All the way home from school Peter Rabbit did his best to think who it could be who ate flesh, yet wasn't a member of the order of flesh eaters. Every few he would stop to think, but all his stopping and all his thinking were in vain, and when he started for school the next morning he was as puzzled as ever. On his way through the Green Forest he passed a certain tree. He was just past and no more when a familiar voice hailed him.  
“Morning, Bre'r Rabbit,” said the voice. “What's yo' hurry?” Peter stopped and looked up in that tree. There, peering down at him from a hole high up in the trunk, was a sharp, whitish-gray face, with a pair of twinkling black eyes.
 
“Hello, Unc' Billy,” cried Peter. “How are you and Ol' Mrs. Possum?”
 
“Po'ly, Peter, Po'ly. We-uns haven't had breakfast yet, so we-uns are feeling po'ly,” replied Unc' Billy with a grin.
 
A sudden thought popped into Peter's head. “Unc' Billy,” cried Peter excitedly, “are you a Carnivora?”
 
Unc' his head a little farther out and put his hand behind his ear as if he were a little hard of hearing. “What's that, Bre'r Rabbit? Am I a what?” he demanded.
 
“Are you a Carnivora?” repeated Peter.
 
“Ah reckons Ah might be if Ah knew what it was, but as long as Ah don't, Ah reckons I ain't,” retorted Unc' Billy. “Ah reckons Ah'm just plain Possum. When Ah wants to be real uppity, Ah puts on an 'o.' Then Ah am Mister Opossum.”
 
But Peter wasn't listening. The fact is, Peter had started lipperty-lipperty-lip for school, without even being polite enough to say good-by. He arrived at school quite out of breath. “I know!” he panted. “I know!”
 
“What do you know?” asked Old Mother Nature.
 
“I know who it is who eats flesh, yet doesn't belong to the order of flesh eaters. It's Unc' Billy Possum!” cried Peter.
 
“Right you are,” replied Old Mother Nature. “However did you find it out?”
 
“I didn't exactly find it out; I guessed it,” replied Peter. “On my way here I saw Unc' Billy, and it popped into my head right away that he was one we haven't heard about, and must be the one. But if he eats flesh, I don't see why he isn't a member of the order of flesh eaters.”
 
“It is because he belongs to a group which has something which makes them different from all other animals, and for this reason they have been given an order of their own,” explained Old Mother Nature. “They belong to the order of Marsupials, which means animals. It is because the mothers have big pockets in which they carry their babies. Old Mrs. Possum has just such a pocket.”
 
“Of course,” exclaimed Peter. “I've seen those babies their heads out of that pocket. They look too funny for anything.”
 
“The Opossums are the only Marsupials in this country,” continued Old Mother Nature. “Now have I made it quite clear why, although they eat flesh, Unc' Billy and Ol' Mrs. Possum are not members of the same big order as Buster Bear and the other flesh eaters?”
 
Everybody nodded. Just then Chatterer the Red Squirrel shouted, “Here comes Unc' Billy, Ol' Mrs. Possum and all the little Possums.”
 
Sure enough, down the Little Path came the Possum family, and a funny looking sight they were. Unc' Billy was whitish-gray, his face whiter than the rest of him. He looked as if he had just gotten out of bed and forgotten to brush his hair; it every which way. His legs were dark, his feet black and his toes white. His ears were without any hair at all, and were black for the lower half, the rest being white. He had a long whitish tail without any hair on it. Altogether, with his sharp face and naked tail, he looked a great deal as though he might be a giant Rat.
 
But if Unc' Billy was a funny-looking fellow, Ol' Mrs. Possum was even more funny-looking. She seemed to have heads and tails all over her. You see, she had brought along her family, and Ol' Mrs. Possum is one of those who believe in large families. There were twelve youngsters, and they were exactly like their parents, only small. They were clinging all over Ol' Mrs. Possum. Some were on her back, some were clinging to her sides, and a couple were in the big pocket, where they had spent their babyhood.
 
“We—all done thought we'd come to school,” explained Unc' Billy with a grin.
 
“I'm glad you did,” replied Old Mother Nature. “You see, the rest of your friends here are a little curious about the Possum family.”
 
Meanwhile Ol' Mrs. Possum was climbing a tree, and when she had reached a comfortable crotch the little Possums left her and began to play about in the tree. It was then that it appeared what handy things those naked little tails were. When the little Possums crawled out where the branches were ............