en all at once Mr. Meadow Mouse had an idea. "You go first!" he said
politely. "Go through any hole you choose and then I'll try my luck."

But Grumpy Weasel was too crafty to do that.

"You'd try your luck at running away," he snarled. "You are the one to
go first; and we'll have no words about it."

Well, Mr. Meadow Mouse began to shake more than ever.

"Don't you think," he quavered, "that we'd better wait a few days until
I'm a bit smaller? I'm afraid I've been overeating lately and I might
get stuck in a hole. And of course that would be awkward."

"Ha, ha!" Grumpy Weasel actually laughed. But it was not what any one
could call a hearty, wholesome, cheerful sort of laugh. On the contrary,
it sounded very cruel and gloating.

"Hoo, hoo!" Another laugh--this one weird and hollow--boomed out from
the hemlock tree just above Mr. Meadow Mouse's head.

He jumped, in spite of himself--did Mr. Meadow Mouse. And so, too, did
Grumpy Weasel. Both of them leaped for the old stone wall. And each
flashed into a crevice between the stones, though Grumpy Weasel was ever
so much the quicker of the two. They knew Solomon Owl's voice too well
to mistake his odd laughter.

"What's your hurry, gentlemen?" Solomon called to them.

Mild Mr. Meadow Mouse made no reply. But from Grumpy Weasel's hiding
place an angry hiss told Solomon Owl that one of them, at least, had
heard his question.

"Come out!" said Solomon Owl. "Don't be shy! I've dined already."

Well, that made the two in the wall feel somewhat bolder. And soon they
ventured to peep out and gaze at Solomon, to see whether he looked like
a person who had just enjoyed a good meal.

"You're not as hollow as you sound, I hope," Grumpy Weasel remarked with
some suspicion in his tone.

As for Mr. Meadow Mouse, he wouldn't dream of making so rude a remark.

"It's a fine evening and I hope you're feeling happy," he piped.

"Oh, very! Very!" said Solomon Owl solemnly.

Mr. Meadow Mouse was a trusting sort of chap. He was all ready to leave
his cranny. But Grumpy Weasel was not yet satisfied.

"Which one of us are you answering?" he demanded of Solomon.

"Him!" said Solomon.

"Did you say, 'Ahem?'" Grumpy Weasel wanted to know.

"No, no!" Solomon assured him. "I said, 'him.' I was answering your
friend."

Grumpy Weasel made a wry face, as if he did not care to have anybody
speak of Mr. Meadow Mouse as a friend of his. And he did not quit the
stone wall until he had