Mrs Peter Rabbit

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Mrs Peter Rabbit

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mrs. Peter Rabbit, by Thornton W. Burgess #11 in our series by Thornton W. Burgess
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Title: Mrs. Peter Rabbit
Author: Thornton W. Burgess
Release Date: May, 2004 [EBook #5791] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on September 1, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MRS. PETER RABBIT ***

Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team

MRS. PETER RABBIT
BY
THORNTON W. BURGESS
With illustrations by HARRISON CADY
1919

TO MY DAUGHTER
WHOSE ASSISTANCE IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS VOLUME HAS BEEN INVALUABLE IT IS MOST AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I
PETER RABBIT LOSES HIS APPETITE
II PETER RABBIT PLANS A JOURNEY
III HOOTY THE OWL CHANGES HIS HUNTING GROUNDS
IV THE SHADOW WITH SHARP CLAWS
V IN THE OLD PASTURE
VI PETER RABBIT IS STILL LONESOME
VII PETER FINDS TRACKS
VIII THE STRANGE TRACKS IN THE OLD PASTURE
IX AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE
X PETER RABBIT ALMOST DECIDES TO RETURN HOME
XI PETER RABBIT HAS A SUDDEN CHANGE OF MIND
XII PETER LEARNS SOMETHING FROM TOMMY TIT
XIII LITTLE MISS FUZZYTAIL
XIV SOME ONE FOOLS OLD JED THUMPER
XV A PLEASANT SURPRISE FOR PETER
XVI PETER RABBIT'S LOOKING-GLASS
XVII PETER MEETS MISS FUZZYTAIL
XVIII TOMMY TIT PROVES A FRIEND INDEED
XIX OLD MAN COYOTE PAYS A DEBT
XX LITTLE MISS FUZZYTAIL WHISPERS "YES"
XXI PETER AND LITTLE MISS FUZZYTAIL LEAVE THE OLD PASTURE
XXII SAMMY JAY BECOMES CURIOUS
XXIII PETER INTRODUCES MRS. PETER
XXIV DANNY MEADOW MOUSE WARNS PETER RABBIT
XXV PETER RABBIT'S HEEDLESSNESS
XXVI PETER RABBIT LISTENS TO MRS. PETER
XXVII MISTAH MOCKER PLAYS A JOKE ON MRS. PETER
XXVIII NEWS FROM THE OLD BRIAR-PATCH
XXIX JIMMY SKUNK VISITS PETER RABBIT
XXX REDDY FOX LEARNS THE SECRET
XXXI BLACKY THE CROW HAS SHARP EYES
XXXII PETER RABBIT'S NURSERY

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Every one who could walk, creep, or fly headed for the Old Briar-patch ..... Frontispiece
He dodged and jumped, and all the time the shadow followed him
That night Old Man Coyote started for the Old Pasture
"The quickest way for me to know is for you to tell me," replied Jimmy
CHAPTER I
PETER RABBIT LOSES HIS APPETITE
Good appetite, you'll always find, Depends upon your state of mind. Peter Rabbit.
Peter Rabbit had lost his appetite. Now when Peter Rabbit loses his appetite, something is very wrong indeed with him. Peter has boasted that he can eat any time and all the time. In fact, the two things that Peter thinks most about are his stomach and satisfying his curiosity, and nearly all of the scrapes that Peter has gotten into have been because of those two things. So when Peter loses his appetite or his curiosity, there is surely something the matter with him.
Ever since Old Man Coyote had come to live on the Green Meadows, Peter had been afraid to go very far from the dear Old Briar-patch where he makes his home, and where he always feels safe. Now there wasn't any reason why he should go far from the dear Old Briar-patch. There was plenty to eat in it and all around it, for sweet clover grew almost up to the very edge of it, and you know Peter is very fond of sweet clover. So there was plenty for Peter to eat without running any risk of danger. With nothing to do but eat and sleep, Peter should have grown fat and contented. But he didn't.
Now that is just the way with a lot of people. The more they have and the less they have to worry about, the more discontented they become, and at last they are positively unhappy. There was little Danny Meadow Mouse, living out on the Green Meadows; he was happy all the livelong day, and yet he had no safe castle like the dear Old Briar-patch where he could always be safe. Every minute of every day Danny had to keep his eyes wide open and his wits working their very quickest, for any minute he was likely to be in danger. Old Man Coyote or Reddy Fox or Granny Fox or Digger the Badger or Mr. Blacksnake was likely to come creeping through the grass any time,