Mrs. Peter Rabbit Page 4

  The fact is, Peter Rabbit was falling in love. Yes, Sir, Peter Rabbitwas falling in love. All he had seen of little Miss Fuzzytail were hersoft, gentle eyes, for she was very shy and had kept out of sight. Butever since he had first seen them, he had thought and dreamed of nothingelse, until it seemed as if there were nothing in the world he wanted somuch as to meet her. Perhaps he would have wanted this still more if hehad known that it was she who had fooled her father, Old Jed Thumper,the big, gray, old Rabbit, so that Peter might have the long nap on thesunning-bank he so needed.

  "I've just got to meet her. I've just got to!" said Peter to himself,and right then he began to wish that he were big and fine-looking.

  "My, I must be a sight!" he thought, "I wonder how I do look, anyway. Imust hunt up a looking-glass and find out."

  Now when Peter Rabbit thinks of doing a thing, he wastes very littletime. It was that way now. He started at once for the bit of swamp wherehe had first seen the tracks of Old Jed Thumper. He still limped fromthe wounds made by Hooty the Owl. But in spite of this he could travelpretty fast, and it didn't take him long to reach the swamp.

  There, just as he expected, he found a looking-glass. What was it like?Why, it was just a tiny pool of water. Yes, Sir, it was a quiet pool ofwater that reflected the ferns growing around it and the branches of thetrees hanging over it, and Peter Rabbit himself sitting on the edge ofit. That was Peter's looking-glass.

  For a long time he stared into it. At last he gave a great sigh. "My,but I am a sight!" he exclaimed.

  He was. His coat was ragged and torn from the claws of Hooty the Owland the teeth of Old Jed Thumper. The white patch on the seat of histrousers was stained and dirty from sitting down in the mud. There wereburrs tangled in his waistcoat. He was thin and altogether a miserablelooking Rabbit.

  "It must be that Miss Fuzzytail just pities me. She certainly can'tadmire me," muttered Peter, as he pulled out the burrs.

  For the next hour Peter was very busy. He washed and he brushed and hecombed. When, at last, he had done all that he could, he took anotherlook in his looking-glass, and what he saw was a very different lookingRabbit.

  "Though I am homely, lank and lean, I can at least be neat and clean,"

  said he, as he started back for the sunning-bank.

  CHAPTER XVII

  PETER MEETS MISS FUZZYTAIL

  That this is true there's no denying-- There's nothing in the world like trying. Peter Rabbit.

  Peter Rabbit was feeling better. Certainly he was looking better. Yousee, just as soon as Old Mother Nature saw that Peter was trying to lookas well as he could, and was keeping himself as neat and tidy as he knewhow, she was ready to help, as she always is. She did her best with therents in his coat, made by the claws of Hooty the Owl and the teeth ofOld Jed Thumper, and so it wasn't long before Peter's coat looked nearlyas good as new. Then, too, Peter was getting enough to eat these days.Days and days had passed since he had seen Old Jed Thumper, and this hadgiven him time to eat and sleep.

  Peter wondered what had become of Old Jed Thumper. "Perhaps somethinghas happened to him," thought Peter. "I--I almost hope something has."Then, being ashamed of such a wish, he added, "Something not verydreadful, but which will keep him from hunting me for a while and tryingto drive me out of the Old Pasture."

  Now all this time Peter had been trying to find little Miss Fuzzytail.He was already in love with her, although all he had seen of her wereher two soft, gentle eyes, shyly peeping at him from behind a big fern.He had wandered here and sauntered there, looking for her, but althoughhe found her footprints very often, she always managed to keep out ofhis sight, You see, she knew the Old Pasture so much better than hedid, and all the little paths in it, that she had very little trouble inkeeping out of his way. Then, too, she was very busy, for it was she whowas keeping her cross father, Old Jed Thumper, away from Peter, becauseshe was so sorry for Peter. But Peter didn't know this. If he had, I amafraid that he would have been more in love than ever.

  The harder she was to find, the more Peter wanted to find her. He spenta great deal of time each day brushing his coat and making himself lookas fine as he could, and while he was doing it, he kept wishing over andover again that something would happen so that he could show little MissFuzzytail what a smart, brave fellow he really was.

