him as
he stopped for a moment on a stone wall; and while you looked he would
vanish before your eyes. It was just as if he had melted away in an
instant, so quickly could he dart into a crevice between the stones.

It was surprising, too, that he could whisk himself out of sight so
fast, for his body was absurdly long. But if he was long in one way he
was short in another. Yes! Grumpy Weasel had the shortest temper of all
the field- and forest-folk throughout Pleasant Valley. Even
peppery Peter Mink was not so short-tempered as he.

So terrible tempered was Grumpy Weasel that whenever the news flashed
through the woods that he was out hunting, all the small people kept
quite still, because they were afraid. And even some of the bigger
ones--a good deal bigger than Grumpy Weasel himself--felt uneasy.

So you can see whether or not Grumpy Weasel was welcome.

II

AT THE OLD STONE WALL

Little Mr. Chippy suddenly set up a great twitter. Anybody could see
that he was frightened. And one of Jolly Robin's sons, perched in an
apple tree near the stone wall where Mr. Chippy lived in a wild
grapevine, wondered what could be the matter.

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 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.
Chippy.

"If they don't look out they'll scare all the angleworms back into their
holes," he grumbled--a remark which shows that he knew little about the
ways of the world. And when Rusty Wren swerved near him and called to
him to look out for Mr. Chippy's visitor--that he was "a bad one"--young
Master Robin actually puffed himself up with rage.

"He seems to think I'm in danger of falling out of this tree," he
sneered aloud. "He doesn't know that I can handle myself in a tree as
well as he can." As he spoke, Master Robin all but tumbled off his
perch. But he caught himself just in time, then looked around hastily to
see if anybody had noticed his awkwardness.

All this time poor Mr. Chi