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+Project Gutenberg's The Adventures of Reddy Fox, by Thornton W. Burgess
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Adventures of Reddy Fox
+
+Author: Thornton W. Burgess
+
+Posting Date: November 6, 2008 [EBook #1825]
+Release Date: July, 1999
+[Last updated: October 19, 2020]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF REDDY FOX ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Dianne Bean
+
+
+
+
+
+THE ADVENTURES OF REDDY FOX
+
+By Thornton W. Burgess
+
+
+
+
+I. Granny Fox Gives Reddy a Scare
+
+Reddy Fox lived with Granny Fox. You see, Reddy was one of a large
+family, so large that Mother Fox had hard work to feed so many hungry
+little mouths and so she had let Reddy go to live with old Granny Fox.
+Granny Fox was the wisest, slyest, smartest fox in all the country
+round, and now that Reddy had grown so big, she thought it about time
+that he began to learn the things that every fox should know. So every
+day she took him hunting with her and taught him all the things that she
+had learned about hunting: about how to steal Farmer Brown's chickens
+without awakening Bowser the Hound, and all about the thousand and one
+ways of fooling a dog which she had learned.
+
+This morning Granny Fox had taken Reddy across the Green Meadows, up
+through the Green Forest, and over to the railroad track. Reddy had
+never been there before and he didn't know just what to make of it.
+Granny trotted ahead until they came to a long bridge. Then she stopped.
+
+"Come here, Reddy, and look down," she commanded.
+
+Reddy did as he was told, but a glance down made him giddy, so giddy
+that he nearly fell. Granny Fox grinned.
+
+"Come across," said she, and ran lightly across to the other side.
+
+But Reddy Fox was afraid. Yes, Sir, he was afraid to take one step on
+the long bridge. He was afraid that he would fall through into the water
+or onto the cruel rocks below. Granny Fox ran back to where Reddy sat.
+
+"For shame, Reddy Fox!" said she. "What are you afraid of? Just don't
+look down and you will be safe enough. Now come along over with me."
+
+But Reddy Fox hung back and begged to go home and whimpered. Suddenly
+Granny Fox sprang to her feet, as if in great fright. "Bowser the Hound!
+Come, Reddy, come!" she cried, and started across the bridge as fast as
+she could go.
+
+Reddy didn't stop to look or to think. His one idea was to get away from
+Bowser the Hound. "Wait, Granny! Wait!" he cried, and started after her
+as fast as he could run. He was in the middle of the bridge before he
+remembered it at all. When he was at last safely across, it was to find
+old Granny Fox sitting down laughing at him. Then for the first time
+Reddy looked behind him to see where Bowser the Hound might be. He was
+nowhere to be seen. Could he have fallen off the bridge?
+
+"Where is Bowser the Hound?" cried Reddy.
+
+"Home in Farmer Brown's dooryard," replied Granny Fox dryly. Reddy
+stared at her for a minute. Then he began to understand that Granny Fox
+had simply scared him into running across the bridge. Reddy felt very
+cheap, very cheap indeed. "Now we'll run back again," said Granny Fox.
+And this time Reddy did.
+
+
+
+
+II. Granny Shows Reddy a Trick
+
+Every day Granny Fox led Reddy Fox over to the long railroad bridge
+and made him run back and forth across it until he had no fear of it
+whatever. At first it had made him dizzy, but now he could run across
+at the top of his speed and not mind it in the least. "I don't see what
+good it does to be able to run across a bridge; anyone can do that!"
+exclaimed Reddy one day.
+
+Granny Fox smiled. "Do you remember the first time you tried to do it?"
+she asked.
+
+Reddy hung his head. Of course he remembered--remembered that Granny had
+had to scare him into crossing that first time.
+
+Suddenly Granny Fox lifted her head. "Hark!" she exclaimed.
+
+Reddy pricked up his sharp, pointed ears. Way off back, in the direction
+from which they had come, they heard the baying of a dog. It wasn't the
+voice of Bowser the Hound but of a younger dog. Granny listened for a
+few minutes. The voice of the dog grew louder as it drew nearer.
+
+"He certainly is following our track," said Granny Fox. "Now, Reddy,
+you run across the bridge and watch from the top of the little hill over
+there. Perhaps I can show you a trick that will teach you why I have
+made you learn to run across the bridge."
+
+Reddy trotted across the long bridge and up to the top of the hill, as
+Granny had told him to. Then he sat down to watch. Granny trotted out in
+the middle of a field and sat down. Pretty soon a young hound broke out
+of the bushes, his nose in Granny's track. Then he looked up and saw
+her, and his voice grew still more savage and eager. Granny Fox started
+to run as soon as she was sure that the hound had seen her, but she did
+not run very fast. Reddy did not know what to make of it, for Granny
+seemed simply to be playing with the hound and not really trying to get
+away from him at all. Pretty soon Reddy heard another sound. It was a
+long, low rumble. Then there was a distant whistle. It was a train.
+
+Granny heard it, too. As she ran, she began to work back toward the long
+bridge. The train was in sight now. Suddenly Granny Fox started across
+the bridge so fast that she looked like a little red streak. The dog
+was close at her heels when she started and he was so eager to catch her
+that he didn't see either the bridge or the train. But he couldn't begin
+to run as fast as Granny Fox. Oh, my, no! When she had reached the other
+side, he wasn't halfway across, and right behind him, whistling for him
+to get out of the way, was the train.
+
+The hound gave one frightened yelp, and then he did the only thing he
+could do; he leaped down, down into the swift water below, and the last
+Reddy saw of him he was frantically trying to swim ashore.
+
+"Now you know why I wanted you to learn to cross a bridge; it's a very
+nice way of getting rid of dogs," said Granny Fox, as she climbed up
+beside Reddy.
+
+
+
+
+III. Bowser the Hound Isn't Fooled
+
+Reddy Fox had been taught so much by Granny Fox that he began to feel
+very wise and very important. Reddy is naturally smart and he had been
+very quick to learn the tricks that old Granny Fox had taught him.
+But Reddy Fox is a boaster. Every day he swaggered about on the Green
+Meadows and bragged how smart he was. Blacky the Crow grew tired of
+Reddy's boasting.
+
+"If you're so smart, what is the reason you always keep out of sight of
+Bowser the Hound?" asked Blacky. "For my part, I don't believe that you
+are smart enough to fool him."
+
+A lot of little meadow people heard Blacky say this, and Reddy knew it.
+He also knew that if he didn't prove Blacky in the wrong he would be
+laughed at forever after. Suddenly he remembered the trick that Granny
+Fox had played on the young hound at the railroad bridge. Why not play
+the same trick on Bowser and invite Blacky the Crow to see him do it? He
+would.
+
+"If you will be over at the railroad bridge when the train comes this
+afternoon, I'll show you how easy it is to fool Bowser the Hound," said
+Reddy.
+
+Blacky agreed to be there, and Reddy started off to find out where
+Bowser was. Blacky told everyone he met how Reddy Fox had promised to
+fool Bowser the Hound, and every time he told it he chuckled as if he
+thought it the best joke ever.
+
+Blacky the Crow was on hand promptly that afternoon and with him came
+his cousin, Sammy Jay. Presently they saw Reddy Fox hurrying across the
+fields, and behind him in full cry came Bowser the Hound. Just as old
+Granny Fox had done with the young hound, Reddy allowed Bowser to get
+very near him and then, as the train came roaring along, he raced across
+the long bridge just ahead of it. He had thought that Bowser would be so
+intent on catching him that he would not notice the train until he was
+on the bridge and it was too late, as had been the case with the young
+hound. Then Bowser would have to jump down into the swift river or be
+run over. As soon as Reddy was across the bridge, he jumped off the
+track and turned to see what would happen to Bowser the Hound. The train
+was halfway across the bridge, but Bowser was nowhere to be seen.
+He must have jumped already. Reddy sat down and grinned in the most
+self-satisfied way.
+
+The long train roared past, and Reddy closed his eyes to shut out the
+dust and smoke. When he opened them again, he looked right into the
+wide-open mouth of Bowser the Hound, who was not ten feet away.
+
+"Did you think you could fool me with that old trick?" roared Bowser.
+
+Reddy didn't stop to make reply; he just started off at the top of his
+speed, a badly frightened little fox.
+
+You see, Bowser the Hound knew all about that trick and he had just
+waited until the train had passed and then had run across the bridge
+right behind it.
+
+And as Reddy Fox, out of breath and tired, ran to seek the aid of Granny
+Fox in getting rid of Bowser the Hound, he heard a sound that made him
+grind his teeth.
+
+"Haw, haw, haw! How smart we are!"
+
+It was Blacky the Crow.
+
+
+
+
+IV. Reddy Fox Grows Bold
+
+Reddy Fox was growing bold. Everybody said so, and what everybody says
+must be so. Reddy Fox had always been very sly and not bold at all. The
+truth is Reddy Fox had so many times fooled Bowser the Hound and Farmer
+Brown's boy that he had begun to think himself very smart indeed. He
+had really fooled himself. Yes, Sir, Reddy Fox had fooled himself. He
+thought himself so smart that nobody could fool him.
+
+Now it is one of the worst habits in the world to think too much
+of one's self. And Reddy Fox had the habit. Oh, my, yes! Reddy Fox
+certainly did have the habit! When anyone mentioned Bowser the Hound,
+Reddy would turn up his nose and say: "Pooh! It's the easiest thing in
+the world to fool him."
+
+You see, he had forgotten all about the time Bowser had fooled him at
+the railroad bridge.
+
+Whenever Reddy saw Farmer Brown's boy he would say with the greatest
+scorn: "Who's afraid of him? Not I!"
+
+So as Reddy Fox thought more and more of his own smartness, he grew
+bolder and bolder. Almost every night he visited Farmer Brown's henyard.
+Farmer Brown set traps all around the yard, but Reddy always found them
+and kept out of them. It got so that Unc' Billy Possum and Jimmy Skunk
+didn't dare go to the henhouse for eggs any more, for fear that they
+would get into one of the traps set for Reddy Fox. Of course they missed
+those fresh eggs and of course they blamed Reddy Fox.
