The Marsh Rabbit and the Swamp Hare are the only members of your
family in all the Great World who are fond of the water and who
are at home in it. Now, who shall I tell you about?"
"Our biggest cousins," cried Peter and Jumper together. "The ones
you told us yesterday are bigger than Jumper," added Peter. "It
is hard to believe that there can be any much bigger than he."
Old Mother Nature's eyes twinkled. "It is often hard to believe
things you know nothing about," said she. "Compared with these
other relatives, Jumper really isn't big at all. He seems big to
you, Peter, but if he should meet his cousin, Snow White the Arctic
Hare, who lives way up in the Frozen North, I am quite sure Jumper
would feel small. Snow White looks very much like Jumper in his
winter coat, for he is all white save the tips of his ears,
which are black."
"Does he wear a white coat all year round?" asked Peter eagerly.
"When he lives so far north that there is snow and ice for most of
the year, he does," replied Old Mother Nature. "But when he lives
far enough south for the snow to disappear for a little while in
the summer, he changes his white coat for one of gray."
"But how can he live so far north that the snow and ice seldom melt?"
asked Peter, looking very much puzzled. "What can he find to eat?"
"Even way up there there is moss growing under the snow.
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