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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.