when he
caught sight of Reddy Fox running as hard as ever he could. "It must
be that Bowser, the hound, is after Reddy Fox," said Peter Rabbit to
himself. "I must watch out that he doesn't find me."

Just then he caught sight of Johnny Chuck with every little hair
standing up on end and running after Reddy Fox as fast as his short legs
could go.

"Ho! ho! ho!" shouted Peter Rabbit. "Reddy Fox afraid of Johnny Chuck!
Ho! ho! Ho!"

Then Peter Rabbit scampered away to find Jimmy Skunk and Bobby Coon and
Happy Jack Squirrel to tell them all about how Reddy Fox had run away
from Johnny Chuck, for you see they were all a little afraid of Reddy
Fox.

Straight home ran Reddy Fox as fast as he could go, and going home he
passed the house of Johnny Chuck. Now Johnny couldn't run so fast as
Reddy Fox and he was puffing and blowing as only a fat little woodchuck
can puff and blow when he has to run hard. Moreover, he had lost his ill
temper now and he thought it was the best joke ever to think that he had
actually frightened Reddy Fox. When he came to his own house he stopped
and sat on his hind legs once more. Then he shrilled out after Reddy
Fox: "Reddy Fox is a 'fraid cat, 'fraid-cat! Reddy Fox is a 'fraid-cat!"

And all the Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West Wind, who were
playing on the Green Meadows shouted: "Reddy Fox is a 'fraid-cat,
'fraid-cat!"

And this is the way that Reddy Fox was surprised and that Johnny Chuck
found his way home.

CHAPTER IV WHY JIMMY SKUNK WEARS STRIPES

Jimmy Skunk, as everybody knows, wears a striped suit, a suit of black
and white. There was a time, long, long ago, when all the Skunk family
wore black. Very handsome their coats were, too, a beautiful, glossy
black. They were very, very proud of them and took the greatest care of
them, brushing them carefully ever so many times a day.

There was a Jimmy Skunk then, just as there is now, and he was head of
all the Skunk family. Now this Jimmy Skunk was very proud and thought
himself very much of a gentleman. He was very independent and cared for
no one. Like a great many other independent people, he did not always
consider the rights of others. Indeed, it was hinted in the wood and on
the Green Meadows that not all of Jimmy Skunk's doings would bear the
light of day. It was openly said that he was altogether too fond of
prowling about at night, but no one could prove that he was responsible
for mischief done in the night, for n