ed in the most matter-of-fact way that he had seen Peter
over on Prickly Porky's hill and that Peter appeared to have been in
trouble, so that he was too lame to go to his home in the dear Old
Briar-patch. There wasn't even a hint that Old Man Coyote should go
over there. This was what made him sure that the news about Peter was
probably true.

Now as soon as Sammy was sure that Old Man Coyote couldn't see him, he
headed straight for the Green Forest and the hill where Prickly Porky,
Jimmy Skunk, Unc' Billy Possum, and Peter and Mrs. Peter Rabbit were
waiting. As he flew, he saw Reddy Fox and old Granny Fox stretched
flat behind an old log some distance away, but where they could see
all that might happen.

"I knew they would be on hand," he chuckled.

When he reached the others, he reported that he had delivered the
message to Old Man Coyote, and that he was very sure, in fact he was
positive, that Old Man Coyote was already on his way there in the hope
that he would be able to catch Peter Rabbit. It was decided that
everybody but Peter should get out of sight at once. So Unc' Billy
Possum climbed a tree. Jimmy Skunk crawled into a hollow log. Sammy
Jay hid in the thickest part of a hemlock tree. Prickly Porky got
behind a big stump right at the top of the hill. Little Mrs. Peter,
with her heart going pit-a-pat, crept into the old house between the
roots of this same old stump, and only Peter was to be seen when at
last Old Man Coyote came tiptoeing along the hollow at the foot of the
hill, as noiseless as a gray shadow.

He saw Peter almost as soon as Peter saw him, and the instant he saw
him, he stopped as still as if he were made of stone. Peter took a
couple of steps, and it was very plain to see that he was lame, just
as Sammy Jay had said.

"That good-for-nothing Jay told the truth for once," thought Old Man
Coyote, with a hungry gleam in his eyes.

Whenever Old Man Coyote thought that Peter was not looking his way, he
would crawl on his stomach from one tree to another, always getting a
little nearer to Peter. He would lie perfectly still when Peter seemed
to be looking towards him. Now of course Peter knew just what was
going on, and he took the greatest care not to get more than a couple
of jumps away from the old house under the big stump, where Mrs. Peter
was hiding and wishing with all her might that she and Peter were back
in the dear Old Briar-patch. It was very still in the Green Forest
save for