After giving all they happened to have in their pocket-books, Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Woodchuck began to pass their hats to take up the collection for the poor boy that Peter Mink had been telling them about. And all the people who had come to hear Peter's lecture began to dig down into their pockets.
"That's right!" Peter cried. "Give what you can! Of course, I don't expect the poor people to give as much as the rich."
That made everybody decide that he would give all he had with him. And many[p. 32] people wished they had brought more. Besides, no one wanted to be thought stingy, like Uncle Jerry Chuck, who had hurried away as soon as he suspected that there was going to be a collection.
When Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Woodchuck had passed their hats to every person present, their hats were filled to the brim. And they marched proudly up to the stump where Peter Mink still stood.
Peter jumped down to the ground.
"Keep your seats, everybody!" he called. "The next thing to be done is to count this money. And I will do that myself." So Peter picked up the two hats and started away.
"Where are you going?" Mr. Rabbit asked him.
"Just a little way into the woods," said Peter. "It's so noisy here, with all this talking, that I might make a mistake."