But wishes of that kind are about the most useless things in the world.They wouldn't help him now. He had so many aches and smarts that hedidn't see how he could stand a single one more, and yet he couldn't seehow he was going to get out without receiving several more. All at oncehe had a comforting thought. He remembered that Johnny Chuck usually hasa back door. If that were the case here, he would be all right. He wouldfind out. Cautiously he poked his head out of the snug bedroom. Therewas the long hall down which he had come. And there--yes, Sir, there wasanother hall! It must be the way to the back door. Carefully Petercrept up it.
"Funny," thought he, "that I don't see any light ahead of me."
And then he bumped his nose. Yes, Sir, Peter bumped his nose against theend of that hall. You see, it was an old house, and like most old housesit was rather a tumble-down affair. Anyway, the back door had beenblocked with a great stone, and the walls of the back hall had fallenin. There was no way out there. Sadly Peter backed out to the littlebedroom. He would wait until night, and perhaps then the Yellow Jacketswould be asleep, and he could steal out the front way without gettingany more stings. Meanwhile he would try to get a nap and forget hisaches and pains.
Hardly had Peter curled up for that nap when he heard a voice. Itsounded as if it came from a long way off, but he knew just where itcame from. It came from the doorway of that old house. He knew, too,whose voice it was. It was Jimmy Skunk's voice.
"I know where you are, Peter Rabbit," said the voice. "And I know whyyou are hiding down there. I know, too, how it happened that I wasrolled down hill in that barrel. I'm just giving you a little warning,Peter. There are a lot of very angry Yellow Jackets up here, as you willfind out if you try to come out before dark. I'm going away now, but I'mgoing to come back about dark to wait for you. I may want to play alittle joke on you to pay you back for the one you played on me."
That put an end to Peter's hope of a nap. He shivered as he thought ofwhat might happen to him if Jimmy Skunk should catch him. What with hisaches and pains from the stings of the Yellow Jackets, and fear ofbeing caught by Jimmy Skunk, it was quite impossible to sleep. He wasalmost ready to face those Yellow Jackets rather than wait and meetJimmy Skunk. Twice he started up the long hall, but turned back. He justcouldn't stand any more stings. He was miserable. Yes, Sir, he wasmiserable and most uncomfortable in both body and mind.
"I wish I'd never thought of that joke," he half sobbed. "I thought itwas a great joke, but it wasn't. It was a horrid, mean joke. Why, oh,why did I ever think of it?"
Meanwhile Jimmy Skunk had gone off, chuckling.
XI
JIMMY SKUNK KEEPS HIS WORD
Keep your word, whate'er you do, And to your inmost self be true.
When Jimmy Skunk shouted down the hall of Johnny Chuck's old house toPeter Rabbit that he would come back at dark, he was half joking. He didit to make Peter uneasy and to worry him. The truth is, Jimmy was nolonger angry at all. He had quite recovered his good nature and was verymuch inclined to laugh himself over Peter's trick. But he felt that itwouldn't do to let Peter off without some kind of punishment, and so hedecided to frighten Peter a little. He knew that Peter wouldn't darecome out during the daytime because of the Yellow Jackets whose home wasjust inside the doorway of that old house; and he knew that Peterwouldn't dare face him, for he would be afraid of being treated as ReddyFox had been. So that is why he told Peter that he was coming back atdark. He felt that if Peter was kept a prisoner in there for a while,all the time worrying about how he was to get out, he would be very slowto try such a trick again.
As Jimmy ambled away to look for some beetles, he chuckled and chuckledand chuckled. "I guess that by this time Peter wishes he hadn't thoughtof that joke on Reddy Fox and myself," said he. "Perhaps I'll go backthere tonight and perhaps I won't. He won't know whether I do or not,and he won't dare come out."
Then he stopped and scratched his head thoughtfully. Then he sighed.Then he scratched his head again and once more sighed. "I really don'twant to go back there tonight," he muttered, "but I guess I'll have to.I said I would, and so I'll have to do it. I believe in keeping my word.If I shouldn't and some day he should find it out, he wouldn't believeme the next time I happened to say I would do a thing. Yes, Sir, I'llhave to go back. There is nothing like making people believe that whenyou say a thing you mean it. There is nothing like keeping your word tomake people respect you."
