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diff --git a/25529.txt b/25529.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c03641 --- /dev/null +++ b/25529.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2451 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse, by +Thornton W. Burgess + +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: The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse + +Author: Thornton W. Burgess + +Illustrator: Harrison Cady + +Release Date: May 19, 2008 [EBook #25529] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADVENTURES OF DANNY MEADOW MOUSE *** + + + + +Produced by K Nordquist, E & R Nordquist, Irma Spehar and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + _The Adventures of + DANNY MEADOW MOUSE_ + + _by Thornton W. Burgess_ + + [Illustration] + + + + + + + + + The Adventures of + Danny Meadow Mouse + + By THORNTON W. BURGESS + + _Illustrated by_ HARRISON CADY + + [Illustration] + + PUBLISHERS + Grosset & Dunlap + NEW YORK + + COPYRIGHT, 1915, 1944, + BY THORNTON W. BURGESS + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + BY ARRANGEMENT WITH LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY + + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + + _The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse_ + + + + + [Illustration] + + Contents + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I Danny Meadow Mouse Is Worried 11 + + II Danny Meadow Mouse and His Short Tail 17 + + III Danny Meadow Mouse Plays Hide-and-Seek 23 + + IV Old Granny Fox Tries for Danny + Meadow Mouse 31 + + V What Happened on the Green Meadows 37 + + VI Danny Meadow Mouse Remembers, + Reddy Fox Forgets 44 + + VII Old Granny Fox Tries a New Plan 52 + + VIII Brother North Wind Proves a Friend 59 + + IX Danny Meadow Mouse Is Caught at Last 68 + + X A Strange Ride and How It Ended 75 + + XI Peter Rabbit Gets a Fright 84 + + XII The Old Briar-Patch Has a New Tenant 91 + + XIII Peter Rabbit Visits the Peach Orchard 99 + + XIV Farmer Brown Sets a Trap 105 + + XV Peter Rabbit Is Caught in a Snare 113 + + XVI Peter Rabbit's Hard Journey 119 + + XVII Danny Meadow Mouse Becomes Worried 126 + +XVIII Danny Meadow Mouse Returns a Kindness 133 + + XIX Peter Rabbit and Danny Meadow Mouse + Live High 141 + + XX Timid Danny Meadow Mouse 148 + + XXI An Exciting Day for Danny Meadow Mouse 158 + + XXII What Happened Next to Danny Meadow Mouse 165 + +XXIII Reddy Fox Grows Curious 172 + + XXIV Reddy Fox Loses His Temper 179 + + + + + [Illustration] + + Illustrations + + +All Danny Meadow Mouse could think +about was his short tail 10 + +"Got plenty to eat and drink, haven't +you?" continued Mr. Toad 19 + +Danny popped his head out of another +little doorway and laughed at Reddy 29 + +Granny didn't finish, but licked her chops +and smacked her lips 46 + +It was a beautiful white world, a very +beautiful white world 64 + +Over in the Green Forest Hooty the Owl +had had poor hunting 72 + +Danny was being carried through the air +in the cruel claws of Hooty the Owl! 77 + +"I tell you what, you stay right here!" said +Peter 97 + +All around the trunk of the tree was +wrapped wire netting 109 + +Danny Meadow Mouse had set out to +gnaw that piece of stake all to splinters 137 + +"Where?" exclaimed old Mr. Toad, turning +as pale as a toad can turn 153 + +"Why, Mr. Toad, where are you going in +such a hurry?" asked Danny 156 + +With a frightened squeak, Danny dived +into the opening just in time 169 + +Like a flash, Danny dodged into a tangle +of barbed wire 185 + + + + + The Adventures of + Danny Meadow Mouse + +[Illustration: _All Danny Meadow Mouse could think about was +his short tail_] + + + + + I + + Danny Meadow Mouse Is Worried + + +Danny Meadow Mouse sat on his doorstep with his chin in his +hands, and it was very plain to see that Danny had something on +his mind. He had only a nod for Jimmy Skunk, and even Peter +Rabbit could get no more than a grumpy "Good morning." It wasn't +that he had been caught napping the day before by Reddy Fox and +nearly made an end of. No, it wasn't that. Danny had learned his +lesson, and Reddy would never catch him again. It wasn't that he +was all alone with no one to play with. Danny was rather glad +that he was alone. The fact is, Danny Meadow Mouse was worried. + +Now worry is one of the worst things in the world, and it didn't +seem as if there was anything that Danny Meadow Mouse need worry +about. But you know it is the easiest thing in the world to find +something to worry over and make yourself uncomfortable about. +And when you make yourself uncomfortable, you are almost sure to +make everyone around you equally uncomfortable. It was so with +Danny Meadow Mouse. Striped Chipmunk had twice called him "Cross +Patch" that morning, and Johnny Chuck, who had fought Reddy Fox +for him the day before, had called him "Grumpy." And what do you +think was the matter with Danny Meadow Mouse? Why, he was +worrying because his tail was short. Yes, Sir, that is all that +ailed Danny Meadow Mouse that bright morning. + +You know, some people let their looks make them miserable. They +worry because they are homely or freckled, or short or tall, or +thin or stout, all of which is very foolish. And Danny Meadow +Mouse was just as foolish in worrying because his tail was short. + +It is short! It certainly is all of that! Danny never had +realized how short until he chanced to meet his cousin Whitefoot, +who lives in the Green Forest. He was very elegantly dressed, but +the most imposing thing about him was his long, slim, beautiful +tail. Danny had at once become conscious of his own stubby +little tail, and he had hardly had pride enough to hold his head +up as became an honest Meadow Mouse. Ever since, he had been +thinking and thinking, and wondering how his family came to have +such short tails. Then he grew envious and began to wish and wish +and wish that he could have a long tail like his cousin +Whitefoot. + +He was so busy wishing that he had a long tail that he quite +forgot to take care of the tail he did have, and he pretty nearly +lost it and his life with it. Old Whitetail the Marsh Hawk spied +Danny sitting there moping on his doorstep, and came sailing +over the tops of the meadow grasses so softly that he all but +caught Danny. If it hadn't been for one of the Merry Little +Breezes, Danny would have been caught. And all because he was +envious. It's a bad, bad habit. + +[Illustration] + + + + + II + + Danny Meadow Mouse and His Short Tail + + +All Danny Meadow Mouse could think about was his short tail. He +was so ashamed of it that whenever anyone passed, he crawled out +of sight so that they should not see how short his tail was. +Instead of playing in the sunshine as he used to do, he sat and +sulked. Pretty soon his friends began to pass without stopping. +Finally one day old Mr. Toad sat down in front of Danny and +began to ask questions. + +"What's the matter?" asked old Mr. Toad. + +"Nothing," replied Danny Meadow Mouse. + +"I don't suppose there really is anything the matter, but what do +you think is the matter?" said old Mr. Toad. + +Danny fidgeted, and old Mr. Toad looked up at jolly, round, red +Mr. Sun and winked. "Sun is just as bright as ever, isn't it?" he +inquired. + +"Yes," said Danny. + +"Got plenty to eat and drink, haven't you?" continued Mr. Toad. + +[Illustration: _"Got plenty to eat and drink, haven't you?" +continued Mr. Toad_] + +"Yes," said Danny. + +"Seems to me that that is a pretty good-looking suit of clothes +you're wearing," said Mr. Toad, eyeing Danny critically. "Sunny +weather, plenty to eat and drink, and good clothes--must be you +don't know when you're well off, Danny Meadow Mouse." + +Danny hung his head. Finally he looked up and caught a kindly +twinkle in old Mr. Toad's eyes. "Mr. Toad, how can I get a long +tail like my cousin Whitefoot of the Green Forest?" he asked. + +"So that's what's the matter! Ha! ha! ha! Danny Meadow Mouse, I'm +ashamed of you! I certainly am ashamed of you!" said Mr. Toad. +"What good would a long tail do you? Tell me that." + +For a minute Danny didn't know just what to say. "I--I--I'd look +so much better if I had a long tail," he ventured. + +Old Mr. Toad just laughed. "You never saw a Meadow Mouse with a +long tail, did you? Of course not. What a sight it would be! Why, +everybody on the Green Meadows would laugh themselves sick at the +sight! You see, you need to be slim and trim and handsome to +carry a long tail well. And then what a nuisance it would be! You +would always have to be thinking of your tail and taking care to +keep it out of harm's way. Look at me. I'm homely. Some folks +call me ugly to look at. But no one tries to catch me as Farmer +Brown's boy does Billy Mink because of his fine coat; and no one +wants to put me in a cage because of a fine voice. I am satisfied +to be just as I am, and if you'll take my advice, Danny Meadow +Mouse, you'll be satisfied to be just as you are." + +"Perhaps you are right," said Danny Meadow Mouse after a little. +"I'll try." + + + + + III + + Danny Meadow Mouse Plays Hide-and-Seek + + +Life is always a game of hide-and-seek to Danny Meadow Mouse. You +see, he is such a fat little fellow that there are a great many +other furry-coated people, and almost as many who wear feathers, +who would gobble Danny up for breakfast or for dinner if they +could. Some of them pretend to be his friends, but Danny always +keeps his eyes open when they are around and always begins to +play hide-and-seek. Peter Rabbit and Jimmy Skunk and Striped +Chipmunk and Happy Jack Squirrel are all friends whom he can +trust, but he always has a bright twinkling eye open for Reddy +Fox and Billy Mink and Shadow the Weasel and old Whitetail the +Marsh Hawk, and several more, especially Hooty the Owl at night. + +Now Danny Meadow Mouse is a stouthearted little fellow, and when +rough Brother North Wind came shouting across the Green Meadows, +tearing to pieces the snow clouds and shaking out the snowflakes +until they covered the Green Meadows deep, deep, deep, Danny just +snuggled down in his warm coat in his snug little house of grass +and waited. Danny liked the snow. Yes, Sir, Danny Meadow Mouse +liked the snow. He just loved to dig in it and make tunnels. +Through those tunnels in every direction he could go where he +pleased and when he pleased without being seen by anybody. It was +great fun! + +Every little way he made a little round doorway up beside a stiff +stalk of grass. Out of this he could peep at the white world, +and he could get the fresh, cold air. Sometimes, when he was +quite sure that no one was around, he would scamper across on top +of the snow from one doorway to another, and when he did this, he +made the prettiest little footprints. + +Now Reddy Fox knew all about those doorways and who made them. +Reddy was having hard work to get enough to eat this cold +weather, and he was hungry most of the time. One