"
All the way to his own home in the dear Old Briar-patch, Peter thought
about Spotty and how queer it was that he should carry his house
around with him.
"I wonder how it happens that he does it," thought he. "No wonder he
is so slow. Of course, it is very handy to have his house always with
him. As he says, he is always at home. Still, when he is in a hurry
to get away from an enemy, it must be very awkward to have to carry
his house on his back. I--I--why, how stupid of me! He doesn't have to
run away at all! All he has got to do is to go inside his house and
stay there until the danger is past! I never thought of that before.
Why, that is the handiest thing I ever heard of."
Now Peter knew that there must be a good story about Spotty and his
house, and you know Peter dearly loves a good story. So at the very
first opportunity the next day, he hurried over to the Smiling Pool to
ask Grandfather Frog about it. As usual, Grandfather Frog was sitting
on his big green lily-pad. No sooner did Peter pop his head above the
edge of the bank of the Smiling Pool than Grandfather Frog exclaimed:
"Chug-a-rum! You've kept me waiting a long time, Peter Rabbit. I don't
like to be kept waiting. If you wanted to know about Spotty the
Turtle, why didn't you come earlier?" All the time there was a twinkle
in the big, goggly eyes of Grandfather Frog.
Peter was so surprised that he couldn't find his tongue. He hadn't
said a word to any one about Spotty, so how could Grandfather Frog
know what he had come for? For a long time he had had a great deal of
respect for Grandfather Frog, who, as you know, is very old and very
wise, but now Peter felt almost afraid of him.
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