+
+"Never mind," said Jimmy Skunk, scowling down on the Green Meadows where
+Reddy Fox was taking a sun bath, "Farmer Brown's boy will get him yet!
+I hope he does!" Jimmy said this a little spitefully and just as if he
+really meant it.
+
+Now when people think that they are very, very smart, they like to show
+off. You know it isn't any fun at all to feel smart unless others can
+see how smart you are. So Reddy Fox, just to show off, grew very bold,
+very bold indeed. He actually went up to Farmer Brown's henyard in broad
+daylight, and almost under the nose of Bowser the Hound he caught the
+pet chicken of Farmer Brown's boy. 'Ol Mistah Buzzard, sailing overhead
+high up in the blue, blue sky, saw Reddy Fox and shook his bald head:
+
+"Ah see Trouble on the way; Yes, Ah do! Yes, Ah do! Hope it ain't
+a-gwine to stay; Yes, Ah do! Yes, Ah do! Trouble am a spry ol' man,
+Bound to find yo' if he can; If he finds yo' bound to stick. When Ah
+sees him, Ah runs quick! Yes, Ah do! Yes, Ah do!"
+
+But Reddy Fox thought himself so smart that it seemed as if he really
+were hunting for Ol' Mr. Trouble. And when he caught the pet chicken of
+Farmer Brown's boy, Ol' Mr. Trouble was right at his heels.
+
+
+
+
+V. Reddy Grows Careless
+
+Ol' Mistah Buzzard was right. Trouble was right at the heels of Reddy
+Fox, although Reddy wouldn't have believed it if he had been told. He
+had stolen that plump pet chicken of Farmer Brown's boy for no reason
+under the sun but to show off. He wanted everyone to know how bold he
+was. He thought himself so smart that he could do just exactly what he
+pleased and no one could stop him. He liked to strut around through the
+Green Forest and over the Green Meadows and brag about what he had done
+and what he could do.
+
+Now people who brag and boast and who like to show off are almost sure
+to come to grief. And when they do, very few people are sorry for them.
+None of the little meadow and forest people liked Reddy Fox, anyway, and
+they were getting so tired of his boasting that they just ached to see
+him get into trouble. Yes, Sir, they just ached to see Reddy get into
+trouble.
+
+Peter Rabbit, happy-go-lucky Peter Rabbit, shook his head gravely when
+he heard how Reddy had stolen that pet chicken of Farmer Brown's boy,
+and was boasting about it to everyone.
+
+"Reddy Fox is getting so puffed up that pretty soon he won't be able to
+see his own feet," said Peter Rabbit.
+
+"Well, what if he doesn't?" demanded Jimmy Skunk.
+
+Peter looked at Jimmy in disgust:
+
+"He comes to grief, however fleet, Who doesn't watch his flying feet.
+
+"Jimmy Skunk, if you didn't have that little bag of scent that everybody
+is afraid of, you would be a lot more careful where you step," replied
+Peter. "If Reddy doesn't watch out, someday he'll step right into a
+trap."
+
+Jimmy Skunk chuckled. "I wish he would!" said he.
+
+Now when Farmer Brown's boy heard about the boldness of Reddy Fox, he
+shut his mouth tight in a way that was unpleasant to see and reached for
+his gun. "I can't afford to raise chickens to feed foxes!" said he.
+Then he whistled for Bowser the Hound, and together they started out. It
+wasn't long before Bowser found Reddy's tracks.
+
+"Bow, wow, wow, wow!" roared Bowser the Hound.
+
+Reddy Fox, taking a nap on the edge of the Green Forest, heard Bowser's
+big, deep voice. He pricked up his ears, then he grinned. "I feel just
+like a good run today," said he, and trotted off along the Crooked
+Little Path down the hill.
+
+Now this was a beautiful summer day and Reddy knew that in summer men
+and boys seldom hunt foxes. "It's only Bowser the Hound," thought Reddy,
+"and when I've had a good run, I'll play a trick on him so that he will
+lose my track." So Reddy didn't use his eyes as he should have done. You
+see, he thought himself so smart that he had grown careless. Yes, Sir,
+Reddy Fox had grown careless. He kept looking back to see where Bowser
+the Hound was, but didn't look around to make sure that no other danger
+was near.
+
+Ol' Mistah Buzzard, sailing round and round, way up in the blue, blue
+sky, could see everything going on down below. He could see Reddy
+Fox running along the edge of the Green Forest and every few minutes
+stopping to chuckle and listen to Bowser the Hound trying to pick out
+the trail Reddy had made so hard to follow by his twists and turns. And
+he saw something else, did Ol' Mistah Buzzard. It looked to him very
+much like the barrel of a gun sticking out from behind an old tree just
+ahead of Reddy.
+
+"Ah reckon it's just like Ah said: Reddy Fox is gwine to meet trouble
+right smart soon," muttered Ol' Mistah Buzzard.
+
+
+
+
+VI. Drummer the Woodpecker Drums in Vain
+
+Once upon a time, before he had grown to think himself so very, very
+smart, Reddy Fox would never, never have thought of running without
+watching out in every direction. He would have seen that thing that
+looked like the barrel of a gun sticking out from behind the old tree
+toward which he was running, and he would have been very suspicious,
+very suspicious indeed. But now all Reddy could think of was what a
+splendid chance he had to show all the little meadow and forest people
+what a bold, smart fellow he was.
+
+So once more Reddy sat down and waited until Bowser the Hound was almost
+up to him. Just then Drummer the Woodpecker began to make a tremendous
+noise--rat-a-tat-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat-tat! Now
+everybody who heard that rat-a-tat-tat-tat knew that it was a danger
+signal. Drummer the Woodpecker never drums just that way for pleasure.
+But Reddy Fox paid no attention to it. He didn't notice it at all. You
+see, he was so full of the idea of his own smartness that he didn't have
+room for anything else.
+
+"Stupid thing!" said Drummer the Woodpecker to himself. "I don't know
+what I am trying to warn him for, anyway. The Green Meadows and the
+Green Forest would be better off without him, a lot better off! Nobody
+likes him. He's a dreadful bully and is all the time trying to catch or
+scare to death those who are smaller than he. Still, he is so handsome!"
+Drummer cocked his head on one side and looked over at Reddy Fox.
+
+Reddy was laughing to see how hard Bowser the Hound was working to
+untangle Reddy's mixed-up trail.
+
+"Yes, Sir, he certainly is handsome," said Drummer once more.
+
+Then he looked down at the foot of the old tree on which he was sitting,
+and what he saw caused Drummer to make up his mind. "I surely would miss
+seeing that beautiful red coat of his! I surely would!" he muttered. "If
+he doesn't hear and heed now, it won't be my fault!" Then Drummer the
+Woodpecker began such a furious rat-a-tat-tat-tat on the trunk of the
+old tree that it rang through the Green Forest and out across the Green
+Meadows almost to the Purple Hills.
+
+Down at the foot of the tree a freckled face on which there was a black
+scowl looked up. It was the face of Farmer Brown's boy.
+
+"What ails that pesky woodpecker?" he muttered. "If he doesn't keep
+still, he'll scare that fox!"
+
+He shook a fist at Drummer, but Drummer didn't appear to notice. He kept
+right on, rat-a-tat-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
+
+
+
+
+VII. Too Late Reddy Fox Hears
+
+Drummer the Woodpecker was pounding out his danger signal so fast and
+so hard that his red head flew back and forth almost too fast to see.
+Rat-a-tat-tat-a-tat-tat, beat Drummer on the old tree trunk on the edge
+of the Green Forest. When he stopped for breath, he looked down into the
+scowling face of Farmer Brown's boy, who was hiding behind the old tree
+trunk.
+
+Drummer didn't like the looks of that scowl, not a bit. And he didn't
+like the looks of the gun which Farmer Brown's boy had. He knew that
+Farmer Brown's boy was hiding there to shoot Reddy Fox, but Drummer was
+beginning to be afraid that Farmer Brown's boy might guess what all
+that drumming meant--that it was a warning to Reddy Fox. And if Farmer
+Brown's boy did guess that, why--why--anyway, on the other side of the
+tree there was a better place to drum. So Drummer the Woodpecker crept
+around to the other side of the tree and in a minute was drumming harder
+than ever. Whenever he stopped for breath, he looked out over the Green
+Meadows to see if Reddy Fox had heard his warning.
+
+But if Reddy had heard, he hadn't heeded. Just to show off before all
+the little meadow and forest people, Reddy had waited until Bowser the
+Hound had almost reached him. Then, with a saucy flirt of his tail,
+Reddy Fox started to show how fast he could run, and that is very fast
+indeed. It made Bowser the Hound seem very slow, as, with his nose to
+the ground, he came racing after Reddy, making a tremendous noise with
+his great voice.
+
+Now Reddy Fox had grown as careless as he had grown bold. Instead of
+looking sharply ahead, he looked this way and that way to see who was
+watching and admiring him. So he took no note of where he was going and
+started straight for the old tree trunk on which Drummer the Woodpecker
+was pounding out his warning of danger.
+
+Now Reddy Fox has sharp eyes and very quick ears. My, my, indeed he has!
+But just now Reddy was as deaf as if he had cotton stuffed in his ears.
+He was chuckling to himself to think how he was going to fool Bowser the
+Hound and how smart everyone would think him, when all of a sudden, he
+heard the rat-a-tat-tata-tat-tat of Drummer the Woodpecker and knew that
+that meant "Danger!"
+
+For just a wee little second it seemed to Reddy Fox that his heart
+stopped beating. He couldn't stop running, for he had let Bowser
+the Hound get too close for that. Reddy's sharp eyes saw Drummer the
+Woodpecker near the top of the old tree trunk and noticed that Drummer
+seemed to be looking at something down below. Reddy Fox gave one quick
+look at the foot of the old tree trunk and saw a gun pointed at him and
+behind the gun the freckled face of Farmer Brown's boy. Reddy Fox gave
+a little gasp of fright and turned so suddenly that he almost fell flat.
