CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

[Pg 1]

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[Pg 2] 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 [Pg 3] 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[Pg 4] 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.

[Pg 5]

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[Pg 6] 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 my[Pg 7]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.

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[Pg 8] 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.

[Pg 9]

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[Pg 10] 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."

[Pg 35]"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?"[Pg 36]

"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[Pg 37] 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.

[Pg 38]

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.[Pg 39]

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[Pg 40] 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[Pg 41] 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."

[Pg 42]

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[Pg 43] 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[Pg 44] 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.[Pg 45]

"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.

[Pg 46]

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.[Pg 47]

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.[Pg 48]

"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.[Pg 49] 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[Pg 50] 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.

Grumpy had had such bad luck in his hunting about the farmyard that he decided to listen, anyhow. He told himself[Pg 75] 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.[Pg 76]

"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.[Pg 77]

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.

[Pg 78]

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 sing[Pg 79]ing 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[Pg 80] 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,"[Pg 81] 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[Pg 82] 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.

[Pg 83]

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 neighbor[Pg 84]hood 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 build[Pg 85]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—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.[Pg 86]

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.[Pg 87]

"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."

[Pg 88]

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[Pg 89] 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[Pg 90] 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,"[Pg 91] 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[Pg 92] 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!"

[Pg 93]

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[Pg 94] 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[Pg 95] 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 Chip[Pg 96]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.

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 re[Pg 97]membered to tell her son that every fall Grumpy Weasel changed his summer dress for the one in which Sandy had just seen him.

[Pg 98]

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."