Meeting Grumpy Weasel in the woods one day, Tommy Fox stopped to have a chat with him. He always liked to chat with Grumpy, it was so easy to get him angry, and such fun to see him fly into a passion.
"You're looking very elegant in your winter suit," Tommy Fox remarked. "White is becoming to you—there's no doubt of that. And that black tip on the end of your tail is just what's needed to complete your costume. It matches your eyes nicely.... You must have a good tailor."
Sandy Chipmunk Runs From Grumpy Weasel. People were apt to be wary of Tommy Fox when fine words dripped from his mouth like that. It usually meant that he was bent on some mischief. And now Grumpy Weasel looked at him suspiciously.
"If you admire my clothes so much why don't you get some like them?" he demanded.
Tommy Fox shook his head mournfully.
"I'd like to," he said, "but I'm too humble a person to dress like a king, in ermine. My family have always worn red. The neighbors wouldn't know me in anything else. Or if they did they'd say I was putting on airs."
"If you want to know what I think, I'll tell you that red's entirely too good for you," Grumpy Weasel sneered.
Tommy Fox smiled somewhat sourly. Grumpy Weasel's remark did not please him. But he managed to say nothing disagreeable.
"I suppose," he went on, "you've met the newcomer in our valley who dresses as you do, in white and black?"
"What's that you say?" Grumpy Weasel barked. "Who's gone and copied my cold-weather clothes? If I meet him I'll make it hot for him."
"Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned the matter," Tommy Fox said softly. "I don't like to displease you. And I don't want to get a stranger into trouble either, just as he has come to spend the winter amongst us.
"And besides," Tommy added, "it would be a shame for you to quarrel with the stranger because he happens to choose your favorite colors. That only goes to show that your tastes are alike."
"That's exactly what I object to!" Grumpy Weasel complained, getting much excited. "If his tastes are the same as mine he'll want to come and hunt along my stone wall. And there'll be trouble if he does that! The fur will fly!"
Tommy Fox turned his head away, for he simply had to enjoy a grin and he didn't want Grumpy Weasel to see it.
"I'm sorry I spoke about the stranger," he said glibly, as soon as he could keep his face straight. "But I thought the news would please you."
"It would certainly please me to meet him," Grumpy Weasel declared fiercely. "And it would please me much more than it would him, I can tell you."
"It wouldn't be treating a newcomer well to let him wander through the woods when you feel as you do about him. I ought to warn him to leave Pleasant Valley before it's too late," Tommy said.
"It would be treating him better to give him a good lesson before he goes," Grumpy Weasel said. "You needn't say a word to him about my wanting to meet him. Let the fur fly first! And then he'll flee.
"That's my way of getting rid of strangers!"