"Let go of me!" Jimmy Rabbit cried.
But Mr. Mink didn't say a word. In order to speak, he would have had to drop that precious tail. And he had no idea of doing that. Besides, there was nothing he wanted to say. There was no use of his calling, "Stop, thief!" when he had already stopped him, you know.
Jimmy Rabbit pulled with all his might. And Mr. Mink dug his four feet into the ground and pulled with all of his.
And then, the first thing Jimmy knew, he fell forward, head over heels. He was up in a jiffy, and off like a flash, running like the wind.
But this time Mr. Mink did not follow.
When at last Jimmy sat down to rest he discovered why it was that Mr. Mink had stopped chasing him. His beautiful, new, red tail was gone! The bit of string had broken under all that pulling. And[p. 18] now Jimmy Rabbit had no tail except his own.
"Where's your fine, bushy tail?" Mr. Crow asked Jimmy the next morning.
"Oh! I discovered who the owner of it was," Jimmy said. "He came for his property; and I let him have it."
But Mr. Crow was a wise old chap.