Benny Badger sniffed.
"Nonsense!" he cried. "If I did make such a mistake, I promise you that I wouldn't let it happen more than once."
But the deer mouse proved to be a stubborn chap. He declined flatly to do as Benny wanted.
"Very well!" said Benny Badger gruffly. "I'm sorry that you don't care to make things as pleasant as possible for a newcomer. Where I used to live, people couldn't do enough for me."
"I believe you," Mr. Deer Mouse retorted. "In fact, I've heard that a man even set a trap for you, right in your own doorway."
Of course, that news came to Benny Badger as a great surprise. He had had no idea that Mr. Deer Mouse knew anything about him.
"Somebody has been gossiping!" Benny Badger growled angrily. "Who told you that?"
"Goodness me! Everybody has heard about it," Mr. Deer Mouse replied. "Don't you know that news travels fast over the plains?"
"Does it travel as fast as I do?" Benny Badger asked him suddenly.
Before the words were out of his mouth he leaped at Mr. Deer Mouse. And for one as heavy as he was, Benny leaped with surprising swiftness.