XXV
PETER MINK'S PROMISE
It happened, on a bleak winter's day, that Grumpy Weasel was strolling along the bank of Broad Brook when all at once he heard a squall. Instantly he whirled around. There was something about the cry that sounded familiar. And while he searched the stream up and down with his sharp eyes he grew angrier every moment.
"Unless I'm mistaken that's my good-for-nothing cousin, Peter Mink," Grumpy muttered. "I'll teach him not to squall at me—the rascal!"
He did not have to look long before he
caught sight of his cousin. Peter Mink was crouched under the overhanging bank, not far from the edge of the frozen surface of the brook. And he squalled again when he saw that Grumpy had discovered him.
"Stop that!" Grumpy Weasel bellowed. He was not greatly afraid of Peter Mink, though his cousin was much bigger than he. "I'll have you know that I don't allow people to bawl at me, even if we are distantly related."
"I wasn't bawling at you," Peter Mink answered. And he was strangely polite, for him. "I was calling for help. Can't you see that my foot is caught in a trap?"
At that Grumpy jumped down upon the ice and took a good look at Peter Mink. He saw, then, that Peter spoke the truth. "This trap hurts my foot, I can tell you," Peter Mink whined.
"Maybe it will teach you not to screech at people," Grumpy told him.