Peter placed his cap on the top of a rock, which was too high and too steep for Sirius to scale, and proceeded to test the fungi. Were they edible or not? Unfortunately they were not, as he soon discovered by bruising the gills. A white milk exuded, and his reading had taught Peter that such were to be avoided. Greatly disappointed, he picked up his capful of mice once more and continued on his way.
Arrived at the barn, he made the little orphans as comfortable as possible in a place which was quite protected from an attack by Sirius. He looked for Carney, but the boy was not to be found. Victoria, however, was busy with her violets, and Peter consulted with her as to the best method of disposing of his new pets.
“Dear me!” exclaimed Victoria, when he showed them to her. “They are the cunningest things I ever saw, but you are not going to keep them, are you, Peter? Why not set them free?”
“Vic, you must be perfectly crazy,” said Peter. “Set them free, these poor little things without any father or mother? They would be eaten right up by something. I had no idea you were so cruel. I am going to keep them until they’re old enough to look out for themselves, and then I’ll take them out to the pasture and let them go, if they want to.”
“I don’t know what Katherine will say, she hates mice so.”
“Katherine needn’t know anything about them. She never comes near the barn.”
“Do you know where Sophy is?” Victoria called after him as he walked off, but Peter did not hear her. He had placed his new pets as comfortably as possible, and now he hastened back to the fascinating log, a good mile away though it was.
Sirius accompanied him, but was ordered to remain at a safe distance, lest the other families of mice should be disturbed, and the dog was forced to content himself with digging a hole and burrowing so deep after imaginary prey, that nothing could be seen but a wagging tail above the ground.
Peter remained there until almost dark, watching the ants, which had apparently recovered from the shock of the disturbance, and were trying now to make themselves as comfortable as possible after the fright. Some were carrying the eggs to a more retired place than that in which they were, now that the log had been turned upon another side, while others were engaged in repairing the injured passage-ways of their dwelling.
At last the pangs of hunger warned Peter that it must be nearly supper time, and he again went home, Sirius following, covered with brown earth, but happy as a king, even though his search underground had failed to bring anything to light that was desirable.