“He hasn’t come yet. You won the race, Bumper!”
And later, when Spotted Tail appeared, he was in a crestfallen mood, for when the race was apparently won by him he had been frightened off the trail by the sudden appearance of Mr. Fox. Instead of running straight ahead, he had dodged into the bushes to hide.
“When you’re racing,” remarked Bumper, “you don’t want to turn aside for anything—not even to save your hide.”
STORY VI
A TEST OF COURAGE
Spotted Tail was so chagrined by losing the race that he immediately began to scheme to humiliate Bumper in some other way. He was confident that the race hadn’t gone to the swiftest and strongest, but he could not convince the others of this. The story of how the tortoise beat the hare in a race, because the latter had lain down to sleep on the way, was an old joke among the rabbits, and Spotted Tail’s excuses only aroused mirth and derision.
No, clearly, Spotted Tail could not redeem his lost glory by challenging Bumper to another race. But there were other ways to discredit him in the eyes of his people.
“Oh, Bumper, King of the rabbits!” he exclaimed one day in mock courtesy. “The Lion is called the King of the beasts, and he won that title by his bravery and courage. Do you think that should make one king?”
“Courage is a quality that every king and leader should have,” replied Bumper, cautiously.
“Greater than that of any of his subjects?”
Bumper hesitated, for he feared a trap; but when all the others looked at him, waiting upon his words, he felt that he had to assent.