Green Meadow Stories - Thornton W. Burgess (best novels for students txt) 📗

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.”

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 sweetbriar 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.

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 nearby 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