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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Tale Of Grumpy Weasel, by Arthur Scott Bailey.
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Grumpy Weasel, by Arthur Scott Bailey
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Tale of Grumpy Weasel
+       Sleepy-Time Tales
+
+Author: Arthur Scott Bailey
+
+Illustrator: Harry L. Smith
+
+Release Date: March 20, 2008 [EBook #24881]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF GRUMPY WEASEL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Joe Longo, S. Drawehn and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 471px;">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="471" height="700" alt="Cover" title="Cover" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="endpapers">
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<a href="images/frontendpapers-lg.jpg">
+<img src="images/frontendpapers.jpg" width="480" height="346" alt="Front Endpapers" title="Front Endpapers" /></a>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<h1>THE TALE OF<br />
+GRUMPY WEASEL<br /><br /></h1>
+
+
+<div class="centerbox">
+<i><big>SLEEPY-TIME TALES</big></i><br />
+<span class="tpsm">(Trademark Registered)</span><br />
+<small>BY</small><br />
+ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY<br />
+<br />
+<small>AUTHOR OF</small><br />
+<i><big>TUCK-ME-IN TALES</big></i><br />
+<span class="tpsm">(Trademark Registered)</span>
+
+<hr class="box"  />
+<table summary="Series List">
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Cuffy Bear</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Frisky Squirrel</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Tommy Fox</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Fatty Coon</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Billy Woodchuck</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Jimmy Rabbit</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Peter Mink</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Sandy Chipmunk</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Brownie Beaver</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Paddy Muskrat</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Ferdinand Frog</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Dickie Deer Mouse</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Timothy Turtle</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Major Monkey</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="justify">The Tale of Benny Badger</td></tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 390px;">
+<a name="frontispiece" id="frontispiece"></a>
+<a href="images/frontis-lg.jpg">
+<img src="images/frontis-sm.jpg" width="390" height="558" alt="Grumpy Weasel and Jimmy Rabbit Run a Race. " title="Frontispiece" />
+</a>
+<span class="caption">Grumpy Weasel and Jimmy Rabbit Run a Race.</span>
+<p class="capra"><i>Frontispiece</i>&mdash;(<a href="#Page_46"><i>Page</i> 46</a>)</p>
+</div>
+
+<h2><br /><i>SLEEPY-TIME TALES</i></h2>
+<p class="tpsm">(Trademark Registered)</p>
+
+<hr class="tp" />
+
+<h1>THE TALE OF<br />
+GRUMPY<br />
+WEASEL</h1>
+
+<p class="tp"><span class="tpsm">BY</span><br />
+<span class="tplg">ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY</span>
+<br />
+
+<span class="tpsm">Author of</span><br />
+"TUCK-ME-IN TALES"<br />
+<span class="tpsm">(Trademark Registered)</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp"><br /><span class="tpsm">ILLUSTRATED BY</span><br />
+<span class="tpmed">HARRY L. SMITH</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp"><br /><br /><span class="tpmed">NEW YORK</span>
+<br />
+GROSSET &amp; DUNLAP<br />
+<span class="tpmed">PUBLISHERS</span>
+<br />
+<span class="tpsm">Made in the United States of America</span>
+<br /></p>
+
+<p class="tpsm"><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1920, BY<br />
+GROSSET &amp; DUNLAP</p>
+
+<h3>CONTENTS</h3>
+
+<table border="0" width="70%" summary="Contents">
+<col style="width:20%;" /><col style="width:70%;" /><col style="width:10%;" />
+
+<tr><td style="font-size: small" >CHAPTER</td> <td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td align="right" style="font-size: small">PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="rn">I</td> <td>A Slim Rascal</td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">II</td> <td>At the Old Stone Wall</td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">III</td> <td>Master Robin's Lesson</td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">IV</td> <td>Hunting a Hole</td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">V</td> <td>Solomon Owl Interrupts</td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">VI</td> <td>Mr. Meadow Mouse Escapes</td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">VII</td> <td>Paddy Muskrat's Blunder </td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">VIII</td><td>The Dare</td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">IX</td><td>Saving His Feet</td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">X</td> <td>Ha! and Ha, Ha!</td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XI</td> <td>A Long Race</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XII</td> <td>Winning by a Trick</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XIII</td> <td>Silly Mrs. Hen </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XIV</td> <td>Grumpy Vanishes</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XV</td> <td>The Great Mystery</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XVI</td> <td>Guarding the Corncrib</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XVII</td><td>Grumpy's Mistake</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XVIII</td> <td>Pop! Goes the Weasel</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_78">78</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XIX</td> <td>Hiding from Henry Hawk</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XX</td> <td>A Free Ride</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XXI</td> <td>A New Suit</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XXII</td><td>Grumpy's Threat</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XXIII</td><td>A Bold Stranger</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn"><ins class="correction" title="original reads 'XXIX'">XXIV</ins></td> <td>Fur and Feathers</td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XXV</td> <td>Peter Mink's Promise</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rn">XXVI</td> <td>How Grumpy Helped</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<h3>ILLUSTRATIONS</h3>
+
+<table border="0" width="70%" summary="Illustrations">
+<col style="width:70%;" /><col style="width:10%;" />
+
+<tr>
+  <td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td align="right" style="font-size: small">FACING PAGE</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>Grumpy Weasel and Jimmy Rabbit Run a Race.</td><td align="right"><a href="#frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Master Robin Escapes From Grumpy Weasel.</td><td align="right"><a href="#mastrobin">10</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Grumpy Nearly Catches Paddy Muskrat.</td><td align="right"><a href="#paddymuskrat">34</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Grumpy Calls on Mrs. Hen.</td><td align="right"><a href="#mrshen">50</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Grumpy Weasel Visits the Corncrib.</td><td align="right"><a href="#corncrib">74</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Sandy Chipmunk Runs from Grumpy Weasel.</td><td align="right"><a href="#sandychip">98</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 1 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE TALE OF<br />
+GRUMPY WEASEL<br />
+<br /></h2>
+
+<h3>I<br /><br />
+A SLIM RASCAL</h3>
+
+
+<p>Old Mr. Crow often remarked that if Grumpy Weasel really wanted to be of
+some use in the world he would spend his time at the sawmill filling
+knot holes in boards.</p>
+
+<p>"He's so slender," Mr. Crow would say, "that he can push himself into a
+knot hole no bigger round than Farmer Green's thumb."</p>
+
+<p>Naturally it did not please old Mr. Crow when Solomon Owl went out of
+his way<!-- Page 2 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>
+one day to tell him that he was sadly mistaken. For after
+hearing some gossip repeat Mr. Crow's opinion Solomon Owl&mdash;the wise old
+bird&mdash;had given several long hoots and hurried off, though it was broad
+daylight, to set Mr. Crow right.</p>
+
+<p>"The trouble&mdash;" Solomon explained when he had found Mr. Crow on the edge
+of the woods&mdash;"the trouble with your plan to have Grumpy Weasel work in
+the sawmill is that he wouldn't keep a knot hole filled longer than a
+jiffy. It's true that he can fit a very small hole. But if you'd ever
+watched him closely you'd know that he's in a hole and out the other
+side so fast you can scarcely see what happens. He's entirely too active
+to fill the bill."</p>
+
+<p>Old Mr. Crow made a queer noise in his throat, which showed that Solomon
+Owl had made him angry.</p>
+
+<p>"I never said anything about Grumpy<!-- Page 3 --><span class='pagenum'>
+<a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> Weasel's filling any bills," Mr.
+Crow spluttered. "Knot holes were what I had in mind. I've no doubt,
+though, that you'd like Grumpy Weasel to fill your own bill."</p>
+
+<p>Now, if Solomon Owl had not tried more than once to catch Grumpy Weasel
+perhaps Mr. Crow's retort wouldn't have made him feel so uncomfortable.
+And muttering that he wished when people spoke of his beak they wouldn't
+call it a bill, and that Mr. Crow was too stupid to talk to, Solomon
+blundered away into the woods.</p>
+
+<p>It was true, of course, that Grumpy Weasel was about the quickest of all
+the furred folk in Pleasant Valley. Why, you might be looking at him as
+he stopped for a moment on a stone wall; and while you looked he would
+vanish before your eyes. It was just as if he had melted away in an<!-- Page 4 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>
+instant, so quickly could he dart into a crevice between the stones.</p>
+
+<p>It was surprising, too, that he could whisk himself out of sight so
+fast, for his body was absurdly long. But if he was long in one way he
+was short in another. Yes! Grumpy Weasel had the shortest temper of all
+the field-&nbsp;and forest-folk throughout Pleasant Valley. Even peppery
+Peter Mink was not so short-tempered as he.</p>
+
+<p>So terrible tempered was Grumpy Weasel that whenever the news flashed
+through the woods that he was out hunting, all the small people kept
+quite still, because they were afraid. And even some of the bigger
+ones&mdash;a good deal bigger than Grumpy Weasel himself&mdash;felt uneasy.</p>
+
+<p>So you can see whether or not Grumpy Weasel was welcome.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 5 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p>
+<h3>II<br />
+<br />
+AT THE OLD STONE WALL</h3>
+
+
+<p>Little Mr. Chippy suddenly set up a great twitter. Anybody could see
+that he was frightened. And one of Jolly Robin's sons, perched in an
+apple tree near the stone wall where Mr. Chippy lived in a wild
+grapevine, wondered what could be the matter.</p>
+
+<p>Presently, as he looked beneath him, he saw a long, slim shape dart from
+a chink of the old wall, and as quickly disappear.</p>
+
+<p>"Huh!" said young Master Robin. "Foolish people who build their homes on
+walls must expect snakes for visitors." And feeling quite wise and grown
+up, he<!-- Page 6 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> turned his back on Mr. Chippy, as if it really made no
+difference to him if Mr. Chippy did have a dangerous caller.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile others of the bird neighbors began to echo Mr. Chippy's
+warning notes. And young Master Robin thought everybody was silly to
+make such a fuss over the misfortunes of a humble person like Mr.
+Chippy.</p>
+
+<p>"If they don't look out they'll scare all the angleworms back into their
+holes," he grumbled&mdash;a remark which shows that he knew little about the
+ways of the world. And when Rusty Wren swerved near him and called to
+him to look out for Mr. Chippy's visitor&mdash;that he was "a bad one"&mdash;young
+Master Robin actually puffed himself up with rage.</p>
+
+<p>"He seems to think I'm in danger of falling out of this tree," he
+sneered aloud. "He doesn't know that I can handle my<!-- Page 7 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>self in a tree as
+well as he can." As he spoke, Master Robin all but tumbled off his
+perch. But he caught himself just in time, then looked around hastily to
+see if anybody had noticed his awkwardness.</p>
+
+<p>All this time poor Mr. Chippy's cries continued. There was really no
+reason for his alarm. For his wife was away from home, with all their
+children. But Mr. Chippy kept flying back and forth in a great flutter.
+He too called to young Master Robin that he'd better go home.</p>
+
+<p>Still that knowing youngster paid no heed to his elder's advice.</p>
+
+<p>"If snakes climb trees I've never seen them do it," he scoffed.</p>
+
+<p>"Hi, there! Haven't you seen&mdash;&mdash;" Mr. Chippy started to say. But before
+he could finish his question Master Robin interrupted him rudely.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly I saw him," he cried. "I<!-- Page 8 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> saw him come out of the wall and go
+in again."</p>
+
+<p>"He'll get you if you don't go away!" Mr. Chippy shrieked.</p>
+
+<p>"Let him try!" Master Robin scoffed. He was sorry that Mr. Chippy did
+not hear him. But that distracted little person had already hurried off
+to warn somebody else.</p>
+
+<p>It was no time at all before Rusty Wren's wife gave a piercing scream.</p>
+
+<p>"That fat Robin boy&mdash;he'll be caught!" she wailed.</p>
+
+<p>Now, it made Master Robin very angry to be spoken of in such a way as
+that.</p>
+
+<p>"Fat!" he burst out in a loud tone as he stared in Mrs. Wren's
+direction. "Who's fat?"</p>
+
+<p>"You are!" said a strange, grumpy voice right behind him&mdash;or so it
+seemed to young Master Robin.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 9 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p>
+<h3>III
+<br />
+<br />
+MASTER ROBIN'S LESSON</h3>
+
+
+<p>When young Master Robin heard the strange voice that sounded so grumpy
+and so near him he was terribly frightened. He forgot that he thought
+himself grown up, and very wise, and quite able to go about alone. He
+didn't even look to see who was speaking, but fell backwards off the
+limb of the apple tree.</p>
+
+<p>It was lucky for him, too, that he fell just when he did. For a long
+brownish person, white underneath, took Master Robin's place on the limb
+so promptly that you could hardly have said he jumped into it from
+somewhere else. He seemed<!-- Page 10 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> to have popped out of the tree somewhat as a
+freshly popped kernel of corn bursts forth. A moment ago it was not
+there! You were watching, but did not see it grow big.</p>
+
+<p>Well, all at once there was silence in the orchard. Everybody was
+holding his breath, waiting to see what happened to young Master Robin.
+Though he had lost his balance and tumbled backward he righted himself
+quite like an old-timer and flew off across the orchard.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't know snakes could climb trees," he stammered to Mr. Chippy,
+who had followed him.</p>
+
+<p>"Snakes!" Mr. Chippy piped. "That wasn't a snake! That was Grumpy
+Weasel.... And it's a wonder you ever escaped," he added. "I must learn
+that backward somersault. It's a good thing to know."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 390px;">
+<a name="mastrobin" id="mastrobin"></a>
+<a href="images/illus1-lg.jpg">
+<img src="images/illus1-sm.jpg" width="390" height="564" alt="Master Robin Escapes From Grumpy Weasel." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">Master Robin Escapes From Grumpy Weasel.</span>
+<p class="capra">(<a href="#Page_9"><i>Page</i> 9</a>)</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><!-- Page 11 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>You can see that Mr. Chippy was a very humble person. But Mr. Jolly
+Robin's eldest son was quite proud. Already he began to feel that he had
+been very skilful in escaping. But of course it was only an accident
+that he got away.</p>
+
+<p>For once in his life Grumpy Weasel had been careless. It had looked so
+easy&mdash;catching that clumsy young robin! He had spoken to Master Robin,
+not dreaming that he could save himself. To make matters worse, Grumpy
+had found Mr. Chippy's nest empty. And Grumpy Weasel was the sort of
+person that liked to find a bird at home when he called. It always made
+him more ill-natured than usual to make a call for nothing. And now he
+had let a stupid young Robin escape him. So it is not surprising that
+his big black eyes snapped nor that he said something in a fierce voice
+that sounded<!-- Page 12 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> like "Chip, chip, chip," but meant something a good deal
+worse.</p>
+
+<p>And to add to Grumpy Weasel's rage, somebody had laughed
+hoarsely&mdash;somebody that sat in a tall elm across the road.</p>
+
+<p>If he could have caught Mr. Crow there is no doubt that Grumpy would
+have made that black scamp sorry that he laughed. But old Mr. Crow was
+too wary to let anybody surprise him. "Haw, haw!" he laughed again. And
+Grumpy Weasel actually couldn't bear to hear him. Some of the onlookers
+claimed afterward that they saw Grumpy Weasel start down the tree. And
+that was as much as they could say. No one knew how he managed to slip
+out of sight. And the field people say that he was never seen again in
+that exact spot.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 13 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p>
+<h3>IV
+<br />
+<br />
+HUNTING A HOLE</h3>
+
+
+<p>Usually Grumpy Weasel did not stray far from a certain corner of Farmer
+Green's wood lot. He preferred to hunt where he knew the lay of the
+land. And since he liked especially to hunt along old stone walls, he
+picked out a long stretch of old tumble-down wall that reached through
+the woods towards Blue Mountain.</p>
+
+<p>He picked it out as his very own hunting ground and never asked
+permission of Farmer Green, either.</p>
+
+<p>Now, near the lower end of this wall&mdash;the end toward the pasture&mdash;a fat
+person<!-- Page 14 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> known as Mr. Meadow Mouse sometimes wandered. But he never
+visited that spot without first inquiring whether Grumpy Weasel had been
+there the day before. Mr. Meadow Mouse had learned somehow that Grumpy
+usually moved on each day to a different part of his hunting ground. He
+was surprised, therefore, to meet Grumpy Weasel face to face one time,
+when he felt sure that that surly rogue must be a good safe distance
+away.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Meadow Mouse cast a quick glance around. But he could see no place
+to hide. So there was nothing for him to do but to put on a bold front.
+He bowed pleasantly enough, though he was trembling a little, and
+remarked that it was a fine day and that he hoped Grumpy was feeling
+happy&mdash;all of which was quite true.</p>
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel glowered at Mr. Mea<!-- Page 15 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>dow Mouse, for that was his way of
+replying to a kindly greeting.</p>
+
+<p>"You've not come here to hunt, I hope," he growled. "I'll have you know
+that this is my private hunting ground and I allow no poaching."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Meadow Mouse hastened to explain that he was merely out for a
+stroll.</p>
+
+<p>"I never hunt," he declared. "Of course, if I happen to see a tiny seed
+I may stop to eat it. But that's all."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better be careful what you say!" Grumpy Weasel snapped. "Unless
+I'm mistaken, you were hunting something the moment you saw me. You were
+hunting a hole."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Meadow Mouse gasped slightly. He hardly knew what to say.</p>
+
+<p>"Be very careful where you go around here!" Grumpy Weasel warned him.
+"The holes in this stone wall are all mine.<!-- Page 16 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> I shouldn't want you to use
+a single one of them without my permission."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Meadow Mouse assured him that he wouldn't dream of trespassing.</p>
+
+<p>"And these holes among the roots of the trees&mdash;they are mine too,"
+Grumpy Weasel snarled.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, certainly! Certainly!" Mr. Meadow Mouse cried. He was so quick to
+agree that for once Grumpy Weasel couldn't think of anything more to
+find fault about.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll let you crawl into a few of the smaller holes in the stone wall,
+if you'll be careful not to hurt them," he offered grudgingly.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Meadow Mouse made haste to thank him.</p>
+
+<p>He said, however, that he thought he would wait till some other time.</p>
+
+<p>"There's no time like the present,"<!-- Page 17 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> Grumpy Weasel grumbled. "To tell
+the truth, I want to see if you can squeeze through as small a hole as I
+can."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 18 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p>
+<h3>V
+<br />
+<br />
+SOLOMON OWL INTERRUPTS</h3>
+
+
+<p>Plump little Mr. Meadow Mouse wished he had stayed away from Grumpy
+Weasel's hunting ground. He would have scampered off, had he not known
+that Grumpy could overtake him before he had made three leaps. So he saw
+no way out of his trouble, though he could think of nothing less
+agreeable than trying to slip through a small hole with Grumpy Weasel
+close at hand, watching him narrowly.</p>
+
+<p>Then all at once Mr. Meadow Mouse had an idea. "You go first!" he said
+politely. "Go through any hole you choose and then I'll try my luck."</p>
+
+<p><!-- Page 19 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>But Grumpy Weasel was too crafty to do that.</p>
+
+<p>"You'd try your luck at running away," he snarled. "You are the one to
+go first; and we'll have no words about it."</p>
+
+<p>Well, Mr. Meadow Mouse began to shake more than ever.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you think," he quavered, "that we'd better wait a few days until
+I'm a bit smaller? I'm afraid I've been overeating lately and I might
+get stuck in a hole. And of course that would be awkward."</p>
+
+<p>"Ha, ha!" Grumpy Weasel actually laughed. But it was not what any one
+could call a hearty, wholesome, cheerful sort of laugh. On the contrary,
+it sounded very cruel and gloating.</p>
+
+<p>"Hoo, hoo!" Another laugh&mdash;this one weird and hollow&mdash;boomed out from
+the<!-- Page 20 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> hemlock tree just above Mr. Meadow Mouse's head.</p>
+
+<p>He jumped, in spite of himself&mdash;did Mr. Meadow Mouse. And so, too, did
+Grumpy Weasel. Both of them leaped for the old stone wall. And each
+flashed into a crevice between the stones, though Grumpy Weasel was ever
+so much the quicker of the two. They knew Solomon Owl's voice too well
+to mistake his odd laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"What's your hurry, gentlemen?" Solomon called to them.</p>
+
+<p>Mild Mr. Meadow Mouse made no reply. But from Grumpy Weasel's hiding
+place an angry hiss told Solomon Owl that one of them, at least, had
+heard his question.</p>
+
+<p>"Come out!" said Solomon Owl. "Don't be shy! I've dined already."</p>
+
+<p>Well, that made the two in the wall feel somewhat bolder. And soon they
+ventured<!-- Page 21 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> to peep out and gaze at Solomon, to see whether he looked like
+a person who had just enjoyed a good meal.</p>
+
+<p>"You're not as hollow as you sound, I hope," Grumpy Weasel remarked with
+some suspicion in his tone.</p>
+
+<p>As for Mr. Meadow Mouse, he wouldn't dream of making so rude a remark.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a fine evening and I hope you're feeling happy," he piped.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, very! Very!" said Solomon Owl solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Meadow Mouse was a trusting sort of chap. He was all ready to leave
+his cranny. But Grumpy Weasel was not yet satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>"Which one of us are you answering?" he demanded of Solomon.</p>
+
+<p>"Him!" said Solomon.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you say, 'Ahem?'" Grumpy Weasel wanted to know.<!-- Page 22 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No, no!" Solomon assured him. "I said, 'him.' I was answering your
+friend."</p>
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel made a wry face, as if he did not care to have anybody
+speak of Mr. Meadow Mouse as a friend of his. And he did not quit the
+stone wall until he had seen Mr. Meadow Mouse venture forth in safety.</p>
+
+<p>"Just by accident I overheard your remarks a few minutes ago," Mr. Owl
+explained. "I'd like to watch this hole-crawling contest. And I'll stay
+here and be the umpire&mdash;and see that there's fair play."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 23 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p>
+<h3>VI
+<br />
+<br />
+MR. MEADOW MOUSE ESCAPES</h3>
+
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel did not like Solomon Owl's offer to be umpire of the
+hole-crawling contest between Mr. Meadow Mouse and himself. He hissed a
+few times and glared at Solomon Owl, up in the hemlock tree.</p>
+
+<p>Solomon Owl did not appear to mind that, but calmly outstared Grumpy
+Weasel without once blinking. "Are you both ready?" he asked presently.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, thank you!" Mr. Meadow Mouse answered. And Grumpy Weasel gave a
+sort of shrug, as if to say that he supposed he was.<!-- Page 24 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"First you may try that hole between those mossy stones," Mr. Owl
+announced, with a tilt of his head toward the wall.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly!" cried Mr. Meadow Mouse.</p>
+
+<p>"You go first and I'll follow," Grumpy Weasel told him.</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. Meadow Mouse didn't dare disobey. He whisked through the hole
+spryly and was back again in no time.</p>
+
+<p>Then Grumpy took his turn. He was certainly quicker than Mr. Meadow
+Mouse. Even the umpire, Solomon Owl, had to admit that.</p>
+
+<p>"But of course that's not the point," Solomon observed. "It's the one
+that gets stuck in a hole that loses the contest."</p>
+
+<p>Well, after Grumpy and Mr. Meadow Mouse had slipped through several
+holes, each one smaller than the one before, Mr. Meadow Mouse said that
+he thought it was only polite to let Grumpy go first. Se<!-- Page 25 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>cretly Mr.
