Of course, there was some risk in going into somebody else's house. For if the[p. 41] owner happened to be at home there was likely to be a quarrel. Naturally, nobody likes to have some outsider burst into his house without even stopping to knock.
Now, everyone said that Jimmy Rabbit could run fast—that is, all but Tommy Fox. He never would admit that Jimmy Rabbit was much of a runner. I should hate to say that Tommy Fox was jealous. But it certainly did annoy him to hear so much said about Jimmy's wonderful speed.
Perhaps he never would have suggested the race, if Jimmy Rabbit hadn't boasted so much about his running. You see, in time Jimmy's head became turned. And he was often heard to say that there was no one in that part of the country who could beat him.
"Of course, there may be some one, somewhere, who can outrun me," Jimmy[p. 42] Rabbit said. "But I have yet to meet him."
That was a little more than Tommy Fox could bear. And he went off, looking very sour. He trotted over to the creek, did Tommy Fox. And there he might have been seen talking to Mr. Turtle. He talked with him for a long time. And when at last he went away Tommy's face wore a very different look. He was actually smiling.
The very next day Jimmy Rabbit met Tommy Fox in the woods.
"You'd better go home!" Tommy told him. "You have a caller waiting to see you. I just happened to pass your house, and the caller asked me if I had seen you."
"Who is it?" Jimmy asked him.
But Tommy Fox would not tell him.
"It's really none of my business," he said.