The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-05-22

'sose who Httie things have needed. Johnny Chuck. It isn't pleasant to be suspicious of other people No, sir, 1t isn't pleas ant It isn't pleasant at all. But sometimes 1t is very necessary. That Is because there are many people who cannot be trusted. If everybody could be trusted there would be no such thing as suspicion. Then what happy world this would be to l live in.
 Peter Rabbit doesn't like to be sus- pleious, but he has to be very often. IT he were not he wouldn't live long. He found this out when he was very young. He found out that certain of 1 his neighbors were so tricky that it is necessary to be suspicious of them all the time. One of these neighbors Is Reddy Fox. Another is old Man 1 Coyote.
 When Peter found out that Reddy l Fox had spent a lot of time in the patch Of sweet clover where Johnny Chuck and his family and Peters
 own family had had a party late one
 afternoon. Peter knew that Johnny Chuck was right in suspecting that
 Reddy had found out the secret of the young Chueks and the young
 Rabbits. He went back to the dear Old Briar- patch to think things over,
 Fuzzy, my dear" said he to little Mrs. Peter, there is no doubt in my mind that Reddy Fox knows our se- l eret, Of course, he has told Mrs
 Reddy We both know there is noth- ing that could please those two more than some tender young Rabbits to take home to their family. This means that they will do their very best to catch some of our babies. As long IS the children stay inside the dear Old Briar-patch they will be safe. There will be no need to worry about them then. But we can't keen them inside the Old Briar-patch all the time. Reddy Fox knows this, so l suspect he and Mrs. Reddy are planning some trick to catch our babies outside"
 Little Mrs. Peter shiyered T wish" said she. that there was a clover patch in the middle of the dear Old Briar-Datch."
 "A foolish wish, my dear, foolish wish" replied Peter. "The clover is outside the dear Old Briar-patch and there is no use at all wishing it was inside. We have raised q couple of families successfully, in spite of Reddy Fox and Mrs Reddy. and | guess we can do it again. We know 6 lot of Reddy's tricks and he knows that we know them. That means that he will try some new ones We must be everlastingly on the watch for them and suspicious every minute" For the rest of that day Peter spent most of his time watching for Reddy Fox. He knew that Reddy knew about the young Chucks living on the edge of the Old Briar-patch, and so he felt sure that Reddy would appear, on that side sooner or later
 Having those young Chucks such near neighbors added to the danger for the young Rabbits, because 1t would mean that Reddy and Mrs. Reddy would spend just twice as much time around the dear Old Briar- patch as would be the case were the Chuck family some distance away. Ori- the other hand, there were some advan- tages For one thing, the young Chucks would divide the attention of the red-coated hunters.
 For two or three days Peter saw nothing of Reddy Fox or Mrs. Reddy So far as he could find out, they hadn't been near the dear Old Briar- patch. Instead of feeling easier in his mind because of this, Peter grew more and more suspicious. "They are keeping away to make us think that they don't know anything about these babies over here and to make us think that everything is perfectly safe" muttered Peter to himself When they think that we will least