Books: Mrs. Peter Rabbit
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Thornton W. Burgess >> Mrs. 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.
Just as soon as she could get away, she started for the Old Briar-patch.
She wanted to hear all about Peter's adventures in the Old Pasture and
to meet Mrs. Peter. But like a great many other busybodies, she wanted
to find out all she could about Peter's affairs, and she thought that
the surest way to do it was not to let Peter know that she was about
until she had had a chance to use her sharp little eyes all she wanted
to. So when she reached the Old Briar-patch, she didn't make a sound. It
didn't take her long to find Peter. He was sitting under one of his
favorite bramble-bushes smiling to himself. He smiled and smiled until
Jenny Wren had to bite her tongue to keep from asking what was pleasing
him so.
[Illustration with caption: "THE QUICKEST WAY FOR ME TO KNOW IS FOR YOU
TO TELL ME," REPLIED JIMMY.]
"He looks tickled almost to death over something, but very likely if I
should ask him what it is he wouldn't tell me," thought Jenny Wren. "I
guess I'll look around a bit first. I wonder where Mrs. Peter is."
So leaving Peter to smile to his heart's content, she went peeking and
peering through the Old Briar-patch. Of course it wasn't a nice thing to
do, not a bit nice. But Jenny Wren didn't stop to think of that. By and
by she saw something that made her flutter all over with excitement. She
looked and looked until she could sit still no longer. Then she hurried
back to where Peter was sitting. He was still smiling.
"Oh, Peter Rabbit, it's perfectly lovely!" she cried.
Peter looked up quickly, and a worried look chased the smile away.
"Hello, Jenny Wren! Where did you come from? I haven't seen you since I
got back," said he.
"I've been so busy that I haven't had time to call before," replied
Jenny. "I know what you've been smiling about, Peter, and it's perfectly
splendid. Has everybody heard the news?"
"No," said Peter, "nobody knows it but you, and I don't want anybody
else to know it just yet. Will you keep it a secret, Jenny Wren?"
Now Jenny was just bursting with desire to spread the news, but Peter
looked so anxious that finally she promised that she would keep it to
herself, and she really meant to. But though Peter looked greatly
relieved as he watched her start for home, he didn't smile as he had
before. "I wish her tongue didn't wag so much," said he.
CHAPTER XXIX
JIMMY SKUNK VISITS PETER RABBIT
It's hard to keep a secret which you fairly ache to tell;
So not to know such secrets is often quite as well.
Peter Rabbit.
On her way home from the Old Briar-patch, Jenny Wren stopped to rest in
a bush beside the Crooked Little Path that comes down the hill, when who
should come along but Jimmy Skunk. Now just as usual Jenny Wren was
fidgeting and fussing about, and Jimmy Skunk grinned as he watched her.
"Hello, Jenny Wren!" said he. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm resting on my way home from the Old Briar-patch, if you must know,
Jimmy Skunk!" replied Jenny Wren, changing her position half a dozen
times while she was speaking.
"Ho, ho, ho!" laughed Jimmy Skunk. "Do you call that resting! That's a
joke, Jenny Wren. Resting! Why, you couldn't sit still and rest if you
tried!"
"I could so! I'm resting right now, so there, Jimmy Skunk!" protested
Jenny Wren in a very indignant tone of voice, and hopped all over the
little bush while she was speaking. "I guess if you knew what I know,
you'd be excited too."
"Well, I guess the quickest way for me to know is for you to tell me,"
replied Jimmy. "I'm just aching to be excited."
Jimmy grinned, for you know Jimmy Skunk never does get excited and never
hurries, no matter what happens.
"You'll have to keep right on aching then," replied Jenny Wren, with a
saucy flirt of her funny little tail. "There's great news in the Old
Briar-patch, and I'm the only one that knows it, but I've promised not
to tell."
Jimmy pricked up his ears. "News in the Old Briar-patch must have
something to do with Peter Rabbit," said he. "What has Peter done now?"
"I'll never tell! I'll never tell!" cried Jenny Wren, growing so excited
that it seemed to Jimmy as if there was danger that she would turn
herself inside out. "I promised not to and I never will!" Then, for fear
that she would in spite of herself, she flew on her way home.
Jimmy watched her out of sight with a puzzled frown. "If I didn't know
that she gets so terribly excited over nothing, I'd think that there
really is some news in the Old Briar-patch," he muttered to himself.
"Anyway, I haven't anything better to do, so I believe I'll drop around
that way and make Peter Rabbit a call."
He found Peter in some sweet clover just outside the Old Briar-patch,
and it struck Jimmy that Peter looked uncommonly happy. He said as much.
"I am," replied Peter, before he thought. Then he added hastily, "You
see, I've been uncommonly happy ever since I returned with Mrs. Peter
from the Old Pasture."
"But I hear there's great news over here in the Old Briar-patch,"
persisted Jimmy Skunk. "What is it, Peter?"
Peter pretended to be very much surprised. "Great news!" he repeated.
"Great news! Why, what news can there be over here? Who told you that?"
"A little bird told me," replied Jimmy slyly.
"It must have been Jenny Wren!" said Peter, once more speaking before he
thought.
