|PETER RABBIT, always curious, had overheard his cousin, Jumper the
Hare, tell Prickly Porky the Porcupine that it was lucky for him Puma
the Panther was too much afraid of men to come down to the Green Forest
to live, but kept to the Great Woods and the Big Mountains. At the very
mention of Puma the thousand little spears of Prickly Porky had rattled
together, and Peter had a queer feeling that this time, instead of being
rattled purposely to make others afraid, they rattled because Prickly
Porky himself shook with something very like fear. In fact, it seemed to
Peter that Prickly Porky actually turned pale.
Now Peter knew nothing at all about Puma the Panther, and right away he
was so full of questions that he could hardly wait to get Jumper alone
so that he might satisfy his curiosity. The first chance he got he began
to ask questions so fast that Jumper clapped his hands over both ears
and threatened to run away.
“Who is Puma? Where does he live? Why is Prickly Porky afraid of him?
What does he look like? Why--” It was then that Jumper clapped his hands
over his ears. Peter grinned. “Please, Cousin Jumper, tell me about
him,” he begged.
Jumper pretended to consider for a few minutes. Then, because like most
people he likes to air his knowledge, and also because he is very fond
of his cousin Peter, he told him what he knew about Puma the Panther.
“In the first place,” said he, “Puma is the biggest member of the Cat
family living in the Great Woods.”
“Is he bigger than Tuffy the Lynx?” asked Peter eagerly.
Jumper nodded, and Peter's eyes opened very wide. “He looks very much
like Black Pussy, Farmer Brown's cat, only he is yellowish-brown instead
of black, and is ever and ever and ever so many times bigger,” continued
Jumper. “He has a long tail, just like Black Pussy, and great claws
which are terribly sharp. He is so soft-footed that he can steal through
the woods without making a sound; he can climb trees like Happy Jack
Squirrel, and he is so big and strong that every one but Buster Bear is
afraid of him, even Prickly Porky, for he is so smart and cunning that
he has found a way to make Prickly Porky's thousand little spears quite
useless to protect him. But big and strong and smart as he is, he is a
coward because he is a sneak, and all sneaks are cowards. Of course, you
know that, Peter.”
Peter nodded. “Everybody knows that,” said he. “But if he is so big and
strong and smart, why is he a sneak?”
“I guess it's in his blood, and he can't help himself,” replied
Jumper. “I guess it is because way back in the beginning of things his
great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather lost his honor, and none of the
family ever has got it back again.”
“How did old Mr. Panther lose his honor?” demanded Peter, fairly itching
with curiosity and eagerness.
“Well,” replied Jumper, “all I know is what I've heard whispered about
among the people of the Great Woods. It may be true and it may not be,
but every one seems to believe it. As I said before, it happened way
back in the beginning of things. Old King Bear ruled the Great Woods
then, and there was peace between all the animals. Mr. Panther was sleek
and handsome and graceful in all his movements. He knew it, too. He
spent a great deal of time washing himself and smoothing his fur, just
as Black Pussy does. He would stretch out in the sun for hours with his
eyes closed until they were just slits. But all the time he saw all that
was going on around him.
“He would watch old King Bear shuffling about in his clumsy fashion, and
he would curl the end of his tail up and twitch it scornfully. Then
he would look at his own trim form admiringly and think how much
finer-looking a king he would make. The more he watched old King Bear,
the more this feeling grew. He became envious and then jealous. But he
took care never to let old King Bear know this. You see, there was one
thing about King Bear which Mr. Panther did respect, and that was his
strength. He had no desire to quarrel with King Bear. So whenever they
met he was very polite and said flattering things to him. But behind his
back Mr. Panther made fun of him, but did it in such an artful way
that his neighbors merely thought that they themselves were making the
discovery of how much handsomer Mr. Panther was than old King Bear.
“After a while came the hard time when food was scarce, and in order to
keep from starving, the big and strong began to prey on their neighbors
who were smaller or weaker or more helpless. But the law was made that
none should kill more than was needed to fill an empty stomach for the
time being. It was then that Mr. Panther thought of a plan for making
old King Bear hated by all his subjects.
“'If they hate him, they will refuse to have him as king any longer,
and I, being next in strength and far more kingly in appearance, will be
made king in his place,' reasoned Mr. Panther, but he took care not to
hint such a thing.
“Presently ugly stories began to float about. Some one was killing
seemingly for the fun of killing. It was dreadful, but it was true.
Almost every day some one was found killed but not eaten, and always
there were footprints going to and away from the place, and they were
the footprints of _old King Bear!_ So all the forest people began to
hate King Bear and to mutter among themselves that they would have him
for king no longer. Finally some of them went to Old Mother Nature and
told her all about it; they asked that old King Bear be punished and
that some one else be made king in his place. Old Mother Nature told
them that she would think it over.
“Quite unknown to old King Bear, she followed him about and watched him
as he shuffled about in his clumsy way. 'Hm-m, it ought not to be very
hard to keep out of his way. Those who are caught must be very stupid
if _he_ catches them,' thought she. Presently her sharp eyes caught a
glimpse of a shadowy form sneaking along behind old King Bear. It was
Mr. Panther, and he was stepping with the greatest care so as to leave
no footprints. Old Mother Nature sat down and waited. She saw Mr.
Panther bound away through the trees. By and by he came back, bringing
the body of a Hare which he had killed. He laid it down where old King
Bear had left a footprint in the soft earth and then, with his long tail
twitching, he looked this way and that way to make sure that no one had
seen him and then bounded away.
“The next day Old Mother Nature called all the people of the forest
before her, and they all came, for none dared stay away. When they were
all there, she had each in turn look her straight in the face while she
asked if they had hunted fairly and honorably and only when they were
hungry. Each in turn looked her straight in the face and said that he
had until it came the turn of Mr. Panther. Mr. Panther's tail twitched
nervously, and he looked everywhere but at Old Mother Nature as she put
the question to him.
“'Look me straight in the face and tell me on your honor that you have
hunted fairly,' commanded Old Mother Nature. Mr. Panther knew that all
eyes were upon him, and he tried his best to look her in the face, but
he couldn't do it. You see, he hadn't any honor. He had lost it, and
without honor no one can look another straight in the face. Instead he
turned and began to slink away, and all who saw him wondered how they
ever could have thought him kingly-looking.
“Then Old Mother Nature told what she had seen the day before, and at
once everybody understood who it was that had been doing the killing and
trying to make it appear that it was old King Bear, and they all turned
and shouted 'Coward! Sneak! Coward! Sneak!' until Mr. Panther fairly ran
to get out of hearing. From that time on he lived by himself and would
not look even timid Mr. Hare in the face. Instead of hunting openly and
boldly like Mr. Wolf, he sneaked about in the forest and hunted by
stealth, so that all the people of the forest looked on him with scorn,
and though most of them feared him, they called him a coward and they
nicknamed him 'Sneak-cat.'
“And to this day all Panthers have been the same, sneaking and cowardly
in spite of their great size and strength, for it has been in their
blood ever since the time when old Mr. Panther lost his honor,” ended
Jumper.
Peter was silent for a minute. Then he said softly: “I'm little and
timid, but I'd rather be that way than to be big like Puma but a coward
and a sneak. I can look any one in the face.”