he said. 'Why, I'll give you within ten yards of that rail fence
of Mr. Man's half a mile away, and then beat you across it. Just travel
along, and some time this afternoon, when you get down that way, I'll
come back and let you see me go by. But you'll have to look quick if you
see me, for I'll be going fast.'

[Illustration: MR. FOX SAID HE HADN'T MUCH TO DO FOR A FEW MINUTES, AND
HE'D ACT AS JUDGE]

"But Mr. Tortoise said he didn't want any start at all, that he was
ready to begin the race right then; and that made Grandpaw Hare laugh so
loud that Mr. Fox heard him as he was passing, and came over to see
what the fun was. Then he said that he hadn't much to do for a few
minutes, and that he'd stay and act as judge. He thought a race like
that wouldn't last long; and it didn't, though it wasn't at all the kind
of a race he had expected.

"Well, he put Mr. Tortoise and my twenty-seventh great-grandfather side
by side, and then he stood off and said, 'Go!' and thought it would all
be over in a minute.

"Grandpaw Hare gave one great big leap, about twenty feet long, and then
stopped. He was in no hurry, and he wanted to have some fun with Mr.
Tortoise. He looked around to where Mr. Tortoise was coming straddling
and panting along, and he laughed and rolled over to see how solemn he
looked, and how he was travelling as if he meant to get somewhere before
dark. He was down on all fours so he could use all his legs at once, and
anybody would think, to look at him, that he really expected to win that
race.

"The more my Grandpaw Hare looked at him the more he laughed, and then
he would make another long leap forward and stop, and look back, and
wait for Mr. Tortoise to catch up again.

"Then he would call to him, or maybe go back and take roundin's on him,
and say: 'Come along there, old tobacco box. Are you tied to something?'
Mr. Fox would laugh a good deal, too, and he told my ancestor to go on
and finish the race--that he couldn't wait around there all day. And
pretty soon he said if they were going to fool along like that, he'd
just go down to the fence and take a nap till they got there; and for
Grandpaw Rabbit to call to him when he really started to come, so he
could wake up and judge the finish.

"Mr. Fox he loped away to the fence and laid down and went to sleep in
the shade, and Grandpaw Hare thought it would be fun to pretend to be
asleep, too. I've heard a story told about it that says that he really
d