“Now of course it is very hard to think when you are twisting and dodging and turning in the air.”

“Of course!” said Peter Rabbit, just as if he knew all about it.

“So Mr. Bat went looking for a place where he could be quiet all by himself and think without danger of being gobbled up for some one’s dinner,” continued Grandfather Frog.  “He flew and he flew and had almost given up hope of finding any such place when he saw a cave.  It looked very black inside, but it was big enough for Mr. Bat to fly into, and in he went.  He knew that Mr. Hawk would never come in there, and when he found a little shelf up near the roof, he knew that he was safe from any four-footed enemies who might follow him there.  It was just the place to rest and think.  So he rested, and while he rested, he thought and thought.

“By and by he noticed that it was growing dark outside.  ’My goodness!  If I am going to get anything to eat to-day, I shall have to hurry,’ thought he.  When he got outside, he found that Mr. Sun had gone to bed.  So had all the birds, except Mr. Owl and Mr. Nighthawk.  Now Mr. Nighthawk doesn’t belong to the Hawk family at all, so there was nothing to fear from him.  Then Mr. Bat had a very pleasant surprise.  He found the air full of insects, ever so many more than in the daytime.  By being very smart and quick he caught a few before it was too dark for him to see.  They didn’t fill his stomach, but they kept him from starving.  As he flew back to the cave, a great idea came to him, the idea for which he had been thinking so hard.  He would sleep days in the cave, where he was perfectly safe, and come out to hunt bugs and insects just as soon as Mr. Hawk had gone to bed!  Then he would be safe and would not have to complain to Old Mother Nature.

“At first old Mr. Bat, who wasn’t old then, you know, had hard work to catch enough insects before it grew too dark, but he found that every night he could see a little longer and a little better than the night before, until by and by he could see as well in the dusk as he used to see in the daytime.  Then he realized that Old Mother Nature had once more been very good to him, and that she had helped him just as she always helps those who help themselves.  She had given him night-seeing eyes, and he no more had to go hungry.

“Mr. Bat was very grateful, and from that day to this, Bats have been content to live in caves and fly in the evening.  You ask Flitter if it isn’t so.”

Peter grinned.  “He never stays in one place long enough for me to ask him anything,” said he.  “I’m ever so much obliged for the story, Grandfather Frog.  It pays to make the best of what we have, doesn’t it?”

“It certainly does.  Chug-a-rum!  It certainly does!” replied Grandfather Frog.

XV

WHY SPOTTY THE TURTLE CARRIES HIS HOUSE WITH HIM