morning, as he +came tiptoeing softly over the meadows, what should he see just +ahead of him but the head of Danny Meadow Mouse pop out of one +of those little round doorways! Reddy's mouth watered, and he +stole forward more softly than ever. When he got within jumping +distance, he drew his stout hind legs under him and made ready to +spring. Presto! Danny Meadow Mouse had disappeared! Reddy Fox +jumped just the same and began to dig as fast as he could make +his paws go. He could smell Danny Meadow Mouse and that made him +almost frantic. + +All the time Danny Meadow Mouse was scurrying along one of his +little tunnels, and when finally Reddy Fox stopped digging +because he was quite out of breath, Danny popped his head out of +another little doorway and laughed at Reddy. Of course Reddy saw +him, and of course Reddy tried to catch him there, and dug +frantically just as before. And of course Danny Meadow Mouse +wasn't there. + +[Illustration: _Danny popped his head out of another little +doorway and laughed at Reddy_] + +After a while Reddy Fox grew tired of this kind of a game and +tried another plan. The next time he saw Danny Meadow Mouse stick +his head out, Reddy pretended not to see him. He stretched +himself out on the ground and made believe that he was very +tired and sleepy. He closed his eyes. Then he opened them just +the tiniest bit, so that he could see Danny Meadow Mouse and yet +seem to be asleep. Danny watched him for a long time. Then he +chuckled to himself and dropped out of sight. + +No sooner was he gone than Reddy Fox stole over close to the +little doorway and waited. "He'll surely stick his head out again +to see if I'm asleep, and then I'll have him," said Reddy to +himself. So he waited and waited and waited. By and by he turned +his head. There was Danny Meadow Mouse at another little doorway, +laughing at him! + + + + + IV + + Old Granny Fox Tries for Danny Meadow Mouse + + +Danny Meadow Mouse had not enjoyed anything so much for a long +time as he did that game of hide-and-seek. He tickled and +chuckled all the afternoon as he thought about it. Of course, +Reddy had been "it." He had been "it" all the time, for never +once had he caught Danny Meadow Mouse. If he had--well, there +wouldn't have been any more stories about Danny Meadow Mouse, +because there wouldn't have been any Danny Meadow Mouse any more. + +But Danny never let himself think about this. He had enjoyed the +game all the more because it had been such a dangerous game. It +had been such fun to dive into one of his little round doorways +in the snow, run along one of his own little tunnels, and then +peep out at another doorway and watch Reddy Fox digging as fast +as ever he could at the doorway Danny had just left. Finally +Reddy had given up in disgust and gone off muttering angrily to +try to find something else for dinner. Danny had sat up on the +snow and watched him go. In his funny little squeaky voice Danny +shouted: + + "_Though Reddy Fox is smart and sly, + Hi-hum-diddle-de-o! + I'm just as smart and twice as spry. + Hi-hum-diddle-de-o!_" + +That night Reddy Fox told old Granny Fox all about how he had +tried to catch Danny Meadow Mouse. Granny listened with her head +cocked on one side. When Reddy told how fat Danny Meadow Mouse +was, her mouth watered. You see, now that snow covered the Green +Meadows and the Green Forest, Granny and Reddy Fox had hard work +to get enough to eat, and they were hungry most of the time. + +"I'll go with you down on the meadows tomorrow morning, and then +we'll see if Danny Meadow Mouse is as smart as he thinks he is," +said Granny Fox. + +So, bright and early the next morning, old Granny Fox and Reddy +Fox went down on the meadows where Danny Meadow Mouse lives. +Danny had felt in his bones that Reddy would come back, so he was +watching, and he saw them as soon as they came out of the Green +Forest. When he saw old Granny Fox, Danny's heart beat a little +faster than before, for he knew that Granny Fox is very smart and +very wise, and has learned most of the tricks of all the other +little meadow and forest people. + +"This is going to be a more exciting game than the other," said +Danny to himself, and scurried down out of sight to see that all +his little tunnels were clear so that he could run fast through +them if he had to. Then he peeped out of one of his little +doorways hidden in a clump of tall grass. + +Old Granny Fox set Reddy to hunting for Danny's little round +doorways, and as fast as he found them, Granny came up and +sniffed at each. She knew that she could tell by the smell which +one he had been at last. Finally she came straight toward the +tall bunch of grass. Danny ducked down and scurried along one of +his little tunnels. He heard Granny Fox sniff at the doorway he +had just left. Suddenly something plunged down through the snow +right at his very heels. Danny didn't have to look to know that +it was Granny Fox herself, and he squeaked with fright. + + + + + V + + What Happened on the Green Meadows + + +Thick and fast, things were happening to Danny Meadow Mouse down +on the snow-covered Green Meadows. Rather, they were almost +happening. He hadn't minded when Reddy Fox all alone tried to +catch him. Indeed, he had made a regular game of hide-and-seek of +it and had enjoyed it immensely. But now it was different. +Granny Fox wasn't so easily fooled as Reddy Fox. Just Granny +alone would have made the game dangerous for Danny Meadow Mouse. +But Reddy was with her, and so Danny had two to look out for, and +he got so many frights that it seemed to him as if his heart had +moved right up into his mouth and was going to stay there. Yes, +Sir, that is just how it seemed. + +Down in his little tunnels underneath the snow Danny Meadow Mouse +felt perfectly safe from Reddy Fox, who would stop and dig +frantically at the little round doorway where he had last seen +Danny. But old Granny Fox knew all about those little tunnels, +and she didn't waste any time digging at the doorways. Instead +she cocked her sharp little ears and listened with all her might. +Now Granny Fox has very keen ears, oh, very keen ears, and she +heard just what she hoped she would hear. She heard Danny Meadow +Mouse running along one of his little tunnels under the snow. + +Plunge! Old Granny Fox dived right into the snow and right +through into the tunnel of Danny Meadow Mouse. Her two black +paws actually touched Danny's tail. He was glad then that it was +no longer. + +"Ha!" cried Granny Fox, "I almost got him that time!" + +Then she ran ahead a little way over the snow, listening as +before. Plunge! Into the snow she went again. It was lucky for +him that Danny had just turned into another tunnel, for otherwise +she would surely have caught him. + +Granny Fox blew the snow out of her nose. "Next time I'll get +him!" said she. + +Now Reddy Fox is quick to learn, especially when it is a way to +get something to eat. He watched Granny Fox, and when he +understood what she was doing, he made up his mind to have a try +himself, for he was afraid that if she caught Danny Meadow Mouse, +she would think that he was not big enough to divide. Perhaps +that was because Reddy is very selfish himself. So the next time +Granny plunged into the snow and missed Danny Meadow Mouse just +as before, Reddy rushed in ahead of her, and the minute he heard +Danny running down below, he plunged in just as he had seen +Granny do. But he didn't take the pains to make sure of just +where Danny was, and so of course he didn't come anywhere near +him. But he frightened Danny still more and made old Granny Fox +lose her temper. + +Poor Danny Meadow Mouse! He had never been so frightened in all +his life. He didn't know which way to turn or where to run. And +so he sat still, which, although he didn't know it, was the very +best thing he could do. When he sat still he made no noise, and +so of course Granny and Reddy Fox could not tell where he was. +Old Granny Fox sat and listened and listened and listened, and +wondered where Danny Meadow Mouse was. And down under the snow +Danny Meadow Mouse sat and listened and listened and listened, +and wondered where Granny and Reddy Fox were. + +"Pooh!" said Granny Fox after a while, "that Meadow Mouse thinks +he can fool me by sitting still. I'll give him a scare." + +Then she began to plunge into the snow this way and that way, and +sure enough, pretty soon she landed so close to Danny Meadow +Mouse that one of her claws scratched him. + + + + + VI + + Danny Meadow Mouse Remembers, Reddy Fox Forgets + + +"There he goes!" cried old Granny Fox. "Don't let him sit still +again!" + +"I hear him!" shouted Reddy Fox, and plunged down into the snow +just as Granny Fox had done a minute before. But he didn't catch +anything, and when he had blown the snow out of his nose and +wiped it out of his eyes, he saw Granny Fox dive into the snow +with no better luck. + +"Never mind," said Granny Fox, "as long as we keep him running, +we can hear him, and some one of these times we'll catch him. +Pretty soon he'll get too tired to be so spry, and when he is--" +Granny didn't finish, but licked her chops and smacked her lips. +Reddy Fox grinned, then licked his chops and smacked his lips. +Then once more they took turns diving into the snow. + +[Illustration: _Granny didn't finish, but licked her chops and +smacked her lips_] + +And down underneath in the little tunnels he had made, Danny +Meadow Mouse was running for his life. He was getting tired, +just as old Granny Fox had said he would. He was almost out of +breath. He was sore and one leg smarted, for in one of her jumps +old Granny Fox had so nearly caught him that her claws had torn +his pants and scratched him. + +"Oh dear! Oh dear! If only I had time to think!" panted Danny +Meadow Mouse, and then he squealed in still greater fright as +Reddy Fox crashed down into his tunnel right at his very heels. +"I've got to get somewhere! I've got to get somewhere where they +can't get at me!" he sobbed. And right that very instant he +remembered the old fence post! + +The old fence post lay on the ground and was hollow. Fastened to +it were long wires with sharp, cruel barbs. Danny had made a +tunnel over to that old fence post the very first day after the +snow came, for in that hollow in the old post he had a secret +store of seeds. Why hadn't he thought of it before? It must have +been because he was too frightened to think. But he remembered +now, and he dodged into the tunnel that led to the old fence +post, running faster than ever, for though his heart was in his +mouth from fear, in his heart was hope, and hope is a wonderful +thing. + +Now old Granny Fox knew all about that old fence post and she +remembered all about those barbed wires fastened to it. Although +they were covered with snow she knew just about where they lay, +and just before she reached them she stopped plunging down into +the snow. Reddy Fox knew