The heart of Reddy Fox was filled with rage, but he did not let the Merry Little Breeze know it. He just smiled and sent the Merry Little Breeze back to Peter Rabbit to tell him how glad he was that Peter enjoyed the carrots, and to invite Peter to meet him the next morning on the edge of the Old Briar-patch at sun-up, to go with him to a patch of sweet clover which he had just found near the old hickory-tree.
The Merry Little Breeze danced off with the message. Pretty soon he was back to say that Peter Rabbit would be delighted to go to the sweet clover patch the next morning.
Reddy grinned as he trudged off home. "I'll just be at the clover patch an hour before sun-up to-morrow morning, and then we'll see!" he said to himself.
VIII. PETER RABBIT GETS AN EARLY BREAKFAST
PETER RABBIT crept out of his snug little bed in the middle of the Old Briar-patch two hours before sun-up and hurried over to the big hickory-tree. Sure enough, close by, he found a beautiful bed of sweet clover, just as Reddy Fox had said was there. Peter chuckled to himself as he ate and ate and ate, until his little round stomach was so full that he could hardly hop.
When he had eaten all that he could, he hurried back to the Old Briar-patch to finish his morning nap, and all the time he kept chuckling to himself. You see, Peter was suspicious of Reddy Fox, and so he had gone over to the sweet clover bed alone two hours before sun-up.
Peter Rabbit had hardly left the sweet clover bed when Reddy Fox arrived. Reddy lay down in the long meadow grass and grinned to himself as he waited. Slowly the minutes went by, until up from behind the Purple Hills came jolly, round, red Mr. Sun—but no Peter Rabbit. Reddy stopped grinning.
"Perhaps," said he to himself, "Peter is waiting for me on the edge of the Old Briar-patch and wasn't going to try to fool me."