder if she has a secret hidden in those bushes. I +suppose the way to find out is to look.' + +"First making sure that no one saw him, Mr. Bob-cat crept in his sneaky +way into the bushes, and it didn't take him long to find that nest with +the twelve big eggs. He didn't know what they were, for they were the +first eggs he had ever seen. He stared at them and wondered if they were +good to eat. He glanced this way and that way to be sure that no one was +watching him. + +"'Don't touch them,' warned something inside of him. 'These belong to +Mrs. Gobbler, and Old Mother Nature has put you on your honor not to +interfere with others or their affairs.' + +"'It won't do any harm just to touch them and see what they are like,' +said another little tempting voice inside of him. + +"'Remember your honor,' warned the first little voice. + +"'Bother my honor! I'm not going to do any harm,' muttered Mr. Bob-cat, +and picked up one of the eggs in his mouth. He tried it with his teeth +to see if it was hard, and of course he put his teeth right through the +shell. He started to put it back in a hurry, but just then he noticed a +good taste in his mouth. The inside of that egg was good to eat, very +good indeed! + +"'One won't be missed,' thought Mr. Bob-cat, and then, fearing that Mrs. +Gobbler would return, he bounded away, taking the egg with him. + +"When Mrs. Gobbler returned, she did miss that egg. She looked all about +for it, but there was nothing to show what had become of it. With a +troubled mind she began to sit on her eggs. She was so worried that she +didn't leave them until she simply _had_ to get something to eat. + +"Meanwhile Mr. Bob-cat had eaten that egg, and it had tasted so good +that he could think of nothing but how he could get another. So at the +first opportunity he sneaked back to Turkey Wood, and without making a +sound crept in among the bushes until he could see Mrs. Gobbler sitting +on her eggs. There he lay and watched and watched until Mrs. Gobbler +left to get something to eat. No sooner was she out of sight than Mr. +Bob-cat stole to the nest. + +"'Remember your honor,' warned the little voice inside. + +"'Bother honor. I'd rather have an egg,' muttered Mr. Bob-cat, and +pulled one out of the nest. He bit a hole in one end and sucked out the +contents. It was so good he took another. This led to a third, and +finally Mr. Bob-cat had sucked every one of those eggs. Then silently he +sneaked away--away from Turkey Wood to a distant part of the Green +Forest. Behind him in Turkey Wood he left a nestful of empty shells and +his honor. + +"'Nobody knows who did it, and nobody ever will find out,' thought Mr. +Bob-cat, but all the time he knew that he had left his honor behind, and +this made him more sneaky than ever. He never would meet any one face to +face. You know that is something that one who has lost his honor never +can do. It wasn't long before all his neighbors knew that he was without +honor, and so would have nothing to do with him. They shunned him. He +grew to be more and more of a sneak. And all the time he believed that +no one knew what he had done or where he had left his honor. + +"But Old Mother Nature knew. Of course Mrs. Gobbler told her what had +happened to her eggs. Old Mother Nature told her to make a new nest and +hide it more carefully than before, which Mrs. Gobbler did and hatched +out ten fine young Gobblers. Meanwhile Old Mother Nature went about her +business, but all the time she was watching to see who would fail to +look her straight in the face. The first time she met Mr. Bob-cat he +tried to slip past unseen. When Old Mother Nature stepped in front of +him, he couldn't look her in the face, try as he would. + +"'Ah-ha!' said she. 'You are the one who left his honor in Turkey Wood. +From this time forth you shall be an outcast, friendless and alone, +hated by every one.' + +"And so it was, and has been ever since. And so it is with Yowler today. +You said truly, Peter, that he hasn't any honor. Isn't it dreadful?" + +And Peter agreed that it is. + + + + +XV + +WHERE DIPPY THE LOON GOT THE NAME OF BEING CRAZY + + +As you all know, Peter Rabbit is out and about at a time when most folks +are snugly tucked in bed. The fact is, Peter is very fond of roaming +around at night. He says he feels safer then in spite of the fact that +some of his smartest enemies are also out and about, among them Hooty +the Owl and Reddy Fox and Old Man Coyote. The two latter also hunt by +day when the fancy takes them or they have been so unsuccessful at night +that their stomachs won't give them any peace, and Peter is sure that +though they can see very well at night, they can see still better in +the light of day. Anyway, that is one of the reasons he gives for his +own liking for roaming after jolly, round, red Mr. Sun has gone to bed +behind the Purple Hills. + +Now it happened one moonlight night that Peter had ventured way over +almost to the Big River. He had heard Hooty the Owl's fierce hunting +call far off in the Green Forest. He had heard Reddy Fox barking up in +the Old Pasture. So Peter felt quite safe. He felt so safe that he had +almost forgotten that there could be such a thing as fear. And then, +from the direction of the Big River, there came such a sound as Peter +never had heard before. It was a sound that made his heart seem to quite +stop beating