about those wires, too, but he was so +excited that he forgot all about them. + +"Stop!" cried old Granny Fox sharply. + +But Reddy Fox didn't hear, or if he heard he didn't heed. His +sharp ears could hear Danny Meadow Mouse running almost +underneath him. Granny Fox could stop if she wanted to, but he +was going to have Danny Meadow Mouse for his breakfast! Down into +the snow he plunged as hard as ever he could. + +"Oh! Oh! Wow! Wow! Oh dear! Oh dear!" + +That wasn't the voice of Danny Meadow Mouse. Oh, my, no! It was +the voice of Reddy Fox. Yes, Sir, it was the voice of Reddy Fox. +He had landed with one of his black paws right on one of those +sharp wire barbs, and it did hurt dreadfully. + +"I never did know a young Fox who could get into as much trouble +as you can!" snapped old Granny Fox, as Reddy hobbled along on +three legs behind her, across the snow-covered Green Meadows. "It +serves you right for forgetting!" + +"Yes'm," said Reddy meekly. + +And safe in the hollow of the old fence post, Danny Meadow Mouse +was dressing the scratch on his leg made by the claws of old +Granny Fox. + + + + + VII + + Old Granny Fox Tries a New Plan + + +Old Granny Fox kept thinking about Danny Meadow Mouse. She knew +that he was fat, and it made her mouth water every time she +thought of him. She made up her mind that she must and would have +him. She knew that Danny had been very, very much frightened when +she and Reddy Fox had tried so hard to catch him by plunging +down through the snow into his little tunnels after him, and she +felt pretty sure that he wouldn't go far away from the old fence +post, in the hollow of which he was snug and safe. + +Old Granny Fox is very smart. "Danny Meadow Mouse won't put his +nose out of that old fence post for a day or two. Then he'll get +tired of staying inside all the time, and he'll peep out of one +of his little round doorways to see if the way is clear. If he +doesn't see any danger, he'll come out and run around on top of +the snow to get some of the seeds in the tops of the tall grasses +that stick out through the snow. If nothing frightens him, he'll +keep going a little farther and a little farther from that old +fence post. I must see to it that Danny Meadow Mouse isn't +frightened for a few days." So said old Granny Fox to herself, as +she lay under a hemlock tree, studying how she could best get the +next meal. + +Then she called Reddy Fox to her and forbade him to go down on +the meadows until she should tell him he might. Reddy grumbled +and mumbled and didn't see why he shouldn't go where he pleased, +but he didn't dare disobey. You see, he had a sore foot. He had +hurt it on a wire barb when he was plunging through the snow +after Danny Meadow Mouse, and now he had to run on three legs. +That meant that he must depend upon Granny Fox to help him get +enough to eat. So Reddy didn't dare to disobey. + +It all came out just as Granny Fox had thought it would. Danny +Meadow Mouse did get tired of staying in the old fence post. He +did peep out first, and then he did run a little way on the +snow, and then a little farther and a little farther. But all the +time he took great care not to get more than a jump or two from +one of his little round doorways leading down to his tunnels +under the snow. + +Hidden on the edge of the Green Forest, Granny Fox watched him. +She looked up at the sky, and she knew that it was going to snow +again. "That's good," said she. "Tomorrow morning I'll have fat +Meadow Mouse for breakfast," and she smiled a hungry smile. + +The next morning, before jolly, round, red Mr. Sun was out of +bed, old Granny Fox trotted down onto the meadows and straight +over to where, down under the snow, lay the old fence post. It +had snowed again, and all the little doorways of Danny Meadow +Mouse were covered up with soft, fleecy snow. Behind Granny Fox +limped Reddy Fox, grumbling to himself. + +When they reached the place where the old fence post lay buried +under the snow, old Granny Fox stretched out as flat as she +could. Then she told Reddy to cover her up with the new soft +snow. Reddy did as he was told, but all the time he grumbled. +"Now you go off to the Green Forest and keep out of sight," said +Granny Fox. "By and by I'll bring you some Meadow Mouse for your +breakfast," and Granny Fox chuckled to think how smart she was +and how she was going to catch Danny Meadow Mouse. + +[Illustration] + + + + + VIII + + Brother North Wind Proves a Friend + + +Danny Meadow Mouse had seen nothing of old Granny Fox or Reddy +Fox for several days. Every morning the first thing he did, even +before he had breakfast, was to climb up to one of his little +round doorways and peep out over the beautiful white meadows, to +see if there was any danger near. But every time he did this, +Danny used a different doorway. "For," said Danny to himself, "if +anyone should happen, just happen, to see me this morning, they +might be waiting just outside my doorway to catch me tomorrow +morning." You see, there is a great deal of wisdom in the little +head that Danny Meadow Mouse carries on his shoulders. + +But the first day and the second day and the third day he saw +nothing of old Granny Fox or of Reddy Fox, and he began to enjoy +running through his tunnels under the snow and scurrying across +from one doorway to another on top of the snow, just as he had +before the Foxes had tried so hard to catch him. But he hadn't +forgotten, as Granny Fox had hoped he would. No, indeed, Danny +Meadow Mouse hadn't forgotten. He was too wise for that. + +One morning, when he started to climb up to one of his little +doorways, he found that it was closed. Yes, Sir, it was closed. +In fact, there wasn't any doorway. More snow had fallen from the +clouds in the night and had covered up every one of the little +round doorways of Danny Meadow Mouse. + +"Ha!" said Danny, "I shall have a busy day, a very busy day, +opening all my doorways. I'll eat my breakfast, and then I'll go +to work." + +So Danny Meadow Mouse ate a good breakfast of seeds which he had +stored in the hollow in the old fence post buried under the snow, +and then he began work on the nearest doorway. It really wasn't +work at all, for you see, the snow was soft and light, and Danny +dearly loved to dig in it. In a few minutes he had made a wee +hole through which he could peep up at jolly, round, red Mr. Sun. +In a few minutes more he had made it big enough to put his head +out. He looked this way and he looked that way. Far, far off on +the top of a tree he could see old Roughleg the Hawk, but he was +so far away that Danny didn't fear him at all. + +"I don't see anything or anybody to be afraid of," said Danny and +poked his head out a little farther. + +[Illustration: _It was a beautiful white world, a very beautiful +white world_] + +Then he sat and studied everything around him a long, long time. +It was a beautiful white world, a very beautiful white world. +Everything was so white and pure and beautiful that it didn't +seem possible that harm or danger for anyone could even be +thought of. But Danny Meadow Mouse learned long ago that things +are not always what they seem, and so he sat with just his little +head sticking out of his doorway and studied and studied. Just a +little way off was a little heap of snow. + +"I don't remember that," said Danny. "And I don't remember +anything that would make that. There isn't any little bush or old +log or anything underneath it. Perhaps rough Brother North Wind +heaped it up, just for fun." + +But all the time Danny Meadow Mouse kept studying and studying +that little heap of snow. Pretty soon he saw rough Brother North +Wind coming his way and tossing the snow about as he came. He +caught a handful from the top of the little heap of snow that +Danny was studying, and when he had passed, Danny's sharp eyes +saw something red there. It was just the color of the cloak old +Granny Fox wears. + + "_Granny Fox, you can't fool me! + I see you plain as plain can be!_" + +shouted Danny Meadow Mouse and dropped down out of sight, while +old Granny Fox shook the snow from her red cloak and, with a +snarl of disappointment and anger, slowly started for the Green +Forest, where Reddy Fox was waiting for her. + +[Illustration] + + + + + IX + + Danny Meadow Mouse Is Caught at Last + + + "_Tippy-toppy-tippy-toe, + Play and frolic in the snow! + Now you see me! Now you don't! + Think you'll catch me, but you won't! + Tippy-toppy-tippy-toe, + Oh, such fun to play in snow!_" + +Danny Meadow Mouse sang this, or at least he tried to sing it, as +he skipped about on the snow that covered the Green Meadows. But +Danny Meadow Mouse has such a little voice, such a funny little +squeaky voice, that had you been there you probably would never +have guessed that he was singing. He thought he was, though, and +was enjoying it just as much as if he had the most beautiful +voice in the world. You know, singing is nothing in the world but +happiness in the heart making itself heard. + +Oh, yes, Danny Meadow Mouse was happy! Why shouldn't he have +been? Hadn't he proved himself smarter than old Granny Fox? That +is something to make anyone happy. Some folks may fool Granny Fox +once; some may fool her twice; but there are very few who can +keep right on fooling her until she gives up in disgust. That is +just what Danny Meadow Mouse had done, and he felt very smart and +of course he felt very happy. + +So Danny sang his little song and skipped about in the moonlight, +and dodged in and out of his little round doorways, and all the +time kept his sharp little eyes open for any sign of Granny Fox +or Reddy Fox. But with all his smartness, Danny forgot. Yes, Sir, +Danny forgot one thing. He forgot to watch up in the sky. He knew +that of course old Roughleg the Hawk was asleep, so he had +nothing to fear from him. But he never once thought of Hooty the +Owl. + +Dear me, dear me! Forgetting is a dreadful habit. If nobody ever +forgot, there wouldn't be nearly so much trouble in the world. +No, indeed, there wouldn't be nearly so much trouble. And Danny +Meadow Mouse forgot. He skipped and sang and was happy as could +be, and never once thought to watch up in the sky. + +[Illustration: _Over in the Green Forest Hooty the Owl had had +poor hunting_] + +Over in the Green Forest Hooty the Owl had had poor hunting, and +he was feeling cross. You see, Hooty was hungry, and hunger is +apt to make one feel cross. The longer he hunted, the hungrier +and crosser he grew. Suddenly he thought of Danny Meadow Mouse. + +"I suppose he is asleep somewhere safe and snug under the snow," +grumbled Hooty, "but he might, he just might, be out for a frolic +in the moonlight. I believe I'll go down on the meadows and see." + +Now Hooty the Owl can fly without making the teeniest, weeniest +sound. It seems as if he just drifts along through the air like a +great shadow. Now he spread his great wings and floated out over +the meadows. You know Hooty can see as well at night as most +folks can by day, and it was not long before he saw Danny Meadow +Mouse skipping about on the snow and dodging in and out of his +little round doorways. Hooty's great eyes grew brighter and +fiercer. Without a sound he floated through the moonlight until +he was just over Danny Meadow Mouse. + +Too late Danny looked up. His little song ended in a tiny squeak +of fear, and he started for his nearest little round doorway. +Hooty the Owl reached down with his long cruel claws and--Danny +Meadow Mouse was caught at last! + + + + + X + + A Strange Ride and How It Ended + + +Danny Meadow Mouse often had sat watching Skimmer the Swallow +sailing around up in the blue, blue sky. He had watched Ol' +Mistah Buzzard go up, up, up, until he was nothing but a tiny +speck, and Danny had wondered how it would seem to be way up +above the Green Meadows and the Green Forest and look down. It +had seemed to him that it must be very wonderful and beautiful. +Sometimes he had wished that he had wings and could go up in the +air and look down. And now here he was, he, Danny Meadow Mouse, +actually doing that very thing! + +But Danny could see nothing wonderful or beautiful now. No, +indeed! Everything was terrible, for you see, Danny Meadow Mouse +wasn't flying himself. He was being carried. Yes, Sir, Danny +Meadow Mouse was being carried through the air in the cruel claws +of Hooty the Owl! And all because Danny had forgotten--forgotten +to watch up in the sky for danger. + +[Illustration: _Danny was being carried through the air in the +cruel claws of Hooty the Owl!