"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.