  But one day followed another, and Peter seemed no nearer than ever tomeeting little Miss Fuzzytail. He was thinking of this one morningand was really growing very down-hearted, as he sat under a friendlybramble-bush, when suddenly there was a sharp little scream of frightfrom behind a little juniper-tree.

  Somehow Peter knew whose voice that was, although he never had heard itbefore. He sprang around the little juniper-tree, and what he saw filledhim with such rage that he didn't once stop to think of himself. Therewas little Miss Fuzzytail in the clutches of Black Pussy, Farmer Brown'scat, who often stole away from home to hunt in the Old Pasture. Like aflash Peter sprang over Black Pussy, and as he did so he kicked withall his might. The cat hadn't seen him coming, and the kick knockedher right into the prickly juniper-tree. Of course she lost her grip onlittle Miss Fuzzytail, who hadn't been hurt so much as frightened.

  By the time the cat got out of the juniper-tree, Peter and MissFuzzytail were sitting side by side safe in the middle of a bull-briarpatch.

  "Oh? how brave you are!" sobbed little Miss Fuzzytail.

  And this is the way that Peter Rabbit at last got his heart's desire.

  CHAPTER XVIII

  TOMMY TIT PROVES A FRIEND INDEED

  Nothing in all the world is so precious as a true friend. Peter Rabbit.

  After Peter Rabbit had saved little Miss Fuzzytail from Black Pussy, thecat who belonged way down at Farmer Brown's house and had no businesshunting in the Old Pasture, he went with her as near to her home as shewould let him. She said that it wasn't necessary that he should go asingle step, but Peter insisted that she needed him to see that no moreharm came to her. Miss Fuzzytail laughed at that, for she felt quiteable to take care of herself. It had been just stupid carelessness onher part that had given Black Pussy the chance to catch her, she said,and she was very sure that she never would be so careless again. Whatshe didn't tell Peter was that she had been so busy peeping at him andadmiring him that she had quite forgotten to watch out for danger forherself.

  Finally she said that he could go part way with her. But when they werealmost within sight of the bull-briar castle of her father, Old JedThumper, the big, gray Rabbit who thought he owned the Old Pasture, shemade Peter turn back. You see, she was afraid of what Old Jed Thumpermight do to Peter, and--well, the truth is she was afraid of what hemight do to her if he should find out that she had made friends withPeter.

  So Peter was forced to go back, but he took with him a half promise thatshe would meet him the next night up near his sunning-bank in the farcorner of the Old Pasture.

  After that there were many pleasant days for Peter Rabbit. Sometimeslittle Miss Fuzzytail would meet him, and sometimes she would shyly hidefrom, him, but somehow, somewhere, he managed to see her every day, andso all the time in Peter's heart was a little song:

  "The sky is blue; the leaves are green; The golden sunbeams peep between; My heart is joyful as can be, And all the world looks bright to me."

  And then one day Old Jed Thumper found out all about how his daughter,little Miss Fuzzytail, and Peter Rabbit had become such good friends.Old Jed Thumper went into a terrible rage. He chewed and chewed withnothing in his mouth, that is, nothing but his temper, the way an angryRabbit will. He vowed and declared that if he never ate another mouthfulhe would drive Peter Rabbit from the Old Pasture.

  My, my, my, those were bad days for Peter Rabbit! Yes, Sir, thosecertainly were bad days! Old Jed Thumper had found out how little MissFuzzytail had been fooling him by making him think Peter was in partsof the Old Pasture in quite the opposite direction from where he reallywas. Worse still, he found Peter's favorite
sunning-bank in the farcorner of the Old Pasture and would hide near it and try to catchPeter every time Peter tried to get a few minutes' rest there. He didsomething worse than that.

  One day he saw fierce Mr. Goshawk hunting. He let Mr. Goshawk almostcatch him, and then ducked under a bramble-bush. Then he showed himselfagain and once more escaped in the same way. So he led fierce Mr.Goshawk to a point where Mr. Goshawk could look down and see PeterRabbit stretched out on his sunning-bank, trying to get a little rest.Right; away Mr. Goshawk forgot all about Old Jed Thumper and sailedup in the sky from where he could swoop down on Peter, while Old JedThumper, chuckling to himself wickedly, hid where he could watch whatwould happen.