_] + +Poor, poor Danny Meadow Mouse! Hooty's great cruel claws hurt him +dreadfully! But it wasn't the pain that was the worst. No, +indeed! It wasn't the pain! It was the thought of what would +happen when Hooty reached his home in the Green Forest, for he +knew that there Hooty would gobble him up, bones and all. As he +flew, Hooty kept chuckling, and Danny Meadow Mouse knew just what +those chuckles meant. They meant that Hooty was thinking of the +good meal he was going to have. + +Hanging there in Hooty's great cruel claws, Danny looked down on +the snow-covered Green Meadows he loved so well. They seemed a +frightfully long way below him, though really they were not far +at all, for Hooty was flying very low. But Danny Meadow Mouse had +never in all his life been so high up before, and so it seemed to +him that he was way, way up in the sky, and he shut his eyes so +as not to see. But he couldn't keep them shut. No, Sir, he +couldn't keep them shut! He just had to keep opening them. There +was the dear old Green Forest drawing nearer and nearer. It +always had looked very beautiful to Danny Meadow Mouse, but now +it looked terrible, very terrible indeed, because over in it, +hidden away there in some dark place, was the home of Hooty the +Owl. + +Just ahead of him was the Old Briar-patch where Peter Rabbit +lives so safely. Every old bramble in it was covered with snow +and it was very, very beautiful. Really everything was just as +beautiful as ever--the moonlight, the Green Forest, the +snow-covered Green Meadows, the Old Briar-patch. The only change +was in Danny Meadow Mouse himself, and it was all because he had +forgotten. + +Suddenly Danny began to wriggle and struggle. "Keep still!" +snapped Hooty the Owl. + +But Danny only struggled harder than ever. It seemed to him that +Hooty wasn't holding him as tightly as at first. He felt one of +Hooty's claws slip. It tore his coat and hurt dreadfully, but it +slipped! The fact is, Hooty had only grabbed Danny Meadow Mouse +by the loose part of his coat, and up in the air he couldn't get +hold of Danny any better. Danny kicked, squirmed, and twisted, +and twisted, squirmed, and kicked. He felt his coat tear and of +course the skin with it, but he kept right on, for now he was +hanging almost free. Hooty had started down now, so as to get a +better hold. Danny gave one more kick and then--he felt himself +falling! + +Danny Meadow Mouse shut his eyes and held his breath. Down, down, +down he fell. It seemed to him that he never would strike the +snow-covered meadows! Really he fell only a very little distance. +But it seemed a terrible distance to Danny. He hit something that +scratched him, and then--plump!--he landed in the soft snow right +in the very middle of the Old Briar-patch, and the last thing he +remembered was hearing the scream of disappointment and rage of +Hooty the Owl. + +[Illustration] + + + + + XI + + Peter Rabbit Gets a Fright + + +Peter Rabbit sat in his favorite place in the middle of the dear +Old Briar-patch, trying to decide which way he would go on his +travels that night. The night before he had had a narrow escape +from old Granny Fox over in the Green Forest. There was nothing +to eat around the Smiling Pool and no one to talk to there any +more, and you know that Peter must either eat or ask questions in +order to be perfectly happy. No, the Smiling Pool was too dull a +place to interest Peter on such a beautiful moonlight night, and +Peter had no mind to try his legs against those of old Granny Fox +again in the Green Forest. + +Early that morning, just after Peter had settled down for his +morning nap, Tommy Tit the Chickadee had dropped into the dear +Old Briar-patch just to be neighborly. Peter was just dozing off +when he heard the cheeriest little voice in the world. It was +saying: + + "_Dee-dee-chickadee! + I see you! Can you see me?_" + +Peter began to smile even before he could get his eyes open and +look up. There, right over his head, was Tommy Tit hanging head +down from a nodding old bramble. In a twinkling he was down on +the snow right in front of Peter, then up in the brambles again, +right side up, upside down, here, there, everywhere, never still +a minute, and all the time chattering away in the cheeriest +little voice in the world: + + "_Dee-dee-chickadee! + I'm as happy as can be! + Find it much the better way + To be happy all the day. + Dee-dee-chickadee! + Everybody's good to me!_" + +"Hello, Tommy!" said Peter Rabbit. "Where'd you come from?" + +"From Farmer Brown's new orchard up on the hill. It's a fine +orchard, Peter Rabbit, a fine orchard. I go there every morning +for my breakfast. If the winter lasts long enough, I'll have all +the trees cleaned up for Farmer Brown." + +Peter looked puzzled. "What do you mean?" he asked. + +"Just what I say," replied Tommy Tit, almost turning a somersault +in the air. "There's a million eggs of insects on those young +peach trees, but I'm clearing them all off as fast as I can. +They're mighty fine eating, Peter Rabbit, mighty fine eating!" +And with that Tommy Tit had said good-by and flitted away. + +Peter was thinking of that young orchard now, as he sat in the +moonlight trying to make up his mind where to go. The thought of +those young peach trees made his mouth water. It was a long way +up to the orchard on the hill, a very long way, and Peter was +wondering if it really was safe to go. He had just about made up +his mind to try it, for Peter is very, very fond of the bark of +young peach trees, when thump! something dropped out of the sky +at his very feet. + +It startled Peter so that he nearly tumbled over backward. And +right at the same instant came the fierce, angry scream of Hooty +the Owl. That almost made Peter's heart stop beating, although he +knew that Hooty couldn't get him down there in the Old Briar-patch. +When Peter got his wits together and his heart didn't go so +jumpy, he looked to see what had dropped so close to him out of +the sky. His big eyes grew bigger than ever, and he rubbed them +to make quite sure that he really saw what he thought he saw. +Yes, there was no doubt about it--there at his feet lay Danny +Meadow Mouse! + +[Illustration] + + + + + XII + + The Old Briar-Patch Has a New Tenant + + +Danny Meadow Mouse slowly opened his eyes and then closed them +again quickly, as if afraid to look around. He could hear someone +talking. It was a pleasant voice, not at all like the terrible +voice of Hooty the Owl, which was the very last thing that Danny +Meadow Mouse could remember. Danny lay still a minute and +listened. + +"Why, Danny Meadow Mouse, where in the world did you drop from?" +asked the voice. It sounded like--why, very much like Peter +Rabbit speaking. Danny opened his eyes again. It was Peter +Rabbit. + +"Where--where am I?" asked Danny Meadow Mouse in a very weak and +small voice. + +"In the middle of the dear Old Briar-patch with me," replied +Peter Rabbit. "But how did you get here? You seemed to drop right +out of the sky." + +Danny Meadow Mouse shuddered. Suddenly he remembered everything: +how Hooty the Owl had caught him in great cruel claws and had +carried him through the moonlight across the snow-covered Green +Meadows; how he had felt Hooty's claws slip and then had +struggled and kicked and twisted and turned until his coat had +torn and he had dropped down, down, down, until he had landed in +the soft snow and knocked all the breath out of his little body. +The very last thing he could remember was Hooty's fierce scream +of rage and disappointment. Danny shuddered again. + +Then a new thought came to him. He must get out of sight! Hooty +might catch him again! Danny tried to scramble to his feet. + +"Ouch! Oh!" groaned Danny and lay still again. + +"There, there. Keep still, Danny Meadow Mouse. There's nothing to +be afraid of here," said Peter Rabbit gently. His big eyes filled +with tears as he looked at Danny Meadow Mouse, for Danny was all +torn and hurt by the cruel claws of Hooty the Owl, and you know +Peter has a very tender heart. + +So Danny lay still, and while Peter Rabbit tried to make him +comfortable and dress his hurts, he told Peter all about how he +had forgotten to watch up in the sky and so had been caught by +Hooty the Owl, and all about his terrible ride in Hooty's cruel +claws. + +"Oh dear, whatever shall I do now?" he ended. "However shall I +get back home to my warm house of grass, my safe little tunnels +under the snow, and my little store of seeds in the snug hollow +in the old fence post?" + +Peter Rabbit looked thoughtful. "You can't do it," said he. "You +simply can't do it. It is such a long way for a little fellow +like you that it wouldn't be safe to try. If you went at night, +Hooty the Owl might catch you again. If you tried in daylight, +old Roughleg the Hawk would be almost sure to see you. And night +or day, old Granny Fox or Reddy Fox might come snooping around, +and if they did, they would be sure to catch you. I tell you +what, you stay right here! The dear Old Briar-patch is the safest +place in the world. Why, just think, here you can come out in +broad daylight and laugh at Granny and Reddy Fox and at old +Roughleg the Hawk, because the good old brambles will keep them +out if they try to get you. You can make just as good tunnels +under the snow here as you had there, and there are lots and lots +of seeds on the ground to eat. You know I don't care for them +myself. I'm lonesome sometimes, living here all alone. You stay +here, and we'll have the Old Briar-patch to ourselves." + +[Illustration: _"I tell you what, you stay right here!" said +Peter_] + +Danny Meadow Mouse looked at Peter gratefully. "I will, and thank +you ever so much, Peter Rabbit," he said. + +And this is how the dear Old Briar-patch happened to have another +tenant. + + + + + XIII + + Peter Rabbit Visits the Peach Orchard + + +"Don't go, Peter Rabbit! Don't go!" begged Danny Meadow Mouse. + +Peter hopped to the edge of the Old Briar-patch and looked over +the moonlit, snow-covered meadows to the hill back of Farmer +Brown's house. On that hill was the young peach orchard of which +Tommy Tit the Chickadee had told him, and ever since Peter's +mouth had watered and watered every time he thought of those +young peach trees and the tender bark on them. + +"I think I will, Danny, just this once," said Peter. "It's a long +way, and I've never been there before; but I guess it's just as +safe as the Meadows or the Green Forest." + + "_Oh I'm as bold as bold can be! + Sing hoppy-hippy-hippy-hop-o! + I'll hie me forth the world to see! + Sing hoppy-hippy-hippy-hop-o! + My ears are long, + My legs are strong, + So now good day; + I'll hie away! + Sing hoppy-hippy-hippy-hop-o!