The Tale of Grumpy Weasel Part 4

"I've brought them along to-day," he said, "to help me win this race."

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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 c.o.c.ksure 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 hoa.r.s.ely. 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 hoa.r.s.ely. 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Grumpy Calls on Mrs. Hen. (_Page 58_)]

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