AT first he thought of taking Molly
Cottontail along with him. Then he concluded
that the twins would be very lonely without her.
Peter Rabbit was not a selfish bunny. At any rate,
he thought he would get on much faster alone.

HE began to make
his plans, and grew
so excited that he
found it impossible
to go to sleep at all.

He could hardly wait till
the first little smiling streak
of sunlight peeked in at
the door of the burrow.

to offer all sorts of promises, and
to urge him to seek for the fun
about which he had been thinking
all night.

Very quickly and quietly he crept
out of bed and dressed,

pausing every now and
then to glance fearfully
toward the spot where
the other members of

the family lay curled up in little
furry balls, peacefully — and Mrs.
Rufus Rabbit audibly — sleeping.

Soon he was
quite ready, and
after one dreadful moment when
he felt quite sure
the whole family
was wide awake
and ready to

grab him as he crept past
on tiptoe, he found himself
outside the burrow and running for his life through the
soft spring sunshine.