+Then he began to run as never in his life had he run before. It seemed
+as though his flying feet hardly touched the grass. His eyes were
+popping out with fright as with every jump he tried to run just a wee
+bit faster.
+
+Bang! Bang! Two flashes of fire and two puffs of smoke darted from
+behind the old tree trunk. Drummer the Woodpecker gave a frightened
+scream and flew deep into the Green Forest. Peter Rabbit flattened
+himself under a friendly bramble bush. Johnny Chuck dived headfirst down
+his doorway.
+
+Reddy Fox gave a yelp, a shrill little yelp of pain, and suddenly began
+to go lame. But Farmer Brown's boy didn't know that. He thought he had
+missed and he growled to himself:
+
+"I'll get that fox yet for stealing my pet chicken!"
+
+
+
+
+VIII. Granny Fox Takes Care of Reddy
+
+Reddy Fox was so sore and lame that he could hardly hobble. He had had
+the hardest kind of work to get far enough ahead of Bowser the Hound to
+mix his trail up so that Bowser couldn't follow it. Then he had limped
+home, big tears running down his nose, although he tried hard not to
+cry. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" moaned Reddy Fox, as he crept in at the doorway of
+his home.
+
+"What's the matter now?" snapped old Granny Fox, who had just waked up
+from a sun nap.
+
+"I--I've got hurt," said Reddy Fox, and began to cry harder. Granny Fox
+looked at Reddy sharply. "What have you been doing now--tearing your
+clothes on a barbed-wire fence or trying to crawl through a bull-briar
+thicket? I should think you were big enough by this time to look out for
+yourself!" said Granny Fox crossly, as she came over to look at Reddy's
+hurts.
+
+"Please don't scold, please don't, Granny Fox," begged Reddy, who was
+beginning to feel sick to his stomach as well as lame, and to smart
+dreadfully.
+
+Granny Fox took one look at Reddy's wounds, and knew right away what had
+happened. She made Reddy stretch himself out at full length and then
+she went to work on him, washing his wounds with the greatest care and
+binding them up. She was very gentle, was old Granny Fox, as she touched
+the sore places, but all the time she was at work her tongue flew, and
+that wasn't gentle at all. Oh, my, no! There was nothing gentle about
+that!
+
+You see, old Granny Fox is wise and very, very sharp and shrewd. Just as
+soon as she saw Reddy's hurts, she knew that they were made by shot
+from a gun, and that meant that Reddy Fox had been careless or he never,
+never would have been where he was in danger of being shot.
+
+"I hope this will teach you a lesson!" said Granny Fox. "What are your
+eyes and your ears and your nose for? To keep you out of just such
+trouble as this.
+
+"A little Fox must use his eyes Or get someday a sad surprise.
+
+"A little Fox must use his ears And know what makes each sound he hears.
+
+"A little Fox must use his nose And try the wind where'er he goes.
+
+"A little Fox must use all three To live to grow as old as me.
+
+"Now tell me all about it, Reddy Fox. This is summer and men don't
+hunt foxes now. I don't see how it happens that Farmer Brown's boy was
+waiting for you with a gun."
+
+So Reddy Fox told Granny Fox all about how he had run too near the old
+tree trunk behind which Farmer Brown's boy had been hiding, but Reddy
+didn't tell how he had been trying to show off, or how in broad daylight
+he had stolen the pet chicken of Farmer Brown's boy. You may be sure he
+was very careful not to mention that.
+
+And so old Granny Fox puckered up her brows and thought and thought,
+trying to find some good reason why Farmer Brown's boy should have been
+hunting in the summertime.
+
+"Caw, caw, caw!" shouted Blacky the Crow.
+
+The face of Granny Fox cleared. "Blacky the Crow has been stealing, and
+Farmer Brown's boy was out after him when Reddy came along," said Granny
+Fox, talking out loud to herself.
+
+Reddy Fox grew very red in the face, but he never said a word.
+
+
+
+
+IX. Peter Rabbit Hears the News
+
+Johnny Chuck came running up to the edge of the Old Briarpatch quite
+out of breath. You see, he is so round and fat and roly-poly that to run
+makes him puff and blow. Johnny Chuck's eyes danced with excitement as
+he peered into the Old Briar-patch, trying to see Peter Rabbit.
+
+"Peter! Peter Rabbit! Oh, Peter!" he called. No one answered. Johnny
+Chuck looked disappointed. It was the middle of the morning, and he had
+thought that Peter would surely be at home then. He would try once more.
+"Oh, you Peter Rabbit!" he shouted in such a high-pitched voice that it
+was almost a squeal.
+
+"What you want?" asked a sleepy voice from the middle of the Old
+Briar-patch.
+
+Johnny Chuck's face lighted up. "Come out here, Peter, where I can look
+at you," cried Johnny.
+
+"Go away, Johnny Chuck! I'm sleepy," said Peter Rabbit, and his voice
+sounded just a wee bit cross, for Peter had been out all night, a habit
+which Peter has.
+
+"I've got some news for you, Peter," called Johnny Chuck eagerly.
+
+"How do you know it's news to me?" asked Peter, and Johnny noticed that
+his voice wasn't quite so cross.
+
+"I'm almost sure it is, for I've just heard it myself, and I've hurried
+right down here to tell you because I think you'll want to know it,"
+replied Johnny Chuck.
+
+"Pooh!" said Peter Rabbit, "it's probably as old as the hills to me.
+You folks who go to bed with the sun don't hear the news until it's old.
+What is it?"
+
+"It's about Reddy Fox," began Johnny Chuck, but Peter Rabbit interrupted
+him.
+
+"Shucks, Johnny Chuck! You are slow! Why, it was all over Green Meadows
+last night how Reddy Fox had been shot by Farmer Brown's boy!" jeered
+Peter Rabbit. "That's no news. And here you've waked me up to tell me
+something I knew before you went to bed last night! Serves Reddy Fox
+right. Hope he'll be lame for a week," added Peter Rabbit.
+
+"He can't walk at all!" cried Johnny Chuck in triumph, sure now that
+Peter Rabbit hadn't heard the news.
+
+"What's that?" demanded Peter, and Johnny Chuck could hear him begin
+to hop along one of his little private paths in the heart of the Old
+Briar-patch. He knew now that Peter Rabbit's curiosity was aroused, and
+he smiled to himself.
+
+In a few minutes Peter thrust a sleepy-looking face out from the Old
+Briar-patch and grinned rather sheepishly. "What was that you were
+saying about Reddy Fox?" he asked again.
+
+"I've a good mind not to tell you, Mr. Know-it-all," exclaimed Johnny
+Chuck.
+
+"Oh, please, Johnny Chuck," pleaded Peter Rabbit.
+
+Finally Johnny gave in. "I said that Reddy Fox can't walk. Aren't you
+glad, Peter?"
+
+"How do you know?" asked Peter, for Peter is very suspicious of Reddy
+Fox, and has to watch out for his tricks all the time.
+
+"Jimmy Skunk told me. He was up by Reddy's house early this morning and
+saw Reddy try to walk. He tried and tried and couldn't. You won't have
+to watch out for Reddy Fox for some time, Peter. Serves him right,
+doesn't it?''
+
+"Let's go up and see if it really is true!" said Peter suddenly.
+
+"All right," said Johnny Chuck, and off they started.
+
+
+
+
+X. Poor Reddy Fox
+
+Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck stole up the hill toward the home of Reddy
+Fox. As they drew near, they crept from one bunch of grass to another
+and from bush to bush, stopping behind each to look and listen. They
+were not taking any chances. Johnny Chuck was not much afraid of Reddy
+Fox, for he had whipped him once, but he was afraid of old Granny Fox.
+Peter Rabbit was afraid of both. The nearer he got to the home of Reddy
+Fox, the more anxious and nervous he grew. You see, Reddy Fox had played
+so many tricks to try and catch Peter that Peter was not quite sure that
+this was not another trick. So he kept a sharp watch in every direction,
+ready to run at the least sign of danger.
+
+When they had tiptoed and crawled to a point where they could see the
+doorstep of the Fox home, Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck lay down in a
+clump of bushes and watched. Pretty soon they saw old Granny Fox come
+out. She sniffed the wind and then she started off at a quick run down
+the Lone Little Path. Johnny Chuck gave a sigh of relief, for he wasn't
+afraid of Reddy and now he felt safe. But Peter Rabbit was just as
+watchful as ever.
+
+"I've got to see Reddy for myself before I'll go a step nearer," he
+whispered. Just then Johnny Chuck put a hand on his lips and pointed
+with the other hand. There was Reddy Fox crawling out of his doorway
+into the sun. Peter Rabbit leaned forward to see better. Was Reddy Fox
+really so badly hurt, or was he only pretending?
+
+Reddy Fox crawled painfully out onto his doorstep. He tried to stand
+and walk, but he couldn't because he was too stiff and sore. So he just
+crawled. He didn't know that anyone was watching him, and with every
+movement he made a face. That was because it hurt so.
+
+Peter Rabbit, watching from the clump of bushes, knew then that Reddy
+was not pretending. He knew that he had nothing, not the least little
+thing, to fear from Reddy Fox. So Peter gave a whoop of joy and sprang
+out into view.
+
+Reddy looked up and tried to grin, but made a face of pain instead. You
+see, it hurt so to move.
+
+"I suppose you're tickled to death to see me like this," he growled to
+Peter Rabbit.
+
+Now Peter had every reason to be glad, for Reddy Fox had tried his best
+to catch Peter Rabbit to give to old Granny Fox for her dinner, and time
+and again Peter had just barely escaped. So at first Peter Rabbit had
+whooped with joy. But as he saw how very helpless Reddy really was and
+how much pain he felt, suddenly Peter Rabbit's big, soft eyes filled
+with tears of pity.
+
+He forgot all about the threats of Reddy Fox and how Reddy had tried to
+trick him. He forgot all about how mean Reddy had been.
+
+"Poor Reddy Fox," said Peter Rabbit. "Poor Reddy Fox."