  That certainly would have been the last of Peter Rabbit if it hadn'tbeen for Tommy Tit the Chickadee. Tommy saw Mr. Goshawk and just in timewarned Peter, and so Mr. Goshawk got only his claws full of soft earthfor his pains, while Old Jed Thumper once more chewed on nothing in rageand disappointment. Dear me, dear me, those certainly were dreadful daysfor Peter Rabbit and little Miss Fuzzytail. You see, all the time littleMiss Fuzzytail was terribly worried for fear Peter would be caught.

  [Illustration with caption: THAT NIGHT OLD MAN COYOTE STARTED FOR THEOLD PASTURE.]

  CHAPTER XIX

  OLD MAN COYOTE PAYS A DEBT

  Some little seeds of goodness You'll find in every heart, To sprout and keep on growing When once they get a start. Peter Rabbit.

  Matters went from bad to worse with Peter Rabbit and little MissFuzzytail. Peter would have made up his mind to go back to his old homein the dear Old Briar-patch on the Green Meadows, but he felt that hejust couldn't leave little Miss Fuzzytail, and little Miss Fuzzytailcouldn't make up her mind to go with Peter, because she felt that shejust couldn't leave the Old Pasture, which always had been her home. SoPeter spent his days and nights ready to jump and run from Jed Thumper,the gray old Rabbit who thought he owned the Old Pasture, and who haddeclared that he would drive Peter out.

  Now Peter, as you know, had an old friend in the Old Pasture, Tommy Titthe Chickadee. One day Tommy took it into his head to fly down to theGreen Meadows. There he found everybody wondering what had become ofPeter Rabbit, for you remember Peter had stolen away from the dear OldBriar-patch in the night and had told no one where he was going.

  Now one of the first to ask Tommy Tit if he had seen Peter Rabbit wasOld Man Coyote. Tommy told him where Peter was and of the dreadful timePeter was having, Old Man Coyote asked a lot of questions about theOld Pasture and thanked Tommy very politely as Tommy flew over to theSmiling Pool to call on Grandfather Frog and Jerry Muskrat.

  That night, after jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had gone to bed behind thePurple Hills, and the Black Shadows had crept over the Green Meadows,Old Man Coyote started for the Old Pasture, Now, he had never been therebefore, but he had asked so many questions of Tommy Tit, and he is sosmart anyway, that it didn't take him long to go all through the OldPasture and to find the bull-briar castle of Old Jed Thumper, who wasmaking life so miserable for Peter Rabbit, He wasn't at home, but OldMan Coyote's wonderful nose soon found his tracks, and he followed themswiftly, without making a sound. Pretty soon he came to a bramble-bush,and under it he could see Old Jed Thumper. For just a minute hechuckled, a noiseless chuckle, to himself. Then he opened his mouthand out came that terrible sound which had so frightened all the littlepeople on the Green Meadows when Old Man Coyote had first come there tolive.

  "Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho! Hee, hee, hee! Ha, ho, hee, ho!"

  Old Jed Thumper never had heard anything like that before. It frightenedhim so that before he thought what he was doing he had jumped out fromunder the bramble-bush. Of course this was just what Old Man Coyotewanted. In a flash he was after him, and then began such a race as theOld Pasture never had seen before. Round and round, this way and thatway, along the cow paths raced Old Jed Thumper with Old Man Coyote athis heels, until at last, out of breath, so tired that it seemed to himhe couldn't run another step, frightened almost out of his senses, OldJed Thumper reached his bull-briar castle and was safe.

  Then Old Man Coyote laughed his terrible laugh once more and trottedover to the tumble-down stone-wall in which his keen nose told him PeterRabbit was hiding.

  "One good turn deserves another, and I always pay my debts, PeterRabbit," said he. "You did me a good turn some time ago down on the GreenMeadows, when you told me how Granny and Reddy Fox were planning to maketrouble for me by leading Bowser the Hound to the place where I took mydaily nap, and now we are even. I don't think that old gray Rabbit willdare to poke so much as his nose out of his bull-briar castle fora week. Now I am going back to the Green Meadows, Good night, PeterRabbit, and don't forget that I always pay my debts."

  "Good night, and thank you, Mr. Coyote," said Peter, and then, when OldMan Coyote had gone, he added to himself in a shame-faced way: "I didn'tbelieve him when he said that he guessed we would be friends."

