demanded Old Mr. Toad . `` Oh , nothing , nothing at all , Mr. Toad , '' replied Jimmy Skunk , `` only you are the second one I 've met this morning who had just waked up . '' `` Who was the other ? '' asked Old Mr. Toad . `` Mr. Blacksnake , '' replied Jimmy . `` He inquired for you . '' Old Mr. Toad turned quite pale . `` I -- I think I 'll be moving along , '' said he . XVII OLD MR. TOAD 'S MISTAKE If is a very little word to look at , but the biggest word you have ever seen does n't begin to have so much meaning as little `` if . '' If Jimmy Skunk had n't ambled down the Crooked Little Path just when he did ; if he had n't been looking for fat beetles ; if he had n't seen that big piece of bark at one side and decided to pull it over ; if it had n't been for all these `` ifs , '' why Old Mr. Toad would n't have made the mistake he did , and you would n't have had this story . But Jimmy Skunk did amble down the Crooked Little Path , he did look for beetles , and he did pull over that big piece of bark . And when he had pulled it over , he found Old Mr. Toad there . Old Mr. Toad had crept under that piece of bark because he wanted to take a nap . But when Jimmy Skunk told him that he had seen Mr. Blacksnake that very morning , and that Mr. Blacksnake had asked after Old Mr. Toad , the very last bit of sleepiness left Old Mr. Toad . Yes , Sir , he was wide awake right away . You see , he knew right away why Mr. Blacksnake had asked after him . He knew that Mr. Blacksnake has a fondness for Toads . He turned quite pale when he heard that Mr. Blacksnake had asked after him , and right then he made his mistake . He was in such a hurry to get away from that neighborhood that he forgot to ask Jimmy Skunk just where he had seen Mr. Blacksnake . He hardly waited long enough to say good-by to Jimmy Skunk , but started off as fast as he could go .
Now it just happened that Old Mr. Toad started up the Crooked Little Path , and it just happened XXXXX Mr. Blacksnake was coming down the Crooked Little Path .
after down from if in of over that to under