_" + +And with that, Peter Rabbit left the dear, safe Old Briar-patch, +and away he went lipperty-lipperty-lip, across the Green Meadows +toward the hill and the young orchard back of Farmer Brown's +house. + +Danny Meadow Mouse watched him go and shook his head in +disapproval. "Foolish, foolish, foolish!" he said over and over +to himself. "Why can't Peter be content with the good things that +he has?" + +Peter Rabbit hurried along through the moonlight, stopping every +few minutes to sit up to look and listen. He heard the fierce +hunting call of Hooty the Owl way over in the Green Forest, so he +felt sure that at present there was nothing to fear from him. He +knew that since their return to the Green Meadows and the Green +Forest, Granny and Reddy Fox had kept away from Farmer Brown's, +so he did not worry about them. + +All in good time Peter came to the young orchard. It was just as +Tommy Tit the Chickadee had told him. Peter hopped up to the +nearest peach tree and nibbled the bark. My, how good it tasted! +He went all around the tree, stripping off the bark. He stood up +on his long hind legs and reached as high as he could. Then he +dug the snow away and ate down as far as he could. When he could +get no more tender young bark, he went on to the next tree. + +Now, though Peter didn't know it, he was in the very worst kind +of mischief. You see, when he took off all the bark all the way +around the young peach tree, he killed the tree, for you know it +is on the inside of the bark that the sap which gives life to a +tree and makes it grow goes up from the roots to all the +branches. So when Peter ate the bark all the way around the trunk +of the young tree, he had made it impossible for the sap to come +up in the spring. Oh, it was the worst kind of mischief that +Peter Rabbit was in. + +But Peter didn't know it, and he kept right on filling that big +stomach of his and enjoying it so much that he forgot to watch +out for danger. Suddenly, just as he had begun on another tree, a +great roar right behind him made him jump almost out of his skin. +He knew that voice, and without waiting to even look behind him, +he started for the stone wall on the other side of the orchard. +Right at his heels, his great mouth wide open, was Bowser the +Hound. + + + + + XIV + + Farmer Brown Sets a Trap + + +Peter Rabbit was in trouble. He had got into mischief and now, +like everyone who gets into mischief, he wished that he hadn't. +The worst of it was that he was a long way from his home in the +dear Old Briar-patch, and he didn't know how he ever could get +back there again. Where was he? Why, in the stone wall on one +side of Farmer Brown's young peach orchard. How Peter blessed the +old stone wall in which he had found a safe hiding place! Bowser +had hung around nearly all night, so that Peter had not dared to +try to go home. Now it was daylight, and Peter knew it would not +be safe to put his nose outside. + +Peter was worried, so worried that he couldn't go to sleep as he +usually does in the daytime. So he sat hidden in the old wall and +waited and watched. By and by he saw Farmer Brown and Farmer +Brown's boy come out into the orchard. Right away they saw the +mischief which Peter had done, and he could tell by the sound of +their voices that they were very, very angry. They went away, but +before long they were back again, and all day long Peter watched +them work putting something around each of the young peach trees. +Peter grew so curious that he forgot all about his troubles and +how far away from home he was. He could hardly wait for night to +come so that he might see what they had been doing. + +Just as jolly, round, red Mr. Sun started to go to bed behind the +Purple Hills, Farmer Brown and his boy started back to the +house. Farmer Brown was smiling now. + +"I guess that will fix him!" he said. + +"Now what does he mean by that?" thought Peter. "Whom will it +fix? Can it be me? I don't need any fixing." + +[Illustration: _All around the trunk of the tree was wrapped wire +netting_] + +He waited just as long as he could. When all was still, and the +moonlight had begun to make shadows of the trees on the snow, +Peter very cautiously crept out of his hiding place. Bowser the +Hound was nowhere in sight, and everything was as quiet and +peaceful as it had been when he first came into the orchard the +night before. Peter had fully made up his mind to go straight +home as fast as his long legs would take him, but his dreadful +curiosity insisted that first he must find out what Farmer Brown +and his boy had been doing to the young peach trees. + +So Peter hurried over to the nearest tree. All around the trunk +of the tree, from the ground clear up higher than Peter could +reach, was wrapped wire netting. Peter couldn't get so much as a +nibble of the delicious bark. He hadn't intended to take any, for +he had meant to go right straight home, but now that he couldn't +get any, he wanted some more than ever--just a bite. Peter looked +around. Everything was quiet. He would try the next tree, and +then he would go home. + +But the next tree was wrapped with wire. Peter hesitated, looked +around, turned to go home, thought of how good that bark had +tasted the night before, hesitated again, and then hurried over +to the third tree. It was protected just like the others. Then +Peter forgot all about going home. He wanted some of that +delicious bark, and he ran from one tree to another as fast as he +could go. + +At last, way down at the end of the orchard, Peter found a tree +that had no wire around it. "They must have forgotten this one!" +he thought, and his eyes sparkled. All around on the snow were a +lot of shiny little wires, but Peter didn't notice them. All he +saw was that delicious bark on the young peach tree. He hopped +right into the middle of the wires, and then, just as he reached +up to take the first bite of bark, he felt something tugging at +one of his hind legs. + + + + + XV + + Peter Rabbit Is Caught in a Snare + + +When Peter Rabbit, reaching up to nibble the bark of one of +Farmer Brown's young trees, felt something tugging at one of his +hind legs, he was so startled that he jumped to get away. Instead +of doing this, he fell flat on his face. The thing on his hind +leg had tightened and held him fast. A great fear came to Peter +Rabbit, and lying there in the snow, he kicked and struggled +with all his might. But the more he kicked, the tighter grew that +hateful thing on his leg! Finally he grew too tired to kick any +more and lay still. The dreadful thing that held him hurt his +leg, but it didn't pull when he lay still. + +When he had grown a little calmer, Peter sat up to examine the +thing which held him so fast. It was something like one of the +blackberry vines he had sometimes tripped over, only it was +bright and shiny, and had no branches or tiny prickers, and one +end was fastened to a stake. Peter tried to bite off the shiny +thing, but even his great, sharp front teeth couldn't cut it. +Then Peter knew what it was. It was wire! It was a snare which +Farmer Brown had set to catch him, and which he had walked right +into because he had been so greedy for the bark of the young +peach tree that he had not used his eyes to look out for danger. + +Oh, how Peter Rabbit did wish that he had not been so curious to +know what Farmer Brown had been doing that day, and that he had +gone straight home as he had meant to do, instead of trying to +get one more meal of young peach bark! Big tears rolled down +Peter's cheeks. What should he do? What could he do? For a long +time Peter sat in the moonlight, trying to think of something to +do. At last he thought of the stake to which that hateful wire +was fastened. The stake was of wood, and Peter's teeth would cut +wood. Peter's heart gave a great leap of hope, and he began at +once to dig away the snow from around the stake, and then settled +himself to gnaw the stake in two. + +Peter had been hard at work on the stake a long time and had it a +little more than half cut through, when he heard a loud sniff +down at the other end of the orchard. He looked up to see--whom +do you think? Why, Bowser the Hound! He hadn't seen Peter yet, +but he had already found Peter's tracks, and it would be but a +few minutes before he found Peter himself. + +Poor Peter Rabbit! There wasn't time to finish cutting off the +stake. What could he do? He made a frightened jump just as he had +when he first felt the wire tugging at his leg. Just as before, +he was thrown flat on his face. He scrambled to his feet and +jumped again, only to be thrown just as before. Just then Bowser +the Hound saw him and opening his mouth sent forth a great roar. +Peter made one more frantic jump. Snap! The stake had broken! +Peter pitched forward on his head, turned a somersault, and +scrambled to his feet. He was free at last! That is, he could +run, but after him dragged a piece of the stake. + +How Peter did run! It was hard work, for you know he had to drag +that piece of stake after him. But he did it, and just in time he +crawled into the old stone wall on one side of the orchard, while +Bowser the Hound barked his disappointment to the moon. + + + + + XVI + + Peter Rabbit's Hard Journey + + +Peter Rabbit sat in the old stone wall along one side of Farmer +Brown's orchard, waiting for Mrs. Moon to put out her light and +leave the world in darkness until jolly, round, red Mr. Sun +should kick off his rosy bed-clothes and begin his daily climb up +in the blue, blue sky. In the winter, Mr. Sun