nk called. "Why didn't you
follow me, as I told you to?"

"I fell into this mud," Jimmy Rabbit told him. "And I called and called
to you. Couldn't you hear me?"

"The wind was blowing," said Peter--and anyone can see that _that_ was
no answer at all.

"Well, if you'd looked around, you could have seen what happened to me,"
Jimmy Rabbit complained.

"The sun was shining in my eyes," Peter Mink told him--and I shouldn't
say that this answer of Peter's was any better than the first.

"Well--you can help me out of this bog, anyhow," Jimmy Rabbit said. "So
please give me your hand. I'm pretty tired of being stuck here."

But Peter Mink never stirred. "Where's your lucky left hind-foot?" he
asked. "I should think _that_ could help you out, if anything could."

"The trouble is," said Jimmy Rabbit, "my left hind-foot is so deep in
this mire that I can't pull it up where it can do me any good at all.
It's the first time I've ever known it to fail me. And you can't really
blame the foot, either, for it hasn't a chance. I don't suppose it even
knows what a fix I'm in."

Still Peter Mink made no move.

"What are you waiting for?" Jimmy inquired. "I've been here long
enough."

"Maybe you have--for you," said Peter Mink. "But you haven't been there
long enough to suit me." And he pretended to start to go away.

Jimmy Rabbit called to him.

"I'll give you something, if you'll help me," he said.

Peter turned around.

"There's just one thing you can give me," he said, "that will make me
willing to pull you out of the mud."

"What's that?" Jimmy asked him.

"Your left hind-foot!" Peter Mink told him. "I need a lucky foot. I'm
always getting into trouble of some sort and a rabbit's left hind-foot
would be a great help to me--unless I happened to get stuck in the mud,"
he added with a sly smile. Jimmy Rabbit knew then that Peter Mink had
meant all the time to lead him into that mud. He knew that Peter had
meant all the time to get his left hind-foot away from him. But he
didn't let Peter Mink know that he knew.

"You can have my left hind-foot," Jimmy Rabbit said, "on two conditions.
You must always carry it in your pocket, and you have to agree to
take--along with the foot--all the luck and everything else that goes
with it."

Peter Mink quickly agreed to that.

And Jimmy Rabbit said it was a bargain, and that something awful always
happened to people that didn't stand by their bargains.

Well, after that Peter