Being naturally rather lazy, Jimmy decided not to go any farther thanthe edge of the Old Orchard, which was only a little way above JohnnyChuck's old house, where Peter was a prisoner. There Jimmy found a warm,sunny spot and curled up for a nap. In fact, he spent all the daythere. When jolly, round, red Mr. Sun went to bed behind the PurpleHills, and the Black Shadows came trooping across the Green Meadows,Jimmy got up, yawned, chuckled, and then slowly ambled down to JohnnyChuck's old house. A look at the footprints in the sand on the doorsteptold him that Peter had not come out. Jimmy sat down and waited until itwas quite dark. Then he poked his head in at the doorway. The YellowJackets had gone to bed for the night.
"Come out, Peter. I'm waiting for you!" he called down the hall, andmade his voice sound as angry as he could. But inside he was chuckling.Then Jimmy Skunk calmly turned and went about his business. He had kepthis word.
As for Peter Rabbit, that had been one of the very worst days he couldrecall. He had ached and smarted from the stings of the Yellow Jackets;he had worried all day about what would happen to him if he did meetJimmy Skunk, and he was hungry. He had had just a little bit of hope,and this was that Jimmy Skunk wouldn't come back when it grew dark. Hehad crept part way up the hall at the first hint of night and stretchedhimself out to wait until he could be sure that those dreadful YellowJackets had gone to sleep. He had just about made up his mind that itwas safe for him to scamper out when Jimmy Skunk's voice came down thehall to him. Poor Peter! The sound of that voice almost broke his heart.
"He has come back. He's kept his word," he half sobbed as he once morewent back to Johnny Chuck's old bedroom.
There he stayed nearly all the rest of the night, though his stomachwas so empty it ached. Just before it was time for Mr. Sun to rise,Peter ventured to dash out of Johnny Chuck's old house. He got past thehome of the Yellow Jackets safely, for they were not yet awake. With hisheart in his mouth, he sprang out of the doorway. Jimmy Skunk wasn'tthere. With a sigh of relief, Peter started for the dear, safe OldBriar-patch, lipperty-lipperty-lip, as fast as he could go.
"I'll never, never play another joke," he said, over and over again ashe ran.
XII
JIMMY SKUNK AND UNC' BILLY POSSUM MEET
Jimmy Skunk ambled along down the Lone Little Path through the GreenForest. He didn't hurry. Jimmy never does hurry. Hurrying and worryingare two things he leaves for his neighbors. Now and then Jimmy stoppedto turn over a bit of bark or a stick, hoping to find some fat beetles.But it was plain to see that he had something besides fat beetles on hismind.
Up the Lone Little Path through the Green Forest shuffled Unc' BillyPossum. He didn't hurry. It was too warm to hurry. Unlike Jimmy Skunk,he does hurry sometimes, does Unc' Billy, especially when he suspectsthat Bowser the Hound is about. And sometimes Unc' Billy does worry. Yousee, there are people who think that Unc' Billy would make a very gooddinner. Unc' Billy doesn't think he would. Anyway, he has no desire tohave the experiment tried. So occasionally, when he discovers one ofthese people who think he would make a good dinner, he worries a little.
But just now Unc' Billy was neither hurrying nor worrying. There was noneed of doing either, and Unc' Billy never does anything that there isno need of doing. So Unc' Billy shuffled up the Lone Little Path, andJimmy Skunk ambled down the Lone Little Path, and right at a bend in theLone Little Path they met.
Jimmy Skunk grinned. "Hello, Unc' Billy!" said he. "Have you seen anyfat beetles this morning?"
Unc' Billy grinned. "Good mo'nin', Brer Skunk," he replied. "Ah can'trightly say Ah have. Ah had it on mah mind to ask
yo' the same thing."
Jimmy sat down and looked at Unc' Billy with twinkling eyes. His gringrew broader and became a chuckle. "Unc' Billy," said he, "have you everin your life combed your hair or brushed your coat?" You know Unc' Billyusually looks as if every hair was trying to point in a differentdirection from every other hair, while Jimmy Skunk always appears asneat as if he spent half his time brushing and smoothing his handsomeblack and white coat.
Unc' Billy's eyes twinkled. "Ah reckons Ah did such a thing once ortwice when Ah was very small, Brer Skunk," said he, without a trace ofa smile. "But it seems to me a powerful waste of time. Ah have mo'important things to worry about. By the way, Brer Skunk, did yo' everrun away from anybody in all your life?"
Jimmy looked surprised at the question. He scratched his headthoughtfully. "Not that I remember of," said he after a little. "Mostfolks run away from me," he added with a little throaty chuckle. "Thosewho don't run away always are polite and step aside. It may be that whenI was a very little fellow and didn't know much about the Great Worldand the people who live in it, I might have run away from some one, butif I did, I can't remember it. Why do you ask, Unc' Billy?"
