One day Mrs. Rabbit heard a knock on her door. And when she went to see who was there, she found a ragged young fellow, with his hat tipped far over on one side. Instead of a collar, he wore a handkerchief about his neck. But it would have taken at least a dozen handkerchiefs, tied one above another, to cover the stranger's neck; for it was by far the[p. 14] longest neck Mrs. Rabbit had ever seen.
"What do you want?" Mrs. Rabbit asked.
"Something to eat!" said the stranger.
You notice that he didn't say "Please!" That was a word that Peter Mink had never used. Probably he didn't even know what it meant.
Now, Mrs. Rabbit saw that the stranger was very thin. She did not know that no matter how much he ate, he would never be what you might call fat. That slimness was something that ran in Peter Mink's family. The Minks were always slender people.
Being a kind-hearted soul, Mrs. Rabbit went back to her kitchen. And soon she brought Peter a plateful of the best food she had.
"You're not ill, are you?" she asked Peter.
"No!" he answered, as he took the dish.
"Then," said Mrs. Rabbit, "I shall expect you to do some work, to pay for this food."