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<h2> CHAPTER VI. PETER RABBIT IS STILL LONESOME </h2>
<p>A sympathetic word or two<br/>
A wond'rous help is, when you're blue.<br/>
So pity him who sits alone<br/>
His aches and troubles to bemoan.<br/>
Peter Rabbit.<br/></p>
<p>All the rest of that night Peter sat under a friendly old bramble-bush on
the edge of the Old Pasture and nursed the sore places made by the claws
of Hooty the Owl. At last jolly, round, red Mr. Sun began to climb up in
the blue, blue sky, just as he does every day. Peter looked up at him, and
he felt sure that Mr. Sun winked at him. Somehow it made him feel better.
The fact is, Peter was beginning to feel just a wee, wee bit homesick. It
is bad enough to be in a strange place alone, but to be sore and to smart
and ache as Peter did makes that lonesome feeling a whole lot harder to
bear. It is dreadful not to have any one to speak to, but to look around
and not see a single thing you have ever seen before,—my, my, my, it
certainly does give you a strange, sinking feeling way down inside!</p>
<p>Before that long night was over Peter felt as if his heart had gone way
down to his very toes. Yes, Sir, that's the way he felt. Every time he
moved at all he cried “Ouch!” He just knew that he was growing more stiff
and sore every minute. Then he began to wonder what he should do for
something to eat, for he was in a strange place, you remember. And that
made him think of all his private little paths through the dear Old
Briar-patch, the little paths he had made all himself, and which no one
used but himself, excepting Danny Meadow Mouse when he came for a visit.</p>
<p>“Perhaps I shall never, never see them again,” moaned Peter, and two big
tears filled his eyes and were just ready to drop.</p>
<p>At that moment he looked up and saw jolly, round, red Mr. Sun wink. Peter
tried to wink back, and that made the two tears fall. But there were no
more tears to follow. You see that wink had made all the difference in the
world, Peter's heart had jumped right back where it belonged. Mr. Sun was
one of his oldest friends and you know</p>
<p>When trouble comes, a friendly face<br/>
Makes bright the very darkest place.<br/></p>
<p>And so, just as he made bright all the Old Pasture, Mr. Sun also made
bright the dark little corners in Peter's heart just because he was an old
friend. To be sure Peter was still lonesome, but it was a different kind
of lonesomeness. He hadn't anybody to talk to, which is always a dreadful
thing to Peter, but he had only to look up to catch a friendly wink, and
somehow that not only made him feel better inside but it seemed to make
his aches and smarts better too.</p>
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