"First you may try that hole between those mossy stones," Mr. Owlannounced, with a tilt of his head toward the wall.
"Certainly!" cried Mr. Meadow Mouse.
"You go first and I'll follow," Grumpy Weasel told him.
And Mr. Meadow Mouse didn't dare disobey. He whisked through the holespryly and was back again in no time.
Then Grumpy took his turn. He was certainly quicker than Mr. MeadowMouse. Even the umpire, Solomon Owl, had to admit that.
"But of course that's not the point," Solomon observed. "It's the onethat gets stuck in a hole that loses the contest."
Well, after Grumpy and Mr. Meadow Mouse had slipped through severalholes, each one smaller than the one before, Mr. Meadow Mouse said thathe thought it was only polite to let Grumpy go first. Secretly Mr.Meadow Mouse was afraid of what might happen if he should have themisfortune to get wedged in a hole, with Grumpy Weasel ready to followhim. He had had some trouble getting through the last one and he knewthat he could never squeeze through one that was much smaller.
Grumpy Weasel lost his temper at once.
"I'll do as I please on my stone wall!" he snapped. And he was angrierthan ever when Solomon Own said to him, "It's your turn!" Probably noother of the woods people--unless it was one of the Hawk family--couldhave made Grumpy Weasel obey. And now he insisted that if he "wentfirst" he ought to be allowed to choose whatever hole he pleased.
Both Solomon Owl and Mr. Meadow Mouse agreed. So Grumpy Weasel poppedthrough a hole of his own choosing, and he did not reappear, though hecalled to Mr. Meadow Mouse to "come on."
Mr. Meadow Mouse hung back.
"You'll have to excuse me," he stammered.
"What's the matter?" boomed Solomon Owl. "Do you want to lose thecontest?"
"No!" said Mr. Meadow Mouse. "But Grumpy Weasel is still inside thathole. There's no other way out."
"How do you know?" Solomon Owl asked him.
"Oh, I've been here before, often," Mr. Meadow Mouse replied.
"Are you sure?" Mr. Owl inquired.
"I'll go on the other side of the wall and look," Mr. Meadow Mouseoffered. And thereupon he skipped over the wall.
Solomon Owl waited patiently. And so did Grumpy Weasel. But Mr. MeadowMouse never came back. Once out of sight he scampered away. And he nevertrespassed on Grumpy Weasel's hunting ground again.
VII
PADDY MUSKRAT'S BLUNDER
Sometimes Grumpy Weasel found the hunting poor along the stretch ofstone wall that he called his own--though of course it really belongedto Farmer Green. And though he disliked to wander much in strangeneighborhoods, once in a while he visited other parts of PleasantValley.
It was on such an excursion to the bank of the mill pond that he caughtsight, one day, of Paddy Muskrat--or to be more exact, that PaddyMuskrat caught sight of him.
Now it was seldom that anybody spoke to Grumpy Weasel. On the contrary,most of the forest-folk dodged out of sight whenever they saw him, andsaid nothing. So he wheeled like a flash and started to run whensomebody called, "Hullo, stranger!"
One quick backward glance at a small wet head in the water told Grumpythat he had nothing to fear.
"Hullo, yourself!" he retorted "And you'd better not call me 'stranger,'because I'm no stranger than you are."
Well, Paddy Muskrat--for it was he who had spied Grumpy Weasel on thebank of the pond--saw at once that whoever the slender and elegantperson might be, he had the worst of manners. Though Paddy had lived inthe mill pond a long time, he had never met any one that looked exactlylike the newcomer. To be sure, there was Peter Mink, who waslong-bodied and short-tempered, as the stranger appeared to be. Butwhen Paddy inquired whether the visitor wasn't a distant connection ofthe Mink family (as indeed he was!), Grumpy Weasel said, "What! Do youmean to insult me by asking whether I'm related to such a ragged,ruffianly crowd?"
Somehow Paddy Muskrat rather liked that answer, for Peter Mink and allhis family were fine swimmers and most unwelcome in the mill pond.
And perhaps--who knew?--perhaps the spic-and-span chap on the bank, withthe sleek coat and black-tipped tail, was one of the kind that didn'tlike to get his feet wet.
Then Paddy Muskrat asked the stranger a silly question. He was not thewisest person, anyhow, in Pleasant Valley, as his wife often remindedhim. "You're not a distant relation of Tommy Fox, are you?" heinquired.
