trimmed it with the whitest of white trimmings, so that Mr. Jay had
one of the very handsomest coats in all the Green Forest. At first he
was very proud of it, but it wasn't long before he found that it was
very hard work to keep out of sight when he wanted to. That bright
blue coat was forever giving him away when he was out on mischief.
Everybody was all the time on the watch for it, and so where in the
past Mr. Jay had been able, without any trouble, to steal all he
wanted to eat, now he sometimes actually had to work for his food, and
get it honestly or else go hungry.

"You would suppose that he would have mended him ways, wouldn't you?"

Peter nodded.

"But he didn't. He grew more sly and crafty than ever. But in spite of
this, he didn't begin to make as much trouble as before. He couldn't,
you know, because of his bright coat. When Old Mother Nature found
that Mr. Jay had passed along his bad habits to his children, she
passed along his handsome blue coat, too, and so it has been from that
long-ago day right down to this. Sammy Jay's fine coat isn't a reward
for goodness, as is Winsome Bluebird's, but is to help the other
little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows to protect
themselves, and keep track of Sammy when he is sneaking and snooping
around looking for mischief. Now what do you think, Peter Rabbit?"

Peter scratched one long ear and then the other long ear thoughtfully,
and he looked a wee bit ashamed as he replied: "I guess Old Mother
Nature makes no mistakes and always knows just what she is doing."

"Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog in his deepest voice. "You may be