+Meadow Mouse was afraid of what might happen if he should have the
+misfortune to get wedged in a hole, with Grumpy Weasel ready to follow
+him. He had had some trouble getting through the last one and he knew
+that he could never squeeze through one that was much smaller.</p>
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel lost his temper at once.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll do as I please on my stone wall!" he snapped. And he was angrier
+than ever when Solomon Own said to him, "It's your turn!" Probably no
+other of the woods people&mdash;unless it was one of the Hawk family&mdash;could
+have made Grumpy Weasel obey. And now he insisted that if he "went
+first" he ought to be allowed to choose whatever hole he pleased.</p>
+
+<p>Both Solomon Owl and Mr. Meadow Mouse agreed. So Grumpy Weasel popped
+through a hole of his own choos<!-- Page 26 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>ing, and he did not reappear, though he
+called to Mr. Meadow Mouse to "come on."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Meadow Mouse hung back.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll have to excuse me," he stammered.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter?" boomed Solomon Owl. "Do you want to lose the
+contest?"</p>
+
+<p>"No!" said Mr. Meadow Mouse. "But Grumpy Weasel is still inside that
+hole. There's no other way out."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you know?" Solomon Owl asked him.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I've been here before, often," Mr. Meadow Mouse replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you sure?" Mr. Owl inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll go on the other side of the wall and look," Mr. Meadow Mouse
+offered. And thereupon he skipped over the wall.</p>
+
+<p>Solomon Owl waited patiently. And so<!-- Page 27 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> did Grumpy Weasel. But Mr. Meadow
+Mouse never came back. Once out of sight he scampered away. And he never
+trespassed on Grumpy Weasel's hunting ground again.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 28 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p>
+<h3>VII
+<br />
+<br />
+PADDY MUSKRAT'S BLUNDER</h3>
+
+
+<p>Sometimes Grumpy Weasel found the hunting poor along the stretch of
+stone wall that he called his own&mdash;though of course it really belonged
+to Farmer Green. And though he disliked to wander much in strange
+neighborhoods, once in a while he visited other parts of Pleasant
+Valley.</p>
+
+<p>It was on such an excursion to the bank of the mill pond that he caught
+sight, one day, of Paddy Muskrat&mdash;or to be more exact, that Paddy
+Muskrat caught sight of him.</p>
+
+<p>Now it was seldom that anybody spoke<!-- Page 29 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> to Grumpy Weasel. On the contrary,
+most of the forest-folk dodged out of sight whenever they saw him, and
+said nothing. So he wheeled like a flash and started to run when
+somebody called, "Hullo, stranger!"</p>
+
+<p>One quick backward glance at a small wet head in the water told Grumpy
+that he had nothing to fear.</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo, yourself!" he retorted "And you'd better not call me 'stranger,'
+because I'm no stranger than you are."</p>
+
+<p>Well, Paddy Muskrat&mdash;for it was he who had spied Grumpy Weasel on the
+bank of the pond&mdash;saw at once that whoever the slender and elegant
+person might be, he had the worst of manners. Though Paddy had lived in
+the mill pond a long time, he had never met any one that looked exactly
+like the newcomer. To be sure, there was Peter Mink, who was
+long-<!-- Page 30 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>bodied and short-tempered, as the stranger appeared to be. But
+when Paddy inquired whether the visitor wasn't a distant connection of
+the Mink family (as indeed he was!), Grumpy Weasel said, "What! Do you
+mean to insult me by asking whether I'm related to such a ragged,
+ruffianly crowd?"</p>
+
+<p>Somehow Paddy Muskrat rather liked that answer, for Peter Mink and all
+his family were fine swimmers and most unwelcome in the mill pond.</p>
+
+<p>And perhaps&mdash;who knew?&mdash;perhaps the spic-and-span chap on the bank, with
+the sleek coat and black-tipped tail, was one of the kind that didn't
+like to get his feet wet.</p>
+
+<p>Then Paddy Muskrat asked the stranger a silly question. He was not the
+wisest person, anyhow, in Pleasant Valley, as his wife often reminded
+him. "You're<!-- Page 31 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> not a distant relation of Tommy Fox, are you?" he
+inquired.</p>
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel actually almost smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, how did you happen to guess that?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Because you've got such a sharp nose," Paddy Muskrat replied. And he
+was quite pleased with himself, for he thought that he wasn't so stupid
+as some people thought.</p>
+
+<p>"Any other reason?" Grumpy Weasel inquired, stepping to the edge of the
+overhanging bank.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't like to get your feet wet," Paddy Muskrat said. And feeling
+safe as anything, he swam nearer the spot where the stranger was
+crouching.</p>
+
+<p>Paddy saw, almost too late, that he had made a bad blunder. For without
+the slightest warning Grumpy Weasel leaped at him. And had not Paddy
+been a won<!-- Page 32 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>derful swimmer and able to dive like a flash, he would never
+have dashed, panting, into his house a few moments later.</p>
+
+<p>"What on earth is the matter?" his wife asked him.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been having a swimming race with a stranger," Paddy explained. "I
+don't know his name. But I do know that he'd just as soon get his feet
+wet as I would."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, why not?" Mrs. Muskrat inquired. "That only shows he's sensible."</p>
+
+<p>"Does it show I'm sensible, too?" Paddy asked her.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not!" said Mrs. Muskrat.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 33 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p>
+<h3>VIII
+<br />
+<br />
+THE DARE</h3>
+
+
+<p>If Grumpy Weasel had been a faster runner the forest people wouldn't
+have been so surprised when he dared Jimmy Rabbit to race him. Everybody
+knew that Jimmy was swift-footed&mdash;especially since he once beat old Mr.
+Turtle (but that is another story).</p>
+
+<p>When Mr. Crow, who was a great bearer of news, told Jimmy Rabbit one day
+that Grumpy Weasel wanted a race with him, Jimmy Rabbit seemed more than
+willing to oblige. "Where, when, and how far does Grumpy want to run
+against me?" he asked.<!-- Page 34 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crow said that he didn't know, but that he would make it his
+business to find out. So off he hurried to find Grumpy Weasel, for if
+there was anything Mr. Crow liked it was busying himself with other
+people's affairs.</p>
+
+<p>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 when
+it came to robbing birds' nests.</p>
+
+<p>Although he felt as if he were about to burst with rage old Mr. Crow
+pretended to laugh. He had been having a rather dull time, waiting for
+Farmer Green to plant his corn, and he thought that a lively race might
+put him in better spirits.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 390px;">
+<a name="paddymuskrat" id="paddymuskrat"></a>
+<a href="images/illus2-lg.jpg">
+<img src="images/illus2-sm.jpg" width="390" height="559" alt="Grumpy Nearly Catches Paddy Muskrat." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">Grumpy Nearly Catches Paddy Muskrat.</span>
+<p class="capra">(<a href="#Page_31"><i>Page</i> 31</a>)</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><!-- Page 35 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>"Where do you want to race against Jimmy Rabbit?" Mr. Crow asked.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll start from this wall," said Grumpy sulkily, "because it's always
+better to start from where you are than where you aren't."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crow said that that seemed reasonable.</p>
+
+<p>"When do you want to race?" he added.</p>
+
+<p>"The sooner we start the quicker we'll finish," Grumpy Weasel snapped.</p>
+
+<p>"Quite true, quite true!" Mr. Crow agreed. "And now may I inquire how
+long a race you want to run?"</p>
+
+<p>"No longer than I have to!" Grumpy growled. "Not more than a day or two,
+I hope!"</p>
+
+<p>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?"<!-- Page 36 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"How do I know?" Grumpy cried, as if he had no patience with his
+questioner. "How could anybody tell? I'll let Jimmy Rabbit start twenty
+jumps ahead of me and we'll run till I catch him."</p>
+
+<p>Well, Mr. Crow laughed right out loud when he heard that. And he was
+about to tell Grumpy that he would have to run till the end of his days
+if he raced Jimmy Rabbit in any such fashion as that. But he saw all at
+once that such a race would be a great joke. And he said to himself with
+a chuckle that the laugh would be on Grumpy Weasel. For Jimmy Rabbit was
+so swift a runner that nobody who knew anything at all would ever
+consent to give him a start&mdash;much less propose such a thing.</p>
+
+<p>"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<!-- Page 37 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> race, and there's no
+doubt that your plan will please him."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope it won't!" Grumpy Weasel snarled. "I've never pleased anybody
+yet; and I don't mean to."</p>
+
+<p>And that goes to show what an ill-natured scamp he was.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 38 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p>
+<h3>IX
+<br />
+<br />
+SAVING HIS FEET</h3>
+
+
+<p>Old Mr. Crow and Jimmy Rabbit had a good laugh over Grumpy Weasel's plan
+for a race with Jimmy. They thought it a great joke.</p>
+
+<p>"He needn't give me a start," Jimmy said. "I can beat Grumpy easily."</p>
+
+<p><ins class="correction" title="Close quote was originally single quote">"Never mind that!"</ins> Mr. Crow advised. "You might as well let him have his
+way. He'll look all the more foolish, trying to catch up with you."</p>
+
+<p>So Jimmy Rabbit agreed to run the race as Grumpy Weasel wished, saying
+that he was ready to start at once.<!-- Page 39 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Crow told him he had better wait till the next day. "That will
+give me time to tell everybody," he explained, "and then there'll be a
+big turnout to see you win&mdash;and to jeer at Grumpy Weasel for losing."
+And one could tell from Mr. Crow's remark that he liked Jimmy Rabbit and
+that he despised Grumpy Weasel.</p>
+
+<p>The next day proved to be a fine one for the race. It wasn't too hot nor
+too cold; and early in the morning the field-&nbsp;and forest-people
+began gathering at Grumpy Weasel's hunting ground, where the stone wall
+touched the clearing.</p>
+
+<p>About the only persons that objected to the time set for the race were
+Benjamin Bat and Solomon Owl. Benjamin said that he could never keep
+awake to watch it; and Solomon complained that he couldn't see well in
+the daytime. But all the rest of the company were in the best<!-- Page 40 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> of
+spirits, giggling slyly whenever they looked at Grumpy Weasel, who
+seemed to pay scant heed to his neighbors, though you may be sure his
+roving black eyes took in everything that was going on. He seemed more
+restless than ever as he waited for Jimmy Rabbit to arrive, walking to
+and fro on his front legs in a most peculiar fashion, while he kept his
+hind feet firmly planted on the ground in one spot. Of course he could
+never have moved about in this manner had his body not been so long and
+slender.</p>
+
+<p>Noticing Grumpy's strange actions, old Mr. Crow looked worried and asked
+him what was the matter. "I hope your hind feet aren't troubling you,
+just as the race is about to begin," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel hissed at the old gentleman before he replied: "Don't
+worry! You'll soon see that my hind feet can<!-- Page 41 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> travel as fast as my front
+ones&mdash;when I want to use them."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" Mr. Crow exclaimed knowingly. "He's saving his hind feet for the
+race."</p>
+
+<p>When Jimmy Rabbit reached the gathering place, coming up in a long lope,
+Mr. Crow hurried to meet him.</p>
+
+<p>"I advise you to save your hind feet," he whispered. "Grumpy Weasel is
+saving his."</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Rabbit told Mr. Crow, with a smile, that he had saved his hind
+feet all his life&mdash;and his front ones, too.</p>
+
+<p>"I've brought them along to-day," he said, "to help me win this race."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 42 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p>
+<h3>X
+<br />
+<br />
+HA! AND HA, HA!</h3>
+
+
+<p>A great outcry rang through the woods the moment Jimmy Rabbit set out to
+race Grumpy Weasel and beat him. Shouts of "Good luck!" and "Run hard!"
+and "Hurrah for James Rabbit!" followed Jimmy. But old Mr. Crow
+squawked, "You don't need to hurry!" He thought that the race was
+already as good as won, for Grumpy Weasel had insisted on giving Jimmy
+Rabbit a start of twenty jumps.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Grumpy Weasel glowered. But he could not glower at Jimmy's
+friends, because he had to watch Jimmy<!-- Page 43 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> himself in order to count the
+first twenty jumps he took. When Grumpy had counted nineteen and a half
+away he started. And old Mr. Crow, as he sat staring at the race,
+declared that Grumpy Weasel hadn't a chance to win.</p>
+
+<p>The company seemed ready to take Mr. Crow's word for it&mdash;that is, all
+except Grumpy Weasel's cousin, Peter Mink. He spoke up and said that as
+for him, he would wait and see what happened. He didn't believe old Mr.
+Crow knew what he was talking about.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crow grew almost a purplish black with rage.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll all wait," he said stiffly. "We'll all wait. And when the race is
+over you will apologize to me."</p>
+
+<p>Peter Mink merely grinned. He had no respect for his elders. And now he
+didn't appear to mind in the least when<!-- Page 44 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> the entire company let him
+severely alone.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crow shot a triumphant look at him about an hour later, when Jimmy
+Rabbit came bounding into sight, with no one following him. "You may as
+well stop now," Mr. Crow told Jimmy. "You've as good as won the race
+already."</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Rabbit said that he thought so, too, but he supposed he'd better
+keep running a while longer, till Grumpy Weasel gave up. So off he
+hopped again.</p>
+
+<p>Everybody except Peter Mink laughed heartily when Grumpy Weasel came
+springing up the slope a little while later.</p>
+
+<p>"You may as well stop now. You've as good as lost already," Mr. Crow
+greeted him.</p>
+
+<p>"Whose race is this&mdash;yours or mine?" Grumpy Weasel hissed. And off he
+hurried, without pausing to hear Mr. Crow's answer.<!-- Page 45 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"We'll wait a while longer," Mr. Crow told the company, "for the end is
+so near we may as well see it."</p>
+
+<p>"Whose end?" Peter Mink asked him.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean the end of the race, of course!" Mr. Crow squalled.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! I thought you meant the end of Jimmy Rabbit," Peter Mink replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Impossible! Impossible!" was all Mr. Crow said to that. But he began to
+fidget&mdash;which was a sign that he was worried. And when Jimmy Rabbit
+appeared again Mr. Crow was not quite so cocksure when he asked if the
+race wasn't over.</p>
+
+<p>"It would be," Jimmy Rabbit answered, "but the trouble is, Grumpy Weasel
+won't stop running!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ha!" said Mr. Crow hoarsely. But Peter Mink said, "Ha, ha!" And there
+is a great difference between those two remarks, as we shall see.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 46 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XI
+<br />
+<br />
+A LONG RACE</h3>
+
+
+<p>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 and
+forth through Pleasant Valley. He could still run faster than Grumpy
+Weasel, it is true. But he was growing tired. Now and then Jimmy stopped
+to rest. And he kept hoping that Grumpy Weasel had become so weary that
+he had given up the <ins class="correction" title="period missing in original">chase.</ins></p>
+
+<p>But Grumpy Weasel never stopped once. And whenever Jimmy Rabbit spied
+him coming along his trail Jimmy would spring up with a sigh and rush
+off again.<!-- Page 47 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He began to understand that such a race was no joke. He certainly didn't
+want to lose the race. And he certainly didn't want Grumpy Weasel to
+come up with him. He had always kept at a good safe distance from that
+ill-natured fellow. And Jimmy felt most uneasy now at the thought of
+Grumpy's catching him.</p>
+
+<p>"He must be very hungry, after running so far," Jimmy Rabbit said to
+himself anxiously. "If he's as hungry as I am he wouldn't be a pleasant
+person to meet." And that thought made Jimmy run all the faster, for a
+time. But he soon found that he had to stop more often to rest. And to
+his great alarm Grumpy Weasel kept drawing nearer all the time.</p>
+
+<p>At last Jimmy Rabbit became so worried that he swept around by the stone
+wall again and stopped to whisper to old Mr. Crow.<!-- Page 48 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"He's still chasing me. And I can't run forever. What shall I do?" Jimmy
+asked the old gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll think the matter over and let you know to-morrow," Mr. Crow
+muttered hoarsely. To tell the truth, he was alarmed himself. And he had
+no idea what Jimmy Rabbit could do to save himself from Grumpy Weasel.</p>
+
+<p>While they talked, Grumpy's cousin, Peter Mink, watched them slyly.</p>
+
+<p>"Who do you think is going to win the race?" he jeered.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crow did not even turn his head. He felt very uncomfortable. But he
+tried to look unconcerned.</p>
+
+<p>"Run along!" he said to Jimmy. "To-morrow I'll tell you what to do."</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow&mdash;" Jimmy Rabbit panted&mdash;"to-morrow will be too late."</p>
+
+<p>Then all at once Mr. Crow had an idea.<!-- Page 49 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> And he whispered something in
+one of Jimmy Rabbit's long ears that made the poor fellow take heart.</p>
+
+<p>"All right!" Jimmy cried. "I'll see you again&mdash;sometime!" And away he
+ran, just as Grumpy Weasel came racing along the stone wall, looking as
+fresh as a daisy.</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better stop and rest a while!" Mr. Crow croaked. "If you get too
+tired you'll never win."</p>
+
+<p>"Rest!" Grumpy exploded. "I don't need to rest! I never felt better in
+my 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.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait here a bit, anyhow!" Mr. Crow urged him. "Since you're sure to
+win&mdash;as you say&mdash;there can be no hurry." And Peter Mink too begged his
+cousin Grumpy<!-- Page 50 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> to stop just a minute. And he laughed, "Ha, ha!" whenever
+he looked at Mr. Crow.</p>
+
+<p>And strange to say, Mr. Crow said, "Ha, ha!" too.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 390px;">
+<a name="mrshen" id="mrshen"></a>
+<a href="images/illus3-lg.jpg">
+<img src="images/illus3-sm.jpg" width="390" height="562" alt="Grumpy Calls on Mrs. Hen." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">Grumpy Calls on Mrs. Hen.</span>
+<p class="capra"> (<a href="#Page_58"><i>Page</i> 58</a>)</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 51 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XII
+<br />
+<br />
+WINNING BY A TRICK</h3>
+
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel wouldn't stop long with his cousin, Peter Mink, and old
+Mr. Crow and all the rest.</p>
+
+<p>He was in a hurry to overtake Jimmy Rabbit. And after quarreling
+fiercely with the whole company&mdash;except his cousin&mdash;he sprang up with a
+wicked glitter in his black eyes and left without another word.</p>
+
+<p>"That fixed him," said Mr. Crow knowingly.</p>
+
+<p>"What did?" Peter Mink demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"That rest!" Mr. Crow replied. "It gave Jimmy Rabbit just time enough
+to<!-- Page 52 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> go where he's going." And that was all he would say.</p>
+
+<p>Not until Grumpy Weasel returned some time later did any one know what
+Mr. Crow meant.</p>
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel was in a terrible temper when he came slowly back.
+Everybody could tell, without asking, that the race was ended.</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you catch him?" Peter Mink asked his cousin.</p>
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel said in a few ill-chosen words that he hadn't caught Jimmy
+Rabbit at all, and that somebody had played a trick on him. He looked
+directly at Mr. Crow as he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"It wasn't Johnny Green, was it?" Mr. Crow inquired solemnly as he moved
+carefully to a higher limb.</p>
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel could tell, then, without a doubt, that it was Mr. Crow
+that had<!-- Page 53 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> made him lose the race. Grumpy had followed hot on Jimmy
+Rabbit's tracks. And to his surprise they led straight toward the farm
+buildings. But Grumpy kept on and never stopped until he reached the
+farmyard fence where he crouched and watched Jimmy disappear&mdash;of all
+places!&mdash;right in the woodshed, where Johnny Green was picking up an
+armful of wood.</p>
+
+<p>Of course Grumpy Weasel wouldn't think of entering such a dangerous
+place. And when he heard a shout and saw Johnny Green come out with
+Jimmy Rabbit in his arms he knew that Jimmy Rabbit had won the race,
+even if he had lost his freedom.</p>
+
+<p>"It was that old black rascal, Mr. Crow, that put that notion into Jimmy
+Rabbit's head," Grumpy said savagely to himself as he turned and made
+for the woods.<!-- Page 54 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> "They were talking together a little while ago."</p>
+
+<p>And all the way back to the stone wall he kept thinking what he would do
+to Mr. Crow if he could ever get hold of him. So you can see that he
+must have looked very dangerous when he reached his hunting ground; and
+you can understand why Mr. Crow took pains to change his seat.</p>
+
+<p>"I may have lost the race&mdash;through a trick," Grumpy hissed as he glared
+at Mr. Crow. "But one thing is certain: That young Jimmy Rabbit will
+trouble us no more. He's Johnny Green's prisoner."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense!" cried Mr. Crow. "He'll escape some fine day."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense! He won't!" Grumpy Weasel disputed. And he never begged Mr.
