<div class="figcenter"> <SPAN name="XIII" id="XIII" /> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-xiii-p075.jpg" width-obs="325" height-obs="170" alt="GOOD NEWS ABOUT PETER" title="GOOD NEWS ABOUT PETER" /></div>
<p>"<span class="smcap">Yes</span>! They say he has at last decided to
go to work," Mrs. Rabbit was saying to
Billy Woodchuck's mother.</p>
<p>"It's the best news I've heard in a long
while," Mrs. Woodchuck remarked. "And
I hope he'll be so busy that he won't have
time to come around here and get our sons
into any more mischief."</p>
<p>"Have you learned what his work is going
to be?" Mrs. Rabbit inquired.</p>
<p>But Mrs. Woodchuck said she didn't
know that. She only knew that Peter
Mink was going to turn over a new leaf
and do some sort of honest work.</p>
<p class="flat"><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></SPAN></span></p>
<p>Now, Peter Mink had a plan. And he
hadn't told any one exactly what it was.</p>
<p>The Grouse boys and the Woodchuck
brothers gave a concert that very night.
You see, Mr. Fox had taught them to make
music like a fife-and-drum corps—the
Grouse boys drummed and the Woodchuck
brothers whistled. And whenever
they gave a concert, almost everybody
went to it.</p>
<p>Well, when the forest-people reached
the hollow where the concert was to be
given, there was Peter Mink, all smiles.
He stepped up to each newcomer and said:</p>
<p>"Check your hat and coat?"</p>
<p>Some of the forest-people didn't know
what he meant, until Peter explained to
them that he would take care of hats,
coats, umbrellas, walking-sticks, or anything
else that anybody might like to leave
with him during the concert.</p>
<p class="flat"><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></SPAN></span></p>
<p>"How are you going to find my hat, if I
leave it with you?" Mr. Rabbit asked.</p>
<p>Peter Mink showed him a heap of oak
leaves.</p>
<p>"I'll tear one of these in two," he said,
"give you half of it, and stick the other
half inside your hatband. When the concert
is over and you come away, all you
have to do is to hand me your half of the
oak leaf and I'll see which piece matches
it among those that I have kept. And the
hat in which the other half happens to be
stuck must be your hat. Do you understand?
It's quite simple," Peter said.</p>
<p>Mr. Rabbit said that he understood, and
that it was a good idea, too. But he
thought he'd keep his hat with him.</p>
<p>Then his wife said to him in a low voice
that he ought to do whatever he could to
help Peter Mink.</p>
<p>"Now that Peter has gone to work," she<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></SPAN></span>
told her husband, "everyone ought to encourage
him. And I want you to leave
your hat with him. I'll have him check my
spectacles, as he calls it," Mrs. Rabbit
added, "for I shall not need them. I can
hear exactly as well without them."</p>
<p>Mr. Rabbit always tried to please his
wife. So he let Peter Mink check his hat.
But he felt uncomfortable during the
whole concert. It was a new hat. And he
didn't like the thought of losing it.</p>
<p>That same thing happened in a good
many families. Most of the gentlemen
said that Peter's idea was a good one, but
they thought they would wait till another
time. And their wives generally persuaded
them to let Peter Mink check
something, just to help him along.</p>
<p>But Uncle Jerry Chuck refused to leave
a single thing with Peter. He said he had
had his hat for a great many years.</p>
<p class="flat"><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></SPAN></span></p>
<p>The music was not so good as usual that
night. And when the fife-and-drum corps
played "Pop! Goes the Weasel!"—which
was their favorite tune, and the first they
had ever learned—they had to stop in the
middle of it three times, and begin again,
because there were so many interruptions.
People kept standing up in their seats and
looking around to see if Peter Mink was
still there. And almost everybody except
Uncle Jerry Chuck seemed worried.</p>
<p>But Uncle Jerry had a fine time. You
see, whenever the fifers and drummers had
to stop, and begin again, Uncle Jerry felt
he was getting more music. And he enjoyed
it especially because he had found
his ticket in the woods and didn't have to
pay for it. And on account of what happened
when the concert was over, Uncle
Jerry was even happier the next day.</p>
<hr class="chapter" />
<p class="flat"><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></SPAN></span></p>
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