"I didn't know you were in that barrel, and I didn't mean to roll it down the hill anyway," whined Reddy, when he could get his voice.
"Huh!" snorted Jimmy Skunk, who didn't believe a word of it.
"I didn't. Honestly I didn't," protested Reddy. "I ran against the barrel by accident, chasing Peter Rabbit. I didn't have any idea that any one was in it."
"Huh!" said Jimmy Skunk again. "If you were chasing Peter Rabbit, where is he now?"
Reddy had to confess he didn't know. He was nowhere in sight, and he certainly hadn't had time to reach the dear Old Briar-patch. Jimmy looked this way and that way, but there was no sign of Peter Rabbit.
"Huh!" said he again, turning his back on Reddy Fox and walking away with a great deal of dignity.