They missed him every time they passed his old house and then forgot him ; that is , most of the little meadow people did . Peter Rabbit did n't . Peter used to stop every day to gossip with Johnny Chuck and tell him all the news , and now that Johnny Chuck was no longer there , Peter missed him greatly . Jimmy Skunk was always asleep or off somewhere . Besides , he was such a traveler that he knew all the news almost as soon as Peter himself . The Merry Little Breezes told Peter that Johnny Chuck was still on the Green Meadows , hunting for a new home , so Peter made up his mind that just as soon as Johnny got settled , Peter would hunt him up and call . You see , he never dreamed that Johnny would leave the Green Meadows , and he thought that of course the Merry Little Breezes would tell him just where Johnny Chuck 's new house was , whenever it was built . But there is where Peter made a mistake . The Merry Little Breezes are the friends of all the little meadow and forest people , but they would n't be very long if they told everything that they find out . Their merry tongues they guard full well And things they should n't never tell , For long ago they learned the way To keep a secret night and day . And so when they found Johnny Chuck 's new house in the corner of Farmer Brown 's old orchard , they promised Johnny that they would n't tell anybody , and they did n't . So it was a long time before any one else found out what had become of Johnny Chuck , for no one thought of looking in the corner of the old orchard . The Merry Little Breezes used to come every day and bring Johnny Chuck the news , and he and Polly Chuck would laugh and tickle , as they thought of Peter Rabbit hunting and hunting and never finding them . Then one morning , as Johnny Chuck sat on his door-step , half dozing in the sun with his heart filled with contentment , he happened to look up straight into two sharp eyes peering down at him from among the leaves of the apple-tree under which he had built his house . He knew those eyes . They were such sharp eyes that they were unpleasant . He did n't even have to look for the blue and white coat of the owner to know who had found his snug home . But he pretended to keep right on dozing , and pretty soon the owner of the eyes disappeared without making a sound . `` Oh , dear , '' sighed Johnny Chuck , `` now the whole world will know where we live , for that was Sammy Jay . '' Then his face brightened as he added : `` Anyway , he did n't see Polly Chuck , and he does n't know anything about her , so I 'll keep twice as sharp a watch as before . ''
XVI SAMMY JAY PLANS MISCHIEF Mischief may not mean to be really truly bad , But somehow it seems to make other people sad ; Does a mean unpleasant thing and tries XXXXX think it fun ; Then , alas , it runs away when trouble has begun .
Besides So before for if in on out that to