Part 2 (1/2)

”I don't knohat itout loud ”No, Sir, I don't knohat itto find out There's a cause for everything in this world, and when a fellow doesn't know a thing, it is his business to find out all about it I' Brook, if it takes me a year!”

With that he started to follow the little strea down into the Green Forest He had followed that little stream more than once, and now he found it just as he rerew, until at last it beca deep pools in which the trout loved to hide At last he cae of a little open hollow in the very heart of the Green Forest He knehat splendid deep holes there were in the Laughing Brook here, and how the big trout loved to lie in the of these trout now and wishi+ng that he had brought along his fishi+ng-rod He pushed his way through a thicket of alders and then--Farasped! He had to stop because there right in front of hiain Then he stooped down and put his hand in the water to see if it was real There was no doubt about it It was real water,--a real pond where there never had been a pond before

It was very still there in the heart of the Green Forest It was always very still there, but it seee of this strange pond He felt as if it were all a dream He wondered if pretty soon he wouldn't wake up and find it all untrue But he didn't, and so he kept on tras and sticks and , and down in the Green Forest below he could hear the Laughing Brook just beginning to laugh once more Farmer Brown's boy sat doith his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands He was almost too much surprised to even think

[Illustration]

VIII

PETER RABBIT GETS A DUCKING

Far at the new pond in the Green Forest and at the dam which had made it That dam puzzled him Who could have built it? What did they build it for? Why hadn't he heard the? He looked carelessly at the stump of one of the trees, and then a still more puzzled look made deep furrows between his eyes It looked--yes, it looked very much as if teeth, and not an axe, had cut down that tree Far wide open He looked so funny that Peter Rabbit, as hiding under an old pile of brush close by, nearly laughed right out

But Peter didn't laugh No, Sir, Peter didn't laugh, for just that very ht behind hie of the old brush-pile, and every hair on Peter stood on end with fright

”Bo!” It seeht in his very ears It frightened him so that he just _had_ to juht out froht And the very instant he jureat roar behind him Of course it was fro the trail of hishe passes, he had been some distance behind When he ca he had sniffed at that, and of course he had sht away

Nohen Peter juht at one end of the dahtened hiht up on the dao across, and it wasn't the best of going No, indeed, it wasn't the best of going You see, it was le of sticks

Happy Jack Squirrel or Chatterer the Red Squirrel or Striped Chipmunk would have skipped across it without the least trouble But Peter Rabbit has no sharp little clahich to cling to logs and sticks, and right away he was in a peck of trouble He slipped down between the sticks, scra jump, he lost his balance and--tumbled heels over head into the water!

Poor Peter Rabbit! He gave himself up for lost this time He could swim, but at best he is a poor swimmer and doesn't like the water He couldn't dive and keep out of sight like Jerry Muskrat or Billy Mink All he could do was to paddle as fast as his legs would go The water had gone up his nose and down his throat so that he choked, and all the tie in after him and catch him

And if he shouldn't, why Farmer Brown's Boy would simply wait for him to come ashore and then catch hi of the kind No, Sir, he didn't Instead he shouted to Bowser and called hio learned to obey, and very slowly he walked over to where his

”You knoouldn't be fair, old fellow, to try to catch Peter now It wouldn't be fair at all, and we never want to do anything unfair, do we?” said he Perhaps Bowser didn't agree, but he wagged his tail as if he did, and sat down beside his master to watch Peter swim

It seemed to Peter as if he never, never would reach the shore, though really it was only a very little distance that he had to swi Rabbit

He didn't waste any tio, lipperty--lipperty--lip And Farhed and didn't try to catch him at all

”Well, I never!” exclaimed Sammy Jay, who had seen it all frouess Farmer Brown's boy isn't so bad, after all”

[Illustration]

IX

PADDY PLANS A HOUSE

Paddy the Beaver sat on his dam, and his eyes shone with happiness as he looked out over the shi+ning water of the pond he had rew the tall trees of the Green Forest It was very beautiful and very still and very lonesome That is, it would have seemed lonesome to almost any one but Paddy the Beaver But Paddy never is lonesome You see, he finds company in the trees and flowers and all the little plants

It was still, very, very still Over on one side was a beautiful rosy glow in the water It was the reflection from jolly, round, red Mr Sun