But Peter, who always had been so happy-go-lucky, with no one to think
about but himself, now felt for the first time re-sponsi-bil-ity. That's
a big word, but it is a word that everybody has to learn the meaning of
sometime. Johnny Chuck learned it when he made a home for Polly Chuck in
Farmer Brown's orchard, and tried to keep it a secret, so that no harm
would come to Polly. It means taking care of other people or other
people's things, and feeling that you must take even greater care than
you would of yourself or your own things, So, while Peter himself would
have been willing to take chances, and might even have made the journey
down to the dear Old Briar-patch in broad daylight, he felt that that
wouldn't do at all for little Miss Fuzzytail; that he must avoid every
possible chance of danger for her.
So Peter waited for a dark night, not too dark, you know, but a night
when there was no moon to make great patches of light, but only the
kindly little Stars looking down and twinkling in the friendly way they
have. At last there was just such a night. All the afternoon little Miss
Fuzzytail went about in the Old Pasture saying good-by to her friends
and visiting each one of her favorite little paths and hiding-places,
and I suspect that in each one she dropped a tear or two, for you see
she felt sure that she never would see them again, although Peter had
promised that he would bring her back to the Old Pasture for a visit
whenever she wanted to come.
Pages:
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61