It happened, on a bleak winter's day, that Grumpy Weasel was strolling along the bank of Broad Brook when all at once he heard a squall. Instantly he whirled around. There was something about the cry that sounded familiar. And while he searched the stream up and down with his sharp eyes he grew angrier every moment.
"Unless I'm mistaken that's my good-for-nothing cousin, Peter Mink," Grumpy muttered. "I'll teach him not to squall at me—the rascal!"
He did not have to look long before he caught sight of his cousin. Peter Mink was crouched under the overhanging bank, not far from the edge of the frozen surface of the brook. And he squalled again when he saw that Grumpy had discovered him.
"Stop that!" Grumpy Weasel bellowed. He was not greatly afraid of Peter Mink, though his cousin was much bigger than he. "I'll have you know that I don't allow people to bawl at me, even if we are distantly related."
"I wasn't bawling at you," Peter Mink answered. And he was strangely polite, for him. "I was calling for help. Can't you see that my foot is caught in a trap?"
At that Grumpy jumped down upon the ice and took a good look at Peter Mink. He saw, then, that Peter spoke the truth. "This trap hurts my foot, I can tell you," Peter Mink whined.
"Maybe it will teach you not to screech at people," Grumpy told him.
"You're going to help me, aren't you?" Peter Mink asked his cousin anxiously.
"That trap belongs to Farmer Green's hired man," Grumpy informed Peter Mink. "I saw him when he set it there. Perhaps you would like to have me send word to him that you're using it."
"Oh! Don't do that!" Peter begged piteously.
"Well, then—suppose I get old dog Spot to come and see what he can do! He'd have you out of that trap in no time!"
But that suggestion didn't suit Peter Mink any better.
"For goodness' sake, can't you think of something else?" he wailed.
His voice rose higher and higher as he spoke. And Grumpy Weasel showed his sharp teeth as he warned Peter Mink again not to squall at him, for he wouldn't stand it.
At last Peter saw that Grumpy did not intend to help him at all. So it occurred to him that perhaps he could hire his cousin to free him from the trap. "I'd do anything for you if you could help me out of this fix," he said finally.
"Will you drive Mr. Snowy Owl away from Pleasant Valley?" Grumpy cried.
"Certainly!" said Peter Mink with great promptness, as if that were the easiest matter in the world.
That answer surprised Grumpy Weasel. He had no idea that Peter Mink could do any such thing. And he said as much, too.
"You understand," Peter explained, "it may take me some time to get rid of him. It's mid-winter now. But I can promise you that I'll have him out of the valley by April Fool's Day!"