ed from his seat. "I think,
though, that you might pull me up the mountain," Jimmy added. "I don't
feel like walking." And that was quite true, because he had been so
frightened, when he heard old Spot barking, that his legs were still
shaking.

"Well," said Peter Mink, "I'm pretty particular who rides on my sled.
But I'll pull you up the mountain, because I'm going that way myself, to
slide."

And he started off, dragging Jimmy Rabbit behind him.

[Illustration]

WHAT COULD PETER DO?

Peter Mink was pulling Jimmy Rabbit up the mountainside. You remember
that Jimmy had a new sled, and that Peter had nailed Jimmy's trousers to
the sled, so he wouldn't fall off when he slid down Blue Mountain. But
when Jimmy had coasted down into the meadow he found he could not get
off the sled. So Peter Mink had offered to help him, if Jimmy would give
him the sled in return for his kindness.

"How do you like my new sled?" Peter Mink asked Jimmy Rabbit, as he
stopped to rest, after climbing a steep slope.

But before Jimmy Rabbit could answer, an alarming sound rang through
the clear air and startled them both. It was old dog Spot, baying as if
he had found some very interesting tracks.

"Hurry!" Jimmy Rabbit cried. "We don't want Spot to catch us!"

"Get off my sled!" Peter Mink ordered. "How can I run fast, pulling a
great, fat fellow like you?"

"How can I get off," Jimmy answered, "when I'm nailed fast to the sled?"

"I'll get you off," said Peter. And he took hold of Jimmy Rabbit's ears
and began to pull as hard as he could. But the sled only slipped along
on the snow.

"Grab this sapling!" Peter Mink cried, drawing Jimmy close to a small
tree. "And I'll pull the sled from under you." But all his pulling did
no more than to make Jimmy's arms ache. For Jimmy was nailed so fast to
the sled that he stuck to it--or _it_ stuck to _him_--as if they were
just one, instead of two, things.

"I wish my mother hadn't made me wear such stout trousers," Jimmy Rabbit
said. For once, he wished he wore old, ragged clothes, like Peter's. If
he had, he thought he might have torn himself away from the sled. But
now there seemed no hope for him, because old Spot's voice sounded
nearer every minute.

At last Peter Mink became so angry because Jimmy didn't get off the sled
that he flew at him and began to pommel him.

When Peter threw himself upon Jimmy the sled began to move. But Peter
was so enraged he never noticed that,