And with that Peter started for the dear Old Briar-patch to tell little Mrs. Peter all about the snowshoes of Mrs. Grouse.
IV. WHEN OLD MR. PANTHER LOST HIS HONOR
PETER RABBIT, always curious, had overheard his cousin, Jumper the Hare, tell Prickly Porky the Porcupine that it was lucky for him Puma the Panther was too much afraid of men to come down to the Green Forest to live, but kept to the Great Woods and the Big Mountains. At the very mention of Puma the thousand little spears of Prickly Porky had rattled together, and Peter had a queer feeling that this time, instead of being rattled purposely to make others afraid, they rattled because Prickly Porky himself shook with something very like fear. In fact, it seemed to Peter that Prickly Porky actually turned pale.
Now Peter knew nothing at all about Puma the Panther, and right away he was so full of questions that he could hardly wait to get Jumper alone so that he might satisfy his curiosity. The first chance he got he began to ask questions so fast that Jumper clapped his hands over both ears and threatened to run away.
“Who is Puma? Where does he live? Why is Prickly Porky afraid of him? What does he look like? Why—” It was then that Jumper clapped his hands over his ears. Peter grinned. “Please, Cousin Jumper, tell me about him,” he begged.
Jumper pretended to consider for a few minutes. Then, because like most people he likes to air his knowledge, and also because he is very fond of his cousin Peter, he told him what he knew about Puma the Panther.
“In the first place,” said he, “Puma is the biggest member of the Cat family living in the Great Woods.”
“Is he bigger than Tuffy the Lynx?” asked Peter eagerly.