lue sky and smiling to see how happy everybody
seemed, suddenly discovered that there was one of the little meadow people
who wasn't happy, but instead was terribly, terribly unhappy. It was Old
Mr. Toad hopping down the Crooked Little Path for his life, while after
him, and getting nearer and nearer, glided Mr. Blacksnake.

XVIII

JIMMY SKUNK IS JUST IN TIME

Jimmy Skunk ambled slowly along, chuckling as he thought of what a hurry
Mr. Toad had been in, when he had heard that Mr. Blacksnake had asked after
him. It had been funny, very funny indeed, to see Mr. Toad try to hurry.

Suddenly Jimmy stopped chuckling. Then he stopped ambling along the Crooked
Little Path. He turned around and looked back, and as he did so he
scratched his head thoughtfully. He had just happened to think that Old Mr.
Toad had gone up the Crooked Little Path, and it was _up_ the Crooked
Little Path that Mr. Blacksnake had shown himself that morning.

"If he's still up there," thought Jimmy, "Old Mr. Toad is hopping right
straight into the very worst kind of trouble. How stupid of him not to have
asked me where Mr. Blacksnake was! Well, it's none of my business. I guess
I'll go on."

But he had gone on down the Crooked Little Path only a few steps when he
stopped again. You see, Jimmy is really a very kind-hearted little fellow,
and somehow he didn't like to think of what might happen to Old Mr. Toad.

"I hate to go way back there," he grumbled, for you know he is naturally
rather lazy. "Still, the Green Meadows wouldn't be quite the same without
Old Mr. Toad. I should miss him if anything happened to him. I suppose it
would be partly my fault, too, for if I hadn't pulled over that piece of
bark, he probably would have stayed there the rest of the day and been
safe."

"Maybe he won't meet Mr. Blacksnake," said a little voice inside of Jimmy.

"And maybe he will," said Jimmy right out loud. And with that, he started
back up the Crooked Little Path, and strange to say Jimmy hurried.

He had just reached a turn in the Crooked Little Path when who should run
right plump into him but poor Old Mr. Toad. He gave a frightened squeal and
fell right over on his back, and kicked foolishly as he tried to get on his
feet again. But he was all out of breath, and so frightened and tired that
all he could do was to kick and kick. He hadn't seen Jimmy at all, for he
had been looking behind him, and he didn't even know who it was he had run
into