XII
WHERE SEEK-SEEK GOT HIS PRETTY COAT
Peter Rabbit never will forget the first time he saw Seek-Seek theGround Squirrel, often wrongly called Gopher or Gopher Squirrel, butwhose real name is Spermophile, which means seed eater. Peter won'tforget that meeting, because of the funny mistake he made and thefoolish feeling he had as a result of it. You see, Peter didn't knowthat there was such a person as Seek-Seek. He was hopping along acrossthe Green Meadows in his usual happy-go-lucky way when, right in frontof him, he saw what at first he took to be a stake, a small stake,driven in the ground. But as he drew nearer, it suddenly moved. Itwasn't a stake at all, but a very lively small person in a striped coatwho had been sitting up very straight and motionless.
"Hello, Striped Chipmunk! What are you doing way out here so far fromthe old stone wall?" exclaimed Peter.
The small person in the striped coat whirled and faced Peter withsnapping eyes. "Don't call me Striped Chipmunk, and don't call meGopher!" said he very fiercely for so small a person. "I am neither one.I am Seek-Seek the Ground Squirrel, and I'll thank you to call me by myown name. I am getting everlastingly tired of being called the names ofother people."
Peter looked very foolish. "I beg your pardon," said he. "I do indeed.I'm sorry. Perhaps you don't know it, but you look very much likeStriped Chipmunk, who is one of my best friends. You look so much likehim that I thought you must be him. I wonder if you are related to him."
"Certainly I'm related to him, or he is related to me, whichever way youplease to put it," snapped Seek-Seek. "We are cousins. But he is a RockSquirrel, and I am a Ground Squirrel which is altogether different. Youdon't find me where there are rocks and stones in the way if I know it.Besides, if you used your eyes, you would see that we are not dressedalike either. Just because we both happen to wear stripes is no reasonwhy we should be mistaken for each other."
Peter looked at Seek-Seek more closely than he had, and at once he madea discovery. "Why!" he exclaimed, "your coat has more stripes thanStriped Chipmunk's has, hasn't it?"
"I should hope so," retorted Seek-Seek.
"And it has little rows of spots, too!" cried Peter. "If I had noticedthose spots at first, I wouldn't have made such a foolish mistake. I dobelieve that your coat is prettier than Striped Chipmunk's, and I hadthought his as pretty as a coat can be."
Seek-Seek looked rather pleased, though he tried not to. "Huh!" hesniffed. "Of course it's prettier. It took you a long time to find itout. I wouldn't trade coats with Striped Chipmunk or anybody else of myacquaintance."
"Neither would I if I were in your place," declared Peter. "I wish OldMother Nature had given me a coat like that." He said this so wistfullythat Seek-Seek, who had started to laugh, turned his head so that Petermight not know it. "I'm afraid it wouldn't look so well on one as big asyou," he replied. "Anyway, you wouldn't be able to hide from yourenemies as you can now."
"That's so," said Peter thoughtfully. "I would be easily seen in a coatlike that, for a fact. I hadn't thought of that. I guess Old MotherNature knows best. I--I wonder how she ever happened to think of a coatlike yours."
Seek-Seek chuckled. He had quite forgotten that he had felt offendedbecause Peter had mistaken him for his cousin, Striped Chipmunk. Heenjoyed Peter's admiration of his coat. He is naturally rathertalkative, and like most folks he enjoyed talking about himself.
"This coat," said he, "has been in the family a very great while. Ofcourse, I don't mean this particular coat that I am wearing," hehastened to add, as he saw Peter beginning to grin. "I mean this styleof coat has been in the family a very long time. My father was dressedjust as I am. So was his father and--"
"I know," interrupted Peter. "You were going to say that so were allyour grandfathers way back to the days when the world was young, and OldMother Nature made the very first one of your family. It's funny to methat all the interesting things happened such a long time ago. Nowwasn't that what you were going to say?"
Seek-Seek admitted that it was, and looked a little disappointed thatPeter had guessed it. But a second later he felt better when Peterasked him very politely but very earnestly for the story of how thefirst Ground Squirrel got such a pretty coat. "There is a story. I knowthere is a story," declared Peter. "Won't you tell it to me please,Seek-Seek?"
