`` I thought it was you and I thought it was n't you . What have you been doing to yourself , Johnny Chuck ? Your coat looks three sizes too big for you , and when I last saw you it did n't look big enough . '' Peter hopped all around Johnny Chuck , looking at him as if he did n't believe his own eyes . -LSB- Illustration : `` Is it really and truly you , Johnny Chuck ? '' he cried . -RSB- `` Oh , Johnny 's all right . He 's just been living on his own fat , '' said another voice . It was Jimmy Skunk who had spoken , and he now stood holding out his hand to Johnny Chuck and grinning good-naturedly . He had come up without either of the others seeing him . Peter 's big eyes opened wider than ever . `` Do you mean to say that he has been eating his own fat ? '' he gasped . Johnny Chuck and Jimmy Skunk both laughed . `` No , '' said Jimmy Skunk , `` he did n't eat it , but he lived on it just the same while he was asleep all winter . Do n't you see he has n't got a particle of fat on him now ? '' `` But how could he live on it , if he did n't eat it ? '' asked Peter , staring at Johnny Chuck as if he had never seen him before . Jimmy Skunk shrugged his shoulders . `` Do n't ask me .
That is one of Old Mother Nature 's secrets ; you 'll have to XXXXX her , '' he replied .
Do ask believe come gasped live lived looking seen staring