  CHAPTER XX

  LITTLE MISS FUZZYTAIL WHISPERS "YES"

  Love is a beautiful, wonderful thing. There's nothing quite like it on all the green earth.

  'Tis love in the heart teaches birdies to sing, And gives the wide world all its joy and its mirth. Peter Rabbit.

  Peter Rabbit was finding this out. Always he had been happy, forhappiness had been born in him. But the happiness he had known beforewas nothing to the happiness that was his when he found that he lovedlittle Miss Fuzzytail and that little Miss Fuzzytail loved him, Peterwas sure that she did love him, although she wouldn't say so. But lovedoesn't need words, and Peter had seen it shining in the two soft,gentle eyes of little Miss Fuzzytail. So Peter was happy in spite of thetrouble that Old led Thumper, the big, gray Rabbit who was the father oflittle Miss Fuzzytail, had made for him in the Old Pasture.

  He had tried very hard, very hard indeed, to get little Miss Fuzzytailto go back with him to the dear Old Briar-patch on the Green Meadows,but in spite of all he could say she couldn't make up her mind to leavethe Old Pasture, which, you know, had been her home ever since she wasborn. And Peter couldn't make up his mind to go back there and leaveher, because--why, because he loved her so much that he felt that hecould never, never be happy without her. Then, when Old Jed Thumper washunting Peter so hard that he hardly had a chance to eat or sleep, hadcome Old Man Coyote the Wolf and given Old Jed Thumper such a frightthat for a week he didn't dare poke so much as his nose out of hisbull-briar castle.

  Now, although Old Man Coyote didn't know it, his terrible voice hadfrightened little Miss Fuzzytail almost as much as it had Old JedThumper. You see, she never had heard it before, She didn't even knowwhat it was, and all that night she had crouched in her most secrethiding-place, shivering and shaking with fright. The next morning Peterhad found her there. She hadn't slept a wink, and she was still toofrightened to even go look for her breakfast.

  "Oh, Peter Rabbit, did you hear that terrible noise last night?" shecried.

  "What noise?" asked Peter, just as if he didn't know anything about it.

  "Why, that terrible voice!" cried little Miss Fuzzytail, and shivered atthe thought of it.

  "What was it like?" asked Peter.

  "Oh, I can't tell you," said little Miss Fuzzy tall, "It wasn't likeanything I ever had heard before. It was something like the voice ofHooty the Owl and the voice of Dippy the Loon and the voice of a littleyelping dog all in one, and it was just terrible!"

  "Oh?" replied Peter, "you must mean the voice of my friend. Old ManCoyote. He came up here last night just to do me a good turn because Ionce did him a good turn."

  Then he told all about how Old Man Coyote had come to the Green Meadowsto live, and how he was smarter than even old Granny Fox, but he didn'ttell her how he himself had once been frightened almost out of a year'sgrowth by that terrible voice, or that it was because he hadn't reallybelieved that Old Man Coyote was his friend that had led him to leavethe Old Briar-patch and come up to the Old Pasture
.

  "Is--is he fond of Rabbits?" asked little Miss Fuzzytail.

  Peter was quite sure that he was.

  "And do you think he'll come up here hunting again?" she asked.

  Peter didn't know, but he suspected that he would.

  "Oh, dear," wailed little Miss Fuzzytail. "Now, I never, never will feelsafe again!"

  Then Peter had a happy thought. "I tell you what," said he, "the safestplace in the world for you and me is my dear Old Briar-patch, Won't yougo there now?"

  Little Miss Fuzzytail sighed and dropped a tear or two. Then she nestledup close to Peter. "Yes," she whispered.

  CHAPTER XXI

  PETER AND LITTLE MISS FUZZYTAIL LEAVE THE OLD PASTURE

  A danger past is a danger past, So why not just forget it? Watch out instead for the one ahead Until you've safely met it, Peter Rabbit.

  As soon as little Miss Fuzzytail had agreed to go with him to make herhome in the dear Old Briar-patch down on the Green Meadows, Peter Rabbitfairly boiled over with impatience to start, He had had so much troublein the Old Pasture that he was afraid if they waited too long littleMiss Fuzzytail might change her mind, and if she should do that--well,Peter didn't know what he would do.