is a late sleeper, +and Peter knew that there would be two or three hours after Mrs. +Moon put out her light when it would be quite dark. And Peter +also knew that by this time Hooty the Owl would probably have +caught his dinner. So would old Granny Fox and Reddy Fox. Bowser +the Hound would be too sleepy to be on the watch. It would be the +very safest time for Peter to try to get to his home in the dear +Old Briar-patch. + +So Peter waited and waited. Twice Bowser the Hound, who had +chased him into the old wall, came over and barked at him and +tried to get at him. But the old wall kept Peter safe, and +Bowser gave it up. And all the time Peter sat waiting he was in +great pain. You see, that shiny wire was drawn so tight that it +cut into his flesh and hurt dreadfully, and to the other end of +the wire was fastened a piece of wood, part of the stake to which +the snare had been made fast and which Peter had managed to gnaw +and break off. + +It was on account of this that Peter was waiting for Mrs. Moon to +put out her light. He knew that with that stake dragging after +him he would have to go very slowly, and he could not run any +more risk of danger than he actually had to. So he waited and +waited, and by and by, sure enough, Mrs. Moon put out her light. +Peter waited a little longer, listening with all his might. +Everything was still. Then Peter crept out of the old stone wall. + +Right away trouble began. The stake dragging at the end of the +wire fast to his leg caught among the stones and pulled Peter up +short. My, how it did hurt! It made the tears come. But Peter +shut his teeth hard, and turning back, he worked until he got the +stake free. Then he started on once more, dragging the stake +after him. + +Very slowly across the orchard and under the fence on the other +side crept Peter Rabbit, his leg so stiff and sore that he could +hardly touch it to the snow, and all the time dragging that piece +of stake, which seemed to grow heavier and harder to drag every +minute. Peter did not dare to go out across the open fields, for +fear some danger might happen along, and he would have no place +to hide. So he crept along close to the fences where bushes grow, +and this made it very, very hard, for the dragging stake was +forever catching in the bushes with a yank at the sore leg which +brought Peter up short with a squeal of pain. + +This was bad enough, but all the time Peter was filled with a +dreadful fear that Hooty the Owl or Granny Fox might just happen +along. He had to stop to rest very, very often, and then he would +listen and listen. Over and over again he said to himself: + +"Oh dear, whatever did I go up to the young peach orchard for +when I knew I had no business there? Why couldn't I have been +content with all the good things that were mine in the Green +Forest and on the Green Meadows? Oh dear! Oh dear!" + +Just as jolly, round, red Mr. Sun began to light up the Green +Meadows, Peter Rabbit reached the dear Old Briar-patch. Danny +Meadow Mouse was sitting on the edge of it anxiously watching for +him. Peter crawled up and started to creep in along one of his +little private paths. He got in himself, but the dragging stake +caught among the brambles, and Peter just fell down in the snow +right where he was, too tired and worn out to move. + +[Illustration] + + + + + XVII + + Danny Meadow Mouse Becomes Worried + + +Danny Meadow Mouse limped around through the dear Old +Briar-patch, where he had lived with Peter Rabbit ever since he +had squirmed out of the claws of Hooty the Owl and dropped there, +right at the feet of Peter Rabbit. Danny limped because he was +still lame and sore from Hooty's terrible claws, but he didn't +let himself think much about that, because he was so thankful to +be alive at all. So he limped around in the Old Briar-patch, +picking up seed which had fallen on the snow, and sometimes +pulling down a few of the red berries which cling all winter to +the wild rose bushes. The seeds in these were very nice indeed, +and Danny always felt especially good after a meal of them. + +Danny Meadow Mouse had grown very fond of Peter Rabbit, for Peter +had been very, very good to him. Danny felt that he never, never +could repay all of Peter's kindness. It had been very good of +Peter to offer to share the Old Briar-patch with Danny because +Danny was so far from his own home that it would not be safe for +him to try to get back there. But Peter had done more than that. +He had taken care of Danny, such good care, during the first few +days after Danny's escape from Hooty the Owl. He had brought good +things to eat while Danny was too weak and sore to get things for +himself. Oh, Peter had been very good indeed to him! + +But now, as Danny limped around, he was not happy. No, Sir, he +was not happy. The truth is, Danny Meadow Mouse was worried. It +was a different kind of worry from any he had known before. You +see, for the first time in his life, Danny was worrying about +someone else. He was worrying about Peter Rabbit. Peter had been +gone from the Old Briar-patch a whole night and a whole day. He +often was gone all night, but never all day too. Danny was sure +that something had happened to Peter. He thought of how he had +begged Peter not to go up to Farmer Brown's young peach orchard. +He had felt in his bones that it was not safe, that something +dreadful would happen to Peter. How Peter had laughed at him and +bravely started off! Why hadn't he come home? + +As he limped around, Danny talked to himself: + + "_Why cannot people be content + With all the good things that are sent, + And mind their own affairs at home + Instead of going forth to roam?_" + +It was now the second night since Peter Rabbit had gone away. +Danny Meadow Mouse couldn't sleep at all. Round and round through +the Old Briar-patch he limped, and finally sat down at the edge +of it to wait and watch. At last, just as jolly, round, red Mr. +Sun sent his first long rays of light across the Green Meadows, +Danny saw something crawling toward the Old Briar-patch. He +rubbed his eyes and looked again. It was--no, it couldn't +be--yes, it was Peter Rabbit! But what was the matter with him? +Always before Peter had come home lipperty-lipperty-lipperty-lip, +but now he was crawling, actually crawling! Danny Meadow Mouse +didn't know what to make of it. + +Nearer and nearer came Peter. Something was following him. No, +Peter was dragging something after him. At last Peter started to +crawl along one of his little private paths into the Old +Briar-patch. The thing dragging behind caught in the brambles, +and Peter fell headlong in the snow, too tired and worn out to +move. Then Danny saw what the trouble was. A wire was fast to one +of Peter's long hind legs, and to the other end of the wire was +fastened part of a stake. Peter had been caught in a snare! Danny +hurried over to Peter and tears stood in his eyes. + +"Poor Peter Rabbit! Oh, I'm so sorry, Peter!" he whispered. + + + + + XVIII + + Danny Meadow Mouse Returns a Kindness + + +There Peter Rabbit lay. He had dragged that piece of stake a long +way, a very long way, indeed. But now he could drag it no +farther, for it had caught in the bramble bushes. So Peter just +dropped on the snow and cried. Yes, Sir, he cried! You see, he +was so tired and worn out and frightened, and his leg was so +stiff and sore and hurt him so! And then it was so dreadful to +actually get home and be stopped right on your very own doorstep. +So Peter just lay there and cried. Just supposing old Granny Fox +should come poking around and find Peter caught that way! All she +would have to do would be to get hold of that hateful stake +caught in the bramble bushes and pull Peter out where she could +get him. Do you wonder that Peter cried? + +By and by he became aware that someone was wiping away his tears. +It was Danny Meadow Mouse. And Danny was singing in a funny +little voice. Pretty soon Peter stopped crying and listened, and +this is what he heard: + + "_Isn't any use to cry! + Not a bit! Not a bit! + Wipe your eyes and wipe 'em dry! + Use your wit! Use your wit! + Just remember that tomorrow + Never brings a single sorrow. + Yesterday has gone forever + And tomorrow gets here never. + Chase your worries all away; + Nothing's worse than just today._" + +Peter smiled in spite of himself. + +"That's right! That's right! Smile away, Peter Rabbit. Smile +away! Your troubles, Sir, are all today. And between you and me, +I don't believe they are so bad as you think they are. Now you +lie still just where you are, while I go see what can be done." + +With that, off whisked Danny Meadow Mouse as spry as you please, +in spite of his lame leg, and in a few minutes Peter knew by +little twitches of the wire on his leg that Danny was doing +something at the other end. He was. Danny Meadow Mouse had set +out to gnaw that piece of stake all to splinters. So there he sat +and gnawed and gnawed and gnawed. Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun +climbed higher and higher in the sky, and Danny Meadow Mouse +grew hungry, but still he kept right on gnawing at that +bothersome stake. + +[Illustration: _Danny Meadow Mouse had set out to gnaw that piece +of stake all to splinters_] + +By and by, happening to look across the snow-covered Green +Meadows, he saw something that made his heart jump. It was Farmer +Brown's boy coming straight over toward the dear Old Briar-patch. + +Danny didn't say a word to Peter Rabbit, but gnawed faster than +ever. + +Farmer Brown's boy was almost there when Danny stopped gnawing. +There was only a tiny bit of the stake left now, and Danny +hurried to tell Peter Rabbit that there was nothing to stop him +now from going to his most secret retreat in the very heart of +the Old Briar-patch. While Peter slowly dragged his way along, +Danny trotted behind to see that the wire did not catch on the +bushes. + +They had safely reached Peter Rabbit's secretest retreat when +Farmer Brown's boy came up to the edge of the dear Old Briar-patch. + +"So this is where that rabbit that killed our peach tree lives!" +said he. "We'll try a few snares and put you out of mischief." + +And for the rest of the afternoon Farmer Brown's boy was very +busy around the edge of the Old Briar-patch. + +[Illustration] + + + + + XIX + + Peter Rabbit and Danny Meadow Mouse Live High + + +Peter Rabbit sat in his secretest place in the dear Old +Briar-patch with one of his long hind legs all swelled up and +terribly sore because of the fine wire fast around it and cutting +into it. He could hear Farmer Brown's boy going around on the +edge of the dear Old Briar-patch and stopping every little while +to do something. In spite of his pain, Peter was curious. +Finally he called Danny Meadow Mouse. + +"Danny, you are small and can keep out of sight easier than I +can. Go as near as ever you dare to Farmer Brown's boy and find +out what he is doing," said Peter Rabbit. + +So