for an instant. It was a sound that sent cold chills racing +and chasing all over him. It was a sound that made him wish with all +his might that he was that instant right in the heart of the dear Old +Briar-patch instead of way over there near the bank of the Big River. + +He didn't waste much time getting back to the dear Old Briar-patch, once +he was sure his heart hadn't really stopped beating. The way he went +across the Green Meadows, lipperty-lipperty-lip, lipperty-lipperty-lip, +was positive proof that in spite of his fright his heart was quite all +right. He didn't run a little way, stop, run a little farther and stop +again, as is his usual way. He kept lipperty-lipperty-lipping without a +single stop until he reached the edge of the dear Old Briar-patch and +once more felt really safe. Two or three times he had felt that he must +stop to get his breath, but each time that sound, that dreadful sound, +had seemed to be following right at his heels, and he had suddenly +discovered that he didn't need to stop after all. + +But having reached the dear Old Briar-patch Peter stopped and panted for +breath while he anxiously watched for the appearance of some unknown +enemy following him. It was then that he realized that that sound came +from the Big River, and that whoever made it had not left the Big River +at all. It made Peter feel a wee bit foolish as he thought how he had +been sure that there was danger right at his very heels all the way +home, when all the time there hadn't been any danger at all. + +Peter sat there and listened, and despite the fact that he now felt +absolutely safe, the cold chills ran over him every time he heard it. +It was a voice; Peter was sure of that. It was a voice, but such a voice +as Peter never in his life had heard before. It was quite as bad if not +worse than the voice of Old Man Coyote. In a way it reminded him of Old +Man Coyote's voice, but while Old Man Coyote's voice sounded like many +voices in one, it was not so fearsome as this voice, for this voice +sounded like a human voice, yet wasn't. Something inside Peter told him +that it wasn't a human voice, in spite of its sounding so. + +The next morning Peter ran over to the Smiling Pool to ask Grandfather +Frog if he had any idea who could have such a voice as that. When he +tried to tell Grandfather Frog what that voice was like, he couldn't. He +just couldn't describe it. + +"It was the lonesomest and craziest sound I've ever heard," declared +Peter, "and that is all I can tell you. It was crazier than the voice of +Old Man Coyote." + +"That is all you need tell me," chuckled Grandfather Frog. "That was the +voice of Dippy the Loon. And let me tell you something, Peter: you are +not the first one to think his voice has a crazy sound. Oh, my, no! No, +indeed! Why, a lot of people think Dippy _is_ crazy, and when any one +does queer things they say of him that he is 'crazy as a Loon.' + +"But is he crazy?" asked Peter. + +"Chug-a-rum!" exclaimed Grandfather Frog. "Chug-a-rum! Not half so +crazy as you are, Peter, coming over here to the Smiling Pool in +broad daylight. He likes to be thought crazy, just as his +great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather did before him, that's all. +Everybody thought his great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather was crazy, +and it paid Mr. Loon to have them think so. So he did his best to make +them keep thinking so." + +"Tell me about it. Do please tell me about it, Grandfather Frog," begged +Peter. "Please, please, please." + +Now how could Grandfather Frog resist that? He couldn't. He didn't even +try to. He just cleared his throat once or twice and began. + +"Once on a time, long, long ago, lived the very first of all the Loons, +the ever-and-ever-and-ever-so-great-grandfather of Dippy, whose voice +frightened you so last night." + +"How did you know it frightened me?" exclaimed Peter, for he had taken +care not to tell Grandfather Frog anything about that. + +Grandfather Frog chuckled and went right on with his story. "Right from +the beginning Mr. Loon was a mighty independent fellow. It didn't take +him long to find out that Old Mother Nature had too much to do to waste +any time on those who didn't try to take care of themselves, and that +those would live longest who were smartest and most independent. He had +sharp eyes, had old Mr. Loon, just as Dippy has today, and he used them +to good account. He saw at once that with so many birds and animals +living on the land it was likely to get crowded after a while, and that +when such became the case, it was going to be mighty hard work for some +to get a living. So Mr. Loon went to Mother Nature and told her that if +she had no objections he would like a pair of swimming feet and would +live on the water. + +"Now Old Mother Nature had just fitted out Mr. Duck with a pair of +webbed feet that he might swim, so she was quite prepared to fit Mr. +Loon out in like manner. + +"'I suppose,' said she, 'that you want a bill like Mr. Duck's.' + +"Mr. Loon shook his head. 'Thank you,' said he, 'but I would prefer a +sharp bill to a broad one.' + +"'How is that?' exclaimed Mother Nature. 'Mr. Duck has been delighted +with his bill ever since I gave it to him.' + +"'And with good reason,' replied Mr. Loon. 