XIV
WHERE OLD MR. BOB-CAT LEFT HIS HONOR
Of all those who are forever trying to catch Peter Rabbit, he fears nonemore than Yowler the Bob-cat. And from that fear has grown hate. Youwill find it true all through life that hate often springs from greatfear. Peter isn't much given to hate, but he does hate Yowler theBob-cat. It is partly because of his fear of Yowler, but it is stillmore because he feels that Yowler is not fair in his hunting. He has nohonor. There are many others whom Peter fears,--Reddy Fox, Old ManCoyote, Hooty the Owl,--and with very good reason. But Peter considersthat these hunt him fairly. He knows when and where to be on the watchfor them.
But with Yowler it is altogether different. Yowler hides beside one ofPeter's favorite little paths, and there he waits patiently forunsuspecting Peter to come along. He waits and watches much as BlackPussy, who is a cousin of Yowler, waits and watches at a mousehole.Peter feels that it doesn't give him a chance, and everybody is entitledto at least a chance to live.
"I hate him! hate him! hate him!" exclaimed Peter fiercely, as hecrawled under the very middle of a great pile of brush after thenarrowest of narrow escapes. He had been hopping along one of hisfavorite little paths without a thought of danger. Presently he came toa little branch path. There he hesitated. He had intended to keep onalong the main path, but suddenly he had a feeling that it would bebetter to take the branch path. He knew no reason why he shouldn't keepon as he had planned. It was just a feeling that it would be better totake the other path, a feeling without any real reason. So he hesitatedand finally turned down the little branch path. As he did so he caught aglimpse of a brown form moving stealthily from behind a log farther upthe main little path. It was moving swiftly in the direction of thelittle branch path. That glimpse was enough for Peter. That stealthyform could be but one person--Yowler the Bob-cat. He turned and dartedback the way he had come and then off to one side to the great pile ofbrush under which he had crawled.
"Who is it you hate?" asked a voice.
For just a second Peter was startled, then he recognized the voice ofMrs. Grouse, one of his very best friends. "Yowler the Bob-cat," said heas fiercely as before.
"I don't love him myself," replied Mrs. Grouse. "I suspected that he wassomewhere about, and that is why I am here. Did you see him?"
"Yes," said Peter, "I saw him. He was hiding beside my favorite littlepath, and it is a wonder I didn't hop straight into his jaws. Thatfellow doesn't hunt fairly. He doesn't give us a chance. He hasn't anyhonor."
"Honor!" exclaimed Mrs. Grouse. "Honor! Of course he hasn't any honor.There hasn't been any honor in Yowler's family since old Mr. Bob-cat,the first of all the Bob-cats, left his honor in Turkey Wood, way backin the days when the world was young, and failed to get it again. Honor!Of course Yowler hasn't any. What could you expect?"
At once Peter was all ears. "I've never heard about that," said he."Tell me about it, Mrs. Grouse. We've got to stay right where we are fora long time to make sure that Yowler has given us up and gone away, soyou will have plenty of time to tell me the story. Where was TurkeyWood, and how did old Mr. Bob-cat happen to leave his honor there?"
"He didn't happen to; he did it deliberately," replied Mrs. Grouse. "Yousee, it was like this: In the beginning of things, when Old MotherNature made the first little people and the first big people of theGreen Forest and the Green Meadows, she was too busy to watch over themall the time, so for a while she put them on their honor not to harm oneanother or interfere with one another in any way, for she wanted them tolive in peace and happiness and raise families to people the GreatWorld.
"Now it chanced that Mr. and Mrs. Gobbler, the first of the Turkeyfamily, chose a certain little grove of trees in which to make theirhome, and it became known as Turkey Wood. There, in course of time, Mrs.Turkey made her nest on the ground, well hidden among some bushes, andin it laid twelve big eggs. It was the day on which she laid the twelfthbig egg that old Mr. Bob-cat, who, of course, wasn't old then, took itinto his head to prowl about in Turkey Wood. Already Mr. Bob-cat hadbegun to form a sneaky habit of stealth. He was very fond of watchinghis neighbors to find out what they were about, and it was this fondnessof minding the business of other people instead of his own that wasmaking him sneaky and stealthy, for of course he didn't want any one toknow what he was doing.
