voice that she loved. It was the voice of Veery the Thrush. "Oh!" cried
little Mrs. Peter, and then held her breath so as not to miss one note
of the beautiful song. Hardly had the song ended when she heard the
familiar voice of Redeye the Vireo. Little Mrs. Peter clapped her hands
happily. "It must be a surprise party by my old friends and neighbors of
the Old Pasture!" she cried. "How good of them to come way down here,
and how glad I shall be to see them!"

With that little Mrs. Peter hurried over to the tangle of vines from
which all the voices seemed to come and eagerly peered this way and that
way for a sight of her friends. But all she saw was a stranger wearing a
very sober-colored suit. He was very polite and told her that he was an
old friend of Peter Rabbit.

"If you are a friend of Peter, then you are a friend of mine." said
little Mrs. Peter very prettily. "Have you seen anybody in this tangle
of vines since you arrived? I am sure some friends of mine are here, but
I haven't been able to find them."

"No," said the stranger, who was, of course, Mistah Mocker the
Mockingbird. "I haven't seen any one here, and I don't think there has
been any one here but myself."

"Oh, yes, indeed there has!" cried little Mrs. Peter. "I heard their
voices, and I couldn't possibly be mistaken in those, especially the
beautiful voice of Veery the Thrush, I--I would like very much to find
them."

Mistah Mocker had the grace to look ashamed of himself when saw how
disappointed little Mrs. Peter was. Very softly he began to sing the