The following night, when everybody came back again, expecting that Peter Mink would bring the poor boy with him to get the money, Peter never appeared at all.
Finally Mr. Rabbit jumped on top of the stump and told his friends what had happened the night before.
"And now," he said, "everybody can come right up here and get his money back, for there's no doubt at all that Peter Mink was collecting it for himself. He was the poor boy he told us about."
Everybody was surprised. But everybody[p. 42] was glad to get his money again. In fact, there was only one person who grumbled; and that was Uncle Jerry Chuck. He hurried up to the stump ahead of all the rest, to get some money. And he seemed more surprised than ever when Mr. Rabbit said there was no money there for him.
"I was at the lecture last night," Uncle Jerry said.
"But you left before the money was collected," Mr. Rabbit replied.
Uncle Jerry admitted that that was so. But he claimed that he had made less trouble for everybody, because no one had been obliged to handle the money that he hadn't given.
But Mr. Rabbit told him he ought to be ashamed of himself. And every one will say that Peter Mink ought to have been ashamed of himself, too.