Jimmy Rabbit hurried off. He wondered who wanted to see him, and why.
He was surprised—and disappointed, too—to find that it was nobody but Mr. Turtle. And he was still more surprised when he learned his errand.
"I have come to challenge you to a race," Mr. Turtle told him.
Jimmy Rabbit laughed right in his face.
"A race!" he exclaimed. "Why—you can't run. I guess you've come to the wrong house. I guess you've made a mistake."
But Mr. Turtle said that he knew what he was about.
"I want to race you all the way from the creek to Broad Brook, where it runs into Swift River," he said.
Jimmy Rabbit had hard work to keep a straight face.
"My dear sir!" he said. "I could run[p. 44] that distance a hundred times while you were waddling it once. I don't care to race with you. It would be no fun at all for me."