lose behind the
runaway cabbage and had no time to turn aside. Over the two of them
fell Peter Rabbit. Such a mix-up!

And the big cabbage kept right on running away. Jimmy Skunk, who never
hurries, heard the noise behind him and turned to see what it all
meant. But he didn't have time to more than blink his eyes before the
runaway cabbage hit him full in the stomach. Down went Jimmy Skunk
with a grunt. One big egg flew over against a tree and broke. Jimmy
landed on the other, and this broke, too.

Such a sight as Jimmy Skunk was! Egg dripped from every part of his
handsome black and white coat. It was in his eyes and all over his
face and dripped from his whiskers. Shadow the Weasel and Reddy Fox,
hiding in the hollow log, laughed until the tears rolled down their
cheeks, though down in the heart of Shadow was bitter disappointment,
for he had planned to steal those very eggs.

Just a little way beyond Jimmy Skunk the runaway cabbage brought up
with a thump against a stump on which sat Striped Chipmunk, with the
pockets in his cheeks filled full of yellow corn. The sudden bump of
the big cabbage made Striped Chipmunk lose his balance, and off he
tumbled, right down on to old Mr. Toad, who had just sat down behind
the stump for a few minutes of rest. It knocked all the wind out of
Mr. Toad, and of course Striped Chipmunk spilled all his corn.

Prickly Porky the Porcupine heard the noise. He looked up to see a
strange thing bounding down the Lone Little Path. Prickly Porky
didn't wait to see what it was. He did just what he always does when
he thinks there may be danger; he rolled himself up with his face
hidden in his waistcoat, and when he did that, the thousand little
spears hidden in his coat stood out until he looked like a giant
chestnut burr.

The runaway cabbage bounced off the stump and hit Prickly Porky. Then
it stopped. Where it had touched Prickly Porky, the sharp little
spears had stuck into it, so that when Peter Rabbit and Jumper the
Hare hurried up, there lay the runaway cabbage, looking for all the
world like a great green pincushion.

XI

REDDY FOX GOES HUNGRY

Like a great green pincushion lay the runaway cabbage of Peter Rabbit
and Jumper the Hare. Every one thought it was the very best joke ever.
Jimmy Skunk had gone off to take a bath and get two more eggs for
Peter Rabbit's party. Reddy Fox and Shadow the Weasel, peeping out
from the hollow log where they were hiding, could see J