"Beetle, beetle, smooth and smug, You are nothing but a bug."
As he said the last word, he suddenly pulled the piece of bark over.
"Who"s a bug?" asked a funny voice, and it sounded rather cross. Jimmy Skunk nearly tumbled over backward in surprise, and for a minute he couldn"t find his tongue. There, instead of the fat beetles he had been so sure of, sat Old Mr. Toad, and he didn"t look at all pleased.
"Who"s a bug?" he repeated.
Instead of answering, Jimmy Skunk began to laugh. "Who"s a bug?" demanded Old Mr. Toad, more crossly than before.
"There isn"t any bug, Mr. Toad, and I beg your pardon," replied Jimmy, remembering his politeness. "I just thought there was. You see, I didn"t know you were under that piece of bark. I hope you will excuse me, Mr.
Toad. Have you seen any fat beetles this morning?"
"No," said Old Mr. Toad grumpily, and yawned and rubbed his eyes.
"Why," exclaimed Jimmy Skunk, "I believe you have just waked up!"
"What if I have?" demanded Old Mr. Toad.
"Oh, nothing, nothing at all, Mr. Toad," replied Jimmy Skunk, "only you are the second one I"ve met this morning who had just waked up."
"Who was the other?" asked Old Mr. Toad.
"Mr. Blacksnake," replied Jimmy. "He inquired for you."
Old Mr. Toad turned quite pale. "I--I think I"ll be moving along," said he.
XVII
OLD MR. TOAD"S MISTAKE
If is a very little word to look at, but the biggest word you have ever seen doesn"t begin to have so much meaning as little "if." _If_ Jimmy Skunk hadn"t ambled down the Crooked Little Path just when he did; _if_ he hadn"t been looking for fat beetles; _if_ he hadn"t seen that big piece of bark at one side and decided to pull it over; _if_ it hadn"t been for all these "ifs," why Old Mr. Toad wouldn"t have made the mistake he did, and you wouldn"t have had this story. But Jimmy Skunk _did_ amble down the Crooked Little Path, he _did_ look for beetles, and he _did_ pull over that big piece of bark. And when he had pulled it over, he found Old Mr. Toad there.
Old Mr. Toad had crept under that piece of bark because he wanted to take a nap. But when Jimmy Skunk told him that he had seen Mr. Blacksnake that very morning, and that Mr. Blacksnake had asked after Old Mr. Toad, the very last bit of sleepiness left Old Mr. Toad. Yes, Sir, he was wide awake right away. You see, he knew right away why Mr. Blacksnake had asked after him. He knew that Mr. Blacksnake has a fondness for Toads. He turned quite pale when he heard that Mr. Blacksnake had asked after him, and right then he made his mistake. He was in such a hurry to get away from that neighborhood that he forgot to ask Jimmy Skunk just where he had seen Mr.
Blacksnake. He hardly waited long enough to say good-by to Jimmy Skunk, but started off as fast as he could go.
Now it just happened that Old Mr. Toad started up the Crooked Little Path, and it just happened that Mr. Blacksnake was coming down the Crooked Little Path. Now when people are very much afraid, they almost always seem to think that danger is behind instead of in front of them. It was so with Old Mr. Toad. Instead of watching out in front as he hopped along, he kept watching over his shoulder, and that was his second mistake. He was so sure that Mr. Blacksnake was somewhere behind him that he didn"t look to see where he was going, and you know that people who don"t look to see where they are going are almost sure to go headfirst right into trouble.
Old Mr. Toad went hopping up the Crooked Little Path as fast as he could, which wasn"t very fast, because he never can hop very fast. And all the time he kept looking behind for Mr. Blacksnake. Presently he came to a turn in the Crooked Little Path, and as he hurried around it, he almost ran into Mr. Blacksnake himself. It was a question which was more surprised. For just a wee second they stared at each other. Then Mr. Blacksnake"s eyes began to sparkle.
"Good morning, Mr. Toad. Isn"t this a beautiful morning? I was just thinking about you," said he.
