loneliest part of the Old
Pasture and crept into an old house that he and Granny had dug there
long ago when they had been forced to live in the Old Pasture in the
days when Farmer Brown's boy and Bowser the Hound had hunted them for
stealing chickens. There he stretched himself out and was perfectly
miserable.

"It wouldn't be so bad if I had really been to blame, but I wasn't. I
didn't know Jimmy Skunk was in that barrel and I didn't mean to start it
rolling down the hill anyway," he muttered. "It was all an accident
and--" He stopped and into his yellow eyes crept a look of suspicion. "I
wonder," said he slowly, "if Peter Rabbit knew that Jimmy Skunk was
there and planned to get me into all this trouble. I wonder."

VI

PETER RABBIT DOESN'T ENJOY HIS JOKE

All the time that Jimmy Skunk was punishing Reddy Fox for rolling him
down hill in a barrel, and while Reddy was sneaking away to the Green
Forest to get out of sight, Peter Rabbit was lying low in the old house
of Johnny Chuck, right near the place where Jimmy Skunk's wild ride had
come to an end. It had been a great relief to Peter when he had seen
Jimmy Skunk get to his feet, and he knew that Jimmy hadn't been hurt in
that wild ride. Lying flat in the doorway of Johnny Chuck's old house,
Peter could see all that went on without being seen himself, and he
could hear all that was said.

He chuckled as he saw Reddy Fox come up and his eyes were popping right
out with excitement as he waited for what would happen next. He felt
sure that Reddy Fox was in for something unpleasant, and he was glad. Of
course, that wasn't a bit nice of Peter. Right down in his heart Peter
knew it, but he had been chased so often by Reddy and given so many
dreadful frights, that he felt now that he was getting even. So he
chuckled as he waited for what was to happen. Suddenly that chuckle
broke right off in the middle, and Peter cried "Ouch!" He had felt a
pain as if a hot needle had been thrust into him. It made him almost
jump out of the doorway. But he remembered in time that it would never,
never do for him to show himself outside, for right away Reddy Fox and
Jimmy Skunk would suspect that he had had something to do with that wild
ride of Jimmy's in the barrel. So it would not do to show himself now.
No, indeed!

All he could do was to kick and squirm and twist his head around to see
what was happening. It didn't take long to find out. Even as he looked,
he felt ano