VI. THE CUNNING OF MR. AND MRS. BOB WHITE
|WHEN Bob White brought Mrs. Bob down to the Green Meadows from theOld Pasture in the beautiful springtime, she was as delighted as he hadhoped she would be. Very wisely he had not even hinted that he thoughtthere was the place of all places for them to build their home. He knewthat she would never be satisfied unless she felt that she was the onewho had chosen the place for their home. So Bob didn't so much as hintthat he had a home in mind. He didn't even tell her how beautiful it wasover on the Green Meadows near the dear Old Briar-patch. He let her findit out for herself.
Now little Mrs. Bob was very anxious to get to housekeeping, and nosooner did she reach the Green Meadows than she made up her mind thathere was the place of all places for a home. In the first place it wasvery beautiful, and Mrs. Bob has an eye for beauty. In the second placethere was plenty to eat, one of the most important things to considerwhen you are likely to have a great many little mouths to feed. In thethird place there were plenty of good hiding places, and lastly, Mrs.Bob liked the neighbors.
Bob White took care not to let her see that he was tickled. He gravelypointed out to her the fact that Granny and Reddy Fox, Old Man Coyoteand Red-tail the Hawk would soon discover that they were living there,and then there would be danger all the time and they would never knowwhat it was to be free from worry.
"Not a bit more than in the Old Pasture where we built last year,"snapped Mrs. Bob. "You know as well as I do that wherever we build wewill be in danger. It always has been so, and I guess it always will beso. We've been smart enough to fool our enemies before, and I guess wecan do it again. I'm not afraid if you are."
Bob hastened to say that he wasn't afraid. He wouldn't have her thinkthat for the world. Oh, my, no! He was just pointing out the dangers sothat they might make no mistake.
Mrs. Bob didn't half hear what he was saying. She was too busy pokingabout, running here, running there, and all the time using her sharplittle eyes for all they were worth. Bob waited patiently, a twinkle inhis own eyes. He knew that when Mrs. Bob made up her mind that was allthere was to it. Presently she called to him in a low voice, and he flewover to join her.
"Here," she announced, "is where we will build."
Bob looked the ground over with a critical eye. "Don't you think, mydear, that this is rather close to the Crooked Little Path?" he asked."I have noticed that Reddy Fox and Timmy Skunk use this path a greatdeal, not to mention Farmer Brown's boy."
"That's what makes it the safest place on the Green Meadows, stupid,"declared little Mrs. Bob. "They will never think to look for our home soclose to where they pass. These weeds are very thick and will hideour nest completely. This old fallen fence-post will give splendidprotection on one side. The Old Briar-patch is so near that in case ofneed we can get to it in a hurry and there be perfectly safe. You markmy words, Bob White, no one will think of looking here for our nest ifyou use your common sense and do all your whistling far enough away.Reddy and the others are going to do all their hunting around the placeyou do your whistling, so it is for you to make this the very safestplace in the world. Do you see?"
"Yes, my dear," replied Bob meekly. "You are very clever and cunning. Inever should have thought of choosing such a place, but I guess you arequite right."
"I know I am," retorted Mrs. Bob. "Now you fly over to the other side ofthe Old Briar-patch and whistle while I get busy here. I am anxious toget to work at once."
Bob looked at his little brown wife with admiration. Then he discreetlyran under cover of the weeds and grass until he thought it was safeto take wing, after which he flew to the other side of the dear OldBriar-patch and there began to whistle as only he can.
VII. BOB WHITE FINDS THAT MRS. BOB IS RIGHT
````A quarrel you may often stay
````By letting others have their way.=
|AND you will find, too, that other people are quite as likely to beright as you are. Now while Bob White told Mrs. Bob that he guessed shewas right in choosing the place she did for their home he was not at allsure of it in his own mind. It wasn't a place he would have chosen ifthe matter had been left to him. No, Sir, that place wouldn't have beenhis choice. He knew of at least half a dozen places which he thoughtmuch better and safer. But, after all, this was to be Mrs. Bob's homeeven more than his, for she was the one who would have to stay there allthe long days sitting on those beautiful white eggs they hoped to havesoon.
