MRS. QUACK IS DISTRUSTFUL


Jerry Muskrat thinks there is no place in the world like the Smiling
Pool. So, for the matter of that, does Grandfather Frog and also
Spotty the Turtle. You see, they have spent their lives there and
know little about the rest of the Great World. When Mrs. Quack
explained that all she feared was that a two-legged creature with
a terrible gun might find her there, Jerry Muskrat hastened to tell
her that she had nothing to worry about on that account.

"No one hunts here now that Farmer Brown's boy has put away his
terrible gun," explained Jerry. "There was a time when he used to
hunt here and set traps, which are worse than terrible guns, but
that was long ago, before he knew any better."

"Who is Farmer Brown's boy?" demanded Mrs. Quack, looking more
anxious than ever. "Is he one of those two-legged creatures?"

"Yes," said Peter Rabbit, who had been listening with all his ears,
"but he is the best friend we Quaddies have got. He is such a good
friend that he ought to be a Quaddy himself. Why, this last winter
he fed some of us when food was scarce, and he saved Mrs. Grouse
when she was caught in a snare, which you know is a kind of trap.
He won't let any harm come to you here, Mrs. Quack."

"I wouldn't trust him, not for one single little minute," declared
Mrs. Quack. "I wouldn't trust one of those two-legged creatures,
not ONE. You say he fed some of you last winter, but that doesn't
mean anything good. Do you know what I've known these two-legged