+
+
+
+
+XI. Granny Fox Returns
+
+Up over the hill trotted old Granny Fox. She was on her way home with
+a tender young chicken for Reddy Fox. Poor Reddy! Of course, it was his
+own fault, for he had been showing off and he had been careless or he
+never would have gone so near to the old tree trunk behind which Farmer
+Brown's boy was hiding.
+
+But old Granny Fox didn't know this. She never makes such mistakes
+herself. Oh, my, no! So now, as she came up over the hill to a place
+where she could see her home, she laid the chicken down and then she
+crept behind a little bush and looked all over the Green Meadows to see
+if the way was clear. She knew that Bowser the Hound was chained up. She
+had seen Farmer Brown and Farmer Brown's boy hoeing in the cornfield, so
+she had nothing to fear from them.
+
+Looking over to her doorstep, she saw Reddy Fox lying in the sun, and
+then she saw something else, something that made her eyes flash and her
+teeth come together with a snap. It was Peter Rabbit sitting up very
+straight, not ten feet from Reddy Fox.
+
+"So that's that young scamp of a Peter Rabbit whom Reddy was going to
+catch for me when I was sick and couldn't! I'll just show Reddy Fox how
+easily it can be done, and he shall have tender young rabbit with his
+chicken!" said Granny Fox to herself.
+
+So first she studied and studied every clump of grass and every bush
+behind which she could creep. She saw that she could get almost to where
+Peter Rabbit was sitting and never once show herself to him. Then
+she looked this way and looked that way to make sure that no one was
+watching her.
+
+No one did she see on the Green Meadows who was looking her way. Then
+Granny Fox began to crawl from one clump of grass to another and from
+bush to bush. Sometimes she wriggled along flat on her stomach. Little
+by little she was drawing nearer and nearer to Peter Rabbit.
+
+Now with all her smartness old Granny Fox had forgotten one thing. Yes,
+Sir, she had forgotten one thing. Never once had she thought to look up
+in the sky.
+
+And there was Ol' Mistah Buzzard sailing round and round and looking
+down and seeing all that was going on below.
+
+Ol' Mistah Buzzard is sharp. He knew just what old Granny Fox was
+planning to do--knew it as well as if he had read her thoughts. His eyes
+twinkled.
+
+"Ah cert'nly can't allow li'l' Brer Rabbit to be hurt, Ah cert'nly
+can't!" muttered Ol' Mistah Buzzard, and chuckled.
+
+Then he slanted his broad wings downward and without a sound slid down
+out of the sky till he was right behind Granny Fox.
+
+"Do yo' always crawl home, Granny Fox?" asked Ol' Mistah Buzzard.
+
+Granny Fox was so startled, for she hadn't heard a sound, that she
+jumped almost out of her skin. Of course Peter Rabbit saw her then, and
+was off like a shot.
+
+Granny Fox showed all her teeth. "I wish you would mind your own
+business, Mistah Buzzard!" she snarled.
+
+"Cert'nly, cert'nly, Ah sho'ly will!" replied Ol' Mistah Buzzard, and
+sailed up into the blue, blue sky.
+
+
+
+
+XII. The Lost Chicken
+
+When old Granny Fox had laid down the chicken she was bringing home to
+Reddy Fox to try to catch Peter Rabbit, she had meant to go right back
+and get it as soon as she had caught Peter. Now she saw Peter going
+across the Green Meadows, lipperty-lipperty-lip, as fast as he could go.
+She was so angry that she hopped up and down. She tore up the grass and
+ground her long, white teeth. She glared up at Ol' Mistah Buzzard, who
+had warned Peter Rabbit, but all she could do was to scold, and that
+didn't do her much good, for in a few minutes Ol' Mistah Buzzard was
+so far up in the blue, blue sky that he couldn't hear a word she was
+saying. My, my, but old Granny Fox certainly was angry! If she hadn't
+been so angry she might have seen Johnny Chuck lying as flat as he could
+make himself behind a big clump of grass.
+
+Johnny Chuck was scared. Yes, indeed, Johnny Chuck was dreadfully
+scared. He had fought Reddy Fox and whipped him, but he knew that old
+Granny Fox would be too much for him. So it was with great relief that
+Johnny Chuck saw her stop tearing up the grass and trot over to see how
+Reddy Fox was getting along. Then Johnny Chuck crept along until he was
+far enough away to run. How he did run! He was so fat and roly-poly that
+he was all out of breath when he reached home, and so tired that he just
+dropped down on his doorstep and panted.
+
+"Serves me right for having so much curiosity," said Johnny Chuck to
+himself.
+
+Reddy Fox looked up as old Granny Fox came hurrying home. He was weak
+and very, very hungry. But he felt sure that old Granny Fox would
+bring him something nice for his breakfast, and as soon as he heard her
+footsteps his mouth began to water.
+
+"Did you bring me something nice, Granny?" asked Reddy Fox.
+
+Now old Granny Fox had been so put out by the scare she had had and by
+her failure to catch Peter Rabbit that she had forgotten all about the
+chicken she had left up on the hill. When Reddy spoke, she remembered
+it, and the thought of having to go way back after it didn't improve her
+temper a bit.
+
+"No!" she snapped. "I haven't!--You don't deserve any breakfast anyway.
+If you had any gumption"--that's the word Granny Fox used, gumption--"if
+you had any gumption at all, you wouldn't have gotten in trouble, and
+could get your own breakfast."
+
+Reddy Fox didn't know what gumption meant, but he did know that he was
+very, very hungry, and do what he would, he couldn't keep back a couple
+of big tears of disappointment. Granny Fox saw them.
+
+"There, there, Reddy! Don't cry. I've got a fine fat chicken for you up
+on the hill, and I'll run back and get it," said Granny Fox.
+
+So off she started up the hill to the place where she had left the
+chicken when she started to try to catch Peter Rabbit. When she got
+there, there wasn't any chicken. No, Sir, there was no chicken at
+all--just a few feathers. Granny Fox could hardly believe her own eyes.
+She looked this way and she looked that way, but there was no chicken,
+just a few feathers. Old Granny Fox flew into a greater rage than
+before.
+
+
+
+
+XIII. Granny Fox Calls Jimmy Skunk Names
+
+Granny Fox couldn't believe her own eyes. No, Sir, she couldn't believe
+her own eyes, and she rubbed them two or three times to make sure that
+she was seeing right. That chicken certainly had disappeared, and left
+no trace of where it had gone.
+
+It was very queer. Old Granny Fox sat down to think who would dare steal
+anything from her. Then she walked in a big circle with her nose to the
+ground, sniffing and sniffing. What was she doing that for? Why, to
+see if she could find the tracks of anyone who might have stolen her
+chicken.
+
+"Aha!" exclaimed old Granny Fox, starting to run along the top of the
+hill, her nose to the ground. "Aha! I'll catch him this time!"
+
+In a few minutes she began to run more slowly, and every two or three
+steps she would look ahead. Suddenly her eyes snapped, and she began
+to creep almost flat on her stomach, just as she had crept for Peter
+Rabbit. But it wasn't Peter Rabbit this time. It was--who do you think?
+Jimmy Skunk! Yes, Sir, it was Jimmy Skunk. He was slowly ambling along,
+for Jimmy Skunk never hurries. Every big stick or stone that he could
+move, he would pull over or look under, for Jimmy Skunk was hunting for
+beetles.
+
+Old Granny Fox watched him. "He must have a tremendous appetite to be
+hunting for beetles after eating my chicken!" muttered she. Then
+she jumped out in front of Jimmy Skunk, her eyes snapping, her teeth
+showing, and the hair on her back standing on end so as to make her look
+very fierce. But all the time old Granny Fox took the greatest care not
+to get too near to Jimmy Skunk.
+
+"Where's my chicken?" snarled old Granny Fox, and she looked very, very
+fierce.
+
+Jimmy Skunk looked up as if very much surprised. "Hello, Granny Fox!" he
+exclaimed. "Have you lost a chicken?"
+
+"You've stolen it! You're a thief, Jimmy Skunk!" snapped Granny Fox.
+
+     "Words can never make black white;
+     Before you speak be sure you're right,"
+
+said Jimmy Skunk. "I'm not a thief."
+
+"You are!" cried Granny working herself into a great rage.
+
+"I'm not!"
+
+"You are!"
+
+All the time Jimmy Skunk was chuckling to himself, and the more he
+chuckled the angrier grew old Granny Fox. And all the time Jimmy Skunk
+kept moving toward old Granny Fox and Granny Fox kept backing away, for,
+like all the other little meadow and forest people, she has very great
+respect for Jimmy Skunk's little bag of scent.
+
+Now, backing off that way, she couldn't see where she was going, and
+the first thing she knew she had backed into a bramble bush. It tore her
+skirts and scratched her legs. "Ooch!" cried old Granny Fox.
+
+"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed Jimmy Skunk. "That's what you get for calling me
+names."
+
+
+
+
+XIV. Granny Fox Finds What Became of the Chicken
+
+Old Granny Fox was in a terrible temper. Dear, dear, it certainly was
+a dreadful temper! Jimmy Skunk laughed at her, and that made it worse.
+When he saw this, Jimmy Skunk just rolled over and over on the ground
+and shouted, he was so tickled. Of course, it wasn't the least bit nice
+of Jimmy Skunk, but you know that Granny Fox had been calling Jimmy
+a thief. Then Jimmy doesn't like Granny Fox anyway, nor do any of the
+other little meadow and forest people, for most of them are very much
+afraid of her.
+
+When old Granny Fox finally got out of the bramble bush, she didn't stop
+to say anything more to Jimmy Skunk, but hurried away, muttering and
+grumbling and grinding her teeth. Old Granny Fox wasn't pleasant to meet
+just then, and when Bobby Coon saw her coming, he just thought it best
+to get out of her way, so he climbed a tree.
+
+It wasn't that Bobby Coon was afraid of old Granny Fox. Bless you,
+no! Bobby Coon isn't a bit afraid of her. It was because he had a full
+stomach and was feeling too good-natured and lazy to quarrel.
+
+"Good morning, Granny Fox. I hope you are feeling well this morning,"
+said Bobby Coon, as old Granny Fox came trotting under the tree he was
+sitting in. Granny Fox looked up and glared at him with yellow eyes.
