"Thief! thief! thief!" He screamed in his harshest voice.

Paddy the Beaver looked up with a twinkle in his eyes. "Hello,
Mr. Jay. I see you haven't any better manners than your cousin
who lives up where I come from," said he.

"Thief! thief! thief!" screamed Sammy, hopping up and down, he was
so angry.

"Meaning yourself, I suppose," said Paddy. "I never did see an
honest Jay, and I don't suppose I ever will."

"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Peter Rabbit, who had quite forgotten that
he was hiding.

"Oh, how do you do, Mr. Rabbit? I'm very glad you have called on
me this morning," said Paddy, just as if he hadn't known all the
time just where Peter was. "Mr. Jay seems to have gotten out of
the wrong side of his bed this morning."

Peter laughed again. "He always does," said he. "If he didn't, he
wouldn't be happy. You wouldn't think it to look at him, but he
is happy right now. He doesn't know it, but he is. He always is
happy when he can show what a bad temper he has."

Sammy Jay glared down at Peter. Then he glared at Paddy. And all
the time he still shrieked "Thief!" as hard as ever he could.
Paddy kept right on working, paying no attention to Sammy. This
made Sammy more angry than ever. He kept coming nearer and nearer