.

He lost one of his shoes amongst the cabbages, and the other shoe
amongst the potatoes.

After losing them, he ran on four legs and went faster, so that I think
he might have got away altogether if he had not unfortunately run into a
gooseberry net, and got caught by the large buttons on his jacket. It
was a blue jacket with brass buttons, quite new.

Peter gave himself up for lost, and shed big tears; but his sobs were
overheard by some friendly sparrows, who flew to him in great
excitement, and implored him to exert himself.

Mr. McGregor came up with a sieve, which he intended to pop upon the top
of Peter; but Peter wriggled out just in time, leaving his 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--"Kerty-schoo!" 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.

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.

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 no