+
+"It isn't a good morning and I'm not feeling fine!" she snapped.
+
+"My goodness, how you have torn your skirts!" exclaimed Bobby Coon.
+
+Old Granny Fox started to say something unpleasant. Then she changed her
+mind and instead she sat down and told Bobby Coon all her troubles. As
+she talked, Bobby Coon kept ducking his head behind a branch of the tree
+to hide a smile. Finally Granny Fox noticed it.
+
+"What do you keep ducking your head for, Bobby Coon?" she asked
+suspiciously.
+
+"I'm just looking to see if I can see any feathers from that chicken,"
+replied Bobby Coon gravely, though his eyes were twinkling with
+mischief.
+
+"Well, do you?" demanded old Granny Fox.
+
+And just then Bobby Coon did. They were not on the ground, however, but
+floating in the air. Bobby Coon leaned out to see where they came from,
+and Granny Fox turned to look, too. What do you think they saw? Why,
+sitting on a tall, dead tree was Mr. Goshawk, just then swallowing the
+last of Granny's chicken.
+
+"Thief! thief! robber! robber!" shrieked old Granny Fox.
+
+But Mr. Goshawk said nothing, just winked at Bobby Coon, puffed out his
+feathers, and settled himself for a comfortable nap.
+
+
+
+
+XV. Reddy Fox Has a Visitor
+
+Hardly was old Granny Fox out of sight on her way to hunt for the
+chicken she had left on the hill, when Unc' Billy Possum came strolling
+along the Lone Little Path. He was humming to himself, for he had just
+had a good breakfast. One of the Merry Little Breezes spied him and
+hurried to meet him and tell him about how Reddy Fox had been shot.
+
+Unc' Billy listened, and the grin with which he had greeted the Merry
+Little Breeze grew into a broad smile.
+
+"Are yo' all sure about that?" he asked.
+
+The Merry Little Breeze was sure.
+
+Unc' Billy Possum stopped for a few minutes and considered.
+
+"Serves that no 'count Reddy Fox right," chuckled Unc' Billy. "He done
+spoil mah hunting at Farmer Brown's, he raised such a fuss among the
+hens up there. 'Tisn't safe to go there any mo'! No, Suh, 'tisn't safe,
+and it won't be safe for a right smart while. Did yo' say that Granny
+Fox is home?"
+
+The Merry Little Breeze hadn't said anything about Granny Fox, but now
+remembered that she had gone up the hill.
+
+"Ah believe Ah will just tote my sympathy over to Reddy Fox," said Unc'
+Billy Possum, as he started in the direction of Reddy Fox's house.
+But he made sure that old Granny Fox was not at home before he showed
+himself. Reddy Fox lay on his doorstep. He was sick and sore and stiff.
+Indeed, he was so stiff he couldn't walk at all. And he was weak--weak
+and hungry, dreadfully hungry. When he heard footsteps, he thought old
+Granny Fox was bringing him the chicken after which she had gone. He
+felt too ill even to turn his head.
+
+"Did you get the chicken, Granny?" he asked weakly. No one answered. "I
+say, did you get the chicken, Granny?" Reddy's voice sounded a little
+sharp and cross as he asked this time.
+
+Still there was no reply, and Reddy began to be a little bit suspicious.
+He turned over and raised his head to look. Instead of old Granny Fox,
+there was Unc' Billy Possum grinning at him.
+
+     "Smarty, Smarty is a thief!
+      Smarty, Smarty came to grief!
+      Tried to show off just for fun
+      And ran too near a loaded gun.
+
+"Yo' all certainly has got just what yo' deserve, and Ah'm glad of it!
+Ah'm glad of it, Suh!" said Unc' Billy Possum severely.
+
+An angry light came into the eyes of Reddy Fox and made them an ugly
+yellow for just a minute. But he felt too sick to quarrel. Unc' Billy
+Possum saw this. He saw how Reddy was really suffering, and down deep
+in his heart Unc' Billy was truly sorry for him. But he didn't let Reddy
+know it. No, indeed! He just pretended to be tickled to death to see
+Reddy Fox so helpless. He didn't dare stay long, for fear Granny Fox
+would return. So, after saying a few more things to make Reddy feel
+uncomfortable, Unc' Billy started off up the Lone Little Path toward the
+Green Forest.
+
+"Too bad! Too bad!" he muttered to himself. "If ol' Granny Fox isn't
+smart enough to get Reddy enough to eat, Ah'll have to see what we-alls
+can do. Ah cert'nly will."
+
+
+
+
+XVI. Unc' Billy Possum Visits the Smiling Pool
+
+Joe Otter and Billy Mink were sitting on the Big Rock in the Smiling
+Pool. Because they had nothing else to do, they were planning mischief.
+Jerry Muskrat was busy filling his new house with food for the winter.
+He was too busy to get into mischief.
+
+Suddenly Billy Mink put a finger on his lips as a warning to Little Joe
+Otter to keep perfectly still. Billy's sharp eyes had seen something
+moving over in the bulrushes. Together he and Little Joe Otter watched,
+ready to dive into the Smiling Pool at the first sign of danger. In a
+few minutes the rushes parted and a sharp little old face peered out.
+Little Joe Otter and Billy Mink each sighed with relief, and their eyes
+began to dance. "Hi, Unc' Billy Possum!" shouted Billy Mink.
+
+A grin crept over the sharp little old face peering out from the
+bulrushes.
+
+"Hi, yo'self!" he shouted, for it really was Unc' Billy Possum.
+
+"What are you doing over here?" called Little Joe Otter.
+
+"Just a-looking round," replied Unc' Billy Possum, his eyes twinkling.
+
+"Have you heard about Reddy Fox?" shouted Billy Mink.
+
+"Ah done jes' come from his home," replied Unc' Billy Possum.
+
+"How is he?" asked Little Joe Otter.
+
+"Po'ly, he sho'ly is po'ly," replied Unc' Billy Possum, shaking his head
+soberly. Then Unc' Billy told Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter how Reddy
+Fox was so stiff and sore and sick that he couldn't get anything to eat
+for himself, and how old Granny Fox had lost a chicken which she had
+caught for him.
+
+"Serves him right!" exclaimed Billy Mink, who has never forgotten how
+Reddy Fox fooled him and caught the most fish once upon a time.
+
+Unc' Billy nodded his head. "Yo' are right. Yo' cert'nly are right. Yes,
+Suh, Ah reckons yo' are right. Was yo' ever hungry, Billy Mink--real
+hungry?" asked Unc' Billy Possum.
+
+Billy Mink thought of the time when he went without his dinner because
+Mr. Night Heron had gobbled it up, when Billy had left it in a temper.
+He nodded his head.
+
+"Ah was just a-wondering," continued Une' Billy Possum, "how it would
+seem to be right smart powerful hungry and not be able to hunt fo'
+anything to eat."
+
+For a few minutes no one said a word. Then Billy Mink stood up and
+stretched. "Good-by," said Billy Mink.
+
+"Where are you going so suddenly?" demanded Little Joe Otter.
+
+"I'm going to catch a fish and take it up to Reddy Fox, if you must
+know!" snapped Billy Mink.
+
+"Good!" cried Little Joe Otter. "You needn't think that you can have all
+the fun to yourself either, Billy Mink. I'm going with you."
+
+There was a splash in the Smiling Pool, and Unc' Billy Possum was left
+looking out on nothing but the Smiling Pool and the Big Rock. He smiled
+to himself as he turned away. "Ah reckon Ah'll sho' have to do my share,
+too," said he.
+
+And so it happened that when old Granny Fox finally reached home with
+nothing but a little wood mouse for Reddy, she found him taking a nap,
+his stomach as full as it could be. And just a little way off were two
+fish tails and the feathers of a little duck.
+
+
+
+
+XVII. Farmer Brown's Boy Is Determined
+
+Farmer Brown's boy had made up his mind. When he shut his teeth with a
+click and drew his lips together into a thin, straight line, those who
+knew him were sure that Farmer Brown's boy had made up his mind. That is
+just what he had done now. He was cleaning his gun, and as he worked he
+was thinking of his pet chicken and of all the other chickens that Reddy
+Fox had taken.
+
+"I'm going to get that fox if it takes all summer!" exclaimed Farmer
+Brown's boy. "I ought to have gotten him the other day when I had a shot
+at him. Next time well, we'll see, Mr. Fox, what will happen next time."
+
+Now someone heard Farmer Brown's boy, heard everything he said, though
+Farmer Brown's boy didn't know it. It was Unc' Billy Possum, who was
+hiding in the very pile of wood on which Farmer Brown's boy was sitting.
+Unc' Billy pricked up his ears.
+
+He didn't like the tone of voice in which Farmer Brown's boy spoke.
+He thought of Reddy Fox still so stiff and sore and lame that he could
+hardly walk, all from the shot which Farmer Brown's boy thought had
+missed.
+
+"There isn't gwine to be any next time. No, Suh, there isn't gwine to be
+any next time. Ah sho'ly doan love Reddy Fox, but Ah can't nohow let
+him be shot again. Ah cert'nly can't!" muttered Unc' Billy Possum to
+himself.
+
+Of course, Farmer Brown's boy didn't hear him. He didn't hear him and he
+didn't see him when Unc' Billy Possum crept out of the back side of the
+woodpile and scurried under the henhouse. He was too intent on his plan
+to catch Reddy Fox.
+
+"I'm just going to hunt over the Green Meadows and through the Green
+Forest until I get that fox!" said Farmer Brown's boy, and as he said it
+he looked very fierce, as if he really meant it. "I'm not going to
+have my chickens stolen any more! No, Sir-e-e! That fox has got a home
+somewhere on the Green Meadows or in the Green Forest, and I'm going to
+find it. Then watch out, Mr. Fox!"
+
+Farmer Brown's boy whistled for Bowser the Hound and started for the
+Green Forest.
