st out of her skin every minute, for it seemed to her
that there was danger lurking behind every tree and under every bush.
It was all very well for Chatterer the Red Squirrel and Happy Jack the
Gray Squirrel, who could jump from tree to tree, but she didn't think
it a safe and proper place for a sensible Rabbit, and she said so.

This particular morning she was unusually anxious. Peter had been gone
all night. Usually he was home by the time Old Mother West Wind came
down from the Purple Hills and emptied her children, the Merry Little
Breezes, out of her big bag to play all day on the Green Meadows, but
this morning Old Mother West Wind had been a long time gone about her
business, and still there was no sign of Peter.

"Something has happened. I just know something has happened!" she
wailed.

"Oh, Peter, Peter, Peter Rabbit
Why will you be so heedless?
Why will you take such dreadful risks,
So foolish and so needless?"

"Don't worry. Peter is smart enough to take care of himself," cried
one of the Merry Little Breezes, who happened along just in time to
overhear her. "He'll be home pretty soon. In fact, I think I see him
coming now."

Mrs. Peter looked in the direction that the Merry Little Breeze was
looking, and sure enough there was Peter. He was heading straight for
the dear Old Briar-patch, and he was running as if he were trying to
show how fast he could run. Mrs. Peter's heart gave a frightened
thump. "It must be that Reddy or Granny Fox or Old Man Coyote is
right at his heels," thought she, but look as hard as she would, she
could see nothing to make Peter run so.

In a few minutes he reached her side. His eyes were very wide, and it
was plain to see that he was bursting with important news.

"What is it, Peter? Do tell me quick! Have you had another narrow
escape?" gasped little Mrs. Peter.

Peter nodded while he panted for breath. "There's another stranger in
the Green Forest, a terrible looking fellow without legs or head or
tail, and he almost caught me!" panted Peter.

V

PETER RABBIT TELLS HIS STORY

When Peter Rabbit could get his breath after his long hard run from
the Green Forest to the dear Old Briar-patch, he had a wonderful story
to tell. It was all about a stranger in the Green Forest, and to have
heard Peter tell about it, you would have thought, as Mrs. Peter did,
that it was a very terrible stranger, for it had no legs, and it had
no head, and it ha