"Then there IS news over here!" cried Jimmy triumphantly. "What is it,
Peter?"
But Peter shook his head as if he hadn't the slightest idea and couldn't
imagine. Jimmy coaxed and teased, but all in vain. Finally he started
for home no wiser than before.
"Just the same, I believe that Jenny Wren told the truth and that there
is news over in the Old Briar-patch," he muttered to himself. "Something
has happened over there, and Peter won't tell. I wonder what it can be."
CHAPTER XXX
REDDY FOX LEARNS THE SECRET
Nothing that you ever do,
Nothing good or nothing bad,
But has effect on other folks--
Gives them pain or makes them glad.
Peter Rabbit.
Of course Jenny Wren didn't mean to tell the secret of the Old Briar-
patch, because she had promised Peter Rabbit that she wouldn't. But she
didn't see any harm in telling every one she met that there was a secret
there, at least that there was great news there, and so, because Jenny
Wren is a great gossip, it wasn't long before all the little people on
the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest and around the Smiling Pool
had heard it and were wondering what the news could be.
After Jimmy Skunk's visit came a whole string of visitors to the Old
Briar-patch. One would hardly have left before another would appear.
Each one tried to act as if he had just happened around that way and
didn't want to pass Peter's home without making a call, but each one
asked so many questions that Peter knew what had really brought him
there was the desire to find out what the news in the Old Briar-patch
could be. But Peter was too smart for them, and they all went away no
wiser than they came, that is, all but one, and that one was Reddy Fox.
There isn't much going on in the Green Forest or on the Green Meadows
that Reddy doesn't know about. He is sly, is Reddy Fox, and his eyes are
sharp and his ears are keen, so little happens that he doesn't see or
hear about. Of course he heard the foolish gossip of Jenny Wren and he
pricked up his ears.
"So there's news down in the Old Briar-patch, is there? A secret that
Jenny Wren won't tell? I think I'll trot down there and make Peter a
call. Of course he'll be glad to see me."
Reddy grinned wickedly as he said this to himself, for he knew that
there was no one for whom Peter Rabbit had less love, unless it was old
Granny Fox.
So Reddy trotted down to the Old Briar-patch. Peter saw him coming and
scowled, for he guessed right away what Reddy was coming for, and he
made ready to answer all Reddy's questions and still tell him nothing,
as he had with all the others who had called.
But Reddy asked no questions. He didn't once mention the fact that he
had heard there was news in the Old Briar-patch. He didn't once speak of
Jenny Wren. He just talked about the weather and the Old Pasture, where
Peter had made such a long visit, and all the time was as pleasant and
polite as if he and Peter were the dearest of friends.
But while he was talking, Reddy was using those sharp eyes and those
keen ears of his the best he knew how. But the Old Briar-patch was very
thick, and he could see only a little way into it, and out of it came no
sound to hint of a secret there. Then Reddy began to walk around the Old
Briar-patch in quite the most matter-of-fact way, but as he walked that
wonderful nose of his was testing every little breath of air that came
out of the Old Briar-patch. At last he reached a certain place where a
little stronger breath of air tickled his nose. He stopped for a few
minutes, and slowly a smile grew and grew. Then, without saying a word,
he turned and trotted back towards the Green Forest.
Peter Rabbit watched him go. Then he joined Mrs. Peter in the heart of
the Old Briar-patch. "My dear," he said, with a sigh that was almost a
sob, "Reddy Fox has found out our secret."
"Never mind," said little Mrs. Peter brightly. "It would have to be
found out soon, anyway."
Trotting back up the Lone Little Path, Reddy Fox was grinning broadly.
"It IS news!" said he. "Jenny Wren was right, it IS news! But I don't
believe anybody else knows it yet, and I hope they won't find it out
right away, least of all Old Man Coyote. What a wonderful thing a good
nose is! It tells me what my eyes cannot see nor my ears hear."
CHAPTER XXXI
BLACKY THE CROW HAS SHARP EYES
Mischief always waits to greet
Idle hands and idle feet.
Peter Rabbit.
That is what a lot of people say about Blacky the Crow. Of course it is
true that Blacky does get into a lot of mischief, but if people really
knew him they would find that he isn't as black as he looks. In fact,
Blacky the Crow does a whole lot of good in his own peculiar way, but
people are always looking for him to do bad things, and you know you
most always see what you expect to see. Thus the good Blacky does isn't
seen, while the bad is, and so he has grown to have a reputation blacker
than the coat he wears.
But this doesn't worry Blacky the Crow. No, Sir, it doesn't worry him a
bit. You see he has grown used to it. And then he is so smart that he is
never afraid of being caught when he does do wrong things. No one has
sharper eyes than Blacky, and no one knows better how to use them. There
is very little going on in the Green Forest or on the Green Meadows that
he misses when he is about.
The day after Reddy Fox visited the Old Briar-patch and with his
wonderful nose found out Peter Rabbit's secret, Blacky just happened to
fly over the Old Briar-patch on his way to Farmer Brown's cornfield.