Grumpy Weasel actually almost smiled.
"Now, how did you happen to guess that?" he asked.
"Because you've got such a sharp nose," Paddy Muskrat replied. And hewas quite pleased with himself, for he thought that he wasn't so stupidas some people thought.
"Any other reason?" Grumpy Weasel inquired, stepping to the edge of theoverhanging bank.
"You don't like to get your feet wet," Paddy Muskrat said. And feelingsafe as anything, he swam nearer the spot where the stranger wascrouching.
Paddy saw, almost too late, that he had made a bad blunder. For withoutthe slightest warning Grumpy Weasel leaped at him. And had not Paddybeen a wonderful swimmer and able to dive like a flash, he would neverhave dashed, panting, into his house a few moments later.
"What on earth is the matter?" his wife asked him.
"I've been having a swimming race with a stranger," Paddy explained. "Idon't know his name. But I do know that he'd just as soon get his feetwet as I would."
"Well, why not?" Mrs. Muskrat inquired. "That only shows he's sensible."
"Does it show I'm sensible, too?" Paddy asked her.
"Certainly not!" said Mrs. Muskrat.
VIII
THE DARE
If Grumpy Weasel had been a faster runner the forest people wouldn'thave been so surprised when he dared Jimmy Rabbit to race him. Everybodyknew that Jimmy was swift-footed--especially since he once beat old Mr.Turtle (but that is another story).
When Mr. Crow, who was a great bearer of news, told Jimmy Rabbit one daythat Grumpy Weasel wanted a race with him, Jimmy Rabbit seemed more thanwilling to oblige. "Where, when, and how far does Grumpy want to runagainst me?" he asked.
Mr. Crow said that he didn't know, but that he would make it hisbusiness to find out. So off he hurried to find Grumpy Weasel, for ifthere was anything Mr. Crow liked it was busying himself with otherpeople's affairs.
He did not have what you could call a pleasant talk with Grumpy Weasel.Once when Mr. Crow alighted too near the ground Grumpy jumped at him.And several times he called Mr. Crow a nest-robber and an egg-thief,though goodness knows Grumpy Weasel himself was as bad as the worst whenit came to robbing birds' nests.
Although he felt as if he were about to burst with rage old Mr. Crowpretended to laugh. He had been having a rather dull time, waiting forFarmer Green to plant his corn, and he thought that a lively race mightput him in better spirits.
Grumpy Nearly Catches Paddy Muskrat. (_Page 31_)]
"Where do you want to race against Jimmy Rabbit?" Mr. Crow asked.
"We'll start from this wall," said Grumpy sulkily, "because it's alwaysbetter to start from where you are than where you aren't."
Mr. Crow said that that seemed reasonable.
"When do you want to race?" he added.
"The sooner we start the quicker we'll finish," Grumpy Weasel snapped.
"Quite true, quite true!" Mr. Crow agreed. "And now may I inquire howlong a race you want to run?"
"No longer than I have to!" Grumpy growled. "Not more than a day or two,I hope!"
Mr. Crow snickered slightly. "I see you don't understand my question,"he observed. "Are you going to run a mile, or only a few rods?"
"How do I know?" Grumpy cried, as if he had no patience with hisquestioner. "How could anybody tell? I'll let Jimmy Rabbit start twentyjumps ahead of me and we'll run till I catch him."
Well, Mr. Crow laughed right out loud when he heard that. And he wasabout to tell Grumpy that he would have to run till the end of his daysif he raced Jimmy Rabbit in any such fashion as that. But he saw all atonce that such a race would be a grea
t joke. And he said to himself witha chuckle that the laugh would be on Grumpy Weasel. For Jimmy Rabbit wasso swift a runner that nobody who knew anything at all would everconsent to give him a start--much less propose such a thing.
"Very well!" said Mr. Crow with a smirk, "I'll report to Jimmy Rabbit.I'll tell him where, when and how you want to race, and there's nodoubt that your plan will please him."
"I hope it won't!" Grumpy Weasel snarled. "I've never pleased anybodyyet; and I don't mean to."
And that goes to show what an ill-natured scamp he was.
IX
SAVING HIS FEET
Old Mr. Crow and Jimmy Rabbit had a good laugh over Grumpy Weasel's planfor a race with Jimmy. They thought it a great joke.
