Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-08-10

Than making it a part of play.
Peter Rabbit
Every one who would live to grow up |
and go out into the Great World must |
learn great many things. Whoever |
refuses to learn will not live long. or
if he does manage to live will get few |
Of the good things Of life. The more !
one knows the better fitted he becomes |
to get the best from life to make a |
place for himself in the Great World.
stand this and often would much rather
play than try to learn things. How
about you? Don't you find it so? But
much may be learned in play, and les
sons in play are much easier to remem-
Der. Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Peter
things in just this way when they were
home. So. just as soon as their six
babies were big enough to run about and
kick up their funny little heels. Mrs.
Peter began teaching them many i'm
portant things for young rabbits to
youngsters thought they were just play
ing.
Those lesson games were the same
games with which Peter and Mrs. Peter
had taught their first family of four to
aid themselves to go out into the Great
Tho first was called following Mammy's
Tail Sometimes Mrs. Peter would play
it with just one, you know her tail was
white, just like Peters. The games was
played when the Black Shadows had
wrapped the Dear Old Briar-patch in
darkness. She would start out with one
of her babies at her heels, telling him to
keep his eyes on her tail and never take
them off Then she would lead him
about through the darkest parts of the
Dear Old Briar-patch, keeping far
enough ahead so that all he could see
was her tail. AS long as he kept his
eyes on that he had no trouble. But if
he forgot and allowed his eyes to wan
der the white spot would disappear and
he would be lost and much frightened.
To a baby rabbit even the Dear Old
place to be lost in in the dark. So it
seldom happened to any Of them more
than once
Sometimes she would take all six.
Then it was great fun. The first would
watch Mrs. Peters tail. the next one
would watch the tail Of the first one, and
so on. Mrs. Peter would try to fool
them by making sudden turns. But it
wasn't long before they began watch
ing for this and were no longer to be
fooled they could follow her anywhere
1t was great game and they liked to
learned an important lesson, how to fol-
low one another.
Then there was the game Of Signal
thump. Peter helped teach this. He
showed them how to stamp with their
hind feet so as to make humping
sound on the ground Then they were
taught the meaning of the thumps. how
certain ones mean danger near, anger,
to sit tight. to run.
And there were the games of Jump
and-run and Freeze-tight. In the first
Mrs. Peter would go of out Of sight and
the Bunnies would play about Sud-
denly there would come signal from
Mrs Peter. and at once they would
scamper for the nearest hiding place
and try to see who could get there first
The second game was just the OPP
posite. When they heard that signal
each would stop instantly and squat
down perfectly still and keep still, not
moving so much as an eye until the sig
nal that all was well.
Later Mrs. Peter would explain how
useful it was to know these things in
times of danger and how to know which
thing to do. So they played and learned
and grew and still no one save Reddy
| Fox had learned the secret of the Dear
| Old Briar-patch-
| lcopyright: 1920: BY 7: ": BnrEess:l