Then Tommy ordered Watch to stay back while he tried to speak to Doctor Muskrat. And the old doctor didn’t flash right into the water—as he really meant to. He sat up, holding his poor paw in front of him, and squinted his eyes to get a good look at the little boy. He didn’t even jump when Tommy laid down the other ear of corn, nor when Watch came sneaking disobediently up behind him because he wanted to poke his nose into what was going on. For Tommy caught him by the fur and pointed that inquisitive nose straight at the doctor. “There,” he ordered, “take a good smell so you’ll know him again. That’s my muskrat!”
And Nibble was so pleased he took a leap and kicked his furry heels so high that Tommy laughed at him. “You’re safe! You’re safe!” he rejoiced. “Isn’t it almost worth being caught for?”
Tommy’s tall rubber boots spattered through the slush.
And Doctor Muskrat considered his sore paw and then he considered the little boy. And he looked very thoughtful.
CHAPTER XIII
WISE WORDS FROM A WISE BEAST
Neither Nibble Rabbit, nor Chaik Jay, nor Chewee the Chickadee, nor all of them together could make Doctor Muskrat say what he thought of Tommy Peele.
“No,” he insisted, “I haven’t made up my mind. It’s a safe rule for any beast to do as his kind have done before him, and I never knew any muskrats who made friends with a man.”
“Nor any man who wanted to be friends with a muskrat, either,” pleaded Nibble. “Tommy Peele’s different.”
“That’s the way with men,” said the doctor. “They’re always changing. Only the wild things stay the same.”