He did n't know why he had done it , excepting that he had become dissatisfied and discontented and unhappy in his old home . And then , almost without thinking what he was doing , he had told Jimmy Skunk that he could have the house he had worked so hard to build the summer before and of which he had been so proud . Then Johnny Chuck had swaggered away down the Lone Little Path without once looking back at the home he was leaving . Where was he going ? Well , to tell the truth , Johnny did n't know . He was going to see the world , and perhaps when he had seen the world , he would build him a new house . So as long as he was in sight of Jimmy Skunk , he swaggered along quite as if he was used to traveling about , without any snug house to go to at night . But right down in his heart Johnny Chuck did n't feel half so bold as he pretended . You see , not since he was a little Chuck and had run away from old Mother Chuck with Peter Rabbit , had he ever been very far from his own door-step . He had always been content to grow fat and roly-poly right near his own home , and listen to the tales of the great world from Jimmy Skunk and Peter Rabbit and Bobby Coon and Unc ' Billy Possum , all of whom are great travelers . But now , here he was , actually setting forth , and without a home to come back to ! You see , he had made up his mind that no matter what happened , he would n't come back , after having given his house to Jimmy Skunk . When he had reached a place where he thought Jimmy Skunk could n't see him , Johnny Chuck turned and looked back , and a queer little feeling seemed to make a lump that filled his throat and choked him . The fact is , Johnny Chuck already began to feel homesick . But he swallowed very hard and tried to make himself think that he was having a splendid time . He stopped looking back and started on , and as he tramped along , he tried to sing a song he had once heard Jimmy Skunk sing : `` The world may stretch full far and wide -- What matters that to me ? I 'll tramp it up ; I 'll tramp it down ! For I am bold and free . '' It was a very brave little song , but Johnny Chuck did n't feel half so brave and bold as he tried to think he did . Already he was beginning to wonder where he should spend the night .
Then he thought XXXXX old Whitetail the Marshhawk , who had given him such a fright and had so nearly caught him when he was a little fellow .
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