+Crow's pardon. And neither did Peter Mink apologize to the old
+gentleman, as<!-- Page 55 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> Mr. Crow had said he would. So in one way Mr. Crow was
+wrong. But in another way he was right. For it wasn't a week before
+Jimmy Rabbit appeared in the woods again, as spry as ever.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 56 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XIII
+<br />
+<br />
+SILLY MRS. HEN</h3>
+
+
+<p>Strange to say, Grumpy Weasel was trying to be pleasant. Of course he
+didn't really know how, for he always practiced being surly and rude. It
+must be confessed, too, that he had succeeded in making himself heartily
+disliked by everybody that knew him.</p>
+
+<p>There were a few, however, who had yet to learn of Grumpy Weasel's bad
+traits. Among these was a foolish, fat hen who lived in Farmer Green's
+henhouse. And now Grumpy Weasel was doing his best to make a good
+impression on her.</p>
+
+<p>It is no wonder, perhaps, that this lady<!-- Page 57 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> was unaware of her caller's
+real nature. For Grumpy was careful, as a rule, to visit the farmyard
+only after dark. And being a person of quiet habits Mrs. Hen was always
+abed and asleep at that time.</p>
+
+<p>Grumpy found it a bit difficult to chat with Mrs. Hen because old dog
+Spot was sprawled on the farmhouse steps; and naturally Grumpy felt like
+keeping one eye on him. But the other he turned, as well as he could, on
+Mrs. Hen, who was in the henyard looking for worms. Just outside the
+wire fence Grumpy Weasel crouched and told Mrs. Hen how well she was
+looking.</p>
+
+<p>His pretty speeches pleased Mrs. Hen so much that she actually let a fat
+angleworm get away from her because she hadn't her mind on what she was
+doing. She noticed meanwhile that one of her neighbors was making
+frantic motions, as<!-- Page 58 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> if she had something important to say. So Mrs. Hen
+sauntered across the henyard to find out what it was.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you know whom you're talking to?" the neighbor demanded in a loud
+whisper. "That's Grumpy Weasel&mdash;the worst rascal in all these parts."</p>
+
+<p>Somehow that sent a pleasant flutter of excitement through Mrs. Hen. At
+the same time she couldn't quite believe the news, because her caller
+had said such very pleasant things.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't worry!" she told her neighbor. "I'm old enough to look out for
+myself."</p>
+
+<p>"I should say so!" her neighbor cried. "You're three years old if you're
+a day!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not!" Mrs. Hen retorted. "I'm only two and a half." Her feathers
+were all ruffled up and she went straight back and told Grumpy Weasel
+what her neighbor had said about him.<!-- Page 59 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You don't believe that, I hope," Grumpy ventured.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hen clucked and tried to look wise. And at last she confided to
+Grumpy that her neighbor was a jealous creature and sure to speak ill of
+a stranger who came to call on anybody but herself.</p>
+
+<p>Well, Grumpy Weasel told Mrs. Hen that he knew, when he first set eyes
+on her, that she was a sensible little body.</p>
+
+<p>"You've a snug home here," he went on. "I can tell you that I'd like
+such a place to crawl into on a chilly, wet night." And though it was a
+warm, fine summer's day he shivered and shook, so Mrs. Hen could see.</p>
+
+<p>And silly Mrs. Hen couldn't help feeling sorry for him.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 60 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XIV
+<br />
+<br />
+GRUMPY VANISHES</h3>
+
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel was quick to see that fat Mrs. Hen swallowed every word he
+said as greedily as if it had been an angleworm. "Yes! You have a fine
+house here," he said. "But of course you're crowded," he added gloomily,
+to show Mrs. Hen that he knew she had no place for him.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! Not at all!" Mrs. Hen assured him.</p>
+
+<p>"And the door's always shut tight at night," he added, "on account of
+that prowling Tommy Fox."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes! We have to be careful," said Mrs. Hen.<!-- Page 61 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And there's Peter Mink, too," Grumpy went on. "Don't leave an opening
+big enough for him! He can get through a small hole, too&mdash;any that's big
+enough for his head."</p>
+
+<p>At that Mrs. Hen looked startled, as if she had just remembered
+something that made her feel uneasy.</p>
+
+<p>"He couldn't get through a rat hole, could he?" she inquired nervously.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;there isn't one here, is there?" Grumpy asked.</p>
+
+<p>"There is an old one," she admitted. "It hasn't been used in my time."</p>
+
+<p>"If I could see it I'd know at once whether Pete could crawl through
+it," Grumpy Weasel said, talking to himself&mdash;or so it seemed to Mrs.
+Hen.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll show it to you gladly!" she cried. "Do come right in and look at
+our rat hole, Mr. Weasel!"<!-- Page 62 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As she spoke, Mrs. Hen started for the henhouse. And after her crept
+Grumpy Weasel, hoping that nobody else would see him. So far as he could
+tell, the hens were all out of doors, scratching in the dirt. But
+suddenly Mrs. Hen's jealous neighbor began to set up a great squawking,
+calling upon Mrs. Hen to be careful, for she was in great danger.</p>
+
+<p>Fat Mrs. Hen turned about with a vexed look upon her handsome but
+somewhat stupid face.</p>
+
+<p>"Walk right in!" she said to Grumpy. "I must stop and settle with her.
+She has gone too far." And leaving Grumpy to find the rat hole without
+her help, Mrs. Hen fluttered across the henyard with her head thrust
+forward, to give her meddlesome neighbor a number of hard pecks and so
+teach her to mind her own affairs.</p>
+
+<p>With a low chuckle Grumpy Weasel<!-- Page 63 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> slipped inside the henhouse, where he
+found himself quite alone. It took him but a few moments to discover in
+one corner of the building the old rat hole of which Mrs. Hen had
+spoken.</p>
+
+<p>And then he went to the door and looked out, for Mrs. Hen and her
+neighbor were making a terrific racket. He saw the end of the squabble.
+And soon Mrs. Hen came running back, with her feathers sadly rumpled,
+and her comb awry.</p>
+
+<p>"I settled with her," she gasped. "And now tell me about the rat hole.
+Could Peter Mink get through it?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, he couldn't!" Grumpy Weasel said. Then he dodged strangely back
+into the henhouse. And though Mrs. Hen hopped in after him she couldn't
+find him anywhere.</p>
+
+<p>She couldn't understand it.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 64 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XV
+<br />
+<br />
+THE GREAT MYSTERY</h3>
+
+
+<p>The story soon spread all around the farmyard, how fat Mrs. Hen had been
+seen talking with no less a rascal than Grumpy Weasel.</p>
+
+<p>Everybody told her that it was a dangerous thing to do and that it was a
+wonder she had escaped, until Mrs. Hen began to feel that she was quite
+the most important person in the neighborhood. Even old dog Spot asked
+her some questions one day&mdash;some of which she could answer, and some of
+which she could not.</p>
+
+<p>For one thing, she couldn't (or wouldn't) tell what way Grumpy left the<!-- Page 65 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>
+farmyard. "He just jumped back and was gone before I knew it," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what they all say," said Spot. "He's so quick you never can see
+him go."</p>
+
+<p>Now, Mrs. Hen ought to have explained that Grumpy Weasel disappeared
+from inside the henhouse. But she was not a person of much sense. By
+that time she began to think that perhaps Grumpy Weasel was as bad as
+the neighbors had said. And she was afraid that her relations might find
+fault with her if they learned that she had invited Grumpy to enter
+their house. Silly Mrs. Hen decided that she wouldn't tell what she had
+done. But she never tired of talking about what she called "the great
+mystery"&mdash;meaning "Where did Grumpy Weasel go?"</p>
+
+<p>It was simple enough. To escape meeting old dog Spot, Grumpy Weasel had
+crawled into the old rat hole. It suited<!-- Page 66 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> him quite well to do that, for
+more than one reason. Not only did he avoid trouble, but he found the
+other end of the rat hole. Silly Mrs. Hen had done exactly as he had
+hoped. She had shown him a way to get into the henhouse at night in
+spite of locks and bolts and doors. And Grumpy Weasel went off to the
+woods well pleased with himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps, after all, it pays to be pleasant," he said&mdash;just as if that
+was a reason! But he stopped short all at once. "There's that stupid
+Mrs. Hen," he cried aloud. "She was pleasant; but it won't pay her, in
+the end!" So he decided on the spot that he would keep on being surly.
+It would be much easier for him, anyhow.</p>
+
+<p>That very night Grumpy Weasel stole back to the henhouse. And he was
+just about to creep up to the old rat hole, pausing first to take a
+searching look all<!-- Page 67 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> around, when he saw a motionless figure sitting on a
+low-hanging limb of a tree near-by. It was Solomon Owl. And Grumpy could
+see that he was staring at the rat hole as if he were waiting for
+somebody.</p>
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel knew at once that that rat hole was no safe place for him.
+Very gingerly he drew back into a deep shadow. And as he pondered
+silently he saw a huge rat step out of the hole. Solomon Owl swooped
+down and grabbed the fellow before he knew what was happening.</p>
+
+<p>Well, Grumpy Weasel saw that all his trouble had gone for nothing. Silly
+Mrs. Hen hadn't known what she was talking about. If Solomon Owl was in
+the habit of watching that hole Grumpy certainly didn't mean to go near
+it.</p>
+
+<p>Of course he was angry. But Mrs. Hen never learned what he said about
+her. No<!-- Page 68 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> matter what remarks her neighbors made, she always insisted
+afterward that Grumpy Weasel was one of the most pleasant and polite
+gentlemen she had ever met.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 69 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XVI
+<br />
+<br />
+GUARDING THE CORNCRIB</h3>
+
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel never seemed to have anything but bad luck whenever he
+went near the farmyard. Perhaps that was the reason why he kept going
+back there, for he was nothing if not determined. Anyhow, he had found
+the hunting poor along his stone wall in the woods. And there was so
+much "game," as he called it, about the farm buildings that he thought
+it was silly to leave it for such scamps as Peter Mink and Tommy Fox and
+Fatty Coon.</p>
+
+<p>So he took to loitering near Farmer Green's corncrib. And he was not at
+all pleased to find Fatty Coon there one even<!-- Page 70 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>ing. He wouldn't have
+spoken to Fatty at all had not that plump young chap hurled a cutting
+remark directly at him: "There are no chickens in this building. This is
+a corncrib."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you suppose I know that?" Grumpy retorted. "I've come here to
+guard the corn from mice and squirrels."</p>
+
+<p>"There's no need of your doing that," Fatty Coon told him. "Have you
+never noticed those tin pans, upside down, on top of the posts on which
+the corncrib rests? How could a mouse or a squirrel ever climb past one
+of those?"</p>
+
+<p>"There are ways," Grumpy Weasel said wisely.</p>
+
+<p>"I doubt it," Fatty replied. "I don't believe the trick can be done."</p>
+
+<p>Then, not to oblige Fatty, but to show him he was mistaken, Grumpy
+climbed a tree near-by, dropped from one of its<!-- Page 71 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> branches to the roof of
+the corncrib, and quickly found a crack in the side of the building
+through which he slipped with no trouble at all.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a great scurrying and scrambling inside. And soon
+Fatty Coon saw Frisky Squirrel and several of his friends&mdash;not to
+mention three frightened mice&mdash;come tumbling out and tear off in every
+direction.</p>
+
+<p>Presently Grumpy Weasel stuck his head through a crack between two
+boards.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you catch the robbers?" he called to Fatty Coon.</p>
+
+<p>"They were too spry for me," Fatty told him. He wouldn't have stopped
+one anyhow, for Grumpy Weasel.</p>
+
+<p>"Which way did they go, old Slow Poke?" Grumpy cried as he jumped down
+in great haste.</p>
+
+<p>"Everywhere!" Fatty told him.<!-- Page 72 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Can't you be a little more exact? You don't think&mdash;do you?&mdash;that I can
+run more than one way at a time?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you run round and round in a circle?" Fatty suggested. "In
+that way you might catch at least half those youngsters&mdash;and perhaps all
+of them."</p>
+
+<p>"That's the first real idea you ever had in your life!" Grumpy
+exclaimed&mdash;which was as near to thanking a person as he was ever known
+to come.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 73 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XVII
+<br />
+<br />
+GRUMPY'S MISTAKE</h3>
+
+
+<p>As soon as Grumpy Weasel left to chase the squirrels and mice that he
+had frightened away from the corncrib Fatty Coon hurried into the
+building through a hole in the floor which nobody knew but himself.</p>
+
+<p>Though he was a great eater Fatty was also a fast one. And now he bolted
+a huge meal of corn in only a few minutes. Then, smiling broadly, he
+left the corncrib by his private doorway and squatted down to await
+Grumpy's return.</p>
+
+<p>In a little while Grumpy appeared.</p>
+
+<p>"I hoped I'd see you again," Fatty<!-- Page 74 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> Coon told him. "Did you have any
+luck?"</p>
+
+<p>"No!" Grumpy Weasel snapped. "I was mistaken about your idea. It was a
+very poor one. For I've been running in a circle (as you suggested) till
+I'm dizzy; and I haven't seen the least sign of a mouse nor a squirrel."</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon told him to cheer up.</p>
+
+<p>"I've another idea for you," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Keep it! Keep it!" Grumpy Weasel hissed. "Your last idea only made me
+tired; and I haven't a capture to my credit to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"That's because you ran too fast," Fatty explained glibly. "Now, if
+you'll be careful to run slowly, and do just as I tell you, I can
+promise that there'll be a capture, without fail."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 390px;">
+<a name="corncrib" id="corncrib"></a>
+<a href="images/illus4-lg.jpg">
+<img src="images/illus4-sm.jpg" width="390" height="560" alt="Grumpy Weasel Visits the Corncrib. (Page 70)
+" title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">Grumpy Weasel Visits the Corncrib.</span>
+<p class="capra">(<a href="#Page_70"><i>Page</i> 70</a>)</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Grumpy had had such bad luck in his hunting about the farmyard that he
+decided to listen, anyhow. He told himself<!-- Page 75 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> that he wouldn't take
+Fatty's advice unless it was much better than he expected.</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;go on!" he grunted.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you see that little house near the woodshed?" Fatty Coon asked him.
+"It has a low doorway that's always open, and no windows at all."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes!" said Grumpy Weasel harshly. "Of course I see it. I'm not blind."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know who lives there?"</p>
+
+<p>"I always supposed that it belonged to Johnnie Green," said Grumpy. "His
+father is big and lives in the big house, and Johnnie is little and
+lives in the little house."</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon laughed merrily.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't know as much as I thought you did!" he cried. It may be that
+Fatty had set out to make Grumpy angry. Anyhow, Grumpy's eyes burned in
+the darkness like two coals of fire.<!-- Page 76 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I'm right about that little house," he wrangled.</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense!" Fatty Coon exclaimed. And that made Grumpy angrier than
+ever.</p>
+
+<p>"You learned that word of old Mr. Crow!" he grumbled. "It's his favorite
+expression; and I can't endure it."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't need to stay here and listen to it," Fatty Coon said. "If you
+dared to you could run over to Johnnie Green's house (as you call it);
+and if you found that you were right about it I promise you I'd never
+say 'Nonsense' again."</p>
+
+<p>If Grumpy Weasel hadn't been so angry perhaps he wouldn't have been so
+eager to prove himself right. While Fatty watched him he bounded across
+the farmyard and stopped at the doorway of the tiny house. And then he
+bounded back again, a great deal faster, with old dog Spot yelping
+behind him.<!-- Page 77 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon did not wait for anything more. He made for the woods at top
+speed, grinning as he went.</p>
+
+<p>The next day he pretended to be surprised to meet Grumpy.</p>
+
+<p>"You must have forgotten my advice," he said. "I promised you that there
+would be a capture if you ran slowly. But it's plain that you ran too
+fast, or you wouldn't be here."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense!" Grumpy Weasel shouted, flying into a passion at once. And he
+often wondered, afterward, what Fatty Coon found to laugh at.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 78 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XVIII
+<br />
+<br />
+POP! GOES THE WEASEL</h3>
+
+
+<p>There were many things that did not please Grumpy Weasel&mdash;things that
+almost any one else would have liked. For instance, there was music. The
+Pleasant Valley Singing Society, to which most of the bird people
+belonged, did not number Grumpy Weasel among its admirers. He never
+cared to hear a bird sing&mdash;not even Jolly Robin's cousin the Hermit, who
+was one of the most beautiful singers in the woods. And as for Buddy
+Brown Thrasher, whom most people thought a brilliant performer, Grumpy
+Weasel always groaned whenever he heard him sing<!-- Page 79 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>ing in the topmost
+branches of a tree.</p>
+
+<p>A bird-song&mdash;according to Grumpy Weasel&mdash;was of use in only one way: it
+told you where the bird was. And that was a help, of course, if you were
+trying to catch him.</p>
+
+<p>Nor did the musical Frog family's nightly concerts have much charm for
+Grumpy, though he did admit that some of their songs were not so bad as
+others.</p>
+
+<p>"I can stand it now and then," he said, "to hear a good, glum croaking,
+provided there are plenty of discords."</p>
+
+<p>Naturally, knowing how he felt, Grumpy Weasel's neighbors never invited
+him to listen to their concerts. On the contrary they usually asked him
+please to go away, if he happened to come along. Certainly nobody could
+sing his best, with such a listener.</p>
+
+<p>As a rule Grumpy Weasel was glad to<!-- Page 80 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> go on about his business, though to
+be sure he hated to oblige anybody. But one day he stopped and scolded
+at the top of his voice when he came upon the Woodchuck brothers
+whistling in the pasture.</p>
+
+<p>Their whistles quavered a bit when they noticed who was present. And
+they moved a little nearer their front door, in order to dodge out of
+sight if need be. Although Grumpy Weasel might follow them, there was a
+back door they could rush out of. And since they knew their way about
+their underground halls better than he did they did not worry greatly.</p>
+
+<p>"We're sorry&mdash;" said the biggest brother, who was called Billy
+Woodchuck&mdash;"we're sorry you don't like our music. And we'd like to know
+what's the matter with it; for we always strive to please."</p>
+
+<p>"It's not so much the way you whistle,"<!-- Page 81 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> Grumpy snarled, "though your
+whistling is bad enough, it's so cheerful. What I find fault with
+especially is the tune. It's insulting to me. And you can't deny it."</p>
+
+<p>Well, the Woodchuck brothers looked at one another in a puzzled fashion.</p>
+
+<p>"Never again let me hear you whistling, 'Pop! Goes the Weasel,'" Grumpy
+warned them. That was the name of the Woodchuck brothers' favorite air,
+and the one they could whistle best. And any one could see that they
+were quite upset.</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you like that tune?" Billy Woodchuck asked Grumpy Weasel
+politely.</p>
+
+<p>"It's that word 'pop,'" Grumpy said. "It reminds me of a pop-gun. And a
+pop-gun reminds me of a real gun. And that's something I don't want to
+think about."</p>
+
+<p>Well, the Woodchuck brothers looked<!-- Page 82 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> at one another again. But this time
+they smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"You've misunderstood," Billy Woodchuck told Grumpy Weasel. "This is a
+different kind of <i>pop</i>. It means that when you enter a hole you <i>pop</i>
+into it in a jiffy, without taking all day to do it."</p>
+
+<p>For a wonder Grumpy Weasel was almost pleased.</p>
+
+<p>"That's true!" he cried. "I couldn't be slow if I wanted to be!" And he
+actually asked the Woodchuck brothers to whistle "Pop! Goes the Weasel"
+once more.</p>
+
+<p>But Grumpy Weasel never thought of thanking them.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 83 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XIX
+<br />
+<br />
+HIDING FROM HENRY HAWK</h3>
+
+
+<p>In the spring Grumpy Weasel was always glad to see the birds coming back
+from the South. But it must not be supposed that it was because he liked
+to hear them sing (for he didn't!).</p>
+
+<p>Nor should any one make the mistake of thinking that Grumpy Weasel loved
+the birds. The only reason why he welcomed them was because he liked to
+hunt them, and rob their nests.</p>
+
+<p>But there were two birds that Grumpy didn't care to have in Pleasant
+Valley. He often wished that Solomon Owl and Henry Hawk would leave the
+neighbor<!-- Page 84 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>hood and never return. That was because they liked to hunt him.</p>
+
+<p>Especially did Grumpy Weasel dislike Henry Hawk, who had an unpleasant
+habit of sitting motionless on a limb in the top of some great tree.
