to see the bright eyes of Danny Meadow Mouse twinkling at
him from the entrance to a tiny little path that joined the bigger path
in which Peter was sitting.
"Hello, Danny!" he exclaimed. "Do you mean to tell me that was a
relative of yours? Since when have any of your relatives taken to
flying?"
Danny chuckled. "He wasn't flying," he retorted. "He just jumped, that
was all." Danny chuckled again, for he knows that Peter considers
himself quite a jumper and is inclined to be a bit jealous of any one
else who pretends to jump save his cousin, Jumper the Hare.
"Jumped!" snorted Peter. "Jumped! Do you expect me to believe that any
Mouse can jump like that? I didn't get a good look at that fellow, but
whoever he is I tell you he flew. Nobody can jump like that."
Danny chuckled again. "Wait a minute, Peter," said he. He disappeared,
and Peter waited. He waited one minute, two minutes, three minutes, and
then suddenly Danny poked his head out from the grass beside the path.
"Here he is, Peter," said he, coming wholly out into the path. "Let me
introduce my cousin, Limberheels."
As he spoke the grass beside him rustled, and out crept some one beside
whom Danny Meadow Mouse looked big, clumsy and homely. One glance was
enough to tell Peter that the stranger was a sure-enough member of the
Mouse family, but such a member as he never had seen before. He was trim
and slender. He wore a reddish-brown coat with a white waistcoat. But
the things that made Peter stare very impolitely were his tail and his
legs. His tail was nearly twice as long as his body, slim and tapering,
and his hind legs were very long, while his fore legs were short. It
took only one glance to convince Peter that here was a born jumper. Any
one built like that _must_ jump.
"You two must become acquainted and be friends," continued Danny Meadow
Mouse. "Peter is one of my best friends, Limberheels. He wouldn't hurt a
flea. I'm sure that from now on he will be one of your best friends."
"I'll be happy to," said Peter promptly. "Danny has been telling me what
a wonderful jumper you are. Would you mind showing me how you jump? I
guess you jumped right in front of me a few minutes ago, but I was so
surprised that I didn't really see you."
"I guess I did," replied Limberheels rather timidly. "You see, I didn't
hear you coming until you were almost on top of me, and then I didn't
know who it was so I got away as quickly as I could. I'll be ever so
gla
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