CHAPTER XIV

TWO FOOLISH-FEELING LITTLE BEARS

Who lets his temper get away

Is bound to find it doesn’t pay.

Mother Bear.

If ever there were two foolish-feeling little Bears, the twins of Buster Bear were those two. And they looked just as foolish as they felt. While they had been fighting, Peter Rabbit had made the most of his chance and the best use of his legs and had disappeared. Where he had gone neither Boxer¹ nor Woof-Woof had the least idea.

They looked this way. They looked that way. They peered under the pile of brush. They[81] even tore it all apart. There was no sign of Peter. As a matter of fact, Peter was far away, headed straight for the dear Old Briar-patch; and Peter was chuckling². The instant those cubs³ began to fight, all fear had left Peter. He knew then that he had nothing more to fear from them.

“People who lose their tempers lose their wits with them,” chuckled⁴ Peter. “I couldn’t have done that better if I had planned it. My, how those cubs have grown! I think I’ll keep away from that part of the Green Forest. Yes, sir, I’ll keep away from there.” And in that decision Peter showed that he wasn’t yet[82] too old to learn a lesson and gain wisdom therefrom.

At last the twins gave up looking for Peter. “I-I-I hope I didn’t hurt you,” said Boxer meekly⁵, as he saw Woof-Woof rub her nose again. “I didn’t mean to.”

“Yes, you did,” retorted Woof-Woof. “You did mean to hurt me. I know, because I know you felt just as I did, and I meant to hurt you. I-I-I hope I didn’t.”

“Not much,” replied Boxer sheepishly as he felt of one ear.

“I guess we are even. That fellow we didn’t catch probably is laughing at us and will tell everybody he meets what silly[83] little Bears we are. I guess it doesn’t pay to fight.”

“That depends,” said a deep, grumbly-rumbly voice. The twins turned to find Mother Bear looking at them. “It never pays to fight excepting for your rights, but the one who will not fight for his rights never will get far in the Great World. Neither will the one who is always ready to fight over nothing. Now what have you been fighting about?”

Feeling more and more foolish every minute, the twins told Mother Bear all about Peter Rabbit, how they had tried to catch him, and how they had lost their tempers when they bumped into each other.

[84]Mother Bear’s eyes twinkled, but she took care that the twins should not see that twinkle.

“You ought to be spanked⁷, both of you,” said she sternly; “and the next time I know of you fighting you will be spanked. I won’t spank⁶ you this time, because I hope you have learned a lesson. When two people fight over a thing, some one else is likely to get it. People who lose their tempers usually lose more, just as you lost your chance to catch Peter Rabbit. Now all the Green Forest will laugh at you, and Peter Rabbit will boast that he was smarter than two Bears.”

“We’ll get even with him yet,” muttered Boxer.

[85]“No, you won’t,” declared Mother Bear. “Peter Rabbit will never give you a chance.”

And this is exactly what Peter Rabbit had resolved himself.