+From that high perch he swept the whole valley with his keen, cruel
+eyes, because (as he said) he "liked to see what was going on."</p>
+
+<p>If Henry Hawk saw anything anywhere that interested him he lost no time
+in reaching that place. It might be a bird, or a meadow mouse, or maybe
+a plump chicken. And he was always hoping to catch a glimpse of Grumpy
+Weasel.</p>
+
+<p>One day early in the fall Mr. Hawk saw what he had been looking for so
+long. Near the old cider mill, up the road from Farmer Green's house, he
+spied a long, slender, brownish shape moving swiftly among a pile of
+barrels outside the build<!-- Page 85 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>ing. He knew at once that it was Grumpy
+Weasel; and though he was a long way off Mr. Hawk could see that Grumpy
+was very busy looking for something&mdash;so busy, Mr. Hawk hoped, that
+Grumpy wouldn't notice anything else.</p>
+
+<p>Henry Hawk had wonderful eyesight. As he came hurtling down out of the
+sky he could see that Grumpy was playing hide-and-seek with a mouse.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a shame to break up the game," Mr. Hawk chuckled to himself.</p>
+
+<p>And just then something made Grumpy Weasel look up. It must have been
+Henry Hawk's shadow flickering over a barrel. There was no other sign
+that could have warned Grumpy.</p>
+
+<p>He put the meadow mouse out of his mind without a bit of trouble and
+made a sidewise spring for the first hole on which his eyes lighted.<!-- Page 86 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Grumpy was through it in a twinkling. Henry Hawk made a frantic grab
+with his talons at the black tip of Grumpy's tail, just as it whisked
+out of sight. But he was too late.</p>
+
+<p>It did not soothe Henry Hawk's feelings to find that the meadow mouse
+had vanished at the same time. Henry would have liked to play
+hide-and-seek with him himself.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hawk knew well enough where Grumpy was hiding. That slim fellow had
+sought safety in an empty jug, which was lying on its side near the pile
+of barrels. It made a fine fort for Grumpy Weasel. The enemy couldn't
+break through it. And there was only one loophole, which was far too
+small to do Henry Hawk the least good.</p>
+
+<p>Henry saw at once that he might as well go away. So he went off
+grumbling.<!-- Page 87 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"This," he said, "is what comes of disorderly habits. Farmer Green ought
+not to have left that jug lying there. If he hadn't, I might have been
+able to do him a good turn."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 88 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XX
+<br />
+<br />
+A FREE RIDE</h3>
+
+
+<p>Inside the jug, where he had hidden to escape Henry Hawk, Grumpy Weasel
+yawned widely and licked his chops. He was having a dull time, waiting
+until he was sure that Henry Hawk had given up the chase and gone away.</p>
+
+<p>In a little while Grumpy believed he could venture out in safety. But
+suddenly, to his great disgust, a wagon came clattering in from the road
+and pulled up right beside the pile of empty barrels near him.</p>
+
+<p>It was Farmer Brown, driving his old horse Ebenezer. And of course
+Grumpy<!-- Page 89 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> Weasel didn't care to show himself just then, especially with
+old dog Spot nosing around. He had already heard Spot give several sharp
+yelps.</p>
+
+<p>"That old dog knows I'm here somewhere but he can't tell exactly where,"
+Grumpy said to himself. "He can yelp his head off, for all I care."</p>
+
+<p>And then Spot began to whine, and run in and out among the barrels,
+until he all but tripped Farmer Green, who was loading the barrels into
+the wagon.</p>
+
+<p>"Let him whine!" said Grumpy Weasel softly. "His yelping and whining
+don't scare me. He can't get inside this jug of mine. And I certainly
+shan't leave it so long as he stays here."</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile he could hear Farmer Green talking to old Spot, telling him
+not to be silly.</p>
+
+<p>"From the way you're acting anybody<!-- Page 90 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> might think there was a bear around
+here," he told Spot.</p>
+
+<p>Old dog Spot explained to Farmer Green in no uncertain fashion that it
+was no bear&mdash;but a weasel&mdash;that he was looking for. His nose told him
+that. And there was no mistake about it. But somehow Farmer Green
+couldn't understand a word he said. So after putting the last barrel on
+the load Farmer Green climbed up himself and started to drive off.</p>
+
+<p>But old dog Spot wouldn't budge an inch. He hovered about the jug where
+Grumpy Weasel was hiding and made such a fuss that Farmer Green looked
+back at him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well! well!" he exclaimed. And he stopped the horse Ebenezer and jumped
+down and walked back again.</p>
+
+<p>"I declare I'd have forgotten to take this jug if you hadn't reminded me
+of it,"<!-- Page 91 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> he told Spot. And thereupon he picked up the jug and set it in
+the back of the wagon.</p>
+
+<p>This time Spot followed. This time he was in the wagon before Farmer
+Green was. And all the way down the road, until they reached the
+farmyard, he acted (or so Farmer Green told him!) like a simpleton.</p>
+
+<p>The whole affair made Grumpy Weasel terribly angry. He thought it was an
+outrage for Farmer Green to kidnap him like that. And he was so enraged
+that he would have taken a bite out of anything handy. But there wasn't
+a thing in the jug except himself.</p>
+
+<p>At last the strange party drew up in front of the barn and stopped.
+Farmer Green led Ebenezer into his stall. And then he took the jug, with
+Grumpy Weasel still inside in, and in spite of Spot's<!-- Page 92 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> protests set it
+high up on a shelf in the barn.</p>
+
+<p>It was easy for Grumpy, after that, to crawl out of the jug. He scurried
+along the shelf, climbed up the wall, and glided through a crack in the
+ceiling, to hide himself in the haymow above.</p>
+
+<p>"Old Spot didn't get me this time!" he said gleefully. "Not by a jugful,
+he didn't!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 93 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XXI
+<br />
+<br />
+A NEW SUIT</h3>
+
+
+<p>Throughout Pleasant Valley the very name of Grumpy Weasel was a bugaboo.
+Those of his size, and many a good deal bigger than he, learned early to
+avoid him.</p>
+
+<p>One of the first things Sandy Chipmunk's mother did was to teach him to
+beware of Grumpy. And twice during his first summer Sandy caught a
+glimpse of Grumpy as he flashed past like a brown streak, with a gleam
+of white showing underneath.</p>
+
+<p>It was lucky for Sandy that on both occasions Grumpy was intent on
+chasing somebody or other. And each time that<!-- Page 94 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> Sandy told his mother
+what he had seen, Mrs. Chipmunk said that she hoped it would never
+happen again.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad that you know what he looks like, anyhow," she added.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'll know him if I see him!" Sandy cried.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't stop for a second look!" his mother warned him.</p>
+
+<p>"I won't!" he promised. "I won't even stop to say, 'How do you do!'"</p>
+
+<p>"I should hope not!" Mrs. Chipmunk said severely.</p>
+
+<p>So Sandy Chipmunk went through his first summer on the watch for a long,
+slender, brownish shape. But he never saw Grumpy Weasel again. And
+winter found the Chipmunk family all unharmed, and very comfortable in
+their cozy house below frost line.</p>
+
+<p>On mild days Sandy liked to visit the<!-- Page 95 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> world above and find a rock bare
+of snow, where he could enjoy the sunshine.</p>
+
+<p>It was on one of those outings that he caught sight of a stranger headed
+for the stone wall near-by. At first Sandy missed seeing him, against
+the snow. But when he reached the wind-swept wall Sandy couldn't help
+noticing him. He was a slim gentleman and&mdash;except for his black-tipped
+tail&mdash;was dressed all in white.</p>
+
+<p>After spending the winter underground Sandy Chipmunk was glad to talk
+with the first person he saw. So he called to the stranger that it was a
+fine day, wasn't it?</p>
+
+<p>The other wheeled about so quickly that Sandy couldn't help laughing.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be nervous!" Sandy cried. "I won't hurt you!"</p>
+
+<p>But the stranger didn't answer. Once he opened his mouth. And Sandy
+Chip<!-- Page 96 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>munk had a queer feeling then that he had met the fellow before.
+That mouth had plenty of white, needle-like teeth. It had a cruel look,
+too.</p>
+
+<p>Then the stranger jumped straight toward Sandy Chipmunk. And in that
+instant Sandy knew who he was. No one could leap like that except Grumpy
+Weasel!</p>
+
+<p>Sandy turned and ran madly for shelter. Luckily he had the advantage of
+Grumpy in one way. He had a bare ledge to run on, while Grumpy Weasel
+had to flounder for some distance through a snow-choked hollow.</p>
+
+<p>So Sandy escaped. And it was lucky that Grumpy didn't find the door to
+the Chipmunk family's burrow. If he had he would have gone right in
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Chipmunk blamed herself for Sandy's adventure. She had never
+re<!-- Page 97 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>membered to tell her son that every fall Grumpy Weasel changed his
+summer dress for the one in which Sandy had just seen him.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 98 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XXII
+<br />
+<br />
+GRUMPY'S THREAT</h3>
+
+
+<p>Meeting Grumpy Weasel in the woods one day, Tommy Fox stopped to have a
+chat with him. He always liked to chat with Grumpy, it was so easy to
+get him angry, and such fun to see him fly into a passion.</p>
+
+<p>"You're looking very elegant in your winter suit," Tommy Fox remarked.
+"White is becoming to you&mdash;there's no doubt of that. And that black tip
+on the end of your tail is just what's needed to complete your costume.
+It matches your eyes nicely.... You must have a good tailor."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 390px;">
+<a name="sandychip" id="sandychip"></a>
+<a href="images/illus5-lg.jpg">
+<img src="images/illus5-sm.jpg" width="390" height="562" alt="Sandy Chipmunk Runs From Grumpy Weasel. (Page 96)
+" title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">Sandy Chipmunk Runs From Grumpy Weasel.</span>
+<p class="capra"><a href="#Page_96">(<i>Page</i> 96</a>)</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><!-- Page 99 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>People were apt to be wary of Tommy Fox when fine words dripped from his
+mouth like that. It usually meant that he was bent on some mischief. And
+now Grumpy Weasel looked at him suspiciously.</p>
+
+<p>"If you admire my clothes so much why don't you get some like them?" he
+demanded.</p>
+
+<p>Tommy Fox shook his head mournfully.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd like to," he said, "but I'm too humble a person to dress like a
+king, in ermine. My family have always worn red. The neighbors wouldn't
+know me in anything else. Or if they did they'd say I was putting on
+airs."</p>
+
+<p>"If you want to know what I think, I'll tell you that red's entirely too
+good for you," Grumpy Weasel sneered.</p>
+
+<p>Tommy Fox smiled somewhat sourly. Grumpy Weasel's remark did not please<!-- Page 100 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>
+him. But he managed to say nothing disagreeable.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose," he went on, "you've met the newcomer in our valley who
+dresses as you do, in white and black?"</p>
+
+<p>"What's that you say?" Grumpy Weasel barked. "Who's gone and copied my
+cold-weather clothes? If I meet him I'll make it hot for him."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned the matter," Tommy Fox said softly.
+"I don't like to displease you. And I don't want to get a stranger into
+trouble either, just as he has come to spend the winter amongst us.</p>
+
+<p>"And besides," Tommy added, "it would be a shame for you to quarrel with
+the stranger because he happens to choose your favorite colors. That
+only goes to show that your tastes are alike."</p>
+
+<p>"That's exactly what I object to!"<!-- Page 101 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> Grumpy Weasel complained, getting
+much excited. "If his tastes are the same as mine he'll want to come and
+hunt along my stone wall. And there'll be trouble if he does that! The
+fur will fly!"</p>
+
+<p>Tommy Fox turned his head away, for he simply had to enjoy a grin and he
+didn't want Grumpy Weasel to see it.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sorry I spoke about the stranger," he said glibly, as soon as he
+could keep his face straight. "But I thought the news would please you."</p>
+
+<p>"It would certainly please me to meet him," Grumpy Weasel declared
+fiercely. "And it would please me much more than it would him, I can
+tell you."</p>
+
+<p>"It wouldn't be treating a newcomer well to let him wander through the
+woods when you feel as you do about him. I ought to warn him to leave
+Pleasant Valley before it's too late," Tommy said.<!-- Page 102 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It would be treating him better to give him a good lesson before he
+goes," Grumpy Weasel said. "You needn't say a word to him about my
+wanting to meet him. Let the fur fly first! And <ins class="correction" title="original reads 'and then'll he'll flee.'">then he'll flee.</ins></p>
+
+<p>"That's my way of getting rid of strangers!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 103 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XXIII
+<br />
+<br />
+A BOLD STRANGER</h3>
+
+
+<p>Tommy Fox had carefully kept from Grumpy Weasel the name of the stranger
+who was dressed like Grumpy, in white and black. It happened that he
+wore feathers&mdash;this newcomer. And that was one reason why Tommy Fox had
+had to grin when Grumpy threatened to "make the fur fly" when he met the
+unknown.</p>
+
+<p>Another reason why Tommy had laughed at Grumpy's blustering was that the
+stranger was quite able to take care of himself in a fight. He belonged
+to the Snowy Owl family, being bigger, even, than Solomon Owl. And what
+with his<!-- Page 104 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> hooked beak and his strong talons he was a dangerous fellow to
+meet. Although Grumpy Weasel could easily handle a rabbit or a wild duck
+a dozen times his own size, because they were unarmed, he would have had
+no chance at all with Mr. Snowy Owl.</p>
+
+<p>All this made Tommy Fox chuckle and grin, as he left Grumpy and loped
+off towards Cedar Swamp, where Mr. Snowy Owl was spending the winter.
+Unlike Solomon Owl, and his cousin Simon Screecher, Mr. Snowy Owl did
+not turn night into day. So Tommy Fox found him wide awake and ready for
+a fight or a frolic, whichever might come his way.</p>
+
+<p>He was a handsome bird&mdash;this newcomer&mdash;in his showy white suit, spotted
+with black. And he gave Tommy Fox a bold, hard look, acting for all the
+world as if he had spent his whole life in Pleas<!-- Page 105 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>ant Valley, instead of
+merely two short weeks.</p>
+
+<p>Now, Mr. Snowy Owl knew a good deal about such rascals as Tommy Fox. So
+he said at once, "What's on your mind, young man? You've come here on
+mischief and you needn't deny it."</p>
+
+<p>Well, Tommy Fox saw that he couldn't deceive Mr. Owl very much. So he
+grinned at him and told him about the talk he had just had with Grumpy
+Weasel.</p>
+
+<p>"He's so eager to meet you it would be too bad to disappoint him," Tommy
+observed. "He wants the fur to fly, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Although he had no ears (at least, so far as could be seen) Mr. Snowy
+Owl had listened closely to Tommy Fox's story. And he must have heard
+plainly enough, for he said quickly that he would call on Grumpy Weasel
+that very day. "I'll start<!-- Page 106 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> right now," he said, "and I'll reach Grumpy
+Weasel's hunting ground before you're out of the swamp."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you'd wait a bit, till I can get there myself," Tommy Fox told
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Snowy Owl agreed to that. And after lingering until he thought Tommy
+must have had time to run and find Grumpy Weasel he rose above the tops
+of the cedars and sailed off to join them himself.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad I came here to spend the winter," he muttered. "Everybody's
+been very pleasant so far. And after people hear how I've settled with
+this Weasel person the folks in Pleasant Valley will be pretty polite to
+me, or I'll know the reason why."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 107 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XXIV
+<br />
+<br />
+FUR AND FEATHERS</h3>
+
+
+<p>To find Grumpy Weasel, Tommy Fox went straight back to the place where
+he had left him. It was easy, then, to follow his queer tracks. Grumpy's
+legs were so short that they did not lift his lean body clear of the
+deep snow, except when he jumped very high; so his trail looked somewhat
+like that of a snake with legs.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Tommy overtook him he asked Grumpy if he had seen the
+stranger yet, who was dressed all in white and black, like him.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I haven't. But I'm on the lookout for him all the time," said
+Grumpy.<!-- Page 108 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Where are you looking?" Tommy inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! Everywhere!" Grumpy replied. "Behind the trees and in the bushes
+and back of the stone wall!"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you seen any new tracks?" Tommy persisted.</p>
+
+<p>"Not one!" Grumpy admitted. And then he thought he caught the flicker of
+a smile on Tommy Fox's narrow face. "If there is no such person&mdash;if
+you've been deceiving me&mdash;&mdash;" he began angrily.</p>
+
+<p>"I promise you that there <i>is</i> such a stranger in the neighborhood!"
+Tommy cried. "And if you don't meet him to-day I'll be as disappointed
+as you."</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me," Grumpy Weasel snapped, "you're altogether too anxious
+over this business. Everybody knows you're tricky. And I begin to think
+you're trying to get me into trouble."<!-- Page 109 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was wonderful, the way Tommy Fox could keep his temper. No matter
+what people said to him he could still smile if it would help him to
+have his way. And now he kept up a never-ending chatter, without saying
+anything in particular.</p>
+
+<p>The snow was deep enough to have covered such hiding places as Grumpy
+Weasel liked. The stone wall, indeed, offered about the only crannies;
+and that was some distance away. Tommy Fox had noticed that. And that
+was why he was trying to keep Grumpy Weasel where he was. For Tommy
+expected Mr. Snowy Owl at any moment.</p>
+
+<p>"You are talking foolishness," Grumpy told Tommy Fox at last. "I don't
+care to waste my time listening to you." And he turned away.</p>
+
+<p>"One moment, please!" Tommy begged, for the sly rascal had just caught
+a<!-- Page 110 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> glimpse of Mr. Snowy Owl hovering above the trees.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you want now?" Grumpy Weasel scolded, as he paused close by the
+old hemlock where Solomon Owl sometimes sat and abused him.</p>
+
+<p>"I want to see the fur fly," Tommy Fox answered wickedly.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Grumpy Weasel couldn't think what he meant. But suddenly he
+saw a large whitish shape dropping upon him out of the sky. He knew
+then, in a flash, that Tommy Fox had deceived him.</p>
+
+<p>A moment more and it was all over. At least, it seemed so to Tommy Fox.
+Whatever had happened had taken place so quickly that he couldn't see it
+clearly. But there was Mr. Snowy Owl, sitting on a limb of the hemlock,
+where he had perched after staying half a second's time on the ground.<!-- Page 111 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And Grumpy Weasel was no longer to be seen, anywhere.</p>
+
+<p>"Did&mdash;did you swallow him?" Tommy Fox stammered.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Snowy Owl looked puzzled.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," he replied. "Perhaps I did! If I didn't I don't know
+where he is."</p>
+
+<p>Tommy Fox couldn't help looking disappointed. "I'm sorry about one
+thing," he said. "It was all done so quickly I didn't see the fur fly!"</p>
+
+<p>Then there was a faint sound above them. And looking up, Tommy and Mr.
+Owl saw Grumpy Weasel's head sticking out of a small hole high up in the
+tree-trunk.</p>
+
+<p>As they watched him Grumpy Weasel seemed to be saying something to them.
+They couldn't hear what it was. But no doubt it was nothing pleasant.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 112 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XXV
+<br />
+<br />
+PETER MINK'S PROMISE</h3>
+
+
+<p>It happened, on a bleak winter's day, that Grumpy Weasel was strolling
+along the bank of Broad Brook when all at once he heard a squall.
+Instantly he whirled around. There was something about the cry that
+sounded familiar. And while he searched the stream up and down with his
+sharp eyes he grew angrier every moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Unless I'm mistaken that's my good-for-nothing cousin, Peter Mink,"
+Grumpy muttered. "I'll teach him not to squall at me&mdash;the rascal!"</p>
+
+<p>He did not have to look long before he<!-- Page 113 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> caught sight of his cousin.
+Peter Mink was crouched under the overhanging bank, not far from the
+edge of the frozen surface of the brook. And he squalled again when he
+saw that Grumpy had discovered him.</p>
+
+<p>"Stop that!" Grumpy Weasel bellowed. He was not greatly afraid of Peter
+Mink, though his cousin was much bigger than he. "I'll have you know
+that I don't allow people to bawl at me, even if we are distantly
+related."</p>
+
+<p>"I wasn't bawling at you," Peter Mink answered. And he was strangely
+polite, for him. "I was calling for help. Can't you see that my foot is
+caught in a trap?"</p>
+
+<p>At that Grumpy jumped down upon the ice and took a good look at Peter
+Mink. He saw, then, that Peter spoke the truth. "This trap hurts my
+foot, I can tell you," Peter Mink whined.<!-- Page 114 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Maybe it will teach you not to screech at people," Grumpy told him.</p>
+
+<p>"You're going to help me, aren't you?" Peter Mink asked his cousin
+anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"That trap belongs to Farmer Green's hired man," Grumpy informed Peter
+Mink. "I saw him when he set it there. Perhaps you would like to have me
+send word to him that you're using it."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! Don't do that!" Peter begged piteously.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then&mdash;suppose I get old dog Spot to come and see what he can do!
