`````Everybody goes to school;
`````That's the universal rule.
`````Mother Nature long ago
`````Said it always should be so.=
|OF course there are all kinds of schools, but to one kind or another
everybody has to go. A lot of people don't know they are going to
school, but they are, just the same. If you should ask them what school
they go to, they would tell you they don't go to any. But they do
just the same. They go to the hardest school of all, the school of
experience. That is the school in which we all learn how to live and
take care of ourselves. It is just the same with the little meadow and
forest people. The four babies of Johnny and Polly Chuck went to school
in the Old Orchard just as soon as they were big enough to run around.
It was the same way with the children of Peter Rabbit in the dear Old
Briar-patch and the youngsters of Danny and Nanny Meadow Mouse on the
Green Meadows and Une' Billy Possum's lively family in the Green Forest
and little Joe Otter's two hopefuls in the Laughing Brook. So of course
all the Little Bob Whites started in to go to school almost as soon as
they were out of their shells.
The very first thing they learned was to mind their parents, which is
the very first lesson all little folks must learn. “You see, my dears,”
explained Mrs. Bob, as they nestled under her wings, “the Great World is
full of dangers, especially for little Bob Whites, and so if you want
to live to grow up to be as handsome and smart as your father, you must
mind instantly when we speak to you.”
So as every one of the fifteen little Bob Whites wanted to five to
grow up to be as handsome and smart as their father, each one took the
greatest care to mind the very second Bob or Mrs. Bob spoke. While they
were in the dear Old Briar-patch they were quite safe, but just the same
every little while Mrs. Bob would give the danger signal, which meant
to squat and keep perfectly still, or another call that meant to come
running to her as fast as ever they could. It wasn't until she was sure
that they had learned to mind instantly that she led them out on to the
Green Meadows among the grasses and the weeds.
Then there was always real danger as she took great pains to tell them.
There was danger from the air where old Redtail the Hawk sailed round
and round, watching below for heedless and careless little folks. There
was danger from Reddy and Granny Fox and Old Man Coyote, prowling about
with sharp eyes and keen ears and wonderful noses, all the time hunting
for heedless little people. And there was danger from Mr. Blacksnake and
some of his cousins, slipping silently through the grass.
So the little Bob Whites learned to be always on the watch as they ran
this way and that way, hunting for bugs and worms and seeds. At the
least little unknown sound they squatted and waited for Mrs. Bob's
signal that all was well. She taught them to know Ol' Mistah Buzzard,
who wouldn't hurt a feather of them, from old Redtail the Hawk by the
way he sailed and sailed without flapping his wings. Just as soon as
they could fly a little, she taught them to make sure just where the
nearest bushes or trees were so that they could fly to them in case
of sudden danger on the ground. She taught them how to find the safest
places in which to spend the night. Oh, there was a great deal for those
little Bob Whites to learn! Yes, indeed. And it didn't do to forget a
single thing. Forgetting just once might mean a dreadful thing. So they
didn't forget. Bob White himself taught them many things, for Bob is
wise in the ways of the Great World, and he is the best of fathers. So
the little Bob Whites grew and grew until they were too big to nestle
under the wings of Mrs. Bob and could fly on swift strong wings. And all
the time they were at school without knowing it.