Now Peter didn't want to hear it any more than Seek-Seek wanted to tellit, so while Peter squatted down comfortably, Seek-Seek sat up verystraight and began the story.
"First of all, you must know that Seek-Seek is an old family name whichhas been handed down just as the pattern of my coat has been. The veryfirst of all my great-great-grandfathers was called Seek-Seek. When OldMother Nature made Seek-Seek she must have had two families in mind atone time, the Marmot family and the Squirrel family, for she made him alittle like each, so that in his looks he sort of fitted in between thetwo. Mother Nature told him that he was a member of the Squirrel familyand set him free to find a place for himself in the Great World.
"Now it didn't take Grandfather Seek-Seek long to find out that thoughhe might be a member of the Squirrel family, Old Mother Nature hadfailed to furnish him with the right kind of claws for climbing trees,as most of his cousins did. True, he could climb a little, but it wasnot easy, and he felt anything but comfortable off the ground. But ifthose claws were of little use for climbing they were splendid tools fordigging, just as are the claws of the Marmot family. So Old MotherNature must have been thinking of the Marmots when she fashioned thoseclaws.
"At first Seek-Seek wandered about trying to find a place for himselfin the Great World. Being a Squirrel, he tried to live as did hiscousins, Mr. Red Squirrel and Mr. Gray Squirrel, but on account of thoseclaws he didn't make much of a success of it. Then one day he met Mr.Chipmunk. They stopped and stared at each other in surprise because, youknow, their coats were so much alike. At that time Seek-Seek was wearingplain stripes, just as Striped Chipmunk does to this day.
"'What do you mean by stealing my coat?' demanded Mr. Chipmunk angrily.
"'I was just about to ask you the same question,' retorted Seek-Seek.
"Mr. Chipmunk had a sharp reply right on the tip of his tongue, but hechecked it just in time. 'What's the use of quarreling over somethingneither of us had anything to do with?' said he. 'It must be that we arecousins. Where do you live?'
"Seek-Seek explained that he didn't live anywhere in particular but wastrying to find his place in the Great World. He told how he had tried tolive like the other Squirrels and failed. 'I know! I know all about it,'interrupted Mr. Chipmunk. 'I've been all through it. The place for us ison the ground or at least close to it. Come see how I live.'
"So Seek-Seek went with Mr. Chipmunk and saw how he lived among therocks and stones. For a time he tried living there too, but he didn'tlike the rocks and stones much better than he did the trees. Besides,all the neighbors were forever mistaking him for Mr. Chipmunk becausethey looked so much alike, and he didn't like this. One day he wanderedout on the Green Meadows. It was very lovely out there among the grassesand flowers. He wandered farther and farther, and the farther hewandered the better he liked it. By and by he came to the home ofYap-Yap the Prairie Dog, who is one of the Marmot family, as you know.
"'A home like that would suit me,' thought Grandfather Seek-Seekwistfully, as he journeyed on. 'I wonder if I could dig one. I believeI'll try.'
"So when he found a place to suit him he began to dig. There were nostones to hurt his feet and dull his nails, and he actually enjoyeddigging. So he dug and dug until he had a wonderful underground home.All about were plenty of seeds and tender grasses to eat, and he washappy. He had found his place in the Great World. Then one day alongcame Old Mother Nature. 'Hello, Mr. Chipmunk,' she exclaimed, as shecaught sight of his striped coat, 'what are you doing way out here?'
"Then she discovered her mistake. 'Dear me,' said she, 'this will neverdo at all. If I can't tell my own children apart, how can I expectothers to? Your coat is altogether too much like that of Mr. Chipmunk. Im
ust change it. I certainly must change it.'
"She leaned over and lightly tapped Seek-Seek right down the length ofthe broadest brown stripe of his coat. Wherever her finger touched alittle spot of yellow was left. Then she did the same thing to each ofthe other brown stripes. When she had finished Grandfather Seek-Seek hada coat exactly like the one I am now wearing, and his cup of happinesswas filled to the brim. From that day on he never was mistaken for Mr.Chipmunk or any one else. That's the story of my coat, and now I mustget busy collecting seeds for my storehouse," concluded Seek-Seek. "Comeand see me again, Peter Rabbit."
"I will," replied Peter, as he started for the dear Old Briar-patch totell Mrs. Peter all about Seek-Seek and his pretty coat.