New Britain herald., 1927-01-07

What Peter means is that if peo- pie are wide awake they seldom get Into difficulties. But sooner or later nearly everybody is caught mapping. That is, nearly every one has times of being forgetful, or failing to watch out. Peter himself has had more than one narrow escape just because he was careless and forget ful.
 Winter is a hard time for the lit tie people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows. At least. it is hard time for most of them. A few. who have been forehanded enough 10 store away food. get along nicely. But those who must depend on get ting their food day by day some times suffer a great deal. They sui fer great hunger and they suffer from the cold. It takes food to make heat. One cannot be warm and hungry. too. It is only when the stomach is full that the body Is warm. The fur coat does not make warmth. It simply keeps in the body the heat which is made by the food. So you will nearly always find that in winter a very hungry animal us ually is shivering.
 This is the reason that Yowler the Bobcat and Puma the Panther and Old Man Coyote and Reddy Fox sometimes become so bold when the weather Is very, very bad, or when the weather has been very, very bad. They are willing to take almost any chance in order to get food. Of course, this makes it all the harder on the little people whom they hunt. So even those who do no suffer hunger. suffer from constant fear. The season Of snow and ice and bit ter wind is not a happy season for any of the little people in fur or feathers
 Peter Rabbit should have known that he had no business to leave the dear Old Briar- patch after the big ice storm. l suppose Peter did know it, but he was so anxious to see what was going on in the Green Forest. so full of curiosity. that not all that little Mrs. Peter could say could keep him at home. Away he went, lipperty- -lipperty-lip as fast as his legs could take him. at the very first opportunity. He reached the Green Forest In safety. and there for q long time he wandered about with out finding any one he knew. Tn fact. he didn't find any one al all. You Sec, the other folk who had been kept in by the storm had not started out as carly as Peter.
 Finally Peter grew tired. He came to 2 certain hollow log. It was quite a long log and il was hollow from end to end. IL was big enough for Peter 10 crawl through, but uot big enough for any one larger than Peter 10 crawl through. 'IU go in here and rest while" said Peter 10 himself. So in he crawled and. be- cause he was very tired, he began 10 nod. He began to nod and iOzc. and pretty soon he was asleep.
 It wasn't long after Peter fell asleep that Reddy Fox came along. Reddy seldom misses anything. He investigates every possible hiding place. So, when he came to this old hollow log. he sniffed al the end of it. Right away his stomach almost tlopped over with eagerness. He smeled Peter Rabbit. and the smell was so strong that it was almost as tf he had Peter right in his mouth.
 Fla. ha" said Reddy Fox,
 Peter awoke. He saw, heard and Smelled Reddy, but he wasn't fright nned, He simply crawled along q lit tle farther in to the old hollow log Then he grinned at Reddy, and it was most provoking. Yes, sir, that grin was most provoking grin.
 Reddy merely erinned back. I've got you where I want you now, Peter . Rabbit" said he. Sooner or later |