Danny Meadow Mouse crept out as near to Farmer Brown's boy as +ever he dared, and studied and studied to make out what Farmer +Brown's boy was doing. By and by he returned to Peter Rabbit. + +"I don't know what he's doing, Peter, but he's putting something +in every one of your private little paths leading into the +Briar-patch from the Green Meadows." + +"Ha!" said Peter Rabbit. + +"There are little loops of that queer stuff you've got hanging to +your leg, Peter," continued Danny Meadow Mouse. + +"Just so!" said Peter Rabbit. + +"And he's put cabbage leaves and pieces of apple all around," +said Danny. + +"We must be careful!" said Peter Rabbit. + +Peter's leg was in a very bad way, indeed, and Peter suffered a +great deal of pain. The worst of it was, he didn't know how to +get off the wire that was cutting into it so. He had tried to +cut the wire with his big teeth, but he couldn't do it. Danny +Meadow Mouse had tried and tried to gnaw the wire, but it wasn't +the least bit of use. But Danny wasn't easily discouraged, and he +kept working and working at it. Once he thought he felt it slip a +little. He said nothing, but kept right on working. Pretty soon +he was sure that it slipped. He went right on working harder than +ever. By and by he had it so loose that he slipped it right off +Peter's leg, and Peter didn't know anything about it. You see, +that cruel wire snare had been so tight that Peter didn't have +any feeling except of pain left in his leg, and so when Danny +Meadow Mouse pulled the cruel wire snare off, Peter didn't know +it until Danny held it up in front of him. + +My, how thankful Peter was, and how he did thank Danny Meadow +Mouse! But Danny said that it was nothing at all, just nothing at +all, and that he owed more than that to Peter Rabbit for being so +good to him and letting him live in the dear Old Briar-patch. + +It was a long time before Peter could hop as he used to, but +after the first day he managed to get around. He found that +Farmer Brown's boy had spread those miserable wire snares in +every one of his private little paths. But Peter knew what they +were now. He showed Danny Meadow Mouse how he, because he was so +small, could safely run about among the snares and steal all the +cabbage leaves and apples which Farmer Brown's boy had put there +for bait. + +Danny Meadow Mouse thought this great fun and a great joke on +Farmer Brown's boy. So every day he stole the bait, and he and +Peter Rabbit lived high while Peter's leg was getting well. And +all the time Farmer Brown's boy wondered why he couldn't catch +Peter Rabbit. + +[Illustration] + + + + + XX + + Timid Danny Meadow Mouse + + +Danny Meadow Mouse is timid. Everybody says so, and what +everybody says ought to be so. But just as anybody can make a +mistake sometimes, so can everybody. Still, in this case, it is +quite likely that everybody is right. Danny Meadow Mouse is +timid. Ask Peter Rabbit. Ask Sammy Jay. Ask Striped Chipmunk. +They will all tell you the same thing. Sammy Jay might even tell +you that Danny is afraid of his own shadow, or that he tries to +run away from his own tail. Of course this isn't true. Sammy Jay +likes to say mean things. It isn't fair to Danny Meadow Mouse to +believe what Sammy Jay says. + +But the fact is Danny certainly is timid. More than this, he +isn't ashamed of it--not the least little bit. + +"You see, it's this way," said Danny, as he sat on his doorstep +one sunny morning talking to his friend, old Mr. Toad. "If I +weren't afraid, I wouldn't be all the time watching out, and if +I weren't all the time watching out, I wouldn't have any more +chance than that foolish red ant running across in front of you." + +Old Mr. Toad looked where Danny was pointing, and his tongue +darted out and back again so quickly that Danny wasn't sure that +he saw it at all, but when he looked for the ant it was nowhere +to be seen, and there was a satisfied twinkle in Mr. Toad's eyes. +There was an answering twinkle in Danny's own eyes as he +continued. + +"No, Sir," said he, "I wouldn't stand a particle more chance than +that foolish ant did. Now if I were big and strong, like Old Man +Coyote, or had swift wings, like Skimmer the Swallow, or were so +homely and ugly looking that no one wanted me, like--like--" +Danny hesitated and then finished rather lamely, "like some folks +I know, I suppose I wouldn't be afraid." + +Old Mr. Toad looked up sharply when Danny mentioned homely and +ugly-looking people, but Danny was gazing far out across the +Green Meadows and looked so innocent that Mr. Toad concluded that +he couldn't have had him in mind. + +"Well," said he, thoughtfully scratching his nose, "I suppose +you may be right, but for my part fear seems a very foolish +thing. Now, I don't know what it is. I mind my own business, and +no one ever bothers me. I should think it would be a very +uncomfortable feeling." + +"It is," replied Danny, "but, as I said before, it is a very good +thing to keep one on guard when there are as many watching for +one as there are for me. Now there's Mr. Blacksnake and--" + +"Where?" exclaimed old Mr. Toad, turning as pale as a toad can +turn, and looking uneasily and anxiously in every direction. + +[Illustration: _"Where?" exclaimed old Mr. Toad, turning as pale +as a toad can turn_] + +Danny turned his head to hide a smile. If old Mr. Toad wasn't +showing fear, no one ever did. "Oh," said he, "I didn't mean that +he is anywhere around here now. What I was going to say was that +there is Mr. Blacksnake and Granny Fox and Reddy Fox and Redtail +the Hawk and Hooty the Owl and others I might name, always +watching for a chance to make a dinner from poor little me. Do +you wonder that I am afraid most of the time?" + +"No," replied old Mr. Toad. "No, I don't wonder that you are +afraid. It must be dreadful to feel hungry eyes are watching for +you every minute of the day and night, too." + +"Oh, it's not so bad," replied Danny. "It's rather exciting. +Besides, it keeps my wits sharp all the time. I am afraid I +should find life very dull indeed if, like you, I feared nothing +and nobody. By the way, see how queerly that grass is moving over +there. It looks as if Mr. Blacksnake--Why, Mr. Toad, where are +you going in such a hurry?" + +[Illustration: _"Why, Mr. Toad, where are you going in such a +hurry?" asked Danny_] + +"I've just remembered an important engagement with my cousin, +Grandfather Frog, at the Smiling Pool," shouted old Mr. Toad +over his shoulder, as he hurried so that he fell over his own +feet. + +Danny chuckled as he sat alone on his doorstep. "Oh, no, old Mr. +Toad doesn't know what fear is!" said he. "Funny how some people +won't admit what everybody can see for themselves. Now, I am +afraid, and I'm willing to say so." + +[Illustration] + + + + + XXI + + An Exciting Day for Danny Meadow Mouse + + +Danny Meadow Mouse started along one of his private little paths +very early one morning. He was on his way to get a supply of a +certain kind of grass seed of which he is very fond. He had been +thinking about that seed for some time and waiting for it to get +ripe. Now it was just right, as he had found out the day before +by a visit to the place where this particular grass grew. The +only trouble was it grew a long way from Danny's home, and to +reach it he had to cross an open place where the grass was so +short that he couldn't make a path under it. + +"I feel it in my bones that this is going to be an exciting day," +said Danny to himself as he trotted along. "I suppose that if I +were really wise, I would stay nearer home and do without that +nice seed. But nothing is really worth having unless it is worth +working for, and that seed will taste all the better if I have +hard work getting it." + +So he trotted along his private little path, his ears wide open, +and his eyes wide open, and his little nose carefully testing +every Merry Little Breeze who happened along for any scent of +danger which it might carry. Most of all he depended upon his +ears, for the grass was so tall that he couldn't see over it, +even when he sat up. He had gone only a little way when he +thought he heard a queer rustling behind him. He stopped to +listen. There it was again, and it certainly was right in the +path behind him! He didn't need to be told who was making it. +There was only one who could make such a sound as that--Mr. +Blacksnake. + +Now Danny can run very fast along his private little paths, but +he knew that Mr. Blacksnake could run faster. "If my legs can't +save me, my wits must," thought Danny as he started to run as +fast as ever he could. "I must reach that fallen old hollow fence +post." + +He was almost out of breath when he reached the post and scurried +into the open end. He knew by the sound of the rustling that Mr. +Blacksnake was right at his heels. Now the old post was hollow +its whole length, but halfway there was an old knothole just big +enough for Danny to squeeze through. Mr. Blacksnake didn't know +anything about that hole, and because it was dark inside the old +post, he didn't see Danny pop through it. Danny ran back along +the top of the log and was just in time to see the tip of Mr. +Blacksnake's tail disappear inside. Then what do you think Danny +did? Why, he followed Mr. Blacksnake right into the old post, but +in doing it he didn't make the least little bit of noise. + +Mr. Blacksnake kept right on through the old post and out the +other end, for he was sure that that was the way Danny had gone. +He kept right on along the little path. Now Danny knew that he +wouldn't go very far before he found out that he had been fooled, +and of course he would come back. So Danny waited only long +enough to get his breath and then ran back along the path to +where another little path branched off. For just a minute he +paused. + +"If Mr. Blacksnake follows me, he will be sure to think that of +course I have taken this other little path," thought Danny, "so I +won't do it." + +Then he ran harder than ever, until he came to a place where two +little paths branched off, one to the right and one to the left. +He took the latter and scampered on, sure that by this time Mr. +Blacksnake would be so badly fooled that he would give up the +chase. And Danny was right. + + "_Brains are better far than speed + As wise men long ago agreed,_" + +said Danny, as he trotted on his way for the grass seed he liked +so well. "I felt it in my bones that this would be an exciting +day. I wonder what next." + + + + + XXII + + What Happened Next to Danny Meadow Mouse + + +Danny is so used to narrow escapes that he doesn't waste any time +thinking about them. He didn't this time. "He who tries to look +two ways at once is pretty sure to see nothing," says Danny, and +he knew that if he thought too much about the things that had +already happened, he couldn't keep a sharp watch for the things +that might happen. + +Nothing more happened as he hurried along his