So Bob kept his opinions to himself, and if he worried a little becausethe new home was so close to the Crooked Little Path along which Reddyand Granny Fox went so often, he said nothing and brought his share ofgrasses, straw and leaves with which to build the nest. Mrs. Bob wasvery particular about that nest. Just a common open nest wouldn't do.Perhaps in that wise little head of hers she guessed just what was goingon in Bob's mind and how he really didn't approve at all of buildingthere. So she made a very clever little roof or dome of grasses andstraw over the nest with a little entrance on one side. When it was alldone only the very sharpest eyes ever would discover it.
Of course Bob was proud of it, very proud indeed. "My dear, it's thefinest nest I've ever seen," he declared. "I hope, I do hope no one willfind it."
Mrs. Bob looked at him sharply. "Why don't you own up that you wish itwas somewhere else?" she demanded.
Bob looked a little foolish. "I can't quite get over the idea that thisis a very dangerous place," he confessed. "But I've great faith in yourjudgment, my dear," he hastened to add.
"Then see to it that you are careful when you come over this way andnever under any circumstances fly directly here," retorted Mrs. Bob."Keep away unless I call for you, and when you do come fly over in thelong grass back there and then keep out of sight and walk over hereunder cover of the grass and weeds."
Bob promised he would do just as she had told him to, and to prove it hestole away through the long grass and did not take wing until he wasfar from the nest. Then he flew over beyond the dear Old Briar-path andwhistled with all his might from sheer happiness.
It wasn't long before there were fifteen beautiful white eggs in thenest in the weeds beside the Crooked Little Path, and then Bob's anxietyincreased, you may be sure. Time and time again he saw Reddy Fox orGranny Fox or Jimmy Skunk trot down the Crooked Little Path and he knewthat they were coming to look for his nest. But never once did theythink of looking in that patch of weeds, for it never entered theirheads that any one would build so close to a path they used so much. Butthey hunted and hunted everywhere else.
And all the time little Mrs. Bob sat on those white eggs and the colorof her cloak was so nearly the color of the brown grasses and leavesthat even if they had looked straight at her it isn't at all likely thatthey would have seen her. Little by little Bob confessed to himself thatMrs. Bob was right. She had chosen the very safest place on the GreenMeadows for their home. It was safest because it was the last placeany one would look for it. Then Bob grew less anxious and spent all hisspare time in fooling those who were looking for his home.
VIII. BOB FOOLS HIS NEIGHBORS
````"All's fair in love and war," 'tis said.
`````Of course this isn't true.
````A lot is done that's most unfair
`````And no one ought to do.=
|IT is always so when hate rules, and the queer thing is it is also truesometimes when love rules. Love quite often does unfair things and thentries to excuse them. But Bob White didn't feel that there was anythingunfair in trying to fool his neighbors. Not a bit of it. You see, he wasdoing it for love and war both. He was doing it for love of shy littleMrs. Bob and their home, and for the kind of war that is always going onin the Green Forest and the Green Meadows. Of course, the little peoplewho live there don't call it war, but you know how it is--the big peopleall the time trying to catch those smaller than themselves, and thelittle people all the time trying to get the best of the big people.
So Bob White felt that it was perfectly fair and right that he shouldfool those of hi
s neighbors who were hunting for his home, and so itwas. He would sit on a fence-post whistling as only he can whistle, andtelling all the world that he, Bob White, was there. Presently he wouldsee Reddy Fox trotting down the Crooked Little Path and pretending thathe was just out for a stroll and not at all interested in Bob or hisaffairs. Then Bob would pretend to look all around as if to see that nodanger was near. After that he would fly over to a certain place whichlooked to be just the kind of a place for a nest, and there he wouldhide in the grass.
Just as soon as he disappeared, Reddy Fox would grin in that sly way ofhis and say to himself, "So that's where your nest is! I think I'll havea look over there."
