“What did that funny little Meadow Mouse have to say?” asked Mrs. Peter. Peter told her and then added, “But I don't believe we have anything to fear from Old Man Coyote. You know he is my friend.” “But I don't know that he is mine!” replied little Mrs. Peter, and the way she said it made Peter look at her anxiously. “I believe Danny Meadow Mouse is right,” she continued, “Oh, Peter, you will watch out, won't you?” And Peter promised her that he would. CHAPTER XXV PETER RABBIT'S HEEDLESSNESS Heedlessness is just the twin of thoughtlessness, you know, And where you find them both at once, there trouble's sure to grow. Peter Rabbit. Peter Rabbit didn't mean to be heedless. No, indeed! Oh, my, no! Peter thought so much of Mrs. Peter, he meant to be so thoughtful that she never would have a thing to worry about. But Peter was heedless. He always was heedless. This is the worst of a bad habit--you can try to let go of it, but it won't let go of you. So it was with Peter. He had been heedless so long that now he actually didn't know when he was heedless. When there was nobody but himself to think about, and no one to worry about him, his heedlessness didn't so much matter. If anything had happened to him then, there would have been no one to suffer. But now all this was changed. You see, there was little Mrs. Peter. At first Peter had been perfectly content to stay with her in the dear Old Briar-patch. He had led her through all his private little paths, and they had planned where they would make two or three more. He had showed her all his secret hiding-places and the shortest way to the sweet-clover patch. He had pointed out where the Lone Little Path came down to the edge of the Green Forest and so out on to the Green Meadows. He had shown her where the Crooked Little Path came down the hill. Little Mrs. Peter had been delighted with everything, and not once had she complained of being homesick for the Old Pasture. But after a little while Peter began to get uneasy. You see in the days before Old Man Coyote had come to live on the Green Meadows, Peter had come and gone about as he pleased. Of course he had had to watch out for Granny and Reddy Fox, but he had had to watch out for them ever since he was a baby, so he didn't fear them very much in spite of their smartness. He felt quite as smart as they and perhaps a little bit smarter. Anyway, they never had caught him, and he didn't believe they ever would. So he had come and gone as he pleased, and poked his nose into everybody's business, and gossiped with everybody. Of course it was quite natural that Peter should want to call on all his old friends and visit the Green Forest, the Old Orchard, the Laughing Brook, and the Smiling Pool. Probably Mrs. Peter wouldn't have worried very much if it hadn't been for the warning left by Danny Meadow Mouse.