`` It 's all true , '' broke in another voice . Peter jumped and turned to find his big cousin , Jumper the Hare . Unseen and unheard , he had stolen up and had overheard what Peter and Lightfoot had said . `` How do you know it is true ? '' snapped Peter a little crossly , for Jumper had startled him . `` Because I saw Lightfoot 's old antlers after they had fallen off , and I often saw Lightfoot while his new ones were growing , '' retorted Jumper . `` All right ! I 'll believe anything that Lightfoot tells me if you say it is true , '' declared Peter , who greatly admires his cousin , Jumper . `` Now tell me about those rags , Lightfoot . Please do . '' Lightfoot could n't resist that `` please . '' `` Those rags are what is left of a kind of covering which protected the antlers while they were growing , as I told you before , '' said he . `` Very soon after my old ones dropped off the new ones began to grow . They were not hard , not at all like they are now . They were soft and very tender , and the blood ran through them just as it does through our bodies . They were covered with a sort of skin with hairs on it like thin fur . The ends were not sharply pointed they now are , but were big and rounded , like knobs . They were not like antlers at all , and they made my head hot and were very uncomfortable . That is why I hid away . They grew very fast , so fast that every day I could see by looking at my reflection in water that they were a little longer .
It seemed to me sometimes as if all my strength went into those new XXXXX .
Hare Lightfoot Peter antlers day kind left ones rags right