“If you are a friend of Peter, then you are a friend of mine.” said little Mrs. Peter very prettily. “Have you seen anybody in this tangle of vines since you arrived? I am sure some friends of mine are here, but I haven't been able to find them.” “No,” said the stranger, who was, of course, Mistah Mocker the Mockingbird. “I haven't seen any one here, and I don't think there has been any one here but myself.” “Oh, yes, indeed there has!” cried little Mrs. Peter. “I heard their voices, and I couldn't possibly be mistaken in those, especially the beautiful voice of Veery the Thrush, I--I would like very much to find them.” Mistah Mocker had the grace to look ashamed of himself when saw how disappointed little Mrs. Peter was. Very softly he began to sing the song of Veery the Thrush. Little Mrs. Peter looked up quickly. “There it is!” she cried. “There”--she stopped with her mouth gaping wide open. She suddenly realized that it was Mistah Mocker who was singing. “I--I'm very sorry,” he stammered. “I did it just for a joke and not to make you feel bad. Will you forgive me?” “Yes,” replied little Mrs. Peter, “if you will come here often at shadow-time and sing to me.” And Mistah Mocker promised that he would. CHAPTER XXVIII NEWS FROM THE OLD BRIAR-PATCH To use your eyes is very wise And much to be commended; But never see what cannot be For such as you intended. Peter Rabbit. Jenny Wren is a busybody. Yes, Sir, she certainly is a busybody. If there is anything going on in her neighborhood that she doesn't know about, it isn't because she doesn't try to find out. She is so small and spry that it is hard work to keep track of her, and she pops out at the most unexpected times and places. Then, before you can say a word, she is gone. And in all the Old Orchard or on the Green Meadows there is not to be found another tongue so busy as that of Jenny Wren. It is sharp sometimes, but when she wants it to be so there is none smoother. You see she is a great gossip, is Jenny Wren, a great gossip. But if you get on the right side of Jenny Wren and ask her to keep a secret, she'll do it. No one knows how to keep a secret better than she does. How it happened nobody knows, but it did happen that when Peter Rabbit came home to the clear Old Briar-patch, bringing Mrs. Peter with him, Jenny Wren didn't hear about it. Probably it was because the new home which she had just completed was so carefully hidden that the messengers sent by Peter to invite all his friends to call didn't find it, and afterward she was so busy with household affairs that she didn't have time to gossip. Anyway, Peter had been back some time before Jenny Wren knew it. She was quite upset to think that she was the last to hear the news, but she consoled herself with the thought that she had been attending strictly to her duties, and now that her children were able to look out for themselves she could make up for lost time.