"He needn't give me a start," Jimmy said. "I can beat Grumpy easily."
"Never mind that!" Mr. Crow advised. "You might as well let him have hisway. He'll look all the more foolish, trying to catch up with you."
So Jimmy Rabbit agreed to run the race as Grumpy Weasel wished, sayingthat he was ready to start at once.
But Mr. Crow told him he had better wait till the next day. "That willgive me time to tell everybody," he explained, "and then there'll be abig turnout to see you win--and to jeer at Grumpy Weasel for losing."And one could tell from Mr. Crow's remark that he liked Jimmy Rabbit andthat he despised Grumpy Weasel.
The next day proved to be a fine one for the race. It wasn't too hot nortoo cold; and early in the morning the field- and forest-people begangathering at Grumpy Weasel's hunting ground, where the stone walltouched the clearing.
About the only persons that objected to the time set for the race wereBenjamin Bat and Solomon Owl. Benjamin said that he could never keepawake to watch it; and Solomon complained that he couldn't see well inthe daytime. But all the rest of the company were in the best ofspirits, giggling slyly whenever they looked at Grumpy Weasel, whoseemed to pay scant heed to his neighbors, though you may be sure hisroving black eyes took in everything that was going on. He seemed morerestless than ever as he waited for Jimmy Rabbit to arrive, walking toand fro on his front legs in a most peculiar fashion, while he kept hishind feet firmly planted on the ground in one spot. Of course he couldnever have moved about in this manner had his body not been so long andslender.
Noticing Grumpy's strange actions, old Mr. Crow looked worried and askedhim what was the matter. "I hope your hind feet aren't troubling you,just as the race is about to begin," he said.
Grumpy Weasel hissed at the old gentleman before he replied: "Don'tworry! You'll soon see that my hind feet can travel as fast as my frontones--when I want to use them."
"Ah!" Mr. Crow exclaimed knowingly. "He's saving his hind feet for therace."
When Jimmy Rabbit reached the gathering place, coming up in a long lope,Mr. Crow hurried to meet him.
"I advise you to save your hind feet," he whispered. "Grumpy Weasel issaving his."
Jimmy Rabbit told Mr. Crow, with a smile, that he had saved his hindfeet all his life--and his front ones, too.
"I've brought them along to-day," he said, "to help me win this race."
X
HA! AND HA, HA!
A great outcry rang through the woods the moment Jimmy Rabbit set out torace Grumpy Weasel and beat him. Shouts of "Good luck!" and "Run hard!"and "Hurrah for James Rabbit!" followed Jimmy. But old Mr. Crowsquawked, "You don't need to hurry!" He thought that the race wasalready as good as won, for Grumpy Weasel had insisted on giving JimmyRabbit a start of twenty jumps.
Meanwhile Grumpy Weasel glowered. But he could not glower at Jimmy'sfriends, because he had to watch Jimmy himself in order to count thefirst twenty jumps he took. When Grumpy had counted nineteen and a halfaway he started. And old Mr. Crow, as he sat staring at the race,declared that Grumpy Weasel hadn't a chance to win.
The company seemed ready to take Mr. Crow's word for it--that is, allexcept Grumpy Weasel's cousin, Peter Mink. He spoke up and said that asfor him, he would wait and see what happened. He didn't believe old Mr.Crow knew what he was talking about.
Mr. Crow grew almost a purplish black with rage.
"We'll all wait," he said stiffly. "We'll all wait. And when the race isover you will apologize to me."
Peter Mink merely grinned. He had no respect for his elders. And now hedidn't appear to mind in the least when the entire company let himseverely alone.
Mr. Crow shot a triumphant look at him about an hour later, when JimmyRabbit came bounding into sight, with no one following him. "You may aswell stop now," Mr. Crow told Jimmy. "You've as good as won the racealready."
Jimmy Rabbit said that he thought so, too, but he supposed he'd betterkeep running a while longer, till Grumpy Weasel gave up. So off hehopped again.
Everybody except Peter Mink laughed heartily when Grumpy Weasel camespringing up the slope a little while later.
"You may as well stop now. You've as good as lost already," Mr. Crowgreeted him.
"Whose race is this--yours or mine?" Grumpy Weasel hissed. And off hehurried, without pausing to hear Mr. Crow's answer.
"We'll wait a while longer," Mr. Crow told the company, "for the end isso near we may as well see it."
