"Peter is trying to make me believe that I don't know as much as I
might about our own family," snapped Happy Jack indignantly. "He
is on his way to school to Old Mother Nature and has advised me to
join him. Isn't that a joke?"

"Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't," retorted Chatterer, who isn't
the best of friends with his cousin, Happy Jack. "If I don't know
as much about the Squirrel family as you do, may I never find another
nut as long as I live. But at that, I'm not sure I know all there
is to know. I think it would be fun to go to school for a while.
What do you say, Peter, if I go along with you?"

Peter said that he thought it would be a very fine thing and that
Chatterer never would regret it. Chatterer winked at his cousin,
Happy Jack, and followed Peter, only of course, Chatterer kept in
the trees while Peter was on the ground. Happy Jack hesitated a
minute and then, curiosity becoming too much for him, he hastened
after the others.

"Hello!" exclaimed Old Mother Nature, as Happy Jack and Chatterer
appeared with Peter Rabbit. "What are you frisky folks doing
over here?"

Happy Jack and Chatterer appeared to have lost their tongues,
something very unusual for them, especially for Chatterer. The
fact is, in the presence of Old Mother Nature they felt bashful.
Peter replied for them. "They've decided to come to school,
too," said he. "Happy Jack says he knows all about his own
family, but he has come along to find out if he really does."