But poor Old Mr. Toad didn"t say good morning. He didn"t say anything. He couldn"t, because he was too scared. He just gave a frightened little squeal, turned around, and started down the Crooked Little Path twice as fast as he had come up. Mr. Blacksnake grinned and started after him, not very fast because he knew that he wouldn"t have to run very fast to catch Old Mr. Toad, and he thought the exercise would do him good.
And this is how it happened that summer morning that jolly, bright Mr. Sun, looking down from the blue, blue sky and smiling to see how happy everybody seemed, suddenly discovered that there was one of the little meadow people who wasn"t happy, but instead was terribly, terribly unhappy. It was Old Mr. Toad hopping down the Crooked Little Path for his life, while after him, and getting nearer and nearer, glided Mr. Blacksnake.
XVIII
JIMMY SKUNK IS JUST IN TIME
Jimmy Skunk ambled slowly along, chuckling as he thought of what a hurry Mr. Toad had been in, when he had heard that Mr. Blacksnake had asked after him. It had been funny, very funny indeed, to see Mr. Toad try to hurry.
Suddenly Jimmy stopped chuckling. Then he stopped ambling along the Crooked Little Path. He turned around and looked back, and as he did so he scratched his head thoughtfully. He had just happened to think that Old Mr.
Toad had gone up the Crooked Little Path, and it was _up_ the Crooked Little Path that Mr. Blacksnake had shown himself that morning.
"If he"s still up there," thought Jimmy, "Old Mr. Toad is hopping right straight into the very worst kind of trouble. How stupid of him not to have asked me where Mr. Blacksnake was! Well, it"s none of my business. I guess I"ll go on."
But he had gone on down the Crooked Little Path only a few steps when he stopped again. You see, Jimmy is really a very kind-hearted little fellow, and somehow he didn"t like to think of what might happen to Old Mr. Toad.
"I hate to go way back there," he grumbled, for you know he is naturally rather lazy. "Still, the Green Meadows wouldn"t be quite the same without Old Mr. Toad. I should miss him if anything happened to him. I suppose it would be partly my fault, too, for if I hadn"t pulled over that piece of bark, he probably would have stayed there the rest of the day and been safe."
"Maybe he won"t meet Mr. Blacksnake," said a little voice inside of Jimmy.
"And maybe he will," said Jimmy right out loud. And with that, he started back up the Crooked Little Path, and strange to say Jimmy hurried.
He had just reached a turn in the Crooked Little Path when who should run right plump into him but poor Old Mr. Toad. He gave a frightened squeal and fell right over on his back, and kicked foolishly as he tried to get on his feet again. But he was all out of breath, and so frightened and tired that all he could do was to kick and kick. He hadn"t seen Jimmy at all, for he had been looking behind him, and he didn"t even know who it was he had run into.
Right behind him came Mr. Blacksnake. Of course he saw Jimmy, and he stopped short and hissed angrily.
"What were you going to do to Mr. Toad?" demanded Jimmy.
"None of your business!" hissed Mr. Blacksnake. "Get out of my way, or you"ll be sorry."
Jimmy Skunk just laughed and stepped in front of poor Old Mr. Toad. Mr.
Blacksnake coiled himself up in the path and darted his tongue out at Jimmy in the most impudent way. Then he tried to make himself look very fierce.
Then he jumped straight at Jimmy Skunk with his mouth wide open, but he took great care not to jump quite far enough to reach Jimmy. You see, he was just trying to scare Jimmy. But Jimmy didn"t scare. He knows all about Mr. Blacksnake and that really he is a coward. So he suddenly gritted his teeth in a way not at all pleasant to hear and started for Mr.
Blacksnake. Mr. Blacksnake didn"t wait. No, Sir, he didn"t wait. He suddenly turned and glided back up the Crooked Little Path, hissing angrily. Jimmy followed him a little way, and then he went back to Old Mr.
Toad.
"Oh," panted Mr. Toad, "you came just in time! I couldn"t have hopped another hop."
"I guess I did," replied Jimmy. "Now you get your breath and come along with me." And Old Mr. Toad did.
XIX
OLD MR. TOAD GETS HIS STOMACH FULL
Pray do not tip your nose in scorn At things which others eat, For things to you not good at all To others are most sweet.