Show RAM SW thornton V burdiess bun Bur fess giess V t f f j T 1 J A GLAD TIME MADE A SAD TIME A time that mother nature meant should be most glad has proved alakl for many folk to be most sad AND A ND it old mother nat natures ur es ZI fault at all that this is so it is the fault of man you know man is forever blundering in and upsetting old mother natures plans sometimes heedlessly sometimes because he knows no better and sometimes just because he wants to it is just that way every autumn in the green forest on the green meadows in the old pasture and around the smiling pool peter rabbit knows all about it yes indeed peter knows all about it so does bobby coon uncle billy possum happy jack squirrel mrs grouse and a lot more old mother nature meant that the autumn should be one of the gladdest times in all the year yes sir that is the way she planned it then all the little people who wear feathers or fur are through with family cares the nuts and the fruits and the seeds are ripe and ready for the storehouses of those who are wise wis e enough to gather and store the them 71 away everybody is fati that is is everybody who can get fat is so everybody has plenty to eat and after the storehouses are full nothing in particular to do but eat and have a good time it should be a glad time a merry time and it no sir it it is a time which most of the little people dread and they dread it with a very great dread do you know why this is if you could have been in peter rabbits place you would understand why he was sitting in the dear old brier patch thinking all over again of the things for which he had to be thankful when suddenly he heard something which made him sit up very straight and prick up his long ears to listen better there it was again bow ow ow ow ow bow ow owl ow it was not the voice of bowser the hound but of some other dog and the sound came from the old pasture peter knew just what that sound meant it meant that that dog was following the tracks of some one he was hunting and that meant that some one was running for his life peter rather hoped that it was reddy or old granny fox but after he had listened a minute he knew that it he could tell by the sound that the dog was following one of his own relatives he was hunting a rabbit perhaps it was old jed thumper the big gray rabbit who had treated peter so badly when he went up to the old pasture to live for a little while XI kit ft 1 al it safe enough in here said peter ter grinned at the thought then he frowned he did not want any real harm to come to even this old enemy bang peter knew what that sound was it was from a gun a dreadful gun and he knew that it had been pointed at the one who was running from that dog peter held his breath as he strained his ears to listen very abruptly the dog stopped barking it must be that the dreadful gun had killed the rabbit and the dog had stopped barking because there were no more tracks to follow peter gulped hard once or twice he bear to think of what had happened up there then hurrah shouted peter and kicked his heels for joy that dog had begun barking again and that meant that the dreadful gun killed the rabbit after all by and by he no longer heard the voice of the dog nor hadJ had there here been another dreadful bang so peter knew that old jed thumper or whoever it was who was being hunted had fooled the dog and was safe later as he sat on the edge edg e of the old brier patch looking toward the old Pa pasture ture he saw a man with a gun on his shoulder and a dog at his heels coming toward the dear old brier patch he watched them for a few minutes then he turned and warned little mrs peter to keep out of sight were safe enough in here said peter but we wont be safe now anywhere outside of the dear old brier patch 1 I im almost glad of it said little mrs peter for now I 1 L guess stay at home instead of wandering about the way you have bee been n doing peter said nothing but it suddenly popped into his head that men hunt rabbits at night and he could safely go abroad then associated newspapers service |