Show Z a o 9 By By THORNTON W BURGESS BURGESS THE OWL PROVES A FRIEND Oh honor a friend when a a friend you need For then Is 19 a 0 a friend a friend Indeed S SO O S people act the part of friends without knowing it H It was that way nay with the Owl He prove proved l a friend to Peter Rabbit when Peter most needed a frIend but he doesn't know It to this day However Peter doesn't forget and he a at as a kindlier feeling for than ever eer he used to have It Is queer how things s some some- sometimes sometimes sometimes times happen In thIs tills world Booty did for Peter the greatest thing that anyone can do for tor another he saved Peters Peter's life Yes sir that Is just what Booty did And this Is the queer thing about It he didn't try to do it it More than this he didn't know he did do it It lIe He doesn't know It yet But Peter Peterr w r i D sit sito sito o o j ft ti c cw vy- vy w sv y ys v s Right on Top of This Alight Alighted ed and Sat Perfectly Still and Very Straight knows It and little Mrs Peter knows It for Peter told her all about It and one other knows it- it It Shadow the Weasel You see It was this way Peter had run until he felt as If he couldn't run another step His nis feet felt too hea heavy r to lift ne He was so short of breath that he had a pain In his sIde side the same sort of pain that iou you sometimes have hae when you run very long and very Cry hard Worse still his bs henrt heart was thumping from fear and It seemed as If It must l burst and not one little ray of hope did Peter have to give hint hla courage lie He knew that somewhere behind him drawing nearer with every jump was Shadow the Weasel an and l that when Shadow should catch him then well then well It was best not to think about what would hap hap- happen happen happen pen then At last ast Peter felt that he just had to rest ne lIe couldn't run another another er step Right nIght In front of ot him wasa wasa was a pile of snow covered brush lIe He crawled under this and there he squatted panting for breath and with a terrible terr fear In his eyes watching his back tracks for Shadow the Weasel Wensel Now It just happened that Peter had no mor than crawled under that pile of brush than the Owl came sailing over the Green Forest on silent t wn wings s like a n black shadow in inthe Inthe n nI the moonlight I Close by the pile of brush under I whIch Peter was hiding was a n tall tal dead tree and right on the top of thIs alighted and sat eat perfect perfect- perfectly perfectly perfectly ly still sun and very cry straight In fact he meant to It was one of watch towers ne lIe had arrived just too late Inte to see Peter crawl under the brush and he came so silently that Peter didn't hear henr him Neither did Peter see him Peter had watched sharply but had seen nothing when suddenly swooped down right In front of where Peter was hiding It waS wad so sudden and unexpected that Peter swallowed his breath and al- al almost al almost most choked There was an angry spitting sound and then Peter saw what looked like hike some of the snow Itself bound off to one side It was Shadow and his coat was pure white Again Agan Booty swooped and Shadow dodged Then he turned and darted Into a hole In a hollow log while Booty went back to hIs watch tower Then Peter sighed I It was a sigh of great relief As long as sat there Shadow would not dare come out of his re- re retreat retreat re retreat treat In the hollow log and that meant that he Peter would have ha time to rest and regain his breath had sn saved ved his life for a while anyway for tor It if he hadn't swooped at Shadow just when he did and so prevented pre him from reaching the pile of brush Peter would have hav been no more by this time For the first time In all his hs life Peter felt kindly toward Booty the Owl Per Per- Perhaps haps now he be might get away alter after all byj by J 0 G Lloyd Lloyd ServIce |