Arthur Scott Bailey

“ And then he thought he caught the flicker of a smile on Tommy Fox's narrow face. "If there is no such person—if you've been deceiving me——" he began angrily.
"I promise you that there is such a stranger in the neighborhood!" Tommy cried. "And if you don't meet him to-day I'll be as disappointed as you."
"It seems to me," Grumpy Weasel snapped, "you're altogether too anxious over this business. Everybody knows you're tricky. ”

“ He began to understand that such a race was no joke. He certainly didn't want to lose the race. And he certainly didn't want Grumpy Weasel to come up with him. He had always kept at a good safe distance from that ill-natured fellow. And Jimmy felt most uneasy now at the thought of Grumpy's catching him.
"He must be very hungry, after running so far," Jimmy Rabbit said to himself anxiously. "If he's as hungry as I am he wouldn't be a pleasant person to meet." ”

“ Mr. Crow shot a triumphant look at him about an hour later, when Jimmy Rabbit came bounding into sight, with no one following him. "You may as well stop now," Mr. Crow told Jimmy. "You've as good as won the race already."
Jimmy Rabbit said that he thought so, too, but he supposed he'd better keep running a while longer, till Grumpy Weasel gave up. So off he hopped again.
Everybody except Peter Mink laughed heartily when Grumpy Weasel came springing up the slope a little while later.
"You may as well stop now. You've as good as lost already," Mr. Crow greeted him. ”

“ He wouldn't have spoken to Fatty at all had not that plump young chap hurled a cutting remark directly at him: "There are no chickens in this building. This is a corncrib."
"Don't you suppose I know that?" Grumpy retorted. "I've come here to guard the corn from mice and squirrels."
"There's no need of your doing that," Fatty Coon told him. "Have you never noticed those tin pans, upside down, on top of the posts on which the corncrib rests? How could a mouse or a squirrel ever climb past one of those?"
"There are ways," Grumpy Weasel said wisely.
"I doubt it," Fatty replied. ”

“ Crow on the edge of the woods—"the trouble with your plan to have Grumpy Weasel work in the sawmill is that he wouldn't keep a knot hole filled longer than a jiffy. It's true that he can fit a very small hole. But if you'd ever watched him closely you'd know that he's in a hole and out the other side so fast you can scarcely see what happens. He's entirely too active to fill the bill." ”

“ She noticed meanwhile that one of her neighbors was making frantic motions, as [Pg 58] if she had something important to say. So Mrs. Hen sauntered across the henyard to find out what it was.
"Don't you know whom you're talking to?" the neighbor demanded in a loud whisper. "That's Grumpy Weasel—the worst rascal in all these parts."
Somehow that sent a pleasant flutter of excitement through Mrs. Hen. At the same time she couldn't quite believe the news, because her caller had said such very pleasant things.
"Don't worry!" she told her neighbor. "I'm old enough to look out for myself." ”

“ He belonged to the Snowy Owl family, being bigger, even, than Solomon Owl. And what with his [Pg 104] hooked beak and his strong talons he was a dangerous fellow to meet. Although Grumpy Weasel could easily handle a rabbit or a wild duck a dozen times his own size, because they were unarmed, he would have had no chance at all with Mr. Snowy Owl.
All this made Tommy Fox chuckle and grin, as he left Grumpy and loped off towards Cedar Swamp, where Mr. Snowy Owl was spending the winter. Unlike Solomon Owl, and his cousin Simon Screecher, Mr. Snowy Owl did not turn night into day. ”

“ The Pleasant Valley Singing Society, to which most of the bird people belonged, did not number Grumpy Weasel among its admirers. He never cared to hear a bird sing—not even Jolly Robin's cousin the Hermit, who was one of the most beautiful singers in the woods. ”

“ He was certainly quicker than Mr. Meadow Mouse. Even the umpire, Solomon Owl, had to admit that.
"But of course that's not the point," Solomon observed. "It's the one that gets stuck in a hole that loses the contest."
Well, after Grumpy and Mr. Meadow Mouse had slipped through several holes, each one smaller than the one before, Mr. Meadow Mouse said that he thought it was only polite to let Grumpy go first. Se [Pg 25] cretly Mr. Meadow Mouse was afraid of what might happen if he should have the misfortune to get wedged in a hole, with Grumpy Weasel ready to follow him. ”

