Oh,
my, yes! That was quite a different matter! The very thought of it made
Peter very, very angry. When he thought of this other Rabbit, it was
always as the stranger. That shows just how unfair Peter was, because,
you see, Peter himself was really the stranger. It was his first visit
to the Old Pasture, while it was very plain that the other had lived
there for some time.
But Peter couldn't or wouldn't see that. He had counted so much on
having the Old Pasture to himself and doing as he pleased, that he was
too upset and disappointed to be fair. If the other Rabbit had been
smaller than he--well, that might have made a difference. The truth is,
Peter was just a wee bit afraid. And perhaps it was that wee bit of fear
that made him unfair and unjust. Anyway, the longer he sat and thought
about it, the angrier he grew, and the more he bragged and boasted to
himself about what he would do.
"I'll just keep out of sight until my wounds are healed, and then we'll
see who owns the Old Pasture!" thought Peter.
No sooner had this thought popped into his head than he received a
surprise, such an unpleasant surprise! It was three heavy thumps right
behind him. Peter knew what that meant. Of course he knew. It meant that
he must run or fight. It meant that he had been so busy thinking about
how smart he was going to be that he had forgotten to cover his own
tracks, and so the maker of the big tracks he had followed had found him
out.
Thump! Thump! Thump! There it was again.
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