+
+Unc' Billy Possum poked his sharp little old face out from under the
+henhouse and watched them go. Usually Unc' Billy is grinning, but now
+there wasn't any grin, not the least sign of one. Instead Unc' Billy
+Possum looked worried.
+
+"There goes that boy with a gun, and nobody knows what'll happen when it
+goes off. If he can't find Reddy Fox, just as likely as not he'll point
+it at somebody else just fo' fun. Ah hope he doan meet up with mah ol'
+woman or any of mah li'l' pickaninnies. Ah'm plumb afraid of a boy with
+a gun, Ah am. 'Pears like he doan have any sense. Ah reckon Ah better be
+moving along right smart and tell mah family to stay right close in
+the ol' hollow tree," muttered Unc' Billy Possum, slipping out from his
+hiding place. Then Unc' Billy began to run as fast as he could toward
+the Green Forest.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII. The Hunt for Reddy Fox
+
+"Trouble, trouble, trouble, I feel it in the air; Trouble, trouble,
+trouble, it's round me everywhere."
+
+Old Granny Fox muttered this over and over, as she kept walking around
+uneasily and sniffing the air.
+
+"I don't see any trouble and I don't feel any trouble in the air.
+It's all in the sore places where I was shot," said Reddy Fox, who was
+stretched out on the doorstep of their home.
+
+"That's because you haven't got any sense. When you do get some and
+learn to look where you are going, you won't get shot from behind
+old tree trunks and you will be able to feel trouble when it is near,
+without waiting for it to show itself. Now I feel trouble. You go down
+into the house and stay there!" Granny Fox stopped to test the air with
+her nose, just as she had been testing it for the last ten minutes.
+
+"I don't want to go in," whined Reddy Fox. "It's nice and warm out here,
+and I feel a lot better than when I am curled up way down there in the
+dark."
+
+Old Granny Fox turned, and her eyes blazed as she looked at Reddy Fox.
+She didn't say a word. She didn't have to. Reddy just crawled into his
+house, muttering to himself. Granny stuck her head in at the door.
+
+"Don't you come out until I come back," she ordered. Then she added:
+"Farmer Brown's boy is coming with his gun."
+
+Reddy Fox shivered when he heard that. He didn't believe Granny Fox. He
+thought she was saying that just to scare him and make him stay inside.
+But he shivered just the same. You see, he knew now what it meant to
+be shot, for he was still too stiff and sore to run, all because he had
+gone too near Farmer Brown's boy and his gun.
+
+But old Granny Fox had not been fooling when she told Reddy Fox that
+Farmer Brown's boy was coming with a gun. It was true. He was coming
+down the Lone Little Path, and ahead of him was trotting Bowser the
+Hound. How did old Granny Fox know it? She just felt it! She didn't hear
+them, she didn't see them, and she didn't smell them; she just felt that
+they were coming. So as soon as she saw that Reddy Fox had obeyed her,
+she was off like a little red flash.
+
+"It won't do to let them find our home," said Granny to herself, as she
+disappeared in the Green Forest.
+
+First she hurried to a little point on the hill where she could look
+down the Lone Little Path. Just as she expected, she saw Farmer Brown's
+boy, and ahead of him, sniffing at every bush and all along the Lone
+Little Path, was Bowser the Hound. Old Granny Fox waited to see no more.
+She ran as fast as she could in a big circle which brought her out on
+the Lone Little Path below Farmer Brown's boy and Bowser the Hound, but
+where they couldn't see her, because of a turn in the Lone Little Path.
+She trotted down the Lone Little Path a very little way and then turned
+into the woods and hurried back up the hill, where she sat down and
+waited. In a few minutes she heard Bowser's great voice. He had smelled
+her track in the Lone Little Path and was following it. Old Granny Fox
+grinned. You see, she was planning to lead them far, far away from the
+home where Reddy Fox was hiding, for it would not do to have them find
+it.
+
+And Farmer Brown's boy also grinned, as he heard the voice of Bowser the
+Hound.
+
+"I'll hunt that fox until I get him," he said. You see, he didn't know
+anything about old Granny Fox; he thought Bowser was following Reddy
+Fox.
+
+
+
+
+XIX Unc' Billy Possum Gives Warning
+
+"What's the matter with you, Unc' Billy? You look as if you had lost
+your last friend." It was Jimmy Skunk who spoke.
+
+Unc' Billy Possum stopped short. He had been hurrying so fast that he
+hadn't seen Jimmy Skunk at all.
+
+"Matter enuff, Suh! Matter enuff!" said Unc' Billy Possum, when he could
+get his breath. "Do you hear that noise?"
+
+"Sure, I hear that noise. That's only Bowser the Hound chasing old
+Granny Fox. When she gets tired she'll lose him," replied Jimmy Skunk.
+"What are you worrying about Bowser the Hound for?"
+
+"Bowser the Hound will have to be smarter than he is now befo' he can
+worry me, Ah reckon," said Unc' Billy Possum scornfully. "It isn't
+Bowser the Hound; it's Farmer Brown's boy and his gun!" Then Unc'
+Billy told Jimmy Skunk how he had been hiding in the woodpile at Farmer
+Brown's and had heard Farmer Brown's boy say that he was going to hunt
+over the Green Meadows and through the Green Forest until he got Reddy
+Fox.
+
+"What of it?" asked Jimmy Skunk. "If he gets Reddy Fox, so much the
+better. Reddy always did make trouble for other people. I don't see what
+you're worrying about Reddy Fox for. He's big enough to take care of
+himself."
+
+"Yo' cert'nly are plumb slow in your wits this morning, Jimmy Skunk,
+yo' cert'nly are plumb slow! Supposing yo' should meet up with Farmer
+Brown's boy with that gun in his hands and supposing he had grown tired
+of watching fo' Reddy Fox. That gun might go off, Jimmy Skunk; it might
+go off when it was pointing right straight at yo'!" said Unc' Billy
+Possum.
+
+Jimmy Skunk looked serious. "That's so, Unc' Billy, that's so!" he said.
+"Boys with guns do get dreadfully careless, dreadfully careless. They
+don't seem to think anything about the feelings of those likely to get
+hurt when the gun goes off. What was you thinking of doing, Unc' Billy?"
+
+"Just passing the word along so everybody in the Green Meadows and
+in the Green Forest will keep out of the way of Farmer Brown's boy,"
+replied Unc' Billy Possum.
+
+"Good idea, Unc' Billy! I'll help you," said Jimmy Skunk.
+
+So Unc' Billy Possum went one way, and Jimmy Skunk went another way.
+And everyone they told hurried to tell someone else. Happy Jack Squirrel
+told Chatterer the Red Squirrel; Chatterer told Striped Chipmunk, and
+Striped Chipmunk told Danny Meadow Mouse. Danny Meadow Mouse told Johnny
+Chuck; Johnny Chuck told Peter Rabbit; Peter Rabbit told Jumper the
+Hare; Jumper the Hare told Prickly Porky; Prickly Porky told Bobby Coon;
+Bobby Coon told Billy Mink; Billy Mink told Little Joe Otter; Little Joe
+Otter told Jerry Muskrat, and Jerry Muskrat told Grandfather Frog. And
+everybody hastened to hide from Farmer Brown's boy and his terrible gun.
+
+By and by Farmer Brown's boy noticed how still it was in the Green
+Forest. Nowhere did he see or hear a bird. Nowhere could he catch a
+glimpse of anybody who wore fur.
+
+"That fox must have scared away all the other animals and driven away
+all the birds. I'll get him! See if I don't!" muttered Farmer Brown's
+boy, and never once guessed that they were hiding from him.
+
+
+
+
+XX. Old Granny Fox Makes a Mistake
+
+Old Granny Fox was running through the overgrown old pasture, way up
+back of Farmer Brown's. She was cross and tired and hot, for it was a
+very warm day. Behind her came Bowser the Hound, his nose in Granny's
+tracks, and making a great noise with his big voice. Granny Fox was
+cross because she was tired. She hadn't done much running lately. She
+didn't mind running when the weather was cold, but now--"Oh dear, it is
+hot!" sighed old Granny Fox, as she stopped a minute to rest.
+
+Now old Granny Fox is very, very smart and very, very wise. She knows
+all the tricks with which foxes fool those who try to catch them. She
+knew that she could fool Bowser the Hound and puzzle him so that he
+wouldn't be able to follow her track at all. But she wasn't ready to do
+that yet. No, indeed! Old Granny Fox was taking great care to see that
+her tracks were easy to follow. She wanted Bowser the Hound to follow
+them, although it made her tired and hot and cross. Why did she? Well,
+you see, she was trying to lead him, and with him Farmer Brown's boy,
+far, far away from the home where Reddy Fox was nursing the wounds
+that he had received when Farmer Brown's boy had shot at him a few days
+before.
+
+"Bow, wow, wow!" roared Bowser the Hound, following every twist and turn
+which Granny Fox made, just as she wanted him to. Back and forth across
+the old pasture and way up among the rocks on the edge of the mountain
+Granny Fox led Bowser the Hound. It was a long, long, long way from the
+Green Meadows and the Green Forest. Granny Fox had made it a long way
+purposely. She was willing to be tired herself if she could also tire
+Bowser the Hound and Farmer Brown's boy. She wanted to tire them so that
+when she finally puzzled and fooled them and left them there, they would
+be too tired to go back to the Green Meadows.
+
+By and by Granny Fox came to a hole in the ground, an old house that
+had once belonged to her grandfather. Now this old house had a back door
+hidden close beside the hollow trunk of a fallen tree. Old Granny Fox
+just ran through the house, out the back door, through the hollow tree,
+and then jumped into a little brook where there was hardly more than
+enough water to wet her feet. Walking in the water, she left no scent in
+her tracks.
+
+Bowser the Hound came roaring up to the front door of the old house.
+Granny's tracks led right inside, and Bowser grew so excited that he
+made a tremendous noise. At last he had found where Granny Fox lived; at
+least he thought he had. He was sure that she was inside, for there
+were her fresh tracks going inside and none coming out. Bowser the Hound
+never once thought of looking for a back door. If he had, he wouldn't
+have been any the wiser, because, you know, old Granny Fox had slipped
+away through the hollow tree trunk.
