“Yes, I was pretty sick for a time,” said the Mouse. “Got hold of some cheese that was tainted.”
“You ought to be careful of what you eat,” cried the Lady of Fashion. “People are always putting out food which has been poisoned.”
“I know it,” said Billie Mouse, “especially cheese. I’m always suspicious of cheese, but this piece which made me sick looked perfectly good. I smelled it and carefully tasted it before I ate it and I thought it was all right.”
“Let’s have a race?” suggested the Cowboy, after the two mice and the Teenie Weenies had talked for some time.
The mice agreed, and a race course was soon chosen. The race was to be run between two long boards, and an old scrubbing brush was brought up for a hurdle at the end of the track. The Cowboy was to ride one mouse and the Dunce, who claimed to be a good rider, the other.
“Now,” said the General, “the man who rides down the length of these boards and jumps over the scrubbing brush first will win the race.”
When all was ready the signal was given and down the track came the mice, as fast as they could run, with the Cowboy and the Dunce sticking tightly to their backs. As the mice drew near the hurdle the Dunce was ahead, and it looked as though he would win the race. But just as the mouse sprang into the air to leap over the brush the Dunce lost his grip, and was tossed into the air. The mouse jumped over the brush, and when the Dunce came down he hit the ground with a great thud.
The Cowboy stuck tightly to his mouse, and leaping gracefully over the brush, he was declared winner.
The Dunce was not hurt by his fall. He joined loudly in the laughter that greeted his tumble, and was the first to start a cheer for the Cowboy.