eth
together on Bobby's back.

"There was no chance for Bobby to play the same trick that had fooled
Mr. Man, for I'm allowing he didn't have time to do more than let out
the squeak we'd heard before he was really and truly dead. He had
shown Jimmy and me that he dared to ramble around the farm; but how
much had he gained by it? Why, there isn't a member of the club who
doesn't say that he deserved to be killed for making such a simpleton
of himself, though according to my idea, Jimmy Hedgehog is the one who
ought to have got the worst of that mix-up.

"Well, the killing of poor Bobby didn't satisfy Mr. Towser. He had the
scent of us, and after giving what was left of Bobby a toss in the air
to make certain there was no life left in any of the pieces, he came
for us at full tilt, thinking to make a clean job of the party. You
can put it down as a fact that my left hind foot got well mighty quick
just then, and without waiting to see how Jimmy was getting along, I
lit out, knowing I was up against the race of my life.

"As nearly as I can make out, Mr. Towser must have come afoul of
Jimmy when he first started for me, and you can put it down in your
hat that that hedgehog knew how to take care of himself, even if he
did egg others into danger, so I suppose that he rolled himself into a
ball with all his quills sticking straight up. Then you can guess that
the dog didn't do much smelling of that prickly bunch, for he's
nobody's fool; but, after looking at it a minute, turned all his
attention to me.

"Now it's a fact that Jimmy wouldn't do me a good turn if he had the
chance; but this time he surely saved my life by being just where he
was, for if Mr. Towser hadn't stopped he'd surely caught me on the
meadow where there isn't the least little bit of a chance to dodge.
Even as it was, I had to move my feet mighty fast in order to keep
ahead of him, and when we came to the edge of the woods I was leading
by four or five lengths, with the odds big in my favor because of the
bushes. But I had to keep on moving all the time, just the same, and
was precious near being winded when, slaperty, bang! I fell into a
hole, nearly scraping the skin from one ear as I struck the bottom.

"You'd thought that I'd naturally have chuckled mightily at giving
Mr. Towser the slip so neatly; but it's a fact that I felt really
ashamed, for it did seem ridiculous that one of my family would fall
into a hole while running. Where was I? Well,