"Never mind," said little Mrs. Peter brightly. "It would have to befound 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'tbelieve anybody else knows it yet, and I hope they won't find it outright away, least of all Old Man Coyote. What a wonderful thing a goodnose 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 istrue that Blacky does get into a lot of mischief, but if people reallyknew 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, butpeople are always looking for him to do bad things, and you know youmost always see what you expect to see. Thus the good Blacky does isn'tseen, while the bad is, and so he has grown to have a reputation blackerthan the coat he wears.
But this doesn't worry Blacky the Crow. No, Sir, it doesn't worry him abit. You see he has grown used to it. And then he is so smart that heis never afraid of being caught when he does do wrong things. No one hassharper eyes than Blacky, and no one knows better how to use them. Thereis very little going on in the Green Forest or on the Green Meadows thathe misses when he is about.
The day after Reddy Fox visited the Old Briar-patch and with hiswonderful nose found out Peter Rabbit's secret, Blacky just happenedto 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 itand see all through it. Just as he reached it, he remembered havingheard Sammy Jay say something about gossipy little Jenny Wren's havingsaid that there was great news there. He hadn't thought much about it atthe time, but now that he was right there, he might as well have a lookfor himself and see if there was any truth in it.
So Blacky the Crow flew a little lower, and his sharp eyes looked thisway 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 Peterlooked worried and anxious.
"Peter must have something on his mind," thought Blacky. "I wonder whereMrs. Peter is."
Just then he caught sight of her under the thickest growing sweet-briarbush. He had opened his mouth to shout, "Hello, Mrs. Peter," when he sawsomething that surprised him so that he didn't speak at all. He almostforgot to flap his wings to keep himself in the air. He hovered rightwhere he was for a few minutes, looking down through the brambles. Thenwith a hoarse chuckle, he started for the Smiling Pool, forgetting allabout Farmer Brown's cornfield. "Caw, caw, caw!" he shrieked, "PeterRabbit's got a family! Peter Rabbit's got a family!"
Reddy Fox heard him and ground his teeth. "Now Old Man Coyote will knowand will try to catch those young Rabbits, when they ought to be minebecause I found out about them first," he grumbled.
Jimmy Skunk heard Blacky and grinned broadly. "So that's the great newsJenny Wren found out!" said he. "I hope Peter will take better care ofhis 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 smilelike Jimmy Skunk's. "I think young Rabbit will taste very good for achange," 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 hada family! Yes, Sir, Peter Rabbit had a family! Right away the OldBriar-patch became the most interesting place on the Green Meadows toall 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. Theyfound Peter looking very proud, and very important, and very happy. Mrs.Peter looked just as proud, and just as happy, but she also looked veryanxious. 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 seemedquite as much interested as the friends who really called. Indeed, theyseemed 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 theOwl. They all seemed very much interested indeed, but every time littleMrs. Peter saw them, she shivered. You see, she couldn't help thinkingthat there was a dreadful, hungry look in their eyes, and if the truthis to be told, there probably was.
But happy-go-lucky Peter Rabbit didn't let this worry him. Hadn't hegrown up from a teeny-weeny baby and been smart enough to escape allthese dangers which worried Mrs. Peter so? And if he could do it, ofcourse his own babies could do it, with him to teach them and show themhow. Besides, they were too little to go outside of the Old Briar-patchnow. Indeed, they were too little to go outside their nursery, whichwas in a clump of sweet-briar bushes in the very middle of the OldBriar-patch, and Peter felt that there they were perfectly safe.
"It isn't time to worry yet," said Peter to little Mrs. Peter, as hesaw the fright in her eyes as the shadow of Redtail passed over them. "Idon't believe in borrowing trouble. Time enough to worry when thereis something to worry about, and that won't be until these littlescallawags 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 atthe four little helpless babies fondly. "No," she replied softly, "Inever did. Oh, Peter, they are perfectly lovely! This one is the perfectimage of you, and I'm going to call him Little Pete. And don't you thinkhis brother looks like his grandfather? I think we'll call him LittleJed."
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, thebig, gray, old Rabbit who had tried so hard to drive him from the OldPasture, but he didn't say anything. If Mrs. Peter wanted to name thisone 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 whenyou were little, and so we'll call her Fuzzy. And her sister we'll callWuzzy," continued Peter. "Was ever there such a splendid nursery forbaby Rabbits?"
"I don't believe there ever was, Peter. It's better than my old nurseryin the Old Pasture," replied little Mrs. Peter, as with a sigh ofperfect happiness she stretched out beside their four babies.
And Peter softly tiptoed away to the nearest sweet-clover patch with hisheart almost bursting with pride.
Of the doings of Peter and Mrs. Peter Rabbit and their four childrenthere are many more stories, so many that one book will not hold all ofthem. Besides, Bowser the Hound insists that I must write a book abouthim, and I have promised to do it right away. So the next book will beBowser the Hound.
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