me. By and
by it was so dark that he couldn't see anything at all, and every little
noise made him shiver. It is easy to be brave in daylight, but in the dark,
when you cannot see a thing, every little sound seems twice as loud as it
really is and gives you such a creepy, creepy feeling. Sammy Jay had it
now. He felt so creepy that it seemed as if he would crawl right out of his
skin. He kept saying over and over to himself: "There's nothing to be
afraid of. There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm just as safe as if I was
fast asleep." But still he shivered and shook.

By and by, looking up through the top of the big pine-tree, he saw the
little stars come out one by one. They seemed to be looking right down at
him and winking at him in the jolliest way. Somehow, he didn't feel quite
so lonely then, and he tried to wink back. Then little, soft, silvery bars
of light began to creep through the branches of the trees and along the
ground. They were moonbeams, and Sammy could see just a little, a very
little. He began to feel better.

"Whooo-hoo-hoo, whooo-hoo!"

It was a terrible sound, fierce and hungry. Sammy Jay nearly fell from his
perch. He opened his mouth to scream with fright. Then he remembered just
in time and closed it without a sound. It was the hunting-cry of Hooty the
Owl. Sammy Jay sat huddled in a little, forlorn, shivering heap, while
twice more that fierce cry rang through the Green Forest. Then a shadow
floated over the big pine-tree. Hooty the Owl had flown away without seeing
him, and Sammy breathed easier.

VIII

SAMMY JAY IS GLAD HE SAT UP ALL NIGHT

Sammy Jay was having no trouble in keeping awake now. Not a bit! He
couldn't have gone to sleep if he wanted to--not since Hooty the Owl had
frightened him almost out of his skin with his fierce, hungry hunting-call.
He was too frightened and shivery and creepy to sleep. But he didn't want
to, anyway.

So he sat in the thickest part of the big pine-tree, shivering and creepy
and miserable. He heard Bobby Coon go down the Lone Little Path on his way
to Fanner Brown's cornfield, where the corn was just beginning to get milky
and sweet. Out in a patch of bright moonlight he saw Peter Rabbit jumping
and dancing and having the greatest kind of a time all by himself. Pretty
soon Peter was joined by his cousin, Jumper the Hare. Such antics as they
did cut up! Sammy Jay almost laughed aloud as he watched. It was less
lonely with them there, and he d