+He'd have you out of that trap in no time!"</p>
+
+<p>But that suggestion didn't suit Peter Mink any better.</p>
+
+<p>"For goodness' sake, can't you think of something else?" he wailed.</p>
+
+<p>His voice rose higher and higher as he spoke. And Grumpy Weasel showed
+his sharp teeth as he warned Peter Mink<!-- Page 115 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> again not to squall at him, for
+he wouldn't stand it.</p>
+
+<p>At last Peter saw that Grumpy did not intend to help him at all. So it
+occurred to him that perhaps he could hire his cousin to free him from
+the trap. "I'd do anything for you if you could help me out of this
+fix," he said finally.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you drive Mr. Snowy Owl away from Pleasant Valley?" Grumpy cried.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly!" said Peter Mink with great promptness, as if that were the
+easiest matter in the world.</p>
+
+<p>That answer surprised Grumpy Weasel. He had no idea that Peter Mink
+could do any such thing. And he said as much, too.</p>
+
+<p>"You understand," Peter explained, "it may take me some time to get rid
+of him. It's mid-winter now. But I can promise you that I'll have him
+out of the valley by April Fool's Day!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><!-- Page 116 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p>
+<h3>XXVI
+<br />
+<br />
+HOW GRUMPY HELPED</h3>
+
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel wondered how Peter Mink was going to get Mr. Snowy Owl out
+of Pleasant Valley. He had never dreamed that Peter could do it. But as
+he thought the matter over he remembered that Peter was a good deal
+bigger than himself.</p>
+
+<p>"If I were Peter Mink's size I would give Mr. Snowy Owl the worst
+punishing he ever had!" Grumpy exclaimed under his breath. "So maybe
+Peter can do as he claims, after all."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well!" Grumpy Weasel told Peter Mink. "This is a bargain. I'll<!-- Page 117 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>
+help you out of the trap. And you'll rid Pleasant Valley of Mr. Snowy
+Owl by April Fool's Day."</p>
+
+<p>"Agreed!" Peter Mink cried. "And now, how are you going to set me free?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to bite your leg off," Grumpy Weasel said cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no! You're not going to do that!" Peter Mink howled. "I don't want
+you to do that!"</p>
+
+<p>"I made a bargain with you," Grumpy Weasel reminded him, "and I intend
+to carry out my part of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Stop a moment," Peter Mink cried. For Grumpy Weasel, with his back
+arched like a cat's, and his white whiskers twitching, had already taken
+a step towards him. "If you bite off my leg I'd never be able to get rid
+of Mr. Snowy Owl."</p>
+
+<p>That brought Grumpy Weasel up<!-- Page 118 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> short. He thought deeply for a moment;
+and then he exclaimed: "I have it! You must bite off your own leg!"</p>
+
+<p>But Peter Mink proved a hard one to please.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't understand!" he said. "If I lose a leg I know I never could
+get Mr. Snowy Owl out of the valley."</p>
+
+<p>At that Grumpy Weasel lost his temper completely. With a cry of rage he
+sprang at his cousin, Peter Mink, prisoner though he was. And Grumpy
+would have buried his white teeth in him except for just one thing. As
+he leaped forward Peter Mink leaped backward. And in that moment Peter
+freed himself. He had been caught only by the merest tip of a toe,
+anyhow. And now he crouched with his back against the bank of the brook,
+facing Grumpy Weasel with mouth wide open. His meekness had dropped off
+him like an<!-- Page 119 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> old coat. And Grumpy Weasel knew better than to get within
+his reach. In fact he turned polite himself, all at once.</p>
+
+<p>"There!" he said. "I got you out of the trap, as I had planned to all
+the time. I knew that if I could make you jump you'd pull your foot
+loose."</p>
+
+<p>Well, Peter Mink hardly believed that. But he thought there was no use
+of saying so.</p>
+
+<p>He was glad enough to escape Farmer Green's hired man's trap without
+having a dispute over the way it happened.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you'll keep your promise," Grumpy told Peter Mink. "If Mr. Snowy
+Owl doesn't leave these parts by April Fool's Day I won't like it very
+well. You know you agreed to get him away from here by that time."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! He'll be gone by then," said Peter Mink lightly. "He always leaves<!-- Page 120 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>
+at the end of the winter, because he spends his summers in the Far
+North."</p>
+
+<p>When he heard that, Grumpy Weasel was angry as anything.</p>
+
+<p>"Then Mr. Owl is likely to be back here next fall," he said quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"I dare say," Peter Mink admitted carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>Grumpy Weasel backed cautiously away before he said another word. But
+when he had whisked into a great willow that leaned over Broad Brook he
+told his cousin what he thought about him.</p>
+
+<p>As for Peter Mink&mdash;he was nursing his injured paw (in his mouth!) and he
+said never a word.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h4>THE END</h4>
+
+
+
+<div class="adbox1">
+<h3 class="bt">Little Jack Rabbit Books<br />
+<span class="adsm">(Trademark Registered)</span></h3>
+
+<p class="ad">By DAVID CORY<br />
+Author of "Little Journeys to Happyland"</p>
+
+<div class="adsm ad2ln">Colored Wrappers With Text Illustrations.</div>
+
+<p>A new and unique series about the furred and feathered little people of
+the wood and meadow.</p>
+
+<p>Children will eagerly follow the doings of little Jack Rabbit, and the
+clever way in which he escapes from his three enemies, Danny Fox, Mr.
+Wicked Wolf and Hungry Hawk will delight the youngsters.</p>
+
+<ul><li>LITTLE JACK RABBIT'S ADVENTURES</li>
+<li>LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND DANNY FOX</li>
+<li>LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE SQUIRREL BROTHERS</li>
+<li>LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNK</li>
+<li>LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEAR</li>
+<li>LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE JOHN HARE</li>
+<li>LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND PROFESSOR CROW</li>
+<li>LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND OLD MAN WEASEL</li>
+<li>LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MR. WICKED WOLF</li>
+<li>LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND HUNGRY HAWK</li>
+<li>LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE POLICEMAN DOG</li>
+<li>LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MISS MOUSIE</li>
+<li>LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE LUCKY</li>
+<li>LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE YELLOW DOG TRAMP</li>
+</ul>
+
+<p class="ad ad2ln">GROSSET &amp; DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="adbox2">
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 250px;">
+<img src="images/adlogo1.png" width="250" height="221" alt="Ad Logo" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h3>JOLLY BOOKS FOR LITTLE FOLK</h3>
+
+
+<p><i>Parents of boys and girls from three to eight years of age are assured
+by the names of such famous authors of children's books as Arthur Scott
+Bailey, Lillian Elizabeth Roy and David Cory that these little books
+will prove both entertaining and instructional. They are all bound in
+cloth with colored endpapers, black and white illustrations and colored
+wrappers.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><b>TUCK-ME-IN TALES&mdash;<i>by Arthur Scott Bailey</i></b></p>
+
+<p class="booksum">These delightful stories in which well known birds and insects are the
+characters are based upon actual natural history facts, and while the
+youngster eagerly listens to them, a moral foundation of deeper
+importance is being laid. The complete list of titles in this series is
+on inside front flap of this wrapper.</p>
+
+<p><b>THE LITTLE WASHINGTON BOOKS&mdash;<i>by Lillian Elizabeth Roy</i></b></p>
+
+<p class="booksum">In these little stories two families of young cousins, all descendants
+of George Washington, <ins class="correction" title="original reads 'concieve'">conceive</ins> the clever idea of carrying out in their
+play the dramatic events of Washington's life. Every boy and girl will
+receive a true and unforgettable picture of the great career of the
+Father of His Country through the play acting of these ingenious
+youngsters. See flap of this wrapper for complete list.</p>
+
+<p><b>LITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPYLAND&mdash;<i>by David Cory</i></b></p>
+
+<p class="booksum">Children will recognize in these amusing adventures characters they know
+and love. Mr. Cory is the author of the famous "Little Jack Rabbit"
+stories and is one of the best known authors of children's books of our
+times. See flap of this wrapper for complete list of titles.</p>
+
+<p class="ad">GROSSET &amp; DUNLAP <i>Publishers</i> <span class="smcap">New York</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="endpapers">
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<a href="images/backendpapers-lg.jpg">
+<img src="images/backendpapers.jpg" width="480" height="346" alt="Back Endpapers" title="Back Endpapers" /></a>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="tr">Transcriber's Note: Three color plates in this e-book were missing/not
+included in the book from which it was transcribed. These illustrations
+(Grumpy Weasel and Jimmy Rabbit Run a Race, Grumpy Weasel Visits the
+Corncrib, and Sandy Chipmunk Runs from Grumpy Weasel) have been taken
+from the Internet Archive's copy of the book.<br /> The IA version itself
+lacks two of the illustrations found in this copy: Grumpy Nearly Catches
+Paddy Muskrat and Grumpy Calls on Mrs. Hen.<br /><br /> The List of Illustrations
+following the Table of Contents was added by the transcriber.<br /><br /> Some minor
+corrections were also made. These are underlined with a <ins
+class="correction" title="original reads ...">thin dotted
+line</ins>&mdash;hovering your cursor over them will show a transcriber's note
+explaining the correction.</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Grumpy Weasel, by Arthur Scott Bailey
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF GRUMPY WEASEL ***
+
+***** This file should be named 24881-h.htm or 24881-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/8/8/24881/
+
+Produced by Joe Longo, S. Drawehn and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
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+Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Grumpy Weasel, by Arthur Scott Bailey
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Tale of Grumpy Weasel
+       Sleepy-Time Tales
+
+Author: Arthur Scott Bailey
+
+Illustrator: Harry L. Smith
+
+Release Date: March 20, 2008 [EBook #24881]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF GRUMPY WEASEL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Joe Longo, S. Drawehn and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  THE TALE OF
+  GRUMPY WEASEL
+
+
+
+
+  SLEEPY-TIME TALES
+  (Trademark Registered)
+
+  BY
+  ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
+
+  AUTHOR OF
+  TUCK-ME-IN TALES
+  (Trademark Registered)
+
+  The Tale of Cuffy Bear
+  The Tale of Frisky Squirrel
+  The Tale of Tommy Fox
+  The Tale of Fatty Coon
+  The Tale of Billy Woodchuck
+  The Tale of Jimmy Rabbit
+  The Tale of Peter Mink
+  The Tale of Sandy Chipmunk
+  The Tale of Brownie Beaver
+  The Tale of Paddy Muskrat
+  The Tale of Ferdinand Frog
+  The Tale of Dickie Deer Mouse
+  The Tale of Timothy Turtle
+  The Tale of Major Monkey
+  The Tale of Benny Badger
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Grumpy Weasel and Jimmy Rabbit Run a Race. _Frontispiece_
+(_Page 46_)]
+
+
+
+
+  SLEEPY-TIME TALES
+  (Trademark Registered)
+
+  THE TALE OF
+  GRUMPY
+  WEASEL
+
+  BY
+  ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
+
+  Author of
+  "TUCK-ME-IN TALES"
+  (Trademark Registered)
+
+  ILLUSTRATED BY
+  HARRY L. SMITH
+
+  NEW YORK
+
+  GROSSET & DUNLAP
+  PUBLISHERS
+
+  Made in the United States of America
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY
+  GROSSET & DUNLAP
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER                             PAGE
+
+      I  A SLIM RASCAL                   1
+
+     II  AT THE OLD STONE WALL           5
+
+    III  MASTER ROBIN'S LESSON           9
+
+     IV  HUNTING A HOLE                 13
+
+      V  SOLOMON OWL INTERRUPTS         18
+
+     VI  MR. MEADOW MOUSE ESCAPES       23
+
+    VII  PADDY MUSKRAT'S BLUNDER        28
+
+   VIII  THE DARE                       33
+
+     IX  SAVING HIS FEET                38
+
+      X  HA! AND HA, HA!                42
+
+     XI  A LONG RACE                    46
+
+    XII  WINNING BY A TRICK             51
+
+   XIII  SILLY MRS. HEN                 56
+
+    XIV  GRUMPY VANISHES                60
+
+     XV  THE GREAT MYSTERY              64
+
+    XVI  GUARDING THE CORNCRIB          69
+
+   XVII  GRUMPY'S MISTAKE               73
+
+  XVIII  POP! GOES THE WEASEL           78
+
+    XIX  HIDING FROM HENRY HAWK         83
+
+     XX  A FREE RIDE                    88
+
+    XXI  A NEW SUIT                     93
+
+   XXII  GRUMPY'S THREAT                98
+
+  XXIII  A BOLD STRANGER               103
+
+   XXIV  FUR AND FEATHERS              107
+
+    XXV  PETER MINK'S PROMISE          112
+
+   XXVI  HOW GRUMPY HELPED             116
+
+
+
+
+THE TALE OF GRUMPY WEASEL
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+A SLIM RASCAL
+
+
+Old Mr. Crow often remarked that if Grumpy Weasel really wanted to be of
+some use in the world he would spend his time at the sawmill filling
+knot holes in boards.
+
+"He's so slender," Mr. Crow would say, "that he can push himself into a
+knot hole no bigger round than Farmer Green's thumb."
+
+Naturally it did not please old Mr. Crow when Solomon Owl went out of
+his way one day to tell him that he was sadly mistaken. For after
+hearing some gossip repeat Mr. Crow's opinion Solomon Owl--the wise old
+bird--had given several long hoots and hurried off, though it was broad
+daylight, to set Mr. Crow right.
+
+"The trouble--" Solomon explained when he had found Mr. Crow on the edge
+of the woods--"the trouble with your plan to have Grumpy Weasel work in
+the sawmill is that he wouldn't keep a knot hole filled longer than a
+jiffy. It's true that he can fit a very small hole. But if you'd ever
+watched him closely you'd know that he's in a hole and out the other
+side so fast you can scarcely see what happens. He's entirely too active
+to fill the bill."
+
+Old Mr. Crow made a queer noise in his throat, which showed that Solomon
+Owl had made him angry.
+
+"I never said anything about Grumpy Weasel's filling any bills," Mr.
+Crow spluttered. "Knot holes were what I had in mind. I've no doubt,
+though, that you'd like Grumpy Weasel to fill your own bill."
+
+Now, if Solomon Owl had not tried more than once to catch Grumpy Weasel
+perhaps Mr. Crow's retort wouldn't have made him feel so uncomfortable.
+And muttering that he wished when people spoke of his beak they wouldn't
+call it a bill, and that Mr. Crow was too stupid to talk to, Solomon
+blundered away into the woods.
+
+It was true, of course, that Grumpy Weasel was about the quickest of all
+the furred folk in Pleasant Valley. Why, you might be looking at him as
+he stopped for a moment on a stone wall; and while you looked he would
+vanish before your eyes. It was just as if he had melted away in an
+instant, so quickly could he dart into a crevice between the stones.
+
+It was surprising, too, that he could whisk himself out of sight so
+fast, for his body was absurdly long. But if he was long in one way he
+was short in another. Yes! Grumpy Weasel had the shortest temper of all
+the field- and forest-folk throughout Pleasant Valley. Even
+peppery Peter Mink was not so short-tempered as he.
+
+So terrible tempered was Grumpy Weasel that whenever the news flashed
+through the woods that he was out hunting, all the small people kept
+quite still, because they were afraid. And even some of the bigger
+ones--a good deal bigger than Grumpy Weasel himself--felt uneasy.
+
+So you can see whether or not Grumpy Weasel was welcome.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+AT THE OLD STONE WALL
+
+
+Little Mr. Chippy suddenly set up a great twitter. Anybody could see
+that he was frightened. And one of Jolly Robin's sons, perched in an
+apple tree near the stone wall where Mr. Chippy lived in a wild
+grapevine, wondered what could be the matter.
+
+Presently, as he looked beneath him, he saw a long, slim shape dart from
+a chink of the old wall, and as quickly disappear.
+
+"Huh!" said young Master Robin. "Foolish people who build their homes on
+walls must expect snakes for visitors." And feeling quite wise and grown
+up, he turned his back on Mr. Chippy, as if it really made no
+difference to him if Mr. Chippy did have a dangerous caller.
+
+Meanwhile others of the bird neighbors began to echo Mr. Chippy's
+warning notes. And young Master Robin thought everybody was silly to
+make such a fuss over the misfortunes of a humble person like Mr.
+Chippy.
+
+"If they don't look out they'll scare all the angleworms back into their
+holes," he grumbled--a remark which shows that he knew little about the
+ways of the world. And when Rusty Wren swerved near him and called to
+him to look out for Mr. Chippy's visitor--that he was "a bad one"--young
+Master Robin actually puffed himself up with rage.
+
+"He seems to think I'm in danger of falling out of this tree," he
+sneered aloud. "He doesn't know that I can handle myself in a tree as
+well as he can." As he spoke, Master Robin all but tumbled off his
+perch. But he caught himself just in time, then looked around hastily to
+see if anybody had noticed his awkwardness.
+
+All this time poor Mr. Chippy's cries continued. There was really no
+reason for his alarm. For his wife was away from home, with all their
+children. But Mr. Chippy kept flying back and forth in a great flutter.
+He too called to young Master Robin that he'd better go home.
+
+Still that knowing youngster paid no heed to his elder's advice.
+
+"If snakes climb trees I've never seen them do it," he scoffed.
+
+"Hi, there! Haven't you seen----" Mr. Chippy started to say. But before
+he could finish his question Master Robin interrupted him rudely.
+
+"Certainly I saw him," he cried. "I saw him come out of the wall and go
+in again."
+
+"He'll get you if you don't go away!" Mr. Chippy shrieked.
+
+"Let him try!" Master Robin scoffed. He was sorry that Mr. Chippy did
+not hear him. But that distracted little person had already hurried off
+to warn somebody else.
+
+It was no time at all before Rusty Wren's wife gave a piercing scream.
+
+"That fat Robin boy--he'll be caught!" she wailed.
+
+Now, it made Master Robin very angry to be spoken of in such a way as
+that.
+
+"Fat!" he burst out in a loud tone as he stared in Mrs. Wren's
+direction. "Who's fat?"
+
+"You are!" said a strange, grumpy voice right behind him--or so it
+seemed to young Master Robin.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+MASTER ROBIN'S LESSON
+
+
+When young Master Robin heard the strange voice that sounded so grumpy
+and so near him he was terribly frightened. He forgot that he thought
+himself grown up, and very wise, and quite able to go about alone. He
+didn't even look to see who was speaking, but fell backwards off the
+limb of the apple tree.
+
+It was lucky for him, too, that he fell just when he did. For a long
+brownish person, white underneath, took Master Robin's place on the limb
+so promptly that you could hardly have said he jumped into it from
+somewhere else. He seemed to have popped out of the tree somewhat as a
+freshly popped kernel of corn bursts forth. A moment ago it was not
+there! You were watching, but did not see it grow big.
+
+Well, all at once there was silence in the orchard. Everybody was
+holding his breath, waiting to see what happened to young Master Robin.
+Though he had lost his balance and tumbled backward he righted himself
+quite like an old-timer and flew off across the orchard.
+
+"I didn't know snakes could climb trees," he stammered to Mr. Chippy,
+who had followed him.
+
+"Snakes!" Mr. Chippy piped. "That wasn't a snake! That was Grumpy
+Weasel.... And it's a wonder you ever escaped," he added. "I must learn
+that backward somersault. It's a good thing to know."
+
+[Illustration: Master Robin Escapes From Grumpy Weasel. (_Page 9_)]
+
+You can see that Mr. Chippy was a very humble person. But Mr. Jolly
+Robin's eldest son was quite proud. Already he began to feel that he had
+been very skilful in escaping. But of course it was only an accident
+that he got away.
+
+For once in his life Grumpy Weasel had been careless. It had looked so
+easy--catching that clumsy young robin! He had spoken to Master Robin,
+not dreaming that he could save himself. To make matters worse, Grumpy
+had found Mr. Chippy's nest empty. And Grumpy Weasel was the sort of
+person that liked to find a bird at home when he called. It always made
+him more ill-natured than usual to make a call for nothing. And now he
+had let a stupid young Robin escape him. So it is not surprising that
+his big black eyes snapped nor that he said something in a fierce voice
+that sounded like "Chip, chip, chip," but meant something a good deal
+worse.
+
+And to add to Grumpy Weasel's rage, somebody had laughed hoarsely--somebody
+that sat in a tall elm across the road.
+
+If he could have caught Mr. Crow there is no doubt that Grumpy would
+have made that black scamp sorry that he laughed. But old Mr. Crow was
+too wary to let anybody surprise him. "Haw, haw!" he laughed again. And
+Grumpy Weasel actually couldn't bear to hear him. Some of the onlookers
+claimed afterward that they saw Grumpy Weasel start down the tree. And
+that was as much as they could say. No one knew how he managed to slip
+out of sight. And the field people say that he was never seen again in
+that exact spot.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+HUNTING A HOLE
+
+
+Usually Grumpy Weasel did not stray far from a certain corner of Farmer
+Green's wood lot. He preferred to hunt where he knew the lay of the
+land. And since he liked especially to hunt along old stone walls, he
+picked out a long stretch of old tumble-down wall that reached through
+the woods towards Blue Mountain.
+
+He picked it out as his very own hunting ground and never asked
+permission of Farmer Green, either.
+
+Now, near the lower end of this wall--the end toward the pasture--a fat
+person known as Mr. Meadow Mouse sometimes wandered. But he never
+visited that spot without first inquiring whether Grumpy Weasel had been
+there the day before. Mr. Meadow Mouse had learned somehow that Grumpy
+usually moved on each day to a different part of his hunting ground. He
+was surprised, therefore, to meet Grumpy Weasel face to face one time,
+when he felt sure that that surly rogue must be a good safe distance
+away.
+
+Mr. Meadow Mouse cast a quick glance around. But he could see no place
+to hide. So there was nothing for him to do but to put on a bold front.
+He bowed pleasantly enough, though he was trembling a little, and
+remarked that it was a fine day and that he hoped Grumpy was feeling
+happy--all of which was quite true.
+
+Grumpy Weasel glowered at Mr. Meadow Mouse, for that was his way of
+replying to a kindly greeting.
+
+"You've not come here to hunt, I hope," he growled. "I'll have you know
+that this is my private hunting ground and I allow no poaching."
+
+Mr. Meadow Mouse hastened to explain that he was merely out for a
+stroll.
+
+"I never hunt," he declared. "Of course, if I happen to see a tiny seed
+I may stop to eat it. But that's all."
