"Pooh!" said Peter. "There's nothing to be afraid of way up here!"

A shadow drifted across the sweet clover patch. Peter saw it. "That must
be made by a cloud crossing the moon," said Peter, and he was so sure of
it that he didn't even look up to see, but boldly hopped out to fill his
stomach. Just as he reached the patch of clover, the shadow drifted over
it again. Then all in a flash a terrible thought entered Peter's head.
He didn't stop to look up. He suddenly sprang sideways, and even as he
did so, sharp claws tore his coat and hurt him dreadfully. He twisted
and dodged and jumped and turned this way and that way, and all the time
the shadow followed him. Once again sharp claws tore his coat and made
him squeal with pain.

[Illustration: HE DODGED AND JUMPED, AND ALL THE TIME THE SHADOW
FOLLOWED HIM.]

At last, when his breath was almost gone, he reached the edge of the Old
Pasture and dived under a friendly old bramble-bush.

"Oh," sobbed Peter, "I forgot all about Hooty the Owl! Besides, I didn't
suppose he ever came way up here."




CHAPTER V

IN THE OLD PASTURE