Tale of Grumpy Weasel

<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"><SPAN name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</SPAN></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"><SPAN name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</SPAN></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"><SPAN name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</SPAN></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"><SPAN name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</SPAN></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"><SPAN name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</SPAN></span></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />