right ear with his long right hind foot. Then he scratched his long left
ear with his long left hind foot, all the time staring his hardest at
those strange tracks. They certainly were the tracks of a Rabbit, and it
was equally certain that they were not his own.

"They are too big for mine, and they are too small for Jumper the
Hare's. Besides, Jumper is in the Green Forest and not way off up here,"
said Peter to himself. "I wonder--well, I wonder if he will try to drive
me away."

You see Peter knew that if he had found a strange Rabbit in his dear Old
Briar-patch he certainly would have tried his best to drive him out, for
he felt that the Old Briar-patch belonged to him. Now he wondered if the
maker of these tracks would feel the same way about the Old Pasture.
Peter looked troubled as he thought it over. Then his face cleared.

"Perhaps," said he hopefully, "he is a new comer here, too, and if he
is, I'll have just as much right here as he has. Perhaps he simply has
big feet and isn't any bigger or stronger than I am, and if that's the
case I'd like to see him drive me out!"

Peter swelled himself out and tried to look as big as he could when he
said this, but swelling himself out this way reminded him of how stiff
and sore he was from the wounds given him by Hooty the Owl, and he made
a wry face. You see he realized all of a sudden that he didn't feel much
like fighting.

"My," said Peter, "I guess I'd better find out all about this other
fellow before I have any trouble with him. The Old Pasture looks big
enough for a lot of Rabbits, and perhaps if I don't bother him, he won't