'Did I propose to live as Mr. +Duck lives, I should want a bill just like his, but I find that fish are +more to my liking. Also I have noticed that there are fewer who eat +fish.' + +"So Mother Nature gave him the kind of bill he wanted, and Mr. Loon +went about his business. He managed to get fish enough to keep from +going hungry, but he found that the only way he could do it was to sit +perfectly still until a fish swam within reach and then strike swiftly. +In fact, his fishing was much like that of Mr. Heron, save that the +latter stood instead of sitting. Success was chiefly the result of luck +and patience. + +"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. + +Peter happened along as Digger sat there on his doorstep watching his +shadow grow longer, so he sat down at a safe and respectful distance and +helped Digger watch his shadow grow longer. Peter delights in doing +things like this, because it isn't hard work at all. It is only when +there is real work concerned that Peter loses interest. A lot of people +are just like Peter in this respect. + +Peter gazed over at the Old Pasture and he, too, saw Farmer Brown's +Sheep and the big Ram with the curving horns at his head. For a long +time Peter had greatly admired those horns, though he never had told any +one so. He had admired those horns because they were different from any +other horns Peter ever had seen. They looked perfectly useless for +fighting because they curved so that the points never could be made to +hurt any one, but just the same Peter admired them. Now as he watched he +spoke aloud, without thinking what he was doing. + +"I wish I had a pair of horns like those," said he wistfully. + +Digger the Badger stopped watching his shadow, and turned to stare at +Peter. Then he laughed until finally he choked. Peter looked at him in +surprise. + +"What's the matter with you, Mr. Badger?" asked he. "What is there to +laugh at?" + +"Only you, Peter. Only you," replied Digger faintly, for he had laughed +so hard that he had almost lost his voice. "I am afraid you would find a +pair of horns like those rather heavy, Peter, rather heavy." + +Peter grinned. "Of course I didn't really mean that," said he. "Of +course not. I was just thinking how nice it would be to have such fine +horns, if one were big enough to have horns. I don't believe there are +any other such horns in all the Great World." + +"And that shows how little you know about the Great World, Peter," +retorted Digger the Badger. + +"Did you ever see such horns before?" demanded Peter. + +"No, I never did," confessed Digger, "but I've heard my grandfather +tell of Sheep that live on the tops of the great mountains as free +as Light-foot the Deer or any other of the Green Forest people, +and with horns so large that they, the Sheep, are called Big-Horns. +From what I have heard my grandfather say, those horns over there of +Mr. Ram's are nothing to brag about. No, Sir, they are nothing to brag +about. One of those wild, free cousins of Mr. Ram over there would +laugh at those horns. But they are funny horns, and they've been +like that always since the days of the first great Ram, the +great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather of all the Sheep, so my +grandfather told me. It was way back in those long-ago days that they +became curved and quite useless for fighting, and all because of old +Big-Horn going about with a chip on his shoulder." + +Peter pricked up his ears. "That was a funny thing for Big-Horn to be +doing," said he. "What under the sun did he have a chip on his shoulder +for? And what harm was there in that, even if he did?" + +Once more Digger began to laugh. "Peter," said he, "you certainly are +the funniest fellow I know. Of course old Big-Horn didn't really have a +chip on his shoulder. That is just a saying, Peter, just a saying. When +any one goes about looking for trouble and ready to quarrel at the least +pretext, he is said to be carrying a chip on his shoulder and daring +anybody to knock it off." + +"Oh!" said Peter. + +"And so," continued Digger, "Big-Horn didn't have anything to do with a +really, truly chip, but just went about always trying to get somebody to +fight with him. It wasn't that Big-Horn was ugly. He wasn't. You see Old +Mother Nature had given him great strength. Yes, Sir, for his size +Big-Horn was very strong, and in that strength be took great pride. And +Mother Nature had given him a pair of very large and strong horns with +which to defend himself if there should be need. Those horns were almost +straight, and with Big-Horn's great strength behind them, they were +truly dangerous weapons. He didn't think of that. No, Sir, he didn't +think of that. He was just brimming full of life, and he dearly loved to +try his strength against the strength of others. It got so that the +instant he saw anybody, down would go his head and at them he would go +full tilt. + +"It was great fun--for him. Sometimes he got the worst of it, as when +Old King Bear stepped aside at the very last instant and hit him such a +clip with his great paw that Big-Horn was sent rolling over and over and +lost his breath for a few minutes. But usually it was the other who got +the worst of it, for those great, sharp-pointed horns of Big-Horn's tore +and hurt. Indeed, even when he tried to be gentle with those smaller +than himself he was forever hurting some one. + +"Finally some of his neighbors wished