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PETER RABBIT
AND
HIS MA.
------~----" ------~---~n~------r~~ .r--- -- -rpp~-ls~-----------~~- -------~~r~r~- ~~---r--
ETEK RABBIT
AND
SHIS MA.
Ilusrtraftol by V iiaAba.
TH E
SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO AKZRON.OHIO NEW YORK
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
'- a '
COPYRIGHT, 1917
BY
THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING CO.
. It
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c5p
PETER RABBIT
AND HIS MA
It all came
i about be-
cause Mrs.
Rufus Rabbit had sud-,
denly become very
strict about the com-
ings and goingss of
U
13 i C)
PETER Rabbit and
Molly Cottontail
and Flopsy and
Mopsy. (Mrs. Rufus
Rabbit was Peter Rabbit's
Ma.)
They must get up and go
to bed at just such an hour,
and ask
permis-
IL 1J sion
every
time
they went
out of the
house.
Peter Rab-
bit was rather
fond of
.having
his
own way and he promptly made up
his mind that while such rules were
all very well for Molly Cottontail,
who never had a mind of her own
anyway, and for Flopsy and Mopsy,
who were far too young to do any-
thing but to mind somebody else,
as far as HE
concerned,
intended to
to bed when
liked and get
when
he
was
he
go
he
up
pleased.
^HE more he thought of it,
the crosser he became.
He had gone to bed very
much earlier than usual, and was not
a bit sleepy.
Visions of
many,
many
_- nights when
he would have to go to
bed when he was not
sleepy danced before his
eyes.
Finally he decided to
run away.
T first he thought of taking
Molly
with him
cluded
would
Peter
bunny.
be
-N
-.
ottontail
along
. Then he con-
that the twins
very lonely without
Rabbit
At
her.
was not a selfish
any rate, he thought
he would
get
on much faster
alone.
E began to make
his plans, and grew
so excited that he
found it impossible
to go to sleep at all.
He could hardly wait till
the first little smiling streak
of sun-
lightpeeked in at
peeked in at 4 (IV7
the door of
the burrow.
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I -
~---------~
-~ _
It seemed to beckon him,
to offer all sorts of promises, and
to urge him to seek for the fun
about which he had been thinking
all night.
Very quickly and quietly he crept
out of bed and dressed,
pausing
every
now and
then to
glance
fearfully
toward
the
spot where
the other
members of
the family lay curled up in little
turry balls, peacefully-and Mrs.
Rufus Rabbit audibly-sleeping.
Soon he was
quite ready, and
after one dread-
ful moment when
he felt quite sure
the whole family
was wide awake
and ready to
grab him as he crept past
on tiptoe, he found himself
outside the burrow and run-
ning for his life through the
soft spring sunshine.
E ran
what
without noticing
direction
for
some
time. Then,
feel tired, he
beginning
slackened
speed, and finally stopped quite still
looked
about him.
A second
glance showed
turnips
only
him a great field
a few yards
ahead
him.
was beginning
to feel
hungry.
So in another moment he
was busily at work rooting up
in
to
his
and
of
of
He
very
A fine, juicy turnip.
N this he fea
until he could
no more.
Unwilling to leave s
a tempting meal, he fir
.sted
eat
;uch
ally
dug up a second fine plump
turnip
and car-
>ried it
away, slung
over his
shoulder.
He
thought ;it
might taste good for luncheon.
robin red-breast flew across
his path and
a cheery go
wished
him
od-morning,
Peter
ments
gaily
stopped for
a few
of chatter.
mo-
P1
Already
little lonely'
he felt a
1 1 1 1 A!
after
robin
wistfully as
it flew ove
the bushes.
little further on a
wee Shrew-Mouse
' I popped her head
6W out of a hole right
ahead of him and
squeaked a shrill but good-
natured greeting.
[ Peter sat down on his
haunches
and had a
Very
1 pleasant
half hour.
The Shrew-
SMouse told
him her name
was Susan, and advised him to throw
down the big turnip as it
was a heavy burden and,
besides, he would be sure
to find plenty of nice things
to eat if he followed her in-
structions. Then she
wished him good luck and
vanished into her hole in
the
ground.
Ac- r
cordingly he
dropped the
load of
luncheon that
had already
given
him a backache,
ND trotted
more
comfortably
much
and
quickly.
Right around
a turn
in, the
ran a clear
stream of blue
water with a
little wooden
bridge cross-
And
on the
very edge of the water
sat an old bullfrog
who croaked out:
"Look out
will fall into
or you
the
water!"
/
road,
along
OW the warning sounded
so funny that
s had
Peter,
who
just started to cross
the bridge,
and laughed
commenced to
laugh,
so hard that he lost his
balance and tumbled straight
the water.
2/--
into
The bullfrog seemed to think this
a very great
joke and in his
began
to laugh loudly.
It did
seem so comical to Peter, but luckily
the water was so shallow
quickly scrambled to dry
that he
ground,
with no more inconvenience than
thorough wetting.
turn
not
- '.
OOK
nice red
off, the
coat
his Ma had
made
for him and hung it on a
sumac bush to dry.
He was beginning to feel
hungry and wondered where
all the good things were that
Susan Shrew-Mouse had
promised him. While won-
dering where he would find
his luncheon, and wishing he
had not
so hastily
disposed
of his nice
turnip, he
Heard a funny
little squeak-
ing voice behind him.
It seemed to be speaking as well as
squeaking to him.
"How do you do, Peter Rabbit?"
it said.
I.
/7fT/?
And turning around, Peter saw a
plump little field-mouse sitting by
the side of the path.
Y cousin, Susan
Shrew-
Mouse, sent me word
by the
carrier
pigeon
ETER
Rabbit was certainly
delighted,
for his little
round tummy had started to
him some inside
information,
and it was of a kind that made him
uncomfortable. He had never been
hungry before, and he thought with
regret of the
good food
his mother
had always provided,
to see himself in the
and he began
light
of a very
ungrateful bunny, indeed.
give
UPPOSE he never
found his way home
and never saw his
Ma and Molly Cottontail
and the twins again?
WO
large
tears
rolled
down his
long
nose at
the
dreadful
thought.
UT the voice of Freddie
Field-Mouse broke in up-
on his gloomy reverie.
Luncheon was all laid out on a large,
flat stone under a shady green bush
and the two
furry friends
feasted -, -4
on crisp green lettuce, fresh pink
radishes and tempting yellow car-
rots. So long did they sit over the
meal that Peter discovered, much to
his dismay, that the sun was begin-
ning to sink in the west.
ITH many thanks to his
kind little
host, he put
on the little red
coat
that was now
quite dry and
with a last
good-bye
started down
the path at a good pace, feeling much
rested and
rl
refreshed, but not knowing
at all where he was going, for
the field-mouse had been
unable to give him much in-
formation as he had but
lately come to that part of
the country.
When
Peter
Rabbit
did not
reach home
by dusk,
Mrs. Rufus Rabbit
began
to get
took her lantern and a walking stick
that had belonged to Peter Rabbit's
Pa ("For who knows but there may
be bears in
C5
the woods?" she said to her-
self) and not very far did she
have to go. For without
knowing it, Peter Rabbit had
been traveling in a circle, and
at the foot of a big oak tree,
in a nest of soft green ferns,
she found him fast asleep.
ND Peter
Rabbit went
nicely to sleep, very
to be
at home again and
very much ashamed of
himself for having run away from it.
And the last thing he remembered
after he had rolled over to get a look
at Molly
Cottontail
and the twins
was
glad
I
feeling
his Ma's soft muzzle
bing
against his
the way bunnies
face.
For that is
kiss one another
good-night.
rub-
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