Now, being over the Old Briar-patch, he could look right down into it
and see all through it. Just as he reached it, he remembered having
heard Sammy Jay say something about gossipy little Jenny Wren's having
said that there was great news there. He hadn't thought much about it at
the time, but now that he was right there, he might as well have a look
for himself and see if there was any truth in it.
So Blacky the Crow flew a little lower, and his sharp eyes looked this
way and that way through all the bramble-bushes of the Old Briar-patch.
He saw Peter Rabbit right away and winked at him. He thought Peter
looked worried and anxious.
"Peter must have something on his mind," thought Blacky. "I wonder where
Mrs. Peter is."
Just then he caught sight of her under the thickest growing sweet-briar
bush. He had opened his mouth to shout, "Hello, Mrs. Peter," when he saw
something that surprised him so that he didn't speak at all. He almost
forgot to flap his wings to keep himself in the air. He hovered right
where he was for a few minutes, looking down through the brambles. Then
with a hoarse chuckle, he started for the Smiling Pool, forgetting all
about Farmer Brown's cornfield. "Caw, caw, caw!" he shrieked, "Peter
Rabbit's got a family! Peter Rabbit's got a family!"
Reddy Fox heard him and ground his teeth. "Now Old Man Coyote will know
and will try to catch those young Rabbits, when they ought to be mine
because I found out about them first," he grumbled.
Jimmy Skunk heard Blacky and grinned broadly. "So that's the great news
Jenny Wren found out!" said he. "I hope Peter will take better care of
his babies than he ever has of himself. I must call at once."
Redtail the Hawk heard, and he smiled too, but it wasn't a kindly smile
like Jimmy Skunk's. "I think young Rabbit will taste very good for a
change," said he.
CHAPTER XXXII
PETER RABBIT'S NURSERY
With home, the home you call your own,
It really doesn't matter where,
There is no place, in all the world,
That ever will or can compare.
Peter Rabbit.
The news was out at last, thanks to Blacky the Crow. Peter Rabbit had a
family! Yes, Sir, Peter Rabbit had a family! Right away the Old Briar-
patch became the most interesting place on the Green Meadows to all the
little people who live there and in the near-by Green Forest. Of course
all of Peter's friends called as soon as ever they could. They found
Peter looking very proud, and very important, and very happy. Mrs. Peter
looked just as proud, and just as happy, but she also looked very
anxious. You see, while she was very glad to have so many friends call,
there were also other visitors. That is, they were not exactly callers,
but they hung around the outside of the Old Briar-patch, and they seemed
quite as much interested as the friends who really called. Indeed, they
seemed more interested.
Who were they? Why, Reddy Fox was one. Then there was Old Man Coyote,
also Redtail the Hawk and Digger the Badger, and just at dusk Hooty the
Owl. They all seemed very much interested indeed, but every time little
Mrs. Peter saw them, she shivered. You see, she couldn't help thinking
that there was a dreadful, hungry look in their eyes, and if the truth
is to be told, there probably was.
But happy-go-lucky Peter Rabbit didn't let this worry him. Hadn't he
grown up from a teeny-weeny baby and been smart enough to escape all
these dangers which worried Mrs. Peter so? And if he could do it, of
course his own babies could do it, with him to teach them and show them
how. Besides, they were too little to go outside of the Old Briar-patch
now. Indeed, they were too little to go outside their nursery, which was
in a clump of sweet-briar bushes in the very middle of the Old Briar-
patch, and Peter felt that there they were perfectly safe.
"It isn't time to worry yet," said Peter to little Mrs. Peter, as he saw
the fright in her eyes as the shadow of Redtail passed over them. "I
don't believe in borrowing trouble. Time enough to worry when there is
something to worry about, and that won't be until these little
scallawags of ours are big enough to run around and get into mischief.
Did you ever see such beautiful babies in all your life?"
For a minute the worried look left little Mrs. Peter, and she gazed at
the four little helpless babies fondly. "No," she replied softly, "I
never did. Oh, Peter, they are perfectly lovely! This one is the perfect
image of you, and I'm going to call him Little Pete. And don't you think
his brother looks like his grandfather? I think we'll call him Little
Jed."
Peter coughed behind his hand as if something had stuck in his throat.
He had no love for Little Jed's grandfather, Old Jed Thumper, the big,
gray, old Rabbit who had tried so hard to drive him from the Old
Pasture, but he didn't say anything. If Mrs. Peter wanted to name this
one Little Jed, he wouldn't say a word. Aloud he said:
"I think, my dear, that this one looks just as you must have looked when
you were little, and so we'll call her Fuzzy. And her sister we'll call
Wuzzy," continued Peter. "Was ever there such a splendid nursery for
baby Rabbits?"
"I don't believe there ever was, Peter. It's better than my old nursery
in the Old Pasture," replied little Mrs. Peter, as with a sigh of
perfect happiness she stretched out beside their four babies.
And Peter softly tiptoed away to the nearest sweet-clover patch with his
heart almost bursting with pride.
Of the doings of Peter and Mrs. Peter Rabbit and their four children
there are many more stories, so many that one book will not hold all of
them. Besides, Bowser the Hound insists that I must write a book about
him, and I have promised to do it right away. So the next book will be
Bowser the Hound.