Mr. Crow had told him. And he took another look at Mr. Mink.
"I notice you've lost your tail," he said.
"Yes!" Mr. Mink answered. "Farmer[p. 15] Green threw an axe at me once. And it cut off my tail, as you see. I left that neighborhood then; and never cared to return to it. But if this young Rabbit boy has found my tail, I shall certainly claim it at once." So off he went. And Mr. Crow nodded his head wisely. It was just as he had said! There was trouble ahead for Jimmy Rabbit—or, you might say, there was trouble behind for him; for it was that handsome red tail, you remember, that was the cause of it all.
Well, Jimmy Rabbit was trying to decide what he would do that evening, when all at once somebody else decided it for him. For all at once a slim, red gentleman rushed at Jimmy, crying, "Give me my tail! I want my tail!"
It was Mr. Mink! And Jimmy Rabbit ran off as fast as he could go.
"This is my tail!" he called over his[p. 16] shoulder. "I found it. And I'm not going to give it up to anybody."
But Mr. Mink hurried after Jimmy. To be sure, Jimmy left him far behind. But Mr. Mink kept following. It was very annoying, for Jimmy knew that sooner or later that troublesome gentleman would be on his heels again.
There was no use of Jimmy's crawling into any hole, for he was four times as big as Mr. Mink; and, of course, anywhere he went, Mr. Mink could easily follow.
Jimmy Rabbit didn't know what to do. Mr. Mink had terribly sharp teeth. And he was very angry. But Jimmy was not angry at all. He didn't want to fight.
While he was trying to think of some way out of his trouble, something suddenly pulled him backward. Looking around, he saw Mr. Mink with his cruel teeth fastened in that beautiful red tail.