+
+Granny Fox grinned as she listened to the terrible fuss Bowser was
+making. Then, when she had rested a little, she stole up on the hill
+where she could look down and see the entrance to the old deserted
+house. She watched Bowser digging and barking. After a while a worried
+look crept into the face of old Granny Fox.
+
+"Where's Farmer Brown's boy? I thought surely he would follow Bowser the
+Hound," she muttered.
+
+
+
+
+XXI. Reddy Fox Disobeys
+
+When old Granny Fox had sent Reddy Fox into the house and told him to
+stay there until she returned home, he had not wanted to mind, but he
+knew that Granny Fox meant just what she said, and so he had crawled
+slowly down the long hall to the bedroom, way underground.
+
+Pretty soon Reddy Fox heard a voice. It was very faint, for you know
+Reddy was in his bedroom way underground, but he knew it. He pricked up
+his ears and listened. It was the voice of Bowser the Hound, and Reddy
+knew by the sound that Bowser was chasing Granny Fox.
+
+Reddy grinned. He wasn't at all worried about Granny Fox, not the least
+little bit. He knew how smart she was and that whenever she wanted to,
+she could get rid of Bowser the Hound. Then a sudden thought popped into
+Reddy's head, and he grew sober.
+
+"Granny did feel trouble coming, just as she said," he thought.
+
+Then Reddy Fox curled himself up and tried to sleep. He intended to mind
+and not put his little black nose outside until old Granny Fox returned.
+But somehow Reddy couldn't get to sleep. His bedroom was small, and he
+was so stiff and sore that he could not get comfortable. He twisted and
+turned and fidgeted. The more he fidgeted, the more uncomfortable he
+grew. He thought of the warm sunshine outside and how comfortable he
+would be, stretched out full length on the doorstep. It would take the
+soreness out of his legs. Something must have happened to Granny to keep
+her so long. If she had known that she was going to be gone such a long
+time, she wouldn't have told him to stay until she came back, thought
+Reddy.
+
+By and by Reddy Fox crept a little way up the long, dark hall. He could
+just see the sunlight on the doorstep. Pretty soon he went a little bit
+nearer. He wasn't going to disobey old Granny Fox. Oh, no! No, indeed!
+She had told him to stay in the house until she returned. She hadn't
+said that he couldn't look out! Reddy crawled a little nearer to the
+open door and the sunlight.
+
+"Granny Fox is getting old and timid. Just as if my eyes aren't as sharp
+as hers! I'd like to see Farmer Brown's boy get near me when I am really
+on the watch," said Reddy Fox to himself. And then he crept a little
+nearer to the open door.
+
+How bright and warm and pleasant it did look outside! Reddy just knew
+that he would feel ever and ever so much better if he could stretch
+out on the doorstep. He could hear Jenny Wren fussing and scolding at
+someone or something, and he wondered what it could be. He crept just a
+wee bit nearer. He could hear Bowser's voice, but it was so faint that
+he had to prick up his sharp little ears and listen with all his might
+to hear it at all.
+
+"Granny's led them way off on the mountain. Good old Granny!" thought
+Reddy Fox. Then he crawled right up to the very doorway. He could still
+hear Jenny Wren scolding and fussing.
+
+"What does ail her?
+
+      "If it's hot or if it's cold,
+      Jenny Wren will always scold.
+      From morn till night the whole day long
+      Her limber tongue is going strong.
+
+"I'm going to find out what it means," said Reddy, talking to himself.
+
+Reddy Fox poked his head out and--looked straight into the freckled face
+of Farmer Brown's boy and the muzzle of that dreadful gun!
+
+
+
+
+XXII. Ol' Mistah Buzzard's Keen Sight
+
+Old Granny Fox had thought that when she fooled Bowser the Hound up
+in the old pasture on the edge of the mountain she could take her time
+going home. She was tired and hot, and she had planned to pick out the
+shadiest paths going back. She had thought that Farmer Brown's boy would
+soon join Bowser the Hound, when Bowser made such a fuss about having
+found the old house into which Granny Fox had run.
+
+But Farmer Brown's boy had not yet appeared, and Granny Fox was getting
+worried. Could it be that he had not followed Bowser the Hound, after
+all? Granny Fox went out on a high point and looked, but she could see
+nothing of Farmer Brown's boy and his gun. Just then Ol' Mistah Buzzard
+came sailing down out of the blue, blue sky and settled himself on a
+tall, dead tree. Now Granny Fox hadn't forgotten how Ol' Mistah Buzzard
+had warned Peter Rabbit just as she was about to pounce on him, but she
+suddenly thought that Ol' Mistah Buzzard might be of use to her.
+
+So old Granny Fox smoothed out her skirts and walked over to the foot of
+the tree where Ol' Mistah Buzzard sat.
+
+"How do you do today, neighbor Buzzard?" inquired Granny Fox, smiling up
+at Ol' Mistah Buzzard.
+
+"Ah'm so as to be up and about, thank yo'," replied Ol' Mistah Buzzard,
+spreading his wings out so that air could blow under them.
+
+"My!" exclaimed old Granny Fox, "what splendid great wings you have,
+Mistah Buzzard! It must be grand to be able to fly. I suppose you
+can see a great deal from way up there in the blue, blue sky, Mistah
+Buzzard."
+
+Ol' Mistah Buzzard felt flattered. "Yes," said he, "Ah can see all
+that's going on on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest."
+
+"Oh, Mistah Buzzard, you don't really mean that!" exclaimed old Granny
+Fox, just as if she wanted to believe it, but couldn't.
+
+"Yes, Ah can!" replied Ol' Mistah Buzzard.
+
+"Really, Mistah Buzzard? Really? Oh, I can't believe that your eyes are
+so sharp as all that! Now I know where Bowser the Hound is and where
+Farmer Brown's boy is, but I don't believe you can see them," said
+Granny Fox.
+
+Ol' Mistah Buzzard never said a word but spread his broad wings and in
+a few minutes he had sailed up, up, up until he looked like just a tiny
+speck to old Granny Fox. Now old Granny Fox had not told the truth when
+she said she knew where Farmer Brown's boy was. She thought she would
+trick Ol' Mistah Buzzard into telling her.
+
+In a few minutes down came Ol' Mistah Buzzard. "Bowser the Hound is up
+in the old back pasture," said he.
+
+"Right!" cried old Granny Fox, clapping her hands. "And where is Farmer
+Brown's boy?"
+
+"Farmer Brown's boy is..." Ol' Mistah Buzzard paused.
+
+"Where? Where?" asked Granny Fox, so eagerly that Ol' Mistah Buzzard
+looked at her sharply.
+
+"Yo' said you knew, so what's the use of telling yo'?" said Ol' Mistah
+Buzzard. Then he added: "But if Ah was yo', Ah cert'nly would get home
+right smart soon."
+
+"Why? Do, do tell me what you saw, Mistah Buzzard!" begged Granny Fox.
+
+But Ol' Mistah Buzzard wouldn't say another word, so old Granny Fox
+started for home as fast as she could run.
+
+"Oh dear, I do hope Reddy Fox minded me and stayed in the house," she
+muttered.
+
+
+
+
+XXIII. Granny Fox Has a Terrible Scare
+
+Old Granny Fox felt her heart sink way down to her toes, for she felt
+sure Ol' Mistah Buzzard had seen Farmer Brown's boy and his gun over
+near the house where Reddy Fox was nursing his wounds, or he wouldn't
+have advised her to hurry home. She was already very tired and hot from
+the long run to lead Bowser the Hound away from the Green Meadows. She
+had thought to walk home along shady paths and cool off, but now she
+must run faster than ever, for she must know if Farmer Brown's boy had
+found her house.
+
+"It's lucky I told Reddy Fox to go inside and not come out till I
+returned; it's very lucky I did that," thought Granny Fox as she ran.
+Presently she heard voices singing. They seemed to be in the treetops
+over her head.
+
+      "Happily we dance and play
+      All the livelong sunny day!
+      Happily we run and race
+      And win or lose with smiling face!"
+
+Granny Fox knew the voices, and she looked up. Just as she expected, she
+saw the Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West Wind playing among the
+leaves. Just then one of them looked down and saw her.
+
+"There's old Granny Fox! Just see how hot and tired she looks. Let's go
+down and cool her off!" shouted the Merry Little Breeze.
+
+In a flash they were all down out of the treetops and dancing around
+old Granny Fox, cooling her off. Of course, Granny Fox kept right on
+running. She was too worried not to. But the Merry Little Breezes kept
+right beside her, and it was not nearly as hard running now as it had
+been.
+
+"Have you seen Farmer Brown's boy?" panted Granny Fox.
+
+"Oh, yes! We saw him just a little while ago over near your house,
+Granny Fox. We pulled his hat off, just to hear him scold," shouted the
+Merry Little Breezes, and then they tickled and laughed as if they had
+had a good time with Farmer Brown's boy.
+
+But old Granny Fox didn't laugh--oh, my, no, indeed! Her heart went
+lower still, and she did her best to run faster. Pretty soon she came
+out on the top of the hill where she could look, and then it seemed as
+if her heart came right up in her mouth and stopped beating. Her eyes
+popped almost out of her head. There was Farmer Brown's boy standing
+right in front of the door of her home. And while she was watching, what
+should Reddy Fox do but stick his head out the door.
+
+Old Granny Fox saw the gun of Farmer Brown's boy pointed right at Reddy
+and she clapped both hands over her eyes to shut out the dreadful sight.
+Then she waited for the bang of the gun. It didn't come. Then Granny
+peeped through her fingers. Farmer Brown's boy was still there, but
+Reddy Fox had disappeared inside the house.
+
+Granny Fox sighed in relief. It had been a terrible scare, the worst she
+could remember.
+
+
+
+
+XXIV. Granny and Reddy Have To Move
+
+"I don't want to move," whined Reddy Fox. "I'm too sore to walk."
