After that there were many pleasant days for Peter Rabbit. Sometimes
little Miss Fuzzytail would meet him, and sometimes she would shyly hide
from, him, but somehow, somewhere, he managed to see her every day, and
so 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 with
nothing in his mouth, that is, nothing but his temper, the way an angry
Rabbit will. He vowed and declared that if he never ate another mouthful
he would drive Peter Rabbit from the Old Pasture.
My, my, my, those were bad days for Peter Rabbit! Yes, Sir, those
certainly were bad days! Old Jed Thumper had found out how little Miss
Fuzzytail had been fooling him by making him think Peter was in parts
of the Old Pasture in quite the opposite direction from where he really
was. Worse still, he found Peter's favorite sunning-bank in the far
corner of the Old Pasture and would hide near it and try to catch
Peter every time Peter tried to get a few minutes' rest there. He did
something worse than that.
One day he saw fierce Mr. Goshawk hunting. He let Mr. Goshawk almost
catch him, and then ducked under a bramble-bush. Then he showed himself
again 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 Peter
Rabbit stretched out on his sunning-bank, trying to get a little rest.
Right; away Mr. Goshawk forgot all about Old Jed Thumper and sailed
up in the sky from where he could swoop down on Peter, while Old Jed
Thumper, chuckling to himself wickedly, hid where he could watch what
would happen.
That certainly would have been the last of Peter Rabbit if it hadn't
been for Tommy Tit the Chickadee. Tommy saw Mr. Goshawk and just in time
warned Peter, and so Mr. Goshawk got only his claws full of soft earth
for his pains, while Old Jed Thumper once more chewed on nothing in rage
and disappointment. Dear me, dear me, those certainly were dreadful days
for Peter Rabbit and little Miss Fuzzytail. You see, all the time little
Miss Fuzzytail was terribly worried for fear Peter would be caught.
[Illustration with caption: THAT NIGHT OLD MAN COYOTE STARTED FOR THE
OLD 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account