private little path +to the edge of a great patch of grass so short that he couldn't +hide under it. He had to cross this, and all the way he would be +in plain sight of anyone who happened to be near. Very cautiously +he peeped out and looked this way and looked that way, not +forgetting to look up in the sky. He could see no one anywhere. +Drawing a long breath, Danny started across the open place as +fast as his short legs could take him. + +Now all the time, Redtail the Hawk had been sitting in a tree +some distance away, sitting so still that he looked like a part +of the tree itself. That is why Danny hadn't seen him. But +Redtail saw Danny the instant he started across the open place, +for Redtail's eyes are very keen, and he can see a great +distance. With a satisfied chuckle, he spread his broad wings and +started after Danny. + +Just about halfway to the safety of the long grass on the other +side, Danny gave a hurried look behind him, and his heart seemed +to jump right into his mouth, for there was Redtail with his +cruel claws already set to seize him! Danny gave a frightened +squeak, for he thought that surely this time he would be caught. +But he didn't mean to give up without trying to escape. Three +jumps ahead of him was a queer-looking thing. He didn't know what +it was, but if there was a hole in it he might yet fool Redtail. + +[Illustration: _With a frightened squeak, Danny dived into the +opening just in time_] + +One jump! Would he be able to reach it? Two jumps! There was a +hole in it! Three jumps! With another frightened squeak, Danny +dived into the opening just in time. And what do you think he was +in? Why, an old tomato can Farmer Brown's boy had once used to +carry bait in when he went fishing at the Smiling Pool. He had +dropped it there on his way home. + +Redtail screamed with rage and disappointment as he struck the +old can with his great claws. He had been sure, very sure, of +Danny Meadow Mouse this time! He tried to pick the can up, but he +couldn't get hold of it. It just rolled away from him every time, +try as he would. Finally, in disgust, he gave up and flew back to +the tree from which he had first seen Danny. + +Of course Danny had been terribly frightened when the can +rolled, and by the noise the claws of Redtail made when they +struck his queer hiding place. But he wisely decided that the +best thing he could do was to stay there for a while. And it was +very fortunate that he did so, as he was very soon to find out. + +[Illustration] + + + + + XXIII + + Reddy Fox Grows Curious + + +Danny Meadow Mouse had sat perfectly still for a long time inside +the old tomato can in which he had found a refuge from Redtail +the Hawk. He didn't dare so much as put his head out for a look +around, lest Redtail should be circling overhead ready to pounce +on him. + +"If I stay here long enough, he'll get tired and go away, if he +hasn't already," thought Danny. "This has been a pretty exciting +morning so far, and I find that I am a little tired. I may as +well take a nap while I am waiting to make sure that the way is +clear." + +With that Danny curled up in the old tomato can. But it wasn't +meant that Danny should have that nap. He had closed his eyes, +but his ears were still open, and presently he heard soft +footsteps drawing near. His eyes flew open, and he forgot all +about sleep, you may be sure, for those footsteps sounded +familiar. They sounded to Danny very, very much like the +footsteps of--whom do you think? Why, Reddy Fox! Danny's heart +began to beat faster as he listened. Could it be? He didn't dare +peep out. Presently a little whiff of scent blew into the old +tomato can. Then Danny knew--it was Reddy Fox. + +"Oh dear! I hope he doesn't find that I am in here!" thought +Danny. "I wonder what under the sun has brought him up here just +now." + +If the truth were to be known, it was curiosity that had brought +Reddy up there. Reddy had been hunting for his breakfast some +distance away on the Green Meadows when Redtail the Hawk had +tried so hard to catch Danny Meadow Mouse. Reddy's sharp eyes had +seen Redtail the minute he left the tree in pursuit of Danny, and +he had known by the way Redtail flew that he saw something he +wanted to catch. He had watched Redtail swoop down and had heard +his scream of rage when he missed Danny because Danny had dodged +into the old tomato can. He had seen Redtail strike and strike +again at something on the ground, and finally fly off in disgust +with empty claws. + +"Now I wonder what it was Redtail was after and why he didn't +get it," thought Reddy. "He acts terribly put out and disappointed. +I believe I'll go over there and find out." + +Off he started at a smart trot toward the patch of short grass +where he had seen Redtail the Hawk striking at something on the +ground. As he drew near, he crept very softly until he reached +the very edge of the open patch. There he stopped and looked +sharply all over it. There was nothing to be seen but an old +tomato can. Reddy had seen it many times before. + +"Now what under the sun could Redtail have been after here?" +thought Reddy. "The grass isn't long enough for a grasshopper to +hide in, and yet Redtail didn't get what he was after. It's very +queer. It certainly is very queer." + +He trotted out and began to run back and forth with his nose to +the ground, hoping that his nose would tell him what his eyes +couldn't. Back and forth, back and forth he ran, and then +suddenly he stopped. + +"Ha!" exclaimed Reddy. He had found the scent left by Danny +Meadow Mouse when he ran across toward the old tomato can. Right +up to the old can Reddy's nose led him. He hopped over the old +can, but on the other side he could find no scent of Danny Meadow +Mouse. In a flash he understood, and a gleam of satisfaction +shone in his yellow eyes as he turned back to the old can. He +knew that Danny must be hiding in there. + +"I've got you this time!" he snarled, as he sniffed at the +opening in the end of the can. + +[Illustration] + + + + + XXIV + + Reddy Fox Loses His Temper + + +Reddy Fox had caught Danny Meadow Mouse, and yet he hadn't caught +him. He had found Danny hiding in the old tomato can, and it +didn't enter Reddy's head that he couldn't get Danny out when he +wanted to. He was in no hurry. He had had a pretty good breakfast +of grasshoppers, and so he thought he would torment Danny awhile +before gobbling him up. He lay down so that he could peep in at +the open end of the old can and see Danny trying to make himself +as small as possible at the other end. Reddy grinned until he +showed all his long teeth. Reddy always is a bully, especially +when his victim is a great deal smaller and weaker than himself. + +"I've got you this time, Mr. Smarty, haven't I?" taunted Reddy. + +Danny didn't say anything. + +"You think you've been very clever because you have fooled me two +or three times, don't you? Well, this time I've got you where +your tricks won't work," continued Reddy, "so what are you going +to do about it?" + +Danny didn't answer. The fact is, he was too frightened to +answer. Besides, he didn't know what he could do. So he just kept +still, but his bright eyes never once left Reddy's cruel face. +For all his fright, Danny was doing some hard thinking. He had +been in tight places before and had learned never to give up +hope. Something might happen to frighten Reddy away. Anyway, +Reddy had to get him out of that old can before he would admit +that he was really caught. + +For a long time Reddy lay there licking his chops and saying all +the things he could think of to frighten poor Danny Meadow Mouse. +At last he grew tired of this and made up his mind that that it +was time to end it and Danny Meadow Mouse at the same time. He +thrust his sharp nose in at the opening in the end of the old +can, but the opening was too small for him to get more than his +nose in, and he only scratched it on the sharp edges without so +much as touching Danny. + +"I'll pull you out," said Reddy and thrust in one black paw. + +Danny promptly bit it so hard that Reddy yelped with pain and +pulled it out in a hurry. Presently he tried again with the other +paw. Danny bit this one harder still, and Reddy danced with pain +and anger. Then he lost his temper completely, a very foolish +thing to do, as it always is. He hit the old can, and away it +rolled with Danny Meadow Mouse inside. This seemed to make Reddy +angrier than ever. He sprang after it and hit it again. Then he +batted it first this way and then that way, growing angrier and +angrier. And all the time Danny Meadow Mouse managed to keep +inside, although he got a terrible shaking up. + +Back and forth across the patch of short grass Reddy knocked the +old can, and he was in such a rage that he didn't notice where he +was knocking it to. Finally he sent it spinning into the long +grass on the far side of the open patch, close to one of Danny's +private little paths. Like a flash Danny was out and scurrying +along the little path. He dodged into another and presently into +a third, which brought him to a tangle of barbed wire left +there by Farmer Brown when he had built a new fence. Under this +he was safe. + +[Illustration: _Like a flash, Danny dodged into a tangle of +barbed wire_] + +"Phew!" exclaimed Danny, breathing very hard. "That was the +narrowest escape yet! But I guess I'll get that special grass +seed I started out for, after all." + +And he did, while to this day Reddy Fox wonders how Danny got out +of the old tomato can without his knowing it. + + _And so you see what temper does + For those who give it rein; + It cheats them of the very thing + They seek so hard to gain._ + +Danny has had many more adventures, but there isn't room to tell +about them here. Besides, Grandfather Frog is anxious that you +should hear about the queer things that have happened to him. +They are told in the next book. + +[Illustration] + + + + + _Bedtime Story-Books_ + + By THORNTON W. BURGESS + + The Adventures of Reddy Fox + The Adventures of Johnny Chuck + The Adventures of Peter Cottontail + The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum + The Adventures of Mr. Mocker + The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat + The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse + The Adventures of Grandfather Frog + The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel + The Adventures of Sammy Jay + The Adventures of Buster Bear + The Adventures of Old Mr. Toad + The Adventures of Prickly Porky + The Adventures of Old Man Coyote + The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver + The Adventures of Poor Mrs. Quack + The Adventures of Bobby Coon + The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk + The Adventures of Bob White + The Adventures of Ol' Mistah Buzzard + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse, by +Thornton W. 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