The Classic Tale of Peter Rabbit and Other Cherished Stories
jacket behind him And rushed into the tool shed and jumped into a can It would have been a beautiful thing to hide in if it had not had so much water in it Mr McGregor was quite sure that Peter was somewhere in the tool shed perhaps hidden underneath a flower pot He began to turn them over carefully looking under each Presently Peter sneezed Kertyschoo Mr McGregor was after him in no time And tried to put his foot upon Peter who jumped out of a window upsetting three plants The window was too small for Mr McGregor and he was tired of running after Peter He went back to his work Peter sat down to rest he was out of breath and trembling with fright and he had not the least idea which way to go Also he was very damp with sitting in that can 16
After a time he began to wander about going lippity lippity not very fast and looking all around He found a door in a wall but it was locked and there was no room for a fat little rabbit to squeeze underneath 17
An old mouse was running in and out over the stone doorstep carrying peas and beans to her family in the wood Peter asked her the way to the gate but she had such a large pea in her mouth that she could not answer She only shook her head at him Peter began to cry Then he tried to find his way straight across the garden but he became more and more puzzled Presently he came to a pond where Mr McGregor filled his water cans A white cat was staring at some goldfish she sat very very still but now and then the tip of her tail twitched as if it were alive Peter thought it best to go away without speaking to her he had heard about cats from his cousin little Benjamin Bunny He went back towards the tool shed but suddenly quite close to him he heard the noise of a hoe scr-r-ritch scratch scratch scritch Peter scuttered underneath the bushes But presently as nothing happened he came out and climbed upon a wheelbarrow and peeped over The first thing he saw was Mr McGregor hoeing onions His back was turned towards Peter and beyond him was the gate 18
Peter got down very quietly off the wheelbarrow and started running as fast as he could go along a straight walk behind some black currant bushes Mr McGregor caught sight of him at the corner but Peter did not care He slipped underneath the gate and was safe at last in the wood outside the garden Mr McGregor hung up the little jacket and the shoes for a scare crow to frighten the blackbirds Peter never stopped running or looked behind him till he got home to the big tree fir