"Oh, no reason in particular, Brer Skunk. No reason in particular. OnlyAh wonder sometimes if yo' ever realize how lucky yo' are. If Ah neverhad to worry about mah hungry neighbors, Ah reckons perhaps Ah mightbrush mah coat oftener." Unc' Billy's eyes twinkled more than ever.
"Worry," replied Jimmy Skunk sagely, "is the result of being unprepared.Anybody who is prepared has no occasion to worry. Just think it over,Unc' Billy."
It was Unc' Billy's turn to scratch his head thoughtfully. "Ah fear Ahdon't quite get your meaning, Brer Skunk," said he.
"Sit down, Unc' Billy, and I'll explain," replied Jimmy.
XIII
JIMMY SKUNK EXPLAINS
You'll find this true where'er you go That those prepared few troubles know.
"To begin with, I am not such a very big fellow, am I?" said Jimmy.
"Ah reckons Ah knows a right smart lot of folks bigger than yo', BrerSkunk," replied Unc' Billy, with a grin. You know Jimmy Skunk really isa little fellow compared with some of his neighbors.
"And I haven't very long claws or very big teeth, have I?" continuedJimmy.
"Ah reckons mine are about as long and about as big," returned Unc'Billy, looking more puzzled than ever.
"But you never see anybody bothering me, do you?" went on Jimmy.
"No," replied Unc' Billy.
"And it's the same way with Prickly Porky the Porcupine. You never seeanybody bothering him or offering to do him any harm, do you?" persistedJimmy.
"No," replied Unc' Billy once more.
"Why?" demanded Jimmy.
Unc' Billy grinned broadly. "Ah reckons, Brer Skunk," said he, "thatthere isn't anybody wants to go fo' to meddle with yo' and Brer Porky.Ah reckons most folks knows what would happen if they did, and that yo'and Brer Porky are folks it's a sight mo' comfortable to leave alone.Leastways, Ah does. Ah ain't aiming fo' trouble with either of yo'. Thatli'l bag of scent yo' carry is cert'nly most powerful, Brer Skunk, andAh isn't hankering to brush against those little spears Brer Porky isso free with. Ah knows when Ah's well off, and Ah reckons most folksfeel the same way."
Jimmy Skunk chuckled. "One more question, Unc' Billy," said he. "Did youever know me to pick a quarrel and use that bag of scent without beingattacked?"
Unc' Billy considered for a few minutes. "Ah can't say Ah ever did," hereplied.
"And you never knew Prickly Porky to go hunting trouble either,"declared Jimmy. "We don't either of us go hunting trouble, and troublenever comes hunting us, and the reason is that we both are alwaysprepared for trouble and everybody knows it. Buster Bear could squash meby just stepping on me, but he doesn't try it. You notice he always isvery polite when we meet. Prickly Porky and I are armed for _defence_,but we never use our weapons for _offence_. Nobody bothers us, and webother nobody. That's the beauty of being prepared."
Unc' Billy thought it over for a few minutes. Then he sighed and sighedagain.
"Ah reckons yo' and Brer Porky are about the luckiest people Ah knows,"said he. "Yes, Sah, Ah reckons yo' is just that. Ah don't fear anybodymah own size, but Ah cert'nly does have some mighty scary times when Ahmeets some people Ah might mention. Ah wish Ol' Mother Nature had donegone and given me something fo' to make people as scary of me as theyare of yo'. Ah cert'nly believes in preparedness after seein' yo', BrerSkunk. Ah cert'nly does just that very thing. Have yo' found any nicefresh aiggs lately?"
XIV
A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT EGGS
"An egg," says Jimmy Skunk, "is good; It's very good indeed to eat." "An egg," says Mrs. Grouse, "is dear; 'Twill hatch into a baby sweet."
So in the matter of eggs, as in a great many other matters, it alldepends on the point of view. To Jimmy Skunk and Unc' Billy Possum eggsare looked on from the viewpoint of something to eat. Their stomachsprompt them to think of eggs. Eggs are good to fill empty stomachs. Themere thought of eggs will make Jimmy and Unc' Billy smack their lips.They say they "love" eggs, but they don't. They "like" them, which isquite different.