Then he would steal over to where he had seen Bob disappear and poke hissharp nose into every bunch of grass and peek under every little bush.Bob would wait until he heard those soft footsteps very near him, thenhe would fly up with a great noise of his swift little wings as if hewere terribly frightened, and from a distant fence-post he would callin the most anxious sounding voice. Reddy would be sure then that hewas near the nest and would hunt and hunt. All the time little Mrs. Bobwould be sitting comfortably on those precious eggs in the nest in theweed-patch close beside the Crooked Little Path, chuckling to herself asshe listened to Bob's voice. You see, she knew just what he was doing.
It was the same way with Jimmy Skunk and Granny Fox and even PeterRabbit. All of them hunted and hunted for that nest and watched BobWhite and were sure that they knew just where to look for his home, andafterward wondered why it was that they couldn't find it. Jimmy Skunkwanted some of those eggs. Reddy and Granny Fox wanted to catch Mrs. Bobor be ready to gobble up the babies when they should hatch out of thosebeautiful white eggs. As for Peter Rabbit, he wanted to know where thatnest was just out of curiosity. He wouldn't have harmed Mrs. Bob or oneof those eggs for the world. But Bob knew that if Peter knew where thatnest was he might visit it when some one was watching him, and somethingdreadful might happen as a result. So he thought it best to fool Peterjust as he did the others, and I think it was. Don't you?
IX. PETER HAS HARD WORK BELIEVING HIS OWN EYES
````When with your eyes you see a thing
`````Yet can't believe it so,
````Pray tell me what you can believe.
`````I'd really like to know.=
|THINGS are that way sometimes. They are so surprising that it doesn'tseem that they can be true. Just ask Peter Rabbit, or little Mrs. Peter.Either one will tell you that they have had hard work to believe whattheir eyes saw. You see, it was this way: Peter knew that somewhere nearthe dear Old Briar-patch was the home of Bob White. Anyway Bob had saidthat it was near there, and he himself was never very far away. So Peterdidn't doubt that Bob had told him the truth. No one would stay aroundone place day after day in the beautiful springtime, when everybody wasbusy housekeeping, unless his home was very near.
But Peter had looked and looked for that home of Bob White's withoutever getting so much as a glimpse of it. He had watched Bob White andhad visited every place that he saw Bob go to, but Bob had managedto keep his secret and Peter was no wiser than before, though he wasthinner from running about so much. Little Mrs. Peter had tried her bestto make him see that it was no business of his. You see, she knew justhow Mrs. Bob felt about wanting her home a secret, for little Mrs. Peterhad had many anxious hours when her own babies were very small.
Finally Peter did give up, but it was because he had looked in everyplace he could think of and at last had made up his mind that if BobWhite really had a nest in the Green Meadows it certainly wasn't nearthe dear Old Briar-patch. Then one morning a surprising thing happened.Peter was just getting ready to run over to the Laughing Brook when someone right in front of him there in the Old Briar-patch exclaimed.
0060]
"Be careful where you step, Peter Rabbit!"
Peter stopped short and looked to see who had spoken. There, under atangle of brambles, was little Mrs. Bob White. Peter was surprised, forhe had not seen her enter the dear Old Briar-patch.
"Oh!" said he. Then he bowed politely. "How do you do, Mrs. Bob White?I'm glad you've decided to make us a call. I hope Bob is very well.I haven't seen him for several days, but I've heard his whistle and itsounds as if he were feeling very fine."
"He is," replied little Mrs. Bob. Then she added anxiously, "Do pleasebe very careful where you step, Peter."
"Why? What's the matter?" asked Peter, looking down at his feet in apuzzled way.
Just then Mrs. Peter, who had heard them talking, came hurrying up.Mrs. Bob White became more anxious than ever. "Oh, Mrs. Peter, do, do becareful where _you_ step!" she cried.
Mrs. Peter looked as puzzled as Peter did. Just then little Mrs. Bobuttered the softest, sweetest little call, and all at once it seemed toPeter and Mrs. Peter as if the brown leaves which carpeted the dearOld Briar-patch suddenly came to life and started to run. Peter's eyesalmost popped out of his head, and he rubbed them twice to make surethat he really saw what he thought he saw. What was it? Why, a wholefamily of the funniest little birds scurrying as fast as their smalllegs could take them to the shelter of Mrs. Bob's wings!
