east attention to
Peter's interruption. "Old Mr. Bat had wings; something no other
animal had, but he found that he could no longer run and jump. He
could just flop about on the ground, and was almost helpless. Of
course that meant that he could very easily be caught, and so the
ground was no longer a safe place for him. But he soon found that he
was not safe in the air in daytime. Old Mr. Hawk could fly even faster
than he, and Mr. Hawk was always watching for him. At first, Mr. Bat
didn't know what to do. He didn't like to go to Old Mother Nature and
complain that his new wings were not all that he had thought they
would be. That would look as if he were ungrateful for her kindness
in giving him the wings.

"'I've got to think of some way out of my troubles myself,' thought
old Mr. Bat. 'When I'm sure that I can't, it will be time enough to go
to Old Mother Nature.'

"Now of course it is very hard to think when you are twisting and
dodging and turning in the air."

"Of course!" said Peter Rabbit, just as if he knew all about it.

"So Mr. Bat went looking for a place where he could be quiet all by
himself and think without danger of being gobbled up for some one's
dinner," continued Grandfather Frog. "He flew and he flew and had
almost given up hope of finding any such place when he saw a cave. It
looked very black inside, but it was big enough for Mr. Bat to fly
into, and in he went. He knew that Mr. Hawk would never come in
there, and when he found a little shelf up near the roof, he knew that
he was safe from any four-footed enemies who might follow him there.
It was just the place to rest and think. So he rested, and while he
rested, he thought and thought.

"By and by he noticed that it was growing dark outside. 'My goodness!
If I am going to get anything to eat to-day, I shall have to hurry,'
thought he. When he got outside, he found that Mr. Sun had gone to
bed. So had all the birds, except Mr. Owl and Mr. Nighthawk. Now Mr.
Nighthawk doesn't belong to the Hawk family at all, so there was
nothing to fear from him. Then Mr. Bat had a very pleasant surprise.
He found the air full of insects, ever so many more than in the
daytime. By being very smart and quick he caught a few before it was
too dark for him to see. They didn't fill his stomach, but they kept
him from starving. As he flew back to the cave, a great idea came to
him, the idea for which he had been thinking so hard. He would sleep
days in the cav