+
+Old Granny Fox gave him a shove. "You go along and do as I say!" she
+snapped. "If you had minded me, we wouldn't have to move. It's all your
+own fault. The wonder is that you weren't killed when you poked your
+head out right in front of Farmer Brown's boy. Now that he knows where
+we live, he will give us no peace. Move along lively now! This is the
+best home I have ever had, and now I've got to leave it. Oh dear! Oh
+dear!"
+
+Reddy Fox hobbled along up the long hall and out the front door. He was
+walking on three legs, and at every step he made a face because, you
+know, it hurt so to walk.
+
+The little stars, looking down from the sky, saw Reddy Fox limp out the
+door of the house he had lived in so long, and right behind him came old
+Granny Fox. Granny sighed and wiped away a tear, as she said good-by
+to her old home. Reddy Fox was thinking too much of his own troubles to
+notice how badly Granny Fox was feeling. Every few steps he had to sit
+down and rest because it hurt him so to walk.
+
+"I don't see the use of moving tonight, anyway. It would be a lot easier
+and pleasanter when the sun is shining. This night air makes me so stiff
+that I know I never will get over it," grumbled Reddy Fox.
+
+Old Granny Fox listened to him for a while, and then she lost patience.
+Yes, Sir, Granny Fox lost patience. She boxed Reddy Fox first on one ear
+and then on the other. Reddy began to snivel.
+
+"Stop that!" said Granny Fox sharply. "Do you want all the neighbors to
+know that we have got to move? They'll find it out soon enough. Now come
+along without any more fuss. If you don't, I'll just go off and leave
+you to shift for yourself. Then how will you get anything to eat?"
+
+Reddy Fox wiped his eyes on his coat sleeve and hobbled along as best he
+could. Granny Fox would run a little way ahead to see that the way was
+safe and then come back for Reddy. Poor Reddy. He did his best not
+to complain, but it was such hard work. And somehow Reddy Fox didn't
+believe that it was at all necessary. He had been terribly frightened
+when he had disobeyed Granny Fox that afternoon and put his head out the
+door, only to look right into the freckled face of Farmer Brown's boy.
+He had ducked back out of sight again too quickly for Farmer Brown's boy
+to shoot, and now he couldn't see why old Granny Fox wanted to move that
+very night.
+
+"She's getting old. She's getting old and timid and fussy," muttered
+Reddy Fox, as he hobbled along behind her.
+
+It seemed to Reddy as if they had walked miles and miles. He really
+thought that they had been walking nearly all night when old Granny Fox
+stopped in front of the worst-looking old fox house Reddy had ever seen.
+
+"Here we are!" said she.
+
+"What! Are we going to live in that thing?" cried Reddy. "It isn't fit
+for any respectable fox to put his nose into."
+
+"It is where I was born!" snapped old Granny Fox. "If you want to keep
+out of harm's way, don't go to putting on airs now.
+
+      "Who scorns the simple things of life
+        And tilts his nose at all he sees,
+      Is almost sure to feel the knife
+        Of want cut through his pleasant ease.
+
+"Now don't let me hear another word from you, but get inside at once!"
+
+Reddy Fox didn't quite understand all Granny Fox said, but he knew when
+she was to be obeyed, and so he crawled gingerly through the broken-down
+doorway.
+
+
+
+
+XXV. Peter Rabbit Makes a Discovery
+
+Hardly had jolly, round, red Mr. Sun thrown off his nightcap and come
+out from his home behind the Purple Hills for his daily climb up in the
+blue, blue sky, when Farmer Brown's boy started down the Lone Little
+Path through the Green Forest.
+
+Peter Rabbit, who had been out all night and was just then on his way
+home, saw him. Peter stopped and sat up to rub his eyes and look again.
+He wasn't quite sure that he had seen aright the first time. But he
+had. There was Farmer Brown's boy, sure enough, and at his heels trotted
+Bowser the Hound.
+
+Peter Rabbit rubbed his eyes once more and wrinkled up his eyebrows.
+Farmer Brown's boy certainly had a gun over one shoulder and a spade
+over the other. Where could he be going down the Lone Little Path with a
+spade? Farmer Brown's garden certainly was not in that direction. Peter
+watched him out of sight and then he hurried down to the Green Meadows
+to tell Johnny Chuck what he had seen. My, how Peter's long legs did
+fly! He was so excited that he had forgotten how sleepy he had felt a
+few minutes before.
+
+Halfway down to Johnny Chuck's house, Peter Rabbit almost ran plump into
+Bobby Coon and Jimmy Skunk, who had been quarreling and were calling
+each other names. They stopped when they saw Peter Rabbit.
+
+      "Peter Rabbit runs away
+        From his shadder, so they say.
+      Peter, Peter, what a sight!
+        Tell us why this sudden fright,"
+
+shouted Bobby Coon.
+
+Peter Rabbit stopped short. Indeed, he stopped so short that he almost
+turned a somersault. "Say," he panted, "I've just seen Farmer Brown's
+boy."
+
+"You don't say so!" said Jimmy Skunk, pretending to be very much
+surprised. "You don't say so! Why, now I think of it, I believe I've
+seen Farmer Brown's boy a few times myself."
+
+Peter Rabbit made a good-natured face at Jimmy Skunk, and then he told
+all about how he had seen Farmer Brown's boy with gun and spade and
+Bowser the Hound going down the Lone Little Path. "You know there isn't
+any garden down that way," he concluded.
+
+Bobby Coon's face wore a sober look. Yes, Sir, all the fun was gone from
+Bobby Coon's face.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Jimmy Skunk.
+
+"I was just thinking that Reddy Fox lives over in that direction and he
+is so stiff that he cannot run," replied Bobby Coon.
+
+Jimmy Skunk hitched up his trousers and started toward the Lone Little
+Path. "Come on!" said he. "Let's follow him and see what he is about."
+
+Bobby Coon followed at once, but Peter Rabbit said he would hurry over
+and get Johnny Chuck and then join the others.
+
+All this time Farmer Brown's boy had been hurrying down the Lone Little
+Path to the home old Granny Fox and Reddy Fox had moved out of the night
+before. Of course, he didn't know that they had moved. He put down his
+gun, and by the time Jimmy Skunk and Bobby Coon and Peter Rabbit and
+Johnny Chuck reached a place where they could peep out and see what was
+going on, he had dug a great hole.
+
+"Oh!" cried Peter Rabbit, "he's digging into the house of Reddy Fox, and
+he'll catch poor Reddy!"
+
+
+
+
+XXVI. Farmer Brown's Boy Works for Nothing
+
+The grass around the doorstep of the house where Reddy Fox had always
+lived was all wet with dew when Farmer Brown's boy laid his gun down,
+took off his coat, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and picked up his spade.
+It was cool and beautiful there on the edge of the Green Meadows. Jolly,
+round, red Mr. Sun had just begun his long climb up in the blue, blue
+sky. Mr. Redwing was singing for joy over in the bulrushes on the edge
+of the Smiling Pool. Yes, it was very beautiful, very beautiful indeed.
+It didn't seem as if harm could come to anyone on such a beautiful
+morning.
+
+But there was Farmer Brown's boy. He had crawled on his hands and knees
+without making a sound to get near enough to the home of Reddy Fox to
+shoot if Reddy was outside. But there was no sign of Reddy, so Farmer
+Brown's boy had hopped up, and now he was whistling as he began to dig.
+His freckled face looked good-natured. It didn't seem as if he could
+mean harm to anyone.
+
+But there lay the gun, and he was working as if he meant to get to the
+very bottom of Reddy Fox's home!
+
+Deeper and deeper grew the hole, and bigger and bigger grew the pile of
+sand which he threw out. He didn't know that anyone was watching him,
+except Bowser the Hound. He didn't see Johnny Chuck peeping from behind
+a tall bunch of meadow grass, or Peter Rabbit peeping from behind a
+tree on the edge of the Green Forest, or Bobby Coon looking from a safe
+hiding place in the top of that same tree. He didn't see Jimmy Skunk or
+Unc' Billy Possum or Happy Jack Squirrel or Digger the Badger. He didn't
+see one of them, but they saw him. They saw every shovelful of sand that
+he threw, and their hearts went pit-a-pat as they watched, for each one
+felt sure that something dreadful was going to happen to Reddy Fox.
+
+Only Ol' Mistah Buzzard knew better. From way up high in the blue, blue
+sky he could look down and see many things. He could see all the little
+meadow and forest people who were watching Farmer Brown's boy. The
+harder Farmer Brown's boy worked, the more Ol' Mistah Buzzard chuckled
+to himself. What was he laughing at? Why, he could see the sharp face of
+old Granny Fox, peeping out from behind an old fence corner, and she was
+grinning. So Ol' Mistah Buzzard knew Reddy Fox was safe.
+
+But the other little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows
+didn't know that old Granny Fox and Reddy Fox had moved, and their faces
+grew longer and longer as they watched Farmer Brown's boy go deeper and
+deeper into the ground.
+
+"Reddy Fox has worried me almost to death and would eat me if he could
+catch me, but somehow things wouldn't be quite the same without him
+around. Oh dear, I don't want him killed," moaned Peter Rabbit.
+
+"Perhaps he isn't home," said Jimmy Skunk.
+
+"Of course he's home; he's so stiff and sore he can hardly walk at all
+and has to stay home," replied Johnny Chuck. "Hello, what's the matter
+now?"
+
+Everybody looked. Farmer Brown's boy had climbed out of the hole. He
+looked tired and cross. He rested for a few minutes, and as he rested,
+he scowled. Then he began to shovel the sand back into the hole. He had
+reached the bottom and found no one there.
+
+"Hurrah!" shouted Peter Rabbit and struck his heels together as he
+jumped up in the air.
+
+And the others were just as glad as Peter Rabbit. Johnny Chuck was
+especially glad, for, you see, Farmer Brown's boy had once found
+Johnny's snug home, and Johnny had had to move as suddenly as did Granny
+and Reddy Fox. Johnny knew just how Reddy must feel, for he had had many
+narrow escapes in his short life. You can read all about them in the
+next book, The Adventures of Johnny Chuck.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Adventures of Reddy Fox, by Thornton W. Burgess
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF REDDY FOX ***
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