+
+"You'd better be careful what you say!" Grumpy Weasel snapped. "Unless
+I'm mistaken, you were hunting something the moment you saw me. You were
+hunting a hole."
+
+Mr. Meadow Mouse gasped slightly. He hardly knew what to say.
+
+"Be very careful where you go around here!" Grumpy Weasel warned him.
+"The holes in this stone wall are all mine. I shouldn't want you to use
+a single one of them without my permission."
+
+Mr. Meadow Mouse assured him that he wouldn't dream of trespassing.
+
+"And these holes among the roots of the trees--they are mine too,"
+Grumpy Weasel snarled.
+
+"Oh, certainly! Certainly!" Mr. Meadow Mouse cried. He was so quick to
+agree that for once Grumpy Weasel couldn't think of anything more to
+find fault about.
+
+"I'll let you crawl into a few of the smaller holes in the stone wall,
+if you'll be careful not to hurt them," he offered grudgingly.
+
+Mr. Meadow Mouse made haste to thank him.
+
+He said, however, that he thought he would wait till some other time.
+
+"There's no time like the present," Grumpy Weasel grumbled. "To tell
+the truth, I want to see if you can squeeze through as small a hole as I
+can."
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+SOLOMON OWL INTERRUPTS
+
+
+Plump little Mr. Meadow Mouse wished he had stayed away from Grumpy
+Weasel's hunting ground. He would have scampered off, had he not known
+that Grumpy could overtake him before he had made three leaps. So he saw
+no way out of his trouble, though he could think of nothing less
+agreeable than trying to slip through a small hole with Grumpy Weasel
+close at hand, watching him narrowly.
+
+Then all at once Mr. Meadow Mouse had an idea. "You go first!" he said
+politely. "Go through any hole you choose and then I'll try my luck."
+
+But Grumpy Weasel was too crafty to do that.
+
+"You'd try your luck at running away," he snarled. "You are the one to
+go first; and we'll have no words about it."
+
+Well, Mr. Meadow Mouse began to shake more than ever.
+
+"Don't you think," he quavered, "that we'd better wait a few days until
+I'm a bit smaller? I'm afraid I've been overeating lately and I might
+get stuck in a hole. And of course that would be awkward."
+
+"Ha, ha!" Grumpy Weasel actually laughed. But it was not what any one
+could call a hearty, wholesome, cheerful sort of laugh. On the contrary,
+it sounded very cruel and gloating.
+
+"Hoo, hoo!" Another laugh--this one weird and hollow--boomed out from
+the hemlock tree just above Mr. Meadow Mouse's head.
+
+He jumped, in spite of himself--did Mr. Meadow Mouse. And so, too, did
+Grumpy Weasel. Both of them leaped for the old stone wall. And each
+flashed into a crevice between the stones, though Grumpy Weasel was ever
+so much the quicker of the two. They knew Solomon Owl's voice too well
+to mistake his odd laughter.
+
+"What's your hurry, gentlemen?" Solomon called to them.
+
+Mild Mr. Meadow Mouse made no reply. But from Grumpy Weasel's hiding
+place an angry hiss told Solomon Owl that one of them, at least, had
+heard his question.
+
+"Come out!" said Solomon Owl. "Don't be shy! I've dined already."
+
+Well, that made the two in the wall feel somewhat bolder. And soon they
+ventured to peep out and gaze at Solomon, to see whether he looked like
+a person who had just enjoyed a good meal.
+
+"You're not as hollow as you sound, I hope," Grumpy Weasel remarked with
+some suspicion in his tone.
+
+As for Mr. Meadow Mouse, he wouldn't dream of making so rude a remark.
+
+"It's a fine evening and I hope you're feeling happy," he piped.
+
+"Oh, very! Very!" said Solomon Owl solemnly.
+
+Mr. Meadow Mouse was a trusting sort of chap. He was all ready to leave
+his cranny. But Grumpy Weasel was not yet satisfied.
+
+"Which one of us are you answering?" he demanded of Solomon.
+
+"Him!" said Solomon.
+
+"Did you say, 'Ahem?'" Grumpy Weasel wanted to know.
+
+"No, no!" Solomon assured him. "I said, 'him.' I was answering your
+friend."
+
+Grumpy Weasel made a wry face, as if he did not care to have anybody
+speak of Mr. Meadow Mouse as a friend of his. And he did not quit the
+stone wall until he had seen Mr. Meadow Mouse venture forth in safety.
+
+"Just by accident I overheard your remarks a few minutes ago," Mr. Owl
+explained. "I'd like to watch this hole-crawling contest. And I'll stay
+here and be the umpire--and see that there's fair play."
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+MR. MEADOW MOUSE ESCAPES
+
+
+Grumpy Weasel did not like Solomon Owl's offer to be umpire of the
+hole-crawling contest between Mr. Meadow Mouse and himself. He hissed a
+few times and glared at Solomon Owl, up in the hemlock tree.
+
+Solomon Owl did not appear to mind that, but calmly outstared Grumpy
+Weasel without once blinking. "Are you both ready?" he asked presently.
+
+"Yes, thank you!" Mr. Meadow Mouse answered. And Grumpy Weasel gave a
+sort of shrug, as if to say that he supposed he was.
+
+"First you may try that hole between those mossy stones," Mr. Owl
+announced, 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 hole
+spryly and was back again in no time.
+
+Then Grumpy took his turn. He was certainly quicker than Mr. Meadow
+Mouse. Even the umpire, Solomon Owl, had to admit that.
+
+"But of course that's not the point," Solomon observed. "It's the one
+that gets stuck in a hole that loses the contest."
+
+Well, after Grumpy and Mr. Meadow Mouse had slipped through several
+holes, each one smaller than the one before, Mr. Meadow Mouse said that
+he thought it was only polite to let Grumpy go first. Secretly Mr.
+Meadow Mouse was afraid of what might happen if he should have the
+misfortune to get wedged in a hole, with Grumpy Weasel ready to follow
+him. He had had some trouble getting through the last one and he knew
+that 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 angrier
+than ever when Solomon Own said to him, "It's your turn!" Probably no
+other of the woods people--unless it was one of the Hawk family--could
+have made Grumpy Weasel obey. And now he insisted that if he "went
+first" he ought to be allowed to choose whatever hole he pleased.
+
+Both Solomon Owl and Mr. Meadow Mouse agreed. So Grumpy Weasel popped
+through a hole of his own choosing, and he did not reappear, though he
+called 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 the
+contest?"
+
+"No!" said Mr. Meadow Mouse. "But Grumpy Weasel is still inside that
+hole. 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 Mouse
+offered. And thereupon he skipped over the wall.
+
+Solomon Owl waited patiently. And so did Grumpy Weasel. But Mr. Meadow
+Mouse never came back. Once out of sight he scampered away. And he never
+trespassed on Grumpy Weasel's hunting ground again.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+PADDY MUSKRAT'S BLUNDER
+
+
+Sometimes Grumpy Weasel found the hunting poor along the stretch of
+stone wall that he called his own--though of course it really belonged
+to Farmer Green. And though he disliked to wander much in strange
+neighborhoods, once in a while he visited other parts of Pleasant
+Valley.
+
+It was on such an excursion to the bank of the mill pond that he caught
+sight, one day, of Paddy Muskrat--or to be more exact, that Paddy
+Muskrat 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, and
+said nothing. So he wheeled like a flash and started to run when
+somebody called, "Hullo, stranger!"
+
+One quick backward glance at a small wet head in the water told Grumpy
+that 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 the
+bank of the pond--saw at once that whoever the slender and elegant
+person might be, he had the worst of manners. Though Paddy had lived in
+the mill pond a long time, he had never met any one that looked exactly
+like the newcomer. To be sure, there was Peter Mink, who was
+long-bodied and short-tempered, as the stranger appeared to be. But
+when Paddy inquired whether the visitor wasn't a distant connection of
+the Mink family (as indeed he was!), Grumpy Weasel said, "What! Do you
+mean 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 all
+his family were fine swimmers and most unwelcome in the mill pond.
+
+And perhaps--who knew?--perhaps the spic-and-span chap on the bank, with
+the sleek coat and black-tipped tail, was one of the kind that didn't
+like to get his feet wet.
+
+Then Paddy Muskrat asked the stranger a silly question. He was not the
+wisest person, anyhow, in Pleasant Valley, as his wife often reminded
+him. "You're not a distant relation of Tommy Fox, are you?" he
+inquired.
+
+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 he
+was quite pleased with himself, for he thought that he wasn't so stupid
+as some people thought.
+
+"Any other reason?" Grumpy Weasel inquired, stepping to the edge of the
+overhanging bank.
+
+"You don't like to get your feet wet," Paddy Muskrat said. And feeling
+safe as anything, he swam nearer the spot where the stranger was
+crouching.
+
+Paddy saw, almost too late, that he had made a bad blunder. For without
+the slightest warning Grumpy Weasel leaped at him. And had not Paddy
+been a wonderful swimmer and able to dive like a flash, he would never
+have 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. "I
+don't know his name. But I do know that he'd just as soon get his feet
+wet 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't
+have been so surprised when he dared Jimmy Rabbit to race him. Everybody
+knew 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 day
+that Grumpy Weasel wanted a race with him, Jimmy Rabbit seemed more than
+willing to oblige. "Where, when, and how far does Grumpy want to run
+against me?" he asked.
+
+Mr. Crow said that he didn't know, but that he would make it his
+business to find out. So off he hurried to find Grumpy Weasel, for if
+there was anything Mr. Crow liked it was busying himself with other
+people'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 when
+it came to robbing birds' nests.
+
+Although he felt as if he were about to burst with rage old Mr. Crow
+pretended to laugh. He had been having a rather dull time, waiting for
+Farmer Green to plant his corn, and he thought that a lively race might
+put him in better spirits.
+
+[Illustration: 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 always
+better 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 how
+long 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 his
+questioner. "How could anybody tell? I'll let Jimmy Rabbit start twenty
+jumps ahead of me and we'll run till I catch him."
+
+Well, Mr. Crow laughed right out loud when he heard that. And he was
+about to tell Grumpy that he would have to run till the end of his days
+if he raced Jimmy Rabbit in any such fashion as that. But he saw all at
+once that such a race would be a great joke. And he said to himself with
+a chuckle that the laugh would be on Grumpy Weasel. For Jimmy Rabbit was
+so swift a runner that nobody who knew anything at all would ever
+consent 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 no
+doubt that your plan will please him."
+
+"I hope it won't!" Grumpy Weasel snarled. "I've never pleased anybody
+yet; 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 plan
+for 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 his
+way. 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, saying
+that he was ready to start at once.
+
+But Mr. Crow told him he had better wait till the next day. "That will
+give me time to tell everybody," he explained, "and then there'll be a
+big 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 and
+that he despised Grumpy Weasel.
+
+The next day proved to be a fine one for the race. It wasn't too hot nor
+too cold; and early in the morning the field- and forest-people began
+gathering at Grumpy Weasel's hunting ground, where the stone wall
+touched the clearing.
+
+About the only persons that objected to the time set for the race were
+Benjamin Bat and Solomon Owl. Benjamin said that he could never keep
+awake to watch it; and Solomon complained that he couldn't see well in
+the daytime. But all the rest of the company were in the best of
+spirits, giggling slyly whenever they looked at Grumpy Weasel, who
+seemed to pay scant heed to his neighbors, though you may be sure his
+roving black eyes took in everything that was going on. He seemed more
+restless than ever as he waited for Jimmy Rabbit to arrive, walking to
+and fro on his front legs in a most peculiar fashion, while he kept his
+hind feet firmly planted on the ground in one spot. Of course he could
+never have moved about in this manner had his body not been so long and
+slender.
+
+Noticing Grumpy's strange actions, old Mr. Crow looked worried and asked
+him 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't
+worry! You'll soon see that my hind feet can travel as fast as my front
+ones--when I want to use them."
+
+"Ah!" Mr. Crow exclaimed knowingly. "He's saving his hind feet for the
+race."
+
+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 is
+saving his."
+
+Jimmy Rabbit told Mr. Crow, with a smile, that he had saved his hind
+feet 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 to
+race Grumpy Weasel and beat him. Shouts of "Good luck!" and "Run hard!"
+and "Hurrah for James Rabbit!" followed Jimmy. But old Mr. Crow
+squawked, "You don't need to hurry!" He thought that the race was
+already as good as won, for Grumpy Weasel had insisted on giving Jimmy
+Rabbit a start of twenty jumps.
+
+Meanwhile Grumpy Weasel glowered. But he could not glower at Jimmy's
+friends, because he had to watch Jimmy himself in order to count the
+first twenty jumps he took. When Grumpy had counted nineteen and a half
+away 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, all
+except Grumpy Weasel's cousin, Peter Mink. He spoke up and said that as
+for 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 is
+over you will apologize to me."
+
+Peter Mink merely grinned. He had no respect for his elders. And now he
+didn't appear to mind in the least when the entire company let him
+severely alone.
+
+Mr. Crow shot a triumphant look at him about an hour later, when Jimmy
+Rabbit came bounding into sight, with no one following him. "You may as
+well stop now," Mr. Crow told Jimmy. "You've as good as won the race
+already."
+
+Jimmy Rabbit said that he thought so, too, but he supposed he'd better
+keep running a while longer, till Grumpy Weasel gave up. So off he
+hopped again.
+
+Everybody except Peter Mink laughed heartily when Grumpy Weasel came
+springing up the slope a little while later.
+
+"You may as well stop now. You've as good as lost already," Mr. Crow
+greeted him.
+
+"Whose race is this--yours or mine?" Grumpy Weasel hissed. And off he
+hurried, without pausing to hear Mr. Crow's answer.
+
+"We'll wait a while longer," Mr. Crow told the company, "for the end is
+so 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 to
+fidget--which was a sign that he was worried. And when Jimmy Rabbit
+appeared again Mr. Crow was not quite so cocksure when he asked if the
+race wasn't over.
+
+"It would be," Jimmy Rabbit answered, "but the trouble is, Grumpy Weasel
+won't stop running!"
+
+"Ha!" said Mr. Crow hoarsely. But Peter Mink said, "Ha, ha!" And there
+is 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 and
+forth through Pleasant Valley. He could still run faster than Grumpy
+Weasel, it is true. But he was growing tired. Now and then Jimmy stopped
+to rest. And he kept hoping that Grumpy Weasel had become so weary that
+he had given up the chase.
+
+But Grumpy Weasel never stopped once. And whenever Jimmy Rabbit spied
+him coming along his trail Jimmy would spring up with a sigh and rush
+off again.
+
+He began to understand that such a race was no joke. He certainly didn't
+want to lose the race. And he certainly didn't want Grumpy Weasel to
+come up with him. He had always kept at a good safe distance from that
+ill-natured fellow. And Jimmy felt most uneasy now at the thought of
+Grumpy's catching him.
+
+"He must be very hungry, after running so far," Jimmy Rabbit said to
+himself anxiously. "If he's as hungry as I am he wouldn't be a pleasant
+person to meet." And that thought made Jimmy run all the faster, for a
+time. But he soon found that he had to stop more often to rest. And to
+his great alarm Grumpy Weasel kept drawing nearer all the time.
+
+At last Jimmy Rabbit became so worried that he swept around by the stone
+wall again and stopped to whisper to old Mr. Crow.
+
+"He's still chasing me. And I can't run forever. What shall I do?" Jimmy
+asked the old gentleman.
+
+"I'll think the matter over and let you know to-morrow," Mr. Crow
+muttered hoarsely. To tell the truth, he was alarmed himself. And he had
+no 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 he
+tried 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 in
+one 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 he
+ran, just as Grumpy Weasel came racing along the stone wall, looking as
+fresh as a daisy.
+
+"You'd better stop and rest a while!" Mr. Crow croaked. "If you get too
+tired you'll never win."
+
+"Rest!" Grumpy exploded. "I don't need to rest! I never felt better in
+my 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 to
+win--as you say--there can be no hurry." And Peter Mink too begged his
+cousin Grumpy to stop just a minute. And he laughed, "Ha, ha!" whenever
+he looked at Mr. Crow.
+
+And strange to say, Mr. Crow said, "Ha, ha!" too.
+
+[Illustration: Grumpy Calls on Mrs. Hen. (_Page 58_)]
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+WINNING BY A TRICK
+
+
+Grumpy Weasel wouldn't stop long with his cousin, Peter Mink, and old
+Mr. Crow and all the rest.
+
+He was in a hurry to overtake Jimmy Rabbit. And after quarreling
+fiercely with the whole company--except his cousin--he sprang up with a
+wicked 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 enough
+to go where he's going." And that was all he would say.
+
+Not until Grumpy Weasel returned some time later did any one know what
+Mr. Crow meant.
+
+Grumpy Weasel was in a terrible temper when he came slowly back.
+Everybody could tell, without asking, that the race was ended.
+
+"Where did you catch him?" Peter Mink asked his cousin.
+
+Grumpy Weasel said in a few ill-chosen words that he hadn't caught Jimmy
+Rabbit at all, and that somebody had played a trick on him. He looked
+directly at Mr. Crow as he spoke.
+
+"It wasn't Johnny Green, was it?" Mr. Crow inquired solemnly as he moved
+carefully to a higher limb.
+
+Grumpy Weasel could tell, then, without a doubt, that it was Mr. Crow
+that had made him lose the race. Grumpy had followed hot on Jimmy
+Rabbit's tracks. And to his surprise they led straight toward the farm
+buildings. But Grumpy kept on and never stopped until he reached the
+farmyard fence where he crouched and watched Jimmy disappear--of all
+places!--right in the woodshed, where Johnny Green was picking up an
+armful of wood.
+
+Of course Grumpy Weasel wouldn't think of entering such a dangerous
+place. And when he heard a shout and saw Johnny Green come out with
+Jimmy Rabbit in his arms he knew that Jimmy Rabbit had won the race,
+even if he had lost his freedom.
+
+"It was that old black rascal, Mr. Crow, that put that notion into Jimmy
+Rabbit's head," Grumpy said savagely to himself as he turned and made
+for the woods. "They were talking together a little while ago."
+
+And all the way back to the stone wall he kept thinking what he would do
+to Mr. Crow if he could ever get hold of him. So you can see that he
+must have looked very dangerous when he reached his hunting ground; and
+you can understand why Mr. Crow took pains to change his seat.
+
+"I may have lost the race--through a trick," Grumpy hissed as he glared
+at Mr. Crow. "But one thing is certain: That young Jimmy Rabbit will
+trouble us no more. He's Johnny Green's prisoner."
+
+"Nonsense!" cried Mr. Crow. "He'll escape some fine day."
+
+"Nonsense! He won't!" Grumpy Weasel disputed. And he never begged Mr.
+Crow's pardon. And neither did Peter Mink apologize to the old
+gentleman, as Mr. Crow had said he would. So in one way Mr. Crow was
+wrong. But in another way he was right. For it wasn't a week before
+Jimmy Rabbit appeared in the woods again, as spry as ever.
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+SILLY MRS. HEN
+
+
+Strange to say, Grumpy Weasel was trying to be pleasant. Of course he
+didn't really know how, for he always practiced being surly and rude. It
+must be confessed, too, that he had succeeded in making himself heartily
+disliked by everybody that knew him.
+
+There were a few, however, who had yet to learn of Grumpy Weasel's bad
+traits. Among these was a foolish, fat hen who lived in Farmer Green's
+henhouse. And now Grumpy Weasel was doing his best to make a good
+impression on her.
+
+It is no wonder, perhaps, that this lady was unaware of her caller's
+real nature. For Grumpy was careful, as a rule, to visit the farmyard
+only after dark. And being a person of quiet habits Mrs. Hen was always
+abed and asleep at that time.
+
+Grumpy found it a bit difficult to chat with Mrs. Hen because old dog
+Spot was sprawled on the farmhouse steps; and naturally Grumpy felt like
+keeping one eye on him. But the other he turned, as well as he could, on
+Mrs. Hen, who was in the henyard looking for worms. Just outside the
+wire fence Grumpy Weasel crouched and told Mrs. Hen how well she was
+looking.
+
+His pretty speeches pleased Mrs. Hen so much that she actually let a fat
+angleworm get away from her because she hadn't her mind on what she was
+doing. She noticed meanwhile that one of her neighbors was making
+frantic motions, as if she had something important to say. So Mrs. Hen
+sauntered across the henyard to find out what it was.
+
+"Don't you know whom you're talking to?" the neighbor demanded in a loud
+whisper. "That's Grumpy Weasel--the worst rascal in all these parts."
+
+Somehow that sent a pleasant flutter of excitement through Mrs. Hen. At
+the same time she couldn't quite believe the news, because her caller
+had said such very pleasant things.
+
+"Don't worry!" she told her neighbor. "I'm old enough to look out for
+myself."
+
+"I should say so!" her neighbor cried. "You're three years old if you're
+a day!"
+
+"I'm not!" Mrs. Hen retorted. "I'm only two and a half." Her feathers
+were all ruffled up and she went straight back and told Grumpy Weasel
+what her neighbor had said about him.
+
+"You don't believe that, I hope," Grumpy ventured.
+
+Mrs. Hen clucked and tried to look wise. And at last she confided to
+Grumpy that her neighbor was a jealous creature and sure to speak ill of
+a stranger who came to call on anybody but herself.
+
+Well, Grumpy Weasel told Mrs. Hen that he knew, when he first set eyes
+on her, that she was a sensible little body.
+
+"You've a snug home here," he went on. "I can tell you that I'd like
+such a place to crawl into on a chilly, wet night." And though it was a
+warm, fine summer's day he shivered and shook, so Mrs. Hen could see.
