|DID something move among the dead leaves along that old log, or was it
the wind that stirred them? Peter Rabbit stared very hard trying to find
out. Not that it made the least bit of difference to Peter. It didn't.
If something alive had moved those leaves, that something was too small
for Peter to fear it. Probably it was a worm or a bug. It might have
been a beetle. That looked like a good place for beetles. There was
Jimmy Skunk ambling down the Lone Little Path this very minute, and
Jimmy always appeared to be looking for beetles. Peter stared harder
than ever. A leaf moved. Another turned fairly over. There wasn't any
wind just then. Dead leaves don't turn over of themselves, so there must
be something alive there.
“What has Peter on his mind this morning to make him stare so?” asked
Jimmy Skunk as he ambled up.
Peter grinned. “I was just wondering,” said he, “if there are any fat
beetles under that log over there. Those dead leaves along the side of
it have a way of moving once in a while without cause that I can see.
There! What did I tell you?”
Sure enough, a couple of leaves had moved. Jimmy Skunk's eyes
brightened. He actually almost hurried over to that old log, and began
to rake away the leaves. Suddenly he stopped and sniffed. At the same
time Peter thought he saw something dart in at the hollow end of that
log. It might have been a shadow, but Peter had a feeling that it
wasn't. Jimmy Skunk sniffed once more and then deliberately turned his
back on that old log, and with his nose turned up, his face the very
picture of disgust and disappointment, he rejoined Peter.
“Teeny Weeny, clever and spry,