to go to Old Mother Nature and +complain about Big-Horn, but others were against this plan because they +knew that Old Mother Nature was quite loaded down with cares and worries +as it was. So instead they called a meeting to which everybody except +Big-Horn was invited. If Big-Horn could have heard all that was said +about him, his ears surely would have burned. Every one was of the +opinion that something must be done, but just what no one could suggest. +At last, just when it seemed that the meeting would break up without +anything being done, Old Man Coyote stepped forward. Now Old Man Coyote +already was known as a very clever fellow, more clever even than Mr. +Fox, though it would never have done to say so where it would get back +to the ears of Mr. Fox. + +"'Friends and neighbors,' said Old Man Coyote, 'it seems to me a very +simple matter to teach Neighbor Big-Horn a lesson that he will not soon +forget. Being rather bashful, I haven't liked to suggest it before, +because I thought surely some one else would do it. I suggest that some +one be selected to fight Big-Horn, and when that one can fight no +longer, some one else be selected to fight him, and so on until he gets +tired, and some one can whip him. Then I think he will have had enough +of fighting.' + +"Up spoke Mr. Fox and he winked at his neighbor on the right and he +winked at his neighbor on the left. 'That is a very good idea of +Neighbor Coyote's,' said he, 'a very good idea indeed, and I suggest +that Mr. Coyote be selected for the honor of being the first one to +fight Big-Horn.' Mr. Fox grinned in a sly way, and everybody else +grinned, for everybody knew that Old Man Coyote never was known to fight +when there was a chance to run away. So with one accord everybody agreed +with Mr. Fox, and Old Man Coyote was selected as the first one to face +Big-Horn. To everybody's surprise, Old Man Coyote made no objections. +Instead he expressed himself as highly honored, and said that he hoped +to do so well that there would be no need for others to fight Big-Horn. +So it was arranged that Big-Horn should be invited to fight Old Man +Coyote the very next day. + +"You may be sure that everybody was on hand the next day to see that +fight. No one expected Old Man Coyote to appear. But he did. Yes, Sir, +he did. He was right on hand at the appointed time. Big-Horn hadn't been +told whom he was to fight, and when he found that it was Old Man Coyote, +he was disappointed. You see, there was no anger in Big-Horn's fighting; +he fought just for the love of using his great strength and big horns. +Fighting was fun to him, and he wanted some one who would stand up to +him. As soon as it was explained to him that when he had disposed of Old +Man Coyote there would be some one else for him to fight (Mr. Deer had +offered to be the next), he felt better. Mr. Deer had horns and was +somewhere near his size. + +"Old Man Coyote slipped around until he had his back to a great rock. +'I'm ready any time,' said he. + +"Big-Horn, who had been stamping with impatience, lowered his head so +that his horns pointed straight at Old Man Coyote. He grinned as he did +it, for he saw that with that great rock behind him, Old Man Coyote +would have no chance to run away as he always had done in the past. +Everybody else saw the same thing, and wondered what could have happened +to make Old Man Coyote so stupid as to do such a thing as that, he who +always had been accounted so clever. But they had hardly time to think +of this, for with a snort Big-Horn bounded forward. All the others held +their breath as they saw those great horns driving straight at Old Man +Coyote, who was crouched with his back to the great rock. Then everybody +closed their eyes for a second, for nobody wanted to see Old Man Coyote +killed, and everybody _knew_ that that was what was going to happen. + +"Then there was a crash, and everybody's eyes flew open. There lay +Big-Horn on the ground, looking mighty puzzled, as if he wasn't quite +sure what had happened. And there sat Old Man Coyote, grinning at him! +They were still staring at Old Man Coyote as if they couldn't believe +their own eyes when some one cried, 'Look at the horns of Big-Horn!' + +"Instead of being long and straight, those great horns were curved over +and round into almost a circle, and there was no longer danger from +their sharp points. What had happened? Why, at just the right instant +Old Man Coyote had leaped over Big-Horn, and Big-Horn had butted into +that great rock with all his might. He had hit so hard, biff! bang! that +he had bent his horns, just as crafty, clever Old Man Coyote had hoped +he would. + +"When Old Mother Nature heard of the affair and saw those bent horns, +she chuckled at the cleverness of Old Man Coyote and decided to leave +those horns just as they were for the safety of Big-Horn's neighbors. +And so they remained as long as Big-Horn lived, and just so have been +the horns in his family from that day to this," concluded Digger, and +once more began to watch his shadow grow longer. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOTHER WEST WIND "WHERE" STORIES*** + + +******* This file should be named 17250.txt or 17250.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/2/5/17250 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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