+
+And silly Mrs. Hen couldn't help feeling sorry for him.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+GRUMPY VANISHES
+
+
+Grumpy Weasel was quick to see that fat Mrs. Hen swallowed every word he
+said as greedily as if it had been an angleworm. "Yes! You have a fine
+house here," he said. "But of course you're crowded," he added gloomily,
+to show Mrs. Hen that he knew she had no place for him.
+
+"Oh! Not at all!" Mrs. Hen assured him.
+
+"And the door's always shut tight at night," he added, "on account of
+that prowling Tommy Fox."
+
+"Yes! We have to be careful," said Mrs. Hen.
+
+"And there's Peter Mink, too," Grumpy went on. "Don't leave an opening
+big enough for him! He can get through a small hole, too--any that's big
+enough for his head."
+
+At that Mrs. Hen looked startled, as if she had just remembered
+something that made her feel uneasy.
+
+"He couldn't get through a rat hole, could he?" she inquired nervously.
+
+"Why--there isn't one here, is there?" Grumpy asked.
+
+"There is an old one," she admitted. "It hasn't been used in my time."
+
+"If I could see it I'd know at once whether Pete could crawl through
+it," Grumpy Weasel said, talking to himself--or so it seemed to Mrs.
+Hen.
+
+"I'll show it to you gladly!" she cried. "Do come right in and look at
+our rat hole, Mr. Weasel!"
+
+As she spoke, Mrs. Hen started for the henhouse. And after her crept
+Grumpy Weasel, hoping that nobody else would see him. So far as he could
+tell, the hens were all out of doors, scratching in the dirt. But
+suddenly Mrs. Hen's jealous neighbor began to set up a great squawking,
+calling upon Mrs. Hen to be careful, for she was in great danger.
+
+Fat Mrs. Hen turned about with a vexed look upon her handsome but
+somewhat stupid face.
+
+"Walk right in!" she said to Grumpy. "I must stop and settle with her.
+She has gone too far." And leaving Grumpy to find the rat hole without
+her help, Mrs. Hen fluttered across the henyard with her head thrust
+forward, to give her meddlesome neighbor a number of hard pecks and so
+teach her to mind her own affairs.
+
+With a low chuckle Grumpy Weasel slipped inside the henhouse, where he
+found himself quite alone. It took him but a few moments to discover in
+one corner of the building the old rat hole of which Mrs. Hen had
+spoken.
+
+And then he went to the door and looked out, for Mrs. Hen and her
+neighbor were making a terrific racket. He saw the end of the squabble.
+And soon Mrs. Hen came running back, with her feathers sadly rumpled,
+and her comb awry.
+
+"I settled with her," she gasped. "And now tell me about the rat hole.
+Could Peter Mink get through it?"
+
+"No, he couldn't!" Grumpy Weasel said. Then he dodged strangely back
+into the henhouse. And though Mrs. Hen hopped in after him she couldn't
+find him anywhere.
+
+She couldn't understand it.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+THE GREAT MYSTERY
+
+
+The story soon spread all around the farmyard, how fat Mrs. Hen had been
+seen talking with no less a rascal than Grumpy Weasel.
+
+Everybody told her that it was a dangerous thing to do and that it was a
+wonder she had escaped, until Mrs. Hen began to feel that she was quite
+the most important person in the neighborhood. Even old dog Spot asked
+her some questions one day--some of which she could answer, and some of
+which she could not.
+
+For one thing, she couldn't (or wouldn't) tell what way Grumpy left the
+farmyard. "He just jumped back and was gone before I knew it," she said.
+
+"That's what they all say," said Spot. "He's so quick you never can see
+him go."
+
+Now, Mrs. Hen ought to have explained that Grumpy Weasel disappeared
+from inside the henhouse. But she was not a person of much sense. By
+that time she began to think that perhaps Grumpy Weasel was as bad as
+the neighbors had said. And she was afraid that her relations might find
+fault with her if they learned that she had invited Grumpy to enter
+their house. Silly Mrs. Hen decided that she wouldn't tell what she had
+done. But she never tired of talking about what she called "the great
+mystery"--meaning "Where did Grumpy Weasel go?"
+
+It was simple enough. To escape meeting old dog Spot, Grumpy Weasel had
+crawled into the old rat hole. It suited him quite well to do that, for
+more than one reason. Not only did he avoid trouble, but he found the
+other end of the rat hole. Silly Mrs. Hen had done exactly as he had
+hoped. She had shown him a way to get into the henhouse at night in
+spite of locks and bolts and doors. And Grumpy Weasel went off to the
+woods well pleased with himself.
+
+"Perhaps, after all, it pays to be pleasant," he said--just as if that
+was a reason! But he stopped short all at once. "There's that stupid
+Mrs. Hen," he cried aloud. "She was pleasant; but it won't pay her, in
+the end!" So he decided on the spot that he would keep on being surly.
+It would be much easier for him, anyhow.
+
+That very night Grumpy Weasel stole back to the henhouse. And he was
+just about to creep up to the old rat hole, pausing first to take a
+searching look all around, when he saw a motionless figure sitting on a
+low-hanging limb of a tree near-by. It was Solomon Owl. And Grumpy could
+see that he was staring at the rat hole as if he were waiting for
+somebody.
+
+Grumpy Weasel knew at once that that rat hole was no safe place for him.
+Very gingerly he drew back into a deep shadow. And as he pondered
+silently he saw a huge rat step out of the hole. Solomon Owl swooped
+down and grabbed the fellow before he knew what was happening.
+
+Well, Grumpy Weasel saw that all his trouble had gone for nothing. Silly
+Mrs. Hen hadn't known what she was talking about. If Solomon Owl was in
+the habit of watching that hole Grumpy certainly didn't mean to go near
+it.
+
+Of course he was angry. But Mrs. Hen never learned what he said about
+her. No matter what remarks her neighbors made, she always insisted
+afterward that Grumpy Weasel was one of the most pleasant and polite
+gentlemen she had ever met.
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+GUARDING THE CORNCRIB
+
+
+Grumpy Weasel never seemed to have anything but bad luck whenever he
+went near the farmyard. Perhaps that was the reason why he kept going
+back there, for he was nothing if not determined. Anyhow, he had found
+the hunting poor along his stone wall in the woods. And there was so
+much "game," as he called it, about the farm buildings that he thought
+it was silly to leave it for such scamps as Peter Mink and Tommy Fox and
+Fatty Coon.
+
+So he took to loitering near Farmer Green's corncrib. And he was not at
+all pleased to find Fatty Coon there one evening. He wouldn't have
+spoken to Fatty at all had not that plump young chap hurled a cutting
+remark directly at him: "There are no chickens in this building. This is
+a corncrib."
+
+"Don't you suppose I know that?" Grumpy retorted. "I've come here to
+guard the corn from mice and squirrels."
+
+"There's no need of your doing that," Fatty Coon told him. "Have you
+never noticed those tin pans, upside down, on top of the posts on which
+the corncrib rests? How could a mouse or a squirrel ever climb past one
+of those?"
+
+"There are ways," Grumpy Weasel said wisely.
+
+"I doubt it," Fatty replied. "I don't believe the trick can be done."
+
+Then, not to oblige Fatty, but to show him he was mistaken, Grumpy
+climbed a tree near-by, dropped from one of its branches to the roof of
+the corncrib, and quickly found a crack in the side of the building
+through which he slipped with no trouble at all.
+
+Suddenly there was a great scurrying and scrambling inside. And soon
+Fatty Coon saw Frisky Squirrel and several of his friends--not to
+mention three frightened mice--come tumbling out and tear off in every
+direction.
+
+Presently Grumpy Weasel stuck his head through a crack between two
+boards.
+
+"Did you catch the robbers?" he called to Fatty Coon.
+
+"They were too spry for me," Fatty told him. He wouldn't have stopped
+one anyhow, for Grumpy Weasel.
+
+"Which way did they go, old Slow Poke?" Grumpy cried as he jumped down
+in great haste.
+
+"Everywhere!" Fatty told him.
+
+"Can't you be a little more exact? You don't think--do you?--that I can
+run more than one way at a time?"
+
+"Why don't you run round and round in a circle?" Fatty suggested. "In
+that way you might catch at least half those youngsters--and perhaps all
+of them."
+
+"That's the first real idea you ever had in your life!" Grumpy
+exclaimed--which was as near to thanking a person as he was ever known
+to come.
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+GRUMPY'S MISTAKE
+
+
+As soon as Grumpy Weasel left to chase the squirrels and mice that he
+had frightened away from the corncrib Fatty Coon hurried into the
+building through a hole in the floor which nobody knew but himself.
+
+Though he was a great eater Fatty was also a fast one. And now he bolted
+a huge meal of corn in only a few minutes. Then, smiling broadly, he
+left the corncrib by his private doorway and squatted down to await
+Grumpy's return.
+
+In a little while Grumpy appeared.
+
+"I hoped I'd see you again," Fatty Coon told him. "Did you have any
+luck?"
+
+"No!" Grumpy Weasel snapped. "I was mistaken about your idea. It was a
+very poor one. For I've been running in a circle (as you suggested) till
+I'm dizzy; and I haven't seen the least sign of a mouse nor a squirrel."
+
+Fatty Coon told him to cheer up.
+
+"I've another idea for you," he said.
+
+"Keep it! Keep it!" Grumpy Weasel hissed. "Your last idea only made me
+tired; and I haven't a capture to my credit to-night."
+
+"That's because you ran too fast," Fatty explained glibly. "Now, if
+you'll be careful to run slowly, and do just as I tell you, I can
+promise that there'll be a capture, without fail."
+
+[Illustration: Grumpy Weasel Visits the Corncrib. (_Page 70_)]
+
+Grumpy had had such bad luck in his hunting about the farmyard that he
+decided to listen, anyhow. He told himself that he wouldn't take
+Fatty's advice unless it was much better than he expected.
+
+"Well--go on!" he grunted.
+
+"Do you see that little house near the woodshed?" Fatty Coon asked him.
+"It has a low doorway that's always open, and no windows at all."
+
+"Yes!" said Grumpy Weasel harshly. "Of course I see it. I'm not blind."
+
+"Do you know who lives there?"
+
+"I always supposed that it belonged to Johnnie Green," said Grumpy. "His
+father is big and lives in the big house, and Johnnie is little and
+lives in the little house."
+
+Fatty Coon laughed merrily.
+
+"You don't know as much as I thought you did!" he cried. It may be that
+Fatty had set out to make Grumpy angry. Anyhow, Grumpy's eyes burned in
+the darkness like two coals of fire.
+
+"I'm right about that little house," he wrangled.
+
+"Nonsense!" Fatty Coon exclaimed. And that made Grumpy angrier than
+ever.
+
+"You learned that word of old Mr. Crow!" he grumbled. "It's his favorite
+expression; and I can't endure it."
+
+"You don't need to stay here and listen to it," Fatty Coon said. "If you
+dared to you could run over to Johnnie Green's house (as you call it);
+and if you found that you were right about it I promise you I'd never
+say 'Nonsense' again."
+
+If Grumpy Weasel hadn't been so angry perhaps he wouldn't have been so
+eager to prove himself right. While Fatty watched him he bounded across
+the farmyard and stopped at the doorway of the tiny house. And then he
+bounded back again, a great deal faster, with old dog Spot yelping
+behind him.
+
+Fatty Coon did not wait for anything more. He made for the woods at top
+speed, grinning as he went.
+
+The next day he pretended to be surprised to meet Grumpy.
+
+"You must have forgotten my advice," he said. "I promised you that there
+would be a capture if you ran slowly. But it's plain that you ran too
+fast, or you wouldn't be here."
+
+"Nonsense!" Grumpy Weasel shouted, flying into a passion at once. And he
+often wondered, afterward, what Fatty Coon found to laugh at.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+POP! GOES THE WEASEL
+
+
+There were many things that did not please Grumpy Weasel--things that
+almost any one else would have liked. For instance, there was music. The
+Pleasant Valley Singing Society, to which most of the bird people
+belonged, did not number Grumpy Weasel among its admirers. He never
+cared to hear a bird sing--not even Jolly Robin's cousin the Hermit, who
+was one of the most beautiful singers in the woods. And as for Buddy
+Brown Thrasher, whom most people thought a brilliant performer, Grumpy
+Weasel always groaned whenever he heard him singing in the topmost
+branches of a tree.
+
+A bird-song--according to Grumpy Weasel--was of use in only one way: it
+told you where the bird was. And that was a help, of course, if you were
+trying to catch him.
+
+Nor did the musical Frog family's nightly concerts have much charm for
+Grumpy, though he did admit that some of their songs were not so bad as
+others.
+
+"I can stand it now and then," he said, "to hear a good, glum croaking,
+provided there are plenty of discords."
+
+Naturally, knowing how he felt, Grumpy Weasel's neighbors never invited
+him to listen to their concerts. On the contrary they usually asked him
+please to go away, if he happened to come along. Certainly nobody could
+sing his best, with such a listener.
+
+As a rule Grumpy Weasel was glad to go on about his business, though to
+be sure he hated to oblige anybody. But one day he stopped and scolded
+at the top of his voice when he came upon the Woodchuck brothers
+whistling in the pasture.
+
+Their whistles quavered a bit when they noticed who was present. And
+they moved a little nearer their front door, in order to dodge out of
+sight if need be. Although Grumpy Weasel might follow them, there was a
+back door they could rush out of. And since they knew their way about
+their underground halls better than he did they did not worry greatly.
+
+"We're sorry--" said the biggest brother, who was called Billy
+Woodchuck--"we're sorry you don't like our music. And we'd like to know
+what's the matter with it; for we always strive to please."
+
+"It's not so much the way you whistle," Grumpy snarled, "though your
+whistling is bad enough, it's so cheerful. What I find fault with
+especially is the tune. It's insulting to me. And you can't deny it."
+
+Well, the Woodchuck brothers looked at one another in a puzzled fashion.
+
+"Never again let me hear you whistling, 'Pop! Goes the Weasel,'" Grumpy
+warned them. That was the name of the Woodchuck brothers' favorite air,
+and the one they could whistle best. And any one could see that they
+were quite upset.
+
+"Why don't you like that tune?" Billy Woodchuck asked Grumpy Weasel
+politely.
+
+"It's that word 'pop,'" Grumpy said. "It reminds me of a pop-gun. And a
+pop-gun reminds me of a real gun. And that's something I don't want to
+think about."
+
+Well, the Woodchuck brothers looked at one another again. But this time
+they smiled.
+
+"You've misunderstood," Billy Woodchuck told Grumpy Weasel. "This is a
+different kind of _pop_. It means that when you enter a hole you _pop_
+into it in a jiffy, without taking all day to do it."
+
+For a wonder Grumpy Weasel was almost pleased.
+
+"That's true!" he cried. "I couldn't be slow if I wanted to be!" And he
+actually asked the Woodchuck brothers to whistle "Pop! Goes the Weasel"
+once more.
+
+But Grumpy Weasel never thought of thanking them.
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+HIDING FROM HENRY HAWK
+
+
+In the spring Grumpy Weasel was always glad to see the birds coming back
+from the South. But it must not be supposed that it was because he liked
+to hear them sing (for he didn't!).
+
+Nor should any one make the mistake of thinking that Grumpy Weasel loved
+the birds. The only reason why he welcomed them was because he liked to
+hunt them, and rob their nests.
+
+But there were two birds that Grumpy didn't care to have in Pleasant
+Valley. He often wished that Solomon Owl and Henry Hawk would leave the
+neighborhood and never return. That was because they liked to hunt him.
+
+Especially did Grumpy Weasel dislike Henry Hawk, who had an unpleasant
+habit of sitting motionless on a limb in the top of some great tree.
+From that high perch he swept the whole valley with his keen, cruel
+eyes, because (as he said) he "liked to see what was going on."
+
+If Henry Hawk saw anything anywhere that interested him he lost no time
+in reaching that place. It might be a bird, or a meadow mouse, or maybe
+a plump chicken. And he was always hoping to catch a glimpse of Grumpy
+Weasel.
+
+One day early in the fall Mr. Hawk saw what he had been looking for so
+long. Near the old cider mill, up the road from Farmer Green's house, he
+spied a long, slender, brownish shape moving swiftly among a pile of
+barrels outside the building. He knew at once that it was Grumpy
+Weasel; and though he was a long way off Mr. Hawk could see that Grumpy
+was very busy looking for something--so busy, Mr. Hawk hoped, that
+Grumpy wouldn't notice anything else.
+
+Henry Hawk had wonderful eyesight. As he came hurtling down out of the
+sky he could see that Grumpy was playing hide-and-seek with a mouse.
+
+"It's a shame to break up the game," Mr. Hawk chuckled to himself.
+
+And just then something made Grumpy Weasel look up. It must have been
+Henry Hawk's shadow flickering over a barrel. There was no other sign
+that could have warned Grumpy.
+
+He put the meadow mouse out of his mind without a bit of trouble and
+made a sidewise spring for the first hole on which his eyes lighted.
+
+Grumpy was through it in a twinkling. Henry Hawk made a frantic grab
+with his talons at the black tip of Grumpy's tail, just as it whisked
+out of sight. But he was too late.
+
+It did not soothe Henry Hawk's feelings to find that the meadow mouse
+had vanished at the same time. Henry would have liked to play
+hide-and-seek with him himself.
+
+Mr. Hawk knew well enough where Grumpy was hiding. That slim fellow had
+sought safety in an empty jug, which was lying on its side near the pile
+of barrels. It made a fine fort for Grumpy Weasel. The enemy couldn't
+break through it. And there was only one loophole, which was far too
+small to do Henry Hawk the least good.
+
+Henry saw at once that he might as well go away. So he went off
+grumbling.
+
+"This," he said, "is what comes of disorderly habits. Farmer Green ought
+not to have left that jug lying there. If he hadn't, I might have been
+able to do him a good turn."
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+A FREE RIDE
+
+
+Inside the jug, where he had hidden to escape Henry Hawk, Grumpy Weasel
+yawned widely and licked his chops. He was having a dull time, waiting
+until he was sure that Henry Hawk had given up the chase and gone away.
+
+In a little while Grumpy believed he could venture out in safety. But
+suddenly, to his great disgust, a wagon came clattering in from the road
+and pulled up right beside the pile of empty barrels near him.
+
+It was Farmer Brown, driving his old horse Ebenezer. And of course
+Grumpy Weasel didn't care to show himself just then, especially with
+old dog Spot nosing around. He had already heard Spot give several sharp
+yelps.
+
+"That old dog knows I'm here somewhere but he can't tell exactly where,"
+Grumpy said to himself. "He can yelp his head off, for all I care."
+
+And then Spot began to whine, and run in and out among the barrels,
+until he all but tripped Farmer Green, who was loading the barrels into
+the wagon.
+
+"Let him whine!" said Grumpy Weasel softly. "His yelping and whining
+don't scare me. He can't get inside this jug of mine. And I certainly
+shan't leave it so long as he stays here."
+
+Meanwhile he could hear Farmer Green talking to old Spot, telling him
+not to be silly.
+
+"From the way you're acting anybody might think there was a bear around
+here," he told Spot.
+
+Old dog Spot explained to Farmer Green in no uncertain fashion that it
+was no bear--but a weasel--that he was looking for. His nose told him
+that. And there was no mistake about it. But somehow Farmer Green
+couldn't understand a word he said. So after putting the last barrel on
+the load Farmer Green climbed up himself and started to drive off.
+
+But old dog Spot wouldn't budge an inch. He hovered about the jug where
+Grumpy Weasel was hiding and made such a fuss that Farmer Green looked
+back at him.
+
+"Well! well!" he exclaimed. And he stopped the horse Ebenezer and jumped
+down and walked back again.
+
+"I declare I'd have forgotten to take this jug if you hadn't reminded me
+of it," he told Spot. And thereupon he picked up the jug and set it in
+the back of the wagon.
+
+This time Spot followed. This time he was in the wagon before Farmer
+Green was. And all the way down the road, until they reached the
+farmyard, he acted (or so Farmer Green told him!) like a simpleton.
+
+The whole affair made Grumpy Weasel terribly angry. He thought it was an
+outrage for Farmer Green to kidnap him like that. And he was so enraged
+that he would have taken a bite out of anything handy. But there wasn't
+a thing in the jug except himself.
+
+At last the strange party drew up in front of the barn and stopped.
+Farmer Green led Ebenezer into his stall. And then he took the jug, with
+Grumpy Weasel still inside in, and in spite of Spot's protests set it
+high up on a shelf in the barn.
+
+It was easy for Grumpy, after that, to crawl out of the jug. He scurried
+along the shelf, climbed up the wall, and glided through a crack in the
+ceiling, to hide himself in the haymow above.
+
+"Old Spot didn't get me this time!" he said gleefully. "Not by a jugful,
+he didn't!"
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+A NEW SUIT
+
+
+Throughout Pleasant Valley the very name of Grumpy Weasel was a bugaboo.
+Those of his size, and many a good deal bigger than he, learned early to
+avoid him.
+
+One of the first things Sandy Chipmunk's mother did was to teach him to
+beware of Grumpy. And twice during his first summer Sandy caught a
+glimpse of Grumpy as he flashed past like a brown streak, with a gleam
+of white showing underneath.
+
+It was lucky for Sandy that on both occasions Grumpy was intent on
+chasing somebody or other. And each time that Sandy told his mother
+what he had seen, Mrs. Chipmunk said that she hoped it would never
+happen again.
+
+"I'm glad that you know what he looks like, anyhow," she added.
+
+"Oh, I'll know him if I see him!" Sandy cried.
