ndeed, for Mr. Muskrat spent nearly all his time in the water
and was accounted a very good swimmer. There was only one thing that
bothered Mr. Mink. The water was so dreadfully wet! Every time he came
out of it, he had to run his hardest to dry off and keep from getting
cold. This was very tiresome and he did wish that there was an easier
way of drying off.

"Then came the bad time, the sad time, when food was scarce, and most of
the little people in the Green Forest and on the Green Meadow went
hungry. But Mr. Mink didn't go hungry. Oh, my, no! You see, he had
learned to catch fish, and so he had plenty to eat. When Old Mother
Nature came to see how all the little people were getting along, she was
very much surprised to find that Mr. Mink had become a famous swimmer.
She watched him catch a fish. Then she watched him run about to dry off
and keep from getting cold, and her eyes twinkled.

"'He who helps himself deserves to be helped,' said Old Mother Nature.
Mr. Mink didn't know what she meant by that, but the next morning he
found out. Yes, Sir, the next morning he found out. He found that he
had a brand new coat over his old one, and the new one was waterproof.
He could swim as much as he pleased and not get the least bit wet,
because the water couldn't get through that new coat. And ever since
that long-ago day when the world was young, the Minks have had
waterproof coats and have been famous fishermen. Hello, Peter Rabbit!
What under the sun are you trying to do, swelling yourself up that way?"

"I--I was just practising holding my breath," replied Peter and looked
very, very foolish.

"Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Grandfather Frog. "You can't learn to
swim by holding your breath on dry land, Peter Rabbit."

III

HOW OLD MR. TOAD LEARNED TO SING

III

HOW OLD MR. TOAD LEARNED TO SING

Peter Rabbit never will forget how he laughed the first time he heard
Old Mr. Toad say that he could sing and was going to sing. Why, Peter
would as soon think of singing himself, and that is something he can no
more do than he can fly. Peter had known Old Mr. Toad ever since he
could remember. He was rather fond of him, even if he did play jokes on
him once in a while. But he always thought of Old Mr. Toad as one of the
homeliest of all his friends,--slow, awkward, and too commonplace to be
very interest