"It happened that as he stole into Turkey Wood, Mrs. Gobbler left hernest to get a bite to eat. Mr. Bob-cat saw her, but she didn't see him.He crouched flat until she was out of sight.
"'She seemed mighty careful about how she slipped out of those bushes,'thought Mr. Bob-cat. 'She acted as if she didn't want to be seen. Iwonder why. I wonder if she has a secret hidden in those bushes. Isuppose the way to find out is to look.'
"First making sure that no one saw him, Mr. Bob-cat crept in his sneakyway into the bushes, and it didn't take him long to find that nest withthe twelve big eggs. He didn't know what they were, for they were thefirst eggs he had ever seen. He stared at them and wondered if they weregood to eat. He glanced this way and that way to be sure that no one waswatching him.
"'Don't touch them,' warned something inside of him. 'These belong toMrs. Gobbler, and Old Mother Nature has put you on your honor not tointerfere with others or their affairs.'
"'It won't do any harm just to touch them and see what they are like,'said another little tempting voice inside of him.
"'Remember your honor,' warned the first little voice.
"'Bother my honor! I'm not going to do any harm,' muttered Mr. Bob-cat,and picked up one of the eggs in his mouth. He tried it with his teethto see if it was hard, and of course he put his teeth right through theshell. He started to put it back in a hurry, but just then he noticed agood taste in his mouth. The inside of that egg was good to eat, verygood indeed!
"'One won't be missed,' thought Mr. Bob-cat, and then, fearing that Mrs.Gobbler would return, he bounded away, taking the egg with him.
"When Mrs. Gobbler returned, she did miss that egg. She looked all aboutfor it, but there was nothing to show what had become of it. With atroubled mind she began to sit on her eggs. She was so worried that shedidn't leave them until she simply _had_ to get something to eat.
"Meanwhile Mr. Bob-cat had eaten that egg, and it had tasted so goodthat he could think of nothing but how he could get another. So at thefirst opportunity he sneaked back to Turkey Wood, and without making asound crept in among the bushes until he could see Mrs. Gobbler sittingon her eggs. There he lay and watched and watched until Mrs. Gobblerleft to get something to eat. No sooner was she out of sight than Mr.Bob-cat stole to the nest.
"'Remember your honor,' warned the little voice inside.
"'Bother honor. I'd rather have an egg,' muttered Mr. Bob-cat, andpulled one out of the nest. He bit a hole in one end and sucked out thecontents. It was so good he took another. This led to a third, andfinally Mr. Bob-cat had sucked every one of those eggs. Then silently hesneaked away--away from Turkey Wood to a distant part of the GreenForest. Behind him in Turkey Wood he left a nestful of empty shells andhis honor.
"'Nobody knows who did it, and nobody ever will find out,' thought Mr.Bob-cat, but all the time he knew that he had left his honor behind, andthis made him more sneaky than ever. He never would meet any one face toface. You know that is something that one who has lost his honor nevercan do. It wasn't long before all his neighbors knew that he was withouthonor, and so would have nothing to do with him. They shunned him. Hegrew to be more and more of a sneak. And all the time he believed thatno one knew what he had done or where he had left his honor.
"But Old Mother Nature knew. Of course Mrs. Gobbler told her what hadhappened to her eggs. Old Mother Nature told her to make a new nest andhide it more carefully than before, which Mrs. Gobbler did and hatchedout ten fine young Gobblers. Meanwhile Old Mother Nature went about herbusiness, but all the time she was watching to see who would fail tolook her straight in the face. The first time she met Mr. Bob-cat hetried to slip past unseen. When Old Mother Nature
stepped in front ofhim, he couldn't look her in the face, try as he would.
"'Ah-ha!' said she. 'You are the one who left his honor in Turkey Wood.From this time forth you shall be an outcast, friendless and alone,hated by every one.'
"And so it was, and has been ever since. And so it is with Yowler today.You said truly, Peter, that he hasn't any honor. Isn't it dreadful?"
And Peter agreed that it is.
Mother West Wind Where Stories Page 14
