In all his life Peter Rabbit had never been so disappointed. Here he was
in the Old Pasture, about which he had dreamed and thought so long, and
in reaching which he had had such a narrow escape from Hooty the Owl,
and yet he was unhappy. The fact is, Peter was more unhappy than he
could remember ever to have been before. Not only was he unhappy, but he
was in great fear, and the worst of it was he was in fear of an enemy
who could go wherever he could go himself.

You see, it was this way: Peter had expected to find some enemies in the
Old Pasture. He had felt quite sure that fierce old Mr. Goshawk was to
be watched for, and perhaps Mr. Redtail and one or two others of the
Hawk family. He knew that Granny and Reddy Fox had lived there once upon
a time and might come back if things got too unpleasant for them on the
Green Meadows, now that Old Man Coyote had made his home there. But
Peter didn't worry about any of these dangers. He was used to them, was
Peter. He had been dodging them ever since he could remember, A friendly
bramble-bush, a little patch of briars, or an old stone wall near was
all that Peter needed to feel perfectly safe from these enemies, But now
he was in danger wherever he went, for he had an enemy who could go
everywhere he could, and it seemed to Peter that this enemy was
following him all the time. Who was it? Why, it was a great big old
Rabbit with a very short temper, who, because he had lived there for a
long time, felt that he owned the Old Pasture and that Peter had no
right there.

Now, In spite of all his trouble, Peter had seen enough of the Old
Pasture to think it a very wonderful place, a very wonderful place
indeed. He had seen just enough to want to see more. You know how very
curious Peter is. It seemed to him that he just couldn't go back to the