Peter Rabbit was all curiosity as he demanded what it was that Sammy Jay had found that would be of interest to him. Of course, Sammy had known that he would be. It doesn’t take much to arouse Peter’s curiosity. Some people are just that way. A word or two is enough to get them all worked up. Sammy cocked his head to one side and looked at Peter shrewdly.

“Do you think that you can follow my directions exactly?” he asked.

Peter nodded his head vigorously. “Of course,” he replied. “Just give them to me and see. But what is it you saw that you think will interest me? It might not, you know.”

“I don’t know anything of the sort,” replied Sammy. “On the contrary, I know that it will interest you. It interested me a great deal, and anything that will interest me is bound to interest you. But I’m not going to tell you what it is. I’m going to let you have the fun of finding it. If when you find it you don’t say that it is one of the most surprising things you have seen in all your life, my name isn’t Sammy Jay.”

By this time Peter was all ears, as the saying is. He had forgotten all about his disappointment over his failure to find the secret of Ol’ Mistah and Mrs. Buzzard. He was impatient to be off in quest of this mysterious and interesting thing which Sammy Jay had found.

“All right, Sammy; I’ll wait to find out for myself what it is,” said he. “It is fun sometimes not to know just what it is you are looking for. Where did you say this thing is?”

“I didn’t say,” replied Sammy, his sharp eyes twinkling with mischief. “First you must promise to do exactly as I say.”

“I promise,” declared Peter with great promptness.

“Very good,” said Sammy. “The first thing to do is to go over to that dead tree where you saw Ol’ Mistah Buzzard this morning. You know where that is, don’t you?”

“Of course I know where that is,” retorted Peter.

“When you get there, turn to your right until you come to a little thicket of young hemlock-trees,” continued Sammy. “Back of that thicket is a great big hollow log.”

“I know all about that log,” Peter interrupted. “I’ve hidden in it more than once. What next?”

“When you reach that log you must be very quiet,” replied Sammy. “You must steal along beside it to the open end without making a sound. You mustn’t rustle so much as a leaf.”

“My, this sounds exciting!” cried Peter. “What then?”

“Poke your head around and look inside. You’ll see what it is that I found,” replied Sammy.

A sudden suspicion crept into Peter’s head. “There isn’t anything there that is likely to hurt me, is there?” he demanded. “Reddy Fox isn’t asleep in there, or anything like that?”

“No,” replied Sammy Jay. “There isn’t anybody or anything there to hurt you. But there is something there to interest you.”

Sammy looked so earnest that Peter’s suspicions left him at once. In fact, he was a little ashamed of having been suspicious.

“All right,” said he, “I’m off.” And away he went, lipperty-lipperty-lip.