Once they wasted a lot of time while Unc ' Billy Possum hunted for a nest of Carol the Meadow Lark , on the chance that he would find some fresh eggs there . He did n't find the nest for the very good reason that Carol had n't built one yet . Peter was secretly glad . You know he does n't eat eggs , and he is always sorry for his feathered friends when their eggs are stolen . Half way across the Green Meadows they stopped to play with the Merry Little Breezes , and because it was very pleasant there , they played longer than they realized . When at last they started on again , Old Mr. Toad was out of sight . You see all the time he had kept right on going , hop , hop , hipperty-hop . `` Never mind , '' said Peter , `` we can catch up with him easy enough , he 's such a slow-poke . '' But even a slow-poke who keeps right on doing a thing without wasting any time always gets somewhere sooner or later , very often sooner than those who are naturally quicker , but who waste their time . So it was with Old Mr. Toad . He kept right on , hop , hop , hipperty-hop , while the others were playing , and so it happened that when at last Peter and Jimmy and Unc ' Billy reached the Smiling Pool , they had n't caught another glimpse of Old Mr. Toad . `` Do you suppose he hid somewhere , and we passed him ? '' asked Peter . Unc ' Billy shook his head . `` Ah don ' reckon so , '' said he . `` We-uns done been foolin ' away our time , an ' Brer Toad done stole a march on us . Ah reckons we-uns will find him sittin ' on the bank here somewhere . '' So right away the three separated to look for Old Mr. Toad . All along the bank of the Smiling Pool they looked . They peeped under old leaves and sticks .
They XXXXX in every place where Old Mr. Toad might have hidden , but not a trace of him did they find .
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