+
+"Don't stop for a second look!" his mother warned him.
+
+"I won't!" he promised. "I won't even stop to say, 'How do you do!'"
+
+"I should hope not!" Mrs. Chipmunk said severely.
+
+So Sandy Chipmunk went through his first summer on the watch for a long,
+slender, brownish shape. But he never saw Grumpy Weasel again. And
+winter found the Chipmunk family all unharmed, and very comfortable in
+their cozy house below frost line.
+
+On mild days Sandy liked to visit the world above and find a rock bare
+of snow, where he could enjoy the sunshine.
+
+It was on one of those outings that he caught sight of a stranger headed
+for the stone wall near-by. At first Sandy missed seeing him, against
+the snow. But when he reached the wind-swept wall Sandy couldn't help
+noticing him. He was a slim gentleman and--except for his black-tipped
+tail--was dressed all in white.
+
+After spending the winter underground Sandy Chipmunk was glad to talk
+with the first person he saw. So he called to the stranger that it was a
+fine day, wasn't it?
+
+The other wheeled about so quickly that Sandy couldn't help laughing.
+
+"Don't be nervous!" Sandy cried. "I won't hurt you!"
+
+But the stranger didn't answer. Once he opened his mouth. And Sandy
+Chipmunk had a queer feeling then that he had met the fellow before.
+That mouth had plenty of white, needle-like teeth. It had a cruel look,
+too.
+
+Then the stranger jumped straight toward Sandy Chipmunk. And in that
+instant Sandy knew who he was. No one could leap like that except Grumpy
+Weasel!
+
+Sandy turned and ran madly for shelter. Luckily he had the advantage of
+Grumpy in one way. He had a bare ledge to run on, while Grumpy Weasel
+had to flounder for some distance through a snow-choked hollow.
+
+So Sandy escaped. And it was lucky that Grumpy didn't find the door to
+the Chipmunk family's burrow. If he had he would have gone right in
+himself.
+
+Mrs. Chipmunk blamed herself for Sandy's adventure. She had never
+remembered to tell her son that every fall Grumpy Weasel changed his
+summer dress for the one in which Sandy had just seen him.
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+GRUMPY'S THREAT
+
+
+Meeting Grumpy Weasel in the woods one day, Tommy Fox stopped to have a
+chat with him. He always liked to chat with Grumpy, it was so easy to
+get him angry, and such fun to see him fly into a passion.
+
+"You're looking very elegant in your winter suit," Tommy Fox remarked.
+"White is becoming to you--there's no doubt of that. And that black tip
+on the end of your tail is just what's needed to complete your costume.
+It matches your eyes nicely.... You must have a good tailor."
+
+[Illustration: Sandy Chipmunk Runs From Grumpy Weasel. (_Page 96_)]
+
+People were apt to be wary of Tommy Fox when fine words dripped from his
+mouth like that. It usually meant that he was bent on some mischief. And
+now Grumpy Weasel looked at him suspiciously.
+
+"If you admire my clothes so much why don't you get some like them?" he
+demanded.
+
+Tommy Fox shook his head mournfully.
+
+"I'd like to," he said, "but I'm too humble a person to dress like a
+king, in ermine. My family have always worn red. The neighbors wouldn't
+know me in anything else. Or if they did they'd say I was putting on
+airs."
+
+"If you want to know what I think, I'll tell you that red's entirely too
+good for you," Grumpy Weasel sneered.
+
+Tommy Fox smiled somewhat sourly. Grumpy Weasel's remark did not please
+him. But he managed to say nothing disagreeable.
+
+"I suppose," he went on, "you've met the newcomer in our valley who
+dresses as you do, in white and black?"
+
+"What's that you say?" Grumpy Weasel barked. "Who's gone and copied my
+cold-weather clothes? If I meet him I'll make it hot for him."
+
+"Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned the matter," Tommy Fox said softly.
+"I don't like to displease you. And I don't want to get a stranger into
+trouble either, just as he has come to spend the winter amongst us.
+
+"And besides," Tommy added, "it would be a shame for you to quarrel with
+the stranger because he happens to choose your favorite colors. That
+only goes to show that your tastes are alike."
+
+"That's exactly what I object to!" Grumpy Weasel complained, getting
+much excited. "If his tastes are the same as mine he'll want to come and
+hunt along my stone wall. And there'll be trouble if he does that! The
+fur will fly!"
+
+Tommy Fox turned his head away, for he simply had to enjoy a grin and he
+didn't want Grumpy Weasel to see it.
+
+"I'm sorry I spoke about the stranger," he said glibly, as soon as he
+could keep his face straight. "But I thought the news would please you."
+
+"It would certainly please me to meet him," Grumpy Weasel declared
+fiercely. "And it would please me much more than it would him, I can
+tell you."
+
+"It wouldn't be treating a newcomer well to let him wander through the
+woods when you feel as you do about him. I ought to warn him to leave
+Pleasant Valley before it's too late," Tommy said.
+
+"It would be treating him better to give him a good lesson before he
+goes," Grumpy Weasel said. "You needn't say a word to him about my
+wanting to meet him. Let the fur fly first! And then he'll flee.
+
+"That's my way of getting rid of strangers!"
+
+
+
+
+XXIII
+
+A BOLD STRANGER
+
+
+Tommy Fox had carefully kept from Grumpy Weasel the name of the stranger
+who was dressed like Grumpy, in white and black. It happened that he
+wore feathers--this newcomer. And that was one reason why Tommy Fox had
+had to grin when Grumpy threatened to "make the fur fly" when he met the
+unknown.
+
+Another reason why Tommy had laughed at Grumpy's blustering was that the
+stranger was quite able to take care of himself in a fight. He belonged
+to the Snowy Owl family, being bigger, even, than Solomon Owl. And what
+with his hooked beak and his strong talons he was a dangerous fellow to
+meet. Although Grumpy Weasel could easily handle a rabbit or a wild duck
+a dozen times his own size, because they were unarmed, he would have had
+no chance at all with Mr. Snowy Owl.
+
+All this made Tommy Fox chuckle and grin, as he left Grumpy and loped
+off towards Cedar Swamp, where Mr. Snowy Owl was spending the winter.
+Unlike Solomon Owl, and his cousin Simon Screecher, Mr. Snowy Owl did
+not turn night into day. So Tommy Fox found him wide awake and ready for
+a fight or a frolic, whichever might come his way.
+
+He was a handsome bird--this newcomer--in his showy white suit, spotted
+with black. And he gave Tommy Fox a bold, hard look, acting for all the
+world as if he had spent his whole life in Pleasant Valley, instead of
+merely two short weeks.
+
+Now, Mr. Snowy Owl knew a good deal about such rascals as Tommy Fox. So
+he said at once, "What's on your mind, young man? You've come here on
+mischief and you needn't deny it."
+
+Well, Tommy Fox saw that he couldn't deceive Mr. Owl very much. So he
+grinned at him and told him about the talk he had just had with Grumpy
+Weasel.
+
+"He's so eager to meet you it would be too bad to disappoint him," Tommy
+observed. "He wants the fur to fly, you know."
+
+Although he had no ears (at least, so far as could be seen) Mr. Snowy
+Owl had listened closely to Tommy Fox's story. And he must have heard
+plainly enough, for he said quickly that he would call on Grumpy Weasel
+that very day. "I'll start right now," he said, "and I'll reach Grumpy
+Weasel's hunting ground before you're out of the swamp."
+
+"I wish you'd wait a bit, till I can get there myself," Tommy Fox told
+him.
+
+Mr. Snowy Owl agreed to that. And after lingering until he thought Tommy
+must have had time to run and find Grumpy Weasel he rose above the tops
+of the cedars and sailed off to join them himself.
+
+"I'm glad I came here to spend the winter," he muttered. "Everybody's
+been very pleasant so far. And after people hear how I've settled with
+this Weasel person the folks in Pleasant Valley will be pretty polite to
+me, or I'll know the reason why."
+
+
+
+
+XXIV
+
+FUR AND FEATHERS
+
+
+To find Grumpy Weasel, Tommy Fox went straight back to the place where
+he had left him. It was easy, then, to follow his queer tracks. Grumpy's
+legs were so short that they did not lift his lean body clear of the
+deep snow, except when he jumped very high; so his trail looked somewhat
+like that of a snake with legs.
+
+As soon as Tommy overtook him he asked Grumpy if he had seen the
+stranger yet, who was dressed all in white and black, like him.
+
+"No, I haven't. But I'm on the lookout for him all the time," said
+Grumpy.
+
+"Where are you looking?" Tommy inquired.
+
+"Oh! Everywhere!" Grumpy replied. "Behind the trees and in the bushes
+and back of the stone wall!"
+
+"Have you seen any new tracks?" Tommy persisted.
+
+"Not one!" Grumpy admitted. And then he thought he caught the flicker of
+a smile on Tommy Fox's narrow face. "If there is no such person--if
+you've been deceiving me----" he began angrily.
+
+"I promise you that there _is_ such a stranger in the neighborhood!"
+Tommy cried. "And if you don't meet him to-day I'll be as disappointed
+as you."
+
+"It seems to me," Grumpy Weasel snapped, "you're altogether too anxious
+over this business. Everybody knows you're tricky. And I begin to think
+you're trying to get me into trouble."
+
+It was wonderful, the way Tommy Fox could keep his temper. No matter
+what people said to him he could still smile if it would help him to
+have his way. And now he kept up a never-ending chatter, without saying
+anything in particular.
+
+The snow was deep enough to have covered such hiding places as Grumpy
+Weasel liked. The stone wall, indeed, offered about the only crannies;
+and that was some distance away. Tommy Fox had noticed that. And that
+was why he was trying to keep Grumpy Weasel where he was. For Tommy
+expected Mr. Snowy Owl at any moment.
+
+"You are talking foolishness," Grumpy told Tommy Fox at last. "I don't
+care to waste my time listening to you." And he turned away.
+
+"One moment, please!" Tommy begged, for the sly rascal had just caught
+a glimpse of Mr. Snowy Owl hovering above the trees.
+
+"What do you want now?" Grumpy Weasel scolded, as he paused close by the
+old hemlock where Solomon Owl sometimes sat and abused him.
+
+"I want to see the fur fly," Tommy Fox answered wickedly.
+
+For a moment Grumpy Weasel couldn't think what he meant. But suddenly he
+saw a large whitish shape dropping upon him out of the sky. He knew
+then, in a flash, that Tommy Fox had deceived him.
+
+A moment more and it was all over. At least, it seemed so to Tommy Fox.
+Whatever had happened had taken place so quickly that he couldn't see it
+clearly. But there was Mr. Snowy Owl, sitting on a limb of the hemlock,
+where he had perched after staying half a second's time on the ground.
+
+And Grumpy Weasel was no longer to be seen, anywhere.
+
+"Did--did you swallow him?" Tommy Fox stammered.
+
+Mr. Snowy Owl looked puzzled.
+
+"I don't know," he replied. "Perhaps I did! If I didn't I don't know
+where he is."
+
+Tommy Fox couldn't help looking disappointed. "I'm sorry about one
+thing," he said. "It was all done so quickly I didn't see the fur fly!"
+
+Then there was a faint sound above them. And looking up, Tommy and Mr.
+Owl saw Grumpy Weasel's head sticking out of a small hole high up in the
+tree-trunk.
+
+As they watched him Grumpy Weasel seemed to be saying something to them.
+They couldn't hear what it was. But no doubt it was nothing pleasant.
+
+
+
+
+XXV
+
+PETER MINK'S PROMISE
+
+
+It happened, on a bleak winter's day, that Grumpy Weasel was strolling
+along the bank of Broad Brook when all at once he heard a squall.
+Instantly he whirled around. There was something about the cry that
+sounded familiar. And while he searched the stream up and down with his
+sharp eyes he grew angrier every moment.
+
+"Unless I'm mistaken that's my good-for-nothing cousin, Peter Mink,"
+Grumpy muttered. "I'll teach him not to squall at me--the rascal!"
+
+He did not have to look long before he caught sight of his cousin.
+Peter Mink was crouched under the overhanging bank, not far from the
+edge of the frozen surface of the brook. And he squalled again when he
+saw that Grumpy had discovered him.
+
+"Stop that!" Grumpy Weasel bellowed. He was not greatly afraid of Peter
+Mink, though his cousin was much bigger than he. "I'll have you know
+that I don't allow people to bawl at me, even if we are distantly
+related."
+
+"I wasn't bawling at you," Peter Mink answered. And he was strangely
+polite, for him. "I was calling for help. Can't you see that my foot is
+caught in a trap?"
+
+At that Grumpy jumped down upon the ice and took a good look at Peter
+Mink. He saw, then, that Peter spoke the truth. "This trap hurts my
+foot, I can tell you," Peter Mink whined.
+
+"Maybe it will teach you not to screech at people," Grumpy told him.
+
+"You're going to help me, aren't you?" Peter Mink asked his cousin
+anxiously.
+
+"That trap belongs to Farmer Green's hired man," Grumpy informed Peter
+Mink. "I saw him when he set it there. Perhaps you would like to have me
+send word to him that you're using it."
+
+"Oh! Don't do that!" Peter begged piteously.
+
+"Well, then--suppose I get old dog Spot to come and see what he can do!
+He'd have you out of that trap in no time!"
+
+But that suggestion didn't suit Peter Mink any better.
+
+"For goodness' sake, can't you think of something else?" he wailed.
+
+His voice rose higher and higher as he spoke. And Grumpy Weasel showed
+his sharp teeth as he warned Peter Mink again not to squall at him, for
+he wouldn't stand it.
+
+At last Peter saw that Grumpy did not intend to help him at all. So it
+occurred to him that perhaps he could hire his cousin to free him from
+the trap. "I'd do anything for you if you could help me out of this
+fix," he said finally.
+
+"Will you drive Mr. Snowy Owl away from Pleasant Valley?" Grumpy cried.
+
+"Certainly!" said Peter Mink with great promptness, as if that were the
+easiest matter in the world.
+
+That answer surprised Grumpy Weasel. He had no idea that Peter Mink
+could do any such thing. And he said as much, too.
+
+"You understand," Peter explained, "it may take me some time to get rid
+of him. It's mid-winter now. But I can promise you that I'll have him
+out of the valley by April Fool's Day!"
+
+
+
+
+XXVI
+
+HOW GRUMPY HELPED
+
+
+Grumpy Weasel wondered how Peter Mink was going to get Mr. Snowy Owl out
+of Pleasant Valley. He had never dreamed that Peter could do it. But as
+he thought the matter over he remembered that Peter was a good deal
+bigger than himself.
+
+"If I were Peter Mink's size I would give Mr. Snowy Owl the worst
+punishing he ever had!" Grumpy exclaimed under his breath. "So maybe
+Peter can do as he claims, after all."
+
+"Very well!" Grumpy Weasel told Peter Mink. "This is a bargain. I'll
+help you out of the trap. And you'll rid Pleasant Valley of Mr. Snowy
+Owl by April Fool's Day."
+
+"Agreed!" Peter Mink cried. "And now, how are you going to set me free?"
+
+"I'm going to bite your leg off," Grumpy Weasel said cheerfully.
+
+"Oh, no! You're not going to do that!" Peter Mink howled. "I don't want
+you to do that!"
+
+"I made a bargain with you," Grumpy Weasel reminded him, "and I intend
+to carry out my part of it."
+
+"Stop a moment," Peter Mink cried. For Grumpy Weasel, with his back
+arched like a cat's, and his white whiskers twitching, had already taken
+a step towards him. "If you bite off my leg I'd never be able to get rid
+of Mr. Snowy Owl."
+
+That brought Grumpy Weasel up short. He thought deeply for a moment;
+and then he exclaimed: "I have it! You must bite off your own leg!"
+
+But Peter Mink proved a hard one to please.
+
+"You don't understand!" he said. "If I lose a leg I know I never could
+get Mr. Snowy Owl out of the valley."
+
+At that Grumpy Weasel lost his temper completely. With a cry of rage he
+sprang at his cousin, Peter Mink, prisoner though he was. And Grumpy
+would have buried his white teeth in him except for just one thing. As
+he leaped forward Peter Mink leaped backward. And in that moment Peter
+freed himself. He had been caught only by the merest tip of a toe,
+anyhow. And now he crouched with his back against the bank of the brook,
+facing Grumpy Weasel with mouth wide open. His meekness had dropped off
+him like an old coat. And Grumpy Weasel knew better than to get within
+his reach. In fact he turned polite himself, all at once.
+
+"There!" he said. "I got you out of the trap, as I had planned to all
+the time. I knew that if I could make you jump you'd pull your foot
+loose."
+
+Well, Peter Mink hardly believed that. But he thought there was no use
+of saying so.
+
+He was glad enough to escape Farmer Green's hired man's trap without
+having a dispute over the way it happened.
+
+"I hope you'll keep your promise," Grumpy told Peter Mink. "If Mr. Snowy
+Owl doesn't leave these parts by April Fool's Day I won't like it very
+well. You know you agreed to get him away from here by that time."
+
+"Oh! He'll be gone by then," said Peter Mink lightly. "He always leaves
+at the end of the winter, because he spends his summers in the Far
+North."
+
+When he heard that, Grumpy Weasel was angry as anything.
+
+"Then Mr. Owl is likely to be back here next fall," he said quickly.
+
+"I dare say," Peter Mink admitted carelessly.
+
+Grumpy Weasel backed cautiously away before he said another word. But
+when he had whisked into a great willow that leaned over Broad Brook he
+told his cousin what he thought about him.
+
+As for Peter Mink--he was nursing his injured paw (in his mouth!) and he
+said never a word.
+
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+  Little Jack Rabbit Books
+  (Trademark Registered)
+
+  By DAVID CORY
+
+  Author of "Little Journeys to Happyland"
+
+  * * *
+
+  Colored Wrappers With Text Illustrations.
+
+  * * *
+
+  A new and unique series about the furred and feathered
+  little people of the wood and meadow.
+
+  Children will eagerly follow the doings of little Jack
+  Rabbit, and the clever way in which he escapes from his
+  three enemies, Danny Fox, Mr. Wicked Wolf and
+  Hungry Hawk will delight the youngsters.
+
+      LITTLE JACK RABBIT'S ADVENTURES
+      LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND DANNY FOX
+      LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE SQUIRREL BROTHERS
+      LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNK
+      LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEAR
+      LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE JOHN HARE
+      LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND PROFESSOR CROW
+      LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND OLD MAN WEASEL
+      LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MR. WICKED WOLF
+      LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND HUNGRY HAWK
+      LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE POLICEMAN DOG
+      LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MISS MOUSIE
+      LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE LUCKY
+      LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE YELLOW DOG TRAMP
+
+  GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+  [Decoration]
+
+  JOLLY BOOKS FOR
+  LITTLE FOLK
+
+
+  _Parents of boys and girls from three to eight years of age are
+  assured by the names of such famous authors of children's
+  books as Arthur Scott Bailey, Lillian Elizabeth Roy and
+  David Cory that these little books will prove both entertaining
+  and instructional. They are all bound in cloth with
+  colored endpapers, black and white illustrations and colored
+  wrappers._
+
+  * * *
+
+  TUCK-ME-IN TALES--_by Arthur Scott Bailey_
+
+      These delightful stories in which well known birds and insects
+      are the characters are based upon actual natural history facts, and
+      while the youngster eagerly listens to them, a moral foundation of
+      deeper importance is being laid. The complete list of titles in this
+      series is on inside front flap of this wrapper.
+
+  THE LITTLE WASHINGTON BOOKS--_by Lillian Elizabeth Roy_
+
+      In these little stories two families of young cousins, all
+      descendants of George Washington, conceive the clever idea of
+      carrying out in their play the dramatic events of Washington's life.
+      Every boy and girl will receive a true and unforgettable picture of
+      the great career of the Father of His Country through the play acting
+      of these ingenious youngsters. See flap of this wrapper for complete
+      list.
+
+  LITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPYLAND--_by David Cory_
+
+      Children will recognize in these amusing adventures characters
+      they know and love. Mr. Cory is the author of the famous "Little
+      Jack Rabbit" stories and is one of the best known authors of
+      children's books of our times. See flap of this wrapper for complete
+      list of titles.
+
+  GROSSET & DUNLAP _Publishers_ NEW YORK
+
+
+  +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
+  | Transcriber's Note: The following corrections were made:           |
+  | Table of Contents: XXIX to XXIV                                    |
+  | p. 38: "Never mind that!' to "Never mind that!"                    |
+  | p. 46: missing period added (... given up the chase.)              |
+  | p. 102: "And then'll he'll flee." to "And then he'll flee."        |
+  | Ads (back of book): concieve to conceive (...of George Washington, |
+  | conceive...)                                                       |
+  | Three color plates in this e-book were missing/not included in the |
+  | book from which it was transcribed. These illustrations (Grumpy    |
+  | Weasel and Jimmy Rabbit Run a Race, Grumpy Weasel Visits the       |
+  | Corncrib, and Sandy Chipmunk Runs from Grumpy Weasel) have been    |
+  | taken from the Internet Archive's copy of the book.                |
+  | The IA version itself lacks two of the illustrations found in this |
+  | copy: Grumpy Nearly Catches Paddy Muskrat and Grumpy Calls on      |
+  | Mrs. Hen.                                                          |
+  +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Grumpy Weasel, by Arthur Scott Bailey
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
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author	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 02:14:46 -0700
committer	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 02:14:46 -0700
commit	a0a4c109262a6e5c3a1f1c9cbd063b0f87a910fd (patch)
tree	949a01e58724efc30f70e821eb51f419f408d809