Without shoes, he dropped to all four legs so he could run faster. He might have gotten completely away if he had not unfortunately run into a gooseberry fence. He was wearing a blue jacket with brass buttons, and the buttons got caught in the net.

Peter gave himself up for lost, and he shed big tears. But some friendly sparrows heard him crying. They flew down to him and begged him to keep trying to escape. "You can do it, Peter," they said.

Mr. McGregor had a big butterfly net in his hands. He came up behind Peter and tried to scoop him up. But Peter wriggled out just in time, leaving his jacket behind him. He rushed into the toolshed and saw a large watering can. It looked big and beautiful and a great place in which to hide. He jumped inside. It wasn't until he had that he realized it had water in it.

Mr. McGregor was quite sure Peter was somewhere in the shed. Perhaps he was hidden underneath a flower pot. He turned each one over carefully, looking under them one by one, but Peter wasn't there.

It was then that Peter sneezed, "Ahchoo!" Mr. McGregor was after him in no time. The net was no good in such a small space, so he tried to step on Peter. Peter was fast, though, and he jumped out of a window, upsetting three plants. The window was too small for Mr. McGregor to fit through. And he was tired of running after Peter. He went back to his work.

Outside, Peter sat down to rest. He was out of breath and trembling with fright.