But Mrs. Grouse and most of the other feathered people of the GreenForest and the Green Meadows and the Old Orchard really do "love" eggs.It is the heart instead of the stomach that responds to the thought ofeggs. To them eggs are almost as precious as babies, because they knowthat some day, some day very soon, those eggs will become babies. Thereare a few feathered folks, I am sorry to say, who "love" their own eggs,but "like" the eggs of other people--like them just as Jimmy Skunk andUnc' Billy Possum do, to eat. Blacky the Crow is one and his cousin,Sammy Jay, is another.
So in the springtime there is always a great deal of matching of witsbetween the little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows andthe Old Orchard. Those who have eggs try to keep them a secret or tobuild the nests that hold them where none who like to eat them can getthem; and those who have an appetite for eggs try to find them.
When Unc' Billy Possum suddenly changed the subject by asking JimmySkunk if he had found any nice fresh eggs lately, he touched a subjectvery close to Jimmy's heart. I should have said, rather, his stomach. Totell the truth, it was a longing for some eggs that had brought Jimmy tothe Green Forest. He knew that somewhere there Mrs. Grouse must behiding a nestful of the very nicest of eggs, and it was to hunt forthese that he had come.
"No," replied Jimmy, "I haven't had any luck at all this spring. I'vealmost forgotten what an egg tastes like. Either I'm growing dull andstupid, or some folks are smarter than they used to be. By the way, haveyou seen Mrs. Grouse lately?" Jimmy looked very innocent as he askedthis.
Unc' Billy chuckled until his sides shook. "Do yo' suppose Ah'd tell yo'if Ah had?" he demanded. "Ah reckons Mrs. Grouse hasn't got any mo'aiggs than Ah could comfortably take care of mahself, not to mentionMrs. Possum." Here Unc' Billy looked back over his shoulder to make surethat old Mrs. Possum wasn't within hearing, and Jimmy Skunk chuckled."Seems to me, Brer Skunk, yo' might better do your aigg hunting on theGreen Meadows and leave the Green Forest to me," continued Unc' Billy."That would be no mo' than fair. Yo' know Ah never did hanker fo' to getfar away from trees, but yo' don't mind. Besides there are mo' aiggs foryo' to find on the Green Meadows than there are fo' me to find in theGreen Forest. A right smart lot of birds make their nests on the groundthere. There is Brer Bob White and Brer Meadowlark and Brer Bobolink andBrer Field Sparrow and Brer--"
"Never mind any more, Unc' Billy," interrupted Jimmy Skunk. "I know allabout them. That is, I know all about them I want to know, except wheretheir eggs are. Didn't I just tell you I haven't had any luck at all?That's why I'm over here."
"Well, yo' won't have any mo' luck here unless yo' are a right smart lotsharper than your Unc' Billy, and when it comes to hunting aiggs, Ahdon't take mah hat off to anybody, not even to yo', Brer Skunk," repliedUnc' Billy.
XV
A SECOND MEETING
Jimmy S
kunk couldn't think of anything but eggs. The more he thought ofthem, the more he wanted some. After parting from Unc' Billy Possum inthe Green Forest he went back to the Green Meadows and prowled about,hunting for the nests of his feathered neighbors who build on theground, and having no more luck than he had had before.
Unc' Billy Possum was faring about the same way. He couldn't, for thelife of him, stop thinking about those eggs that belonged to Mrs.Grouse. The more he tried to forget about them, the more he thoughtabout them.
"Ah feels it in mah bones that there isn't the least bit of use inhuntin' fo' them," said he to himself, as he watched Jimmy Skunk ambleout of sight up the Lone Little Path. "No, Sah, there isn't the leastbit of use. Ah done look every place Ah can think of already. Still, Ahhaven't got anything else special on mah mind, and those aiggs cert'nlywould taste good. Ah reckons it must be Ah needs those aiggs, or Ahwouldn't have them on mah mind so much. Ah finds it rather painful tocarry aiggs on mah mind all the time, but Ah would enjoy carrying themin mah stomach. Ah cert'nly would." Unc' Billy grinned and started toramble about aimlessly, hoping that chance would lead him to the nest ofMrs. Grouse.
Do what he would, Unc' Billy couldn't get the thought of eggs off hismind, and the more he thought about them the more he wanted some. Andthat led him to think of Farmer Brown's henhouse. He had long agoresolved never again to go there, but the longing for a taste of eggswas too much for his good resolutions, and as soon as jolly, round, redMr. Sun sank to rest behind the Purple Hills, and the Black Shadows camecreeping across the Green Meadows and through the Green Forest, Unc'Billy slipped away, taking pains that old Mrs. Possum shouldn't suspectwhere he was going.