He could not understand how his enemy had got out of the way so quickly.

He stared around, and then, turning his one eye skyward, as if he thought Young Grumpy might have gone that way, he trumpeted a loud _honka-honka-honk--kah_.
"For some reason this strange cry broke Young Grumpy's nerve.

He scuttled for his hole his jet-black heels kicking up the straws behind him.

As soon as he began to run, of course, the gander saw him and swept after him with a ferocious hissing.

But Young Grumpy had got the start.
He dived into his hole just as the gander brought up against the fence.
"Now, the moment he found himself inside his burrow, all Young Grumpy's courage returned.