"Hush!" whispered Peter. "I think there is a whole family of beetles on the other side of this stump. You creep around the other side, and I'll creep around this side. When I thump the ground, you spring right around and grab them before they can run away."
So Jimmy Skunk crept around one side of the stump, and Peter Rabbit crept around the other side. Suddenly Peter thumped the ground hard, twice. Jimmy Skunk was waiting and all ready to spring. When he heard those thumps, he just sprang as quickly as he could. What do you think happened?
Why, Jimmy Skunk landed thump! right on Reddy Fox, who was taking a sun nap on the other side of the pine stump!
"Ha, ha, ha," shouted Peter Rabbit, and started down the Crooked Little Path as fast as his long legs could take him.
V. REDDY POX GETS INTO TROUBLE
REDDY FOX, curled up behind the big pine stump, was dreaming of a coop full of chickens, where there was no Bowser the Hound to watch over them. Suddenly something landed on him with a thump that knocked all his breath out. For an instant it frightened Reddy so that he just shook and shook. Then he got his senses together and discovered that it was Jimmy Skunk who had jumped on him.
Jimmy was very polite. He begged Reddy's pardon. He protested that it was all a mistake. He explained how Peter Rabbit had played a trick on both of them, and how he himself was just looking for beetles for breakfast.
Now, Reddy Fox is very quick tempered, and as soon as he realized that he had been made the victim of a joke, he lost his temper completely. He glared at Jimmy Skunk. He was so angry that he stuttered.