[continued from previous message]   
      
    JOEL: Kind of waiting for the last minute on that finish line, aren't you,   
   Tommy?   
     TOM: Lay off, I've had a lot to _do_.   
      
   >   
   >         The two Rabbit boys stepped across the line and   
   > waited.   
      
    CROW: Hey, this side of the line is nice.  People should know about this!   
      
   >   
   >         "Your brother is just as good as beaten," Tommy Fox   
   > told them.   
      
     TOM: [ Jimmy's Brother ] I should care?  I don't even exist!   
      
   >            You see, he had never been near Jimmy Rabbit to   
   > wake him, as he had agreed.   
      
    CROW: What?!   
      
   >                             Of course, he had never intended   
   > to wake him.   
      
    CROW: Well, this comes out of nowhere!  What a twist!   
      
   >   
   >         Then Mr. Turtle crossed the line.   
      
    JOEL: Buddy, there's a line, and you just crossed it.   
      
   >   
   >         "You've won!" Tommy exclaimed. And he was so pleased   
   > that he gave Mr. Turtle a good, hard slap on the back.   
      
     TOM: Ah!  But all in good clean fun, right?   
      
   > "Ouch!" Tommy said. There was a look of pain on his face.   
      
    JOEL: He forgot about Mr Turtle's anti-palling-around countermeasures.   
      
   >                                                           He   
   > had forgotten that Mr. Turtle had such a hard back.   
      
    CROW: [ As Mr Turtle ] You know what they say, hard back, warm heart.   
      
   >   
   >         "Who's won?" one of the Rabbit brothers asked.   
      
    JOEL: Never mind who's one, who's two?   
     TOM: I'm three and a half years old!   
    CROW: We noticed!   
      
   >   
   >         "Why, Mr. Turtle!" said Tommy Fox.   
      
    JOEL: [ Margaret DuMont voice ] Why Mister Firefly!   
      
   >   
   >         "That," said the Rabbit boy, "that is just where you   
   > are mistaken, sir.   
      
    CROW: Good day!   
      
   >                    Jimmy Rabbit has won the race--for _I_ am   
   > Jimmy Rabbit."   
      
    JOEL: What?   
      
   >   
   >         For a moment there was silence.   
      
    CROW: [ Shouting ] I SAID THERE WAS SILENCE!   
      
   >                                         And then a great   
   > shout went up.   
      
    JOEL: That snark *was* a boojum!   
      
   >                For they all saw that it was Jimmy Rabbit   
   > himself, dressed like one of his brothers.   
      
     TOM: I should have remembered!  Jimmy doesn't have a brother!   
      
   >   
   >         But Tommy Fox did not shout at all. He was very   
   > angry. "There's been some trick played on us," he said.   
      
    CROW: Tom fooled once again by the oldest trick in the book!   
     TOM: It's no fair!  The author can't just put Jimmy in a scene he's not in!   
      
   >   
   >         "Where's my sled, Mr. Turtle?" Jimmy Rabbit asked. He   
   > turned around.   
      
    JOEL: I want my two dollars!   
      
   >                But Mr. Turtle had vanished. He had jumped   
   > into the brook and swum away.   
      
     TOM: Mr Turtle has better things than to carry on this bogus reveal.   
      
   >   
   >         So Jimmy Rabbit did not get the sled after all.   
      
    CROW: First rule of footracing, make sure everyone brings their sled for the   
   ante.   
      
   >                                                         But   
   > he was so pleased over the way he had outwitted Tommy Fox   
   > that he didn't care very much.   
      
     TOM: [ As Tommy Fine, how *did* you do it, Jimmy?   
    CROW: [ As Jimmy, confident ] I have no idea!   
      
   >                                And all his friends said that   
   > he was not only a fast runner, but a very clever fellow as   
   > well.   
      
    JOEL: Everyone agreed, they have no idea what just happened but it was   
   exciting!   
      
      
   [ End of Chapter 8 ]   
      
   --   
                                                                   Joseph Nebus   
    Math Blog: https://nebusresearch.wordpress.com   
   Humor Blog: https://nebushumor.wordpress.com   
   --------------------------------------------------------+---------------------   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)