X. NEW TENANTS FOR THE BRIAR-PATCH
````Who proves himself a neighbor kind
````Will find content and peace of mind.=
|ONE, two, three, four--oh, dear, they run so fast I can't count them!Aren't they darlings? I'm so glad you brought them over for us to see,Mrs. Bob. How many are there?" cried little Mrs. Peter, as she and Peterwatched the tiny little babies of Bob White scamper to the shelterof their mother's wings under the friendly brambles of the dear OldBriar-patch.
"There are fifteen," replied Mrs. Bob White proudly.
"My gracious, what a family!" exclaimed Peter. "I don't see how you keeptrack of all of them. I should think you would be worried to death."
"They are a great care," confessed little Mrs. Bob White. "That is why Ihave brought them over to the Old Briar-patch. I hope you and Mrs. Peterwill not mind if we live here for a while. Until they can fly it is thesafest place I know of."
"We'll be tickled to death to have you here," declared Peter. "We don'town the dear Old Briar-patch, though we've lived here so long we almostfeel as if it belongs to us. But of course any one who wants to is freeto live here. I don't know of any one we would rather have here than youand your family. By the way, I don't see how you could travel far withsuch little babies. May I ask where you came from?"
Little Mrs. Bob's eyes twinkled.
"Certainly," she replied. "We haven't traveled far. We came straightfrom our home here."
"But where was your home?" Peter asked the question eagerly, for youremember he had spent a great deal of time trying to find that home ofthe Bob Whites.
"Just over yonder in that little patch of weeds across the CrookedLittle Path. You see it was very handy to the Old Briar-patch," repliedMrs. Bob.
"What?" Peter fairly shouted. "Do you mean to say that you have beenliving so near as all that?"
Mrs. Bob nodded. "I surely have," she replied. "I've been right where Icould see you every day as I sat on my eggs."
"But how did you dare build in such a dangerous place? Why, Reddy andGranny Fox passed within a few feet of you every day! I never heard ofsuch a crazy thing!" Peter looked as if he didn't believe it even yet.
"It was the safest place on the Green Meadows," retorted Mrs. Bob. "Ishould think that by this time you would have learned, Peter Rabbit,that the safest place to hide is the place where no one will look. Theproof of it is right here in these babies of mine. Aren't they darlings?I sat there day after day and watched you and Reddy and Granny Fox andJimmy Skunk hunting for me and had many a good laugh all to myself. Iknew that not one of you would dream that I would be so foolishly wiseas to build my home where it could be so easily found, and therefore youwouldn't look for it there. And I was right."
Mrs. Peter chuckled. "You were just right, Mrs. Bob," she declared. "Itis the smartest thing I ever heard of, my dear. If Peter does
n't feelfoolish, he ought to. I told him that it was none of his business whereyour home was, but he was so curious that he would keep hunting for it.And to think that all the time it was close by! Don't you feel foolish,Peter?"
"Yes, my dear, I certainly do," replied Peter meekly. "But now that Iknow where it was I am satisfied. And I'm glad that Mrs. Bob has broughther family to live in the dear Old Briar-patch. I think it will be greatfun watching those youngsters grow, and I can't help thinking that thisis a great deal safer for them than the home they have just left."
"That's why I've brought them here," replied Mrs. Bob. "As long as theywere only eggs that was the safest place, but now that they have hatchedout and can run about, they wouldn't be safe a minute over there. As itis, I expect it won't be long before they will be wanting to get outin the Great World and then my worries will really begin. Bringing up alarge family is a great responsibility."
"It is so," declared Mrs. Peter.
XI. WATCH TOUR STEP!
````Watch your step! Be sure you know
`````Exactly what lies just before,
````Because if you should careless be
`````'Tis certain you would step no more.=
|IT wasn't that way with Peter Rabbit. He wasn't afraid that if hedidn't watch out he would step no more, not in the Old Briar-patchanyway, but he was afraid, dreadfully afraid, that one of Bob White'sbabies might step no more. It seemed to Peter that they were always justunder foot. It made him nervous. Every time he moved little Mrs. Bob orMrs. Peter was sure to cry, "Watch your step, Peter!" or "Don't step onone of those darlings!"