r. Jay had passed along his bad habits to his children, she
passed along his handsome blue coat, too, and so it has been from that
long-ago day right down to this. Sammy Jay's fine coat isn't a reward
for goodness, as is Winsome Bluebird's, but is to help the other
little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows to protect
themselves, and keep track of Sammy when he is sneaking and snooping
around looking for mischief. Now what do you think, Peter Rabbit?"

Peter scratched one long ear and then the other long ear thoughtfully,
and he looked a wee bit ashamed as he replied: "I guess Old Mother
Nature makes no mistakes and always knows just what she is doing."

"Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog in his deepest voice. "You may be
sure she does. And another thing, Peter Rabbit: Never judge any one by
his clothes. It is a great mistake, a very great mistake. Plain
clothes sometimes cover the kindest hearts, and fine clothes often are
a warning to beware of mischief."

"I--I don't know but you are right," admitted Peter.

"I know I am," said Grandfather Frog.

VII

WHY JERRY MUSKRAT BUILDS HIS HOUSE IN THE WATER

Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck had gone down to the Smiling Pool for a
call on their old friend, Jerry Muskrat. But Jerry was nowhere to be
seen. They waited and waited, but no Jerry Muskrat.

"Probably he is taking a nap in that big house of his," said Johnny
Chuck, "and if he is we'll have to sit here until he wakes up, or else
go back home and visit him some other time."

"That's so," replied Peter. "I don't see what he has his house in the
water for, anyway. If he had built it on land, like sensible people,
we might be able to waken him. Funny place to build a house, isn't
it?"

Johnny Chuck scratched his head thoughtfully. "It does seem a funny
place," he admitted. "It certainly does seem a funny place. But then,
Jerry Muskrat is a funny fellow. You know how much of the time he
stays in the water. That seems funny to me. I suppose there is a
reason for it, and probably there is a reason for building his house
where it is. I've found that there is a reason for most things.
Probably Jerry's great-great-grandfather built his house that way, and
so Jerry does the same thing."

Peter Rabbit suddenly brightened up. "I do believe you are right,
Johnny Chuck, and if you are, there must be a story about it, and if
there is a story, Grandfather Frog will be sure to know it. There he
is, over