“ Crow pretended to laugh. He had been having a rather dull time, waiting for Farmer Green to plant his corn, and he thought that a lively race might put him in better spirits.
Grumpy Nearly Catches Paddy Muskrat. (Page 31)
[Pg 35] "Where do you want to race against Jimmy Rabbit?" Mr. Crow asked.
"We'll start from this wall," said Grumpy sulkily, "because it's always better to start from where you are than where you aren't."
Mr. Crow said that that seemed reasonable.
"When do you want to race?" he added.
"The sooner we start the quicker we'll finish," Grumpy Weasel snapped. ”

“ Mr. Crow advised. "You might as well let him have his way. He'll look all the more foolish, trying to catch up with you."
So Jimmy Rabbit agreed to run the race as Grumpy Weasel wished, saying that he was ready to start at once. [Pg 39]
But Mr. Crow told him he had better wait till the next day. "That will give me time to tell everybody," he explained, "and then there'll be a big turnout to see you win—and to jeer at Grumpy Weasel for losing." And one could tell from Mr. Crow's remark that he liked Jimmy Rabbit and that he despised Grumpy Weasel. ”

“ The famous race between Grumpy Weasel and Jimmy Rabbit went on and on. Jimmy turned and twisted this way and that, up and down and back and forth through Pleasant Valley. He could still run faster than Grumpy Weasel, it is true. ”

“ Tommy Fox had noticed that. And that was why he was trying to keep Grumpy Weasel where he was. For Tommy expected Mr. Snowy Owl at any moment.
"You are talking foolishness," Grumpy told Tommy Fox at last. "I don't care to waste my time listening to you." And he turned away.
"One moment, please!" Tommy begged, for the sly rascal had just caught a [Pg 110] glimpse of Mr. Snowy Owl hovering above the trees.
"What do you want now?" Grumpy Weasel scolded, as he paused close by the old hemlock where Solomon Owl sometimes sat and abused him.
"I want to see the fur fly," Tommy Fox answered wickedly. ”

“ Sandy Chipmunk Runs From Grumpy Weasel. (Page 96)
[Pg 99] People were apt to be wary of Tommy Fox when fine words dripped from his mouth like that. It usually meant that he was bent on some mischief. And now Grumpy Weasel looked at him suspiciously.
"If you admire my clothes so much why don't you get some like them?" he demanded.
Tommy Fox shook his head mournfully.
"I'd like to," he said, "but I'm too humble a person to dress like a king, in ermine. My family have always worn red. The neighbors wouldn't know me in anything else. ”

“ And then Spot began to whine, and run in and out among the barrels, until he all but tripped Farmer Green, who was loading the barrels into the wagon.
"Let him whine!" said Grumpy Weasel softly. "His yelping and whining don't scare me. He can't get inside this jug of mine. And I certainly shan't leave it so long as he stays here."
Meanwhile he could hear Farmer Green talking to old Spot, telling him not to be silly.
"From the way you're acting anybody [Pg 90] might think there was a bear around here," he told Spot. ”

“ So he grinned at him and told him about the talk he had just had with Grumpy Weasel.
"He's so eager to meet you it would be too bad to disappoint him," Tommy observed. "He wants the fur to fly, you know."
Although he had no ears (at least, so far as could be seen) Mr. Snowy Owl had listened closely to Tommy Fox's story. And he must have heard plainly enough, for he said quickly that he would call on Grumpy Weasel that very day. "I'll start [Pg 106] right now," he said, "and I'll reach Grumpy Weasel's hunting ground before you're out of the swamp." ”

“ Hen started for the henhouse. And after her crept Grumpy Weasel, hoping that nobody else would see him. So far as he could tell, the hens were all out of doors, scratching in the dirt. But suddenly Mrs. Hen's jealous neighbor began to set up a great squawking, calling upon Mrs. Hen to be careful, for she was in great danger.
Fat Mrs. Hen turned about with a vexed look upon her handsome but somewhat stupid face.
"Walk right in!" she said to Grumpy. "I must stop and settle with her. She has gone too far." And leaving Grumpy to find the rat hole without her help, Mrs. ”

“ Presently, as he looked beneath him, he saw a long, slim shape dart from a chink of the old wall, and as quickly disappear.
"Huh!" said young Master Robin. "Foolish people who build their homes on walls must expect snakes for visitors." And feeling quite wise and grown up, he [Pg 6] turned his back on Mr. Chippy, as if it really made no difference to him if Mr. Chippy did have a dangerous caller.
Meanwhile others of the bird neighbors began to echo Mr. Chippy's warning notes. And young Master Robin thought everybody was silly to make such a fuss over the misfortunes of a humble person like Mr. ”

“ Parents of boys and girls from three to eight years of age are assured by the names of such famous authors of children's books as Arthur Scott Bailey, Lillian Elizabeth Roy and David Cory that these little books will prove both entertaining and instructional. ”