"Whose end?" Peter Mink asked him.
"I mean the end of the race, of course!" Mr. Crow squalled.
"Oh! I thought you meant the end of Jimmy Rabbit," Peter Mink replied.
"Impossible! Impossible!" was all Mr. Crow said to that. But he began tofidget--which was a sign that he was worried. And when Jimmy Rabbitappeared again Mr. Crow was not quite so cocksure when he asked if therace wasn't over.
"It would be," Jimmy Rabbit answered, "but the trouble is, Grumpy Weaselwon't stop running!"
"Ha!" said Mr. Crow hoarsely. But Peter Mink said, "Ha, ha!" And thereis a great difference between those two remarks, as we shall see.
XI
A LONG RACE
The famous race between Grumpy Weasel and Jimmy Rabbit went on and on.Jimmy turned and twisted this way and that, up and down and back andforth through Pleasant Valley. He could still run faster than GrumpyWeasel, it is true. But he was growing tired. Now and then Jimmy stoppedto rest. And he kept hoping that Grumpy Weasel had become so weary thathe had given up the chase.
But Grumpy Weasel never stopped once. And whenever Jimmy Rabbit spiedhim coming along his trail Jimmy would spring up with a sigh and rushoff again.
He began to understand that such a race was no joke. He certainly didn'twant to lose the race. And he certainly didn't want Grumpy Weasel tocome up with him. He had always kept at a good safe distance from thatill-natured fellow. And Jimmy felt most uneasy now at the thought ofGrumpy's catching him.
"He must be very hungry, after running so far," Jimmy Rabbit said tohimself anxiously. "If he's as hungry as I am he wouldn't be a pleasantperson to meet." And that thought made Jimmy run all the faster, for atime. But he soon found that he had to stop more often to rest. And tohis great alarm Grumpy Weasel kept drawing nearer all the time.
At last Jimmy Rabbit became so worried that he swept around by the stonewall again and stopped to whisper to old Mr. Crow.
"He's still chasing me. And I can't run forever. What shall I do?" Jimmyasked the old gentleman.
"I'll think the matter over and let you know to-morrow," Mr. Crowmuttered hoarsely. To tell the truth, he was alarmed himself. And he hadno idea what Jimmy Rabbit could do to save himself from Grumpy Weasel.
While they talked, Grumpy's cousin, Peter Mink, watched them slyly.
"Who do you think is going to win the race?" he jeered.
Mr. Crow did not even turn his head. He felt very uncomfortable. But hetried to look unconcerned.
"Run along!" he said to Jimmy. "To-morrow I'll tell you what to do."
"To-morrow--" Jimmy Rabbit panted--"to-morrow will be too late."
Then all at once Mr. Crow had an idea. And he whispered something inone of Jimmy Rabbit's long ears that made the poor fellow take heart.
"All right!" Jimmy cried. "I'll see you
again--sometime!" And away heran, just as Grumpy Weasel came racing along the stone wall, looking asfresh as a daisy.
"You'd better stop and rest a while!" Mr. Crow croaked. "If you get tootired you'll never win."
"Rest!" Grumpy exploded. "I don't need to rest! I never felt better inmy life, except that I'm pretty hungry. But I'm bound to win this race."As he spoke of feeling hungry he cast a longing glance at Jimmy Rabbit,who was just dodging out of sight behind a distant tree.
"Wait here a bit, anyhow!" Mr. Crow urged him. "Since you're sure towin--as you say--there can be no hurry." And Peter Mink too begged hiscousin Grumpy to stop just a minute. And he laughed, "Ha, ha!" wheneverhe looked at Mr. Crow.
And strange to say, Mr. Crow said, "Ha, ha!" too.
Grumpy Calls on Mrs. Hen. (_Page 58_)]
XII
WINNING BY A TRICK
Grumpy Weasel wouldn't stop long with his cousin, Peter Mink, and oldMr. Crow and all the rest.
He was in a hurry to overtake Jimmy Rabbit. And after quarrelingfiercely with the whole company--except his cousin--he sprang up with awicked glitter in his black eyes and left without another word.
"That fixed him," said Mr. Crow knowingly.
"What did?" Peter Mink demanded.
"That rest!" Mr. Crow replied. "It gave Jimmy Rabbit just time enoughto go where he's going." And that was all he would say.