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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fed115b --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #62441 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62441) diff --git a/old/62441-0.txt b/old/62441-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9d35815..0000000 --- a/old/62441-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3530 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox, by Richard Barnum - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox - His Many Adventures - -Author: Richard Barnum - -Illustrator: Walter S. Rogers - -Release Date: June 21, 2020 [EBook #62441] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHARP EYES, THE SILVER FOX *** - - - - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - -[Illustration: “The next minute Sharp Eyes found himself free.”] - - - - - _Kneetime Animal Stories_ - - - SHARP EYES - THE SILVER FOX - - HIS MANY ADVENTURES - - - BY - RICHARD BARNUM - - Author of “Squinty, the Comical Pig,” “Mappo, - the Merry Monkey,” “Tum Tum, the Jolly - Elephant,” “Tinkle, the Trick Pony,” - “Chunky, the Happy Hippo,” etc. - - - _ILLUSTRATED BY - WALTER S. ROGERS_ - - - NEW YORK - BARSE & HOPKINS - PUBLISHERS - - - - -KNEETIME ANIMAL STORIES - -By Richard Barnum - -_Large 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 50 cents, postpaid_ - - - SQUINTY, THE COMICAL PIG. - SLICKO, THE JUMPING SQUIRREL. - MAPPO, THE MERRY MONKEY. - TUM TUM, THE JOLLY ELEPHANT. - DON, A RUNAWAY DOG. - DIDO, THE DANCING BEAR. - BLACKIE, A LOST CAT. - FLOP EAR, THE FUNNY RABBIT. - TINKLE, THE TRICK PONY. - LIGHTFOOT, THE LEAPING GOAT. - CHUNKY, THE HAPPY HIPPO. - SHARP EYES, THE SILVER FOX. - - - BARSE & HOPKINS - Publishers New York - - - Copyright, 1918, - by - Barse & Hopkins - - - _Sharp Eyes, The Silver Fox_ - - - VAIL·BALLOU COMPANY - BINGHAMTON AND NEW YORK - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I SHARP EYES SEES SOMETHING 7 - II SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING 20 - III SHARP EYES HEARS SOMETHING 28 - IV SHARP EYES IS HURT 38 - V SHARP EYES MEETS DON 48 - VI SHARP EYES IS CAPTURED 59 - VII SHARP EYES IS SOLD 68 - VIII SHARP EYES GOES TRAVELING 76 - IX SHARP EYES IN THE ZOO 87 - X SHARP EYES MEETS CHUNKY 94 - XI SHARP EYES GETS AWAY 101 - XII SHARP EYES GETS HOME 112 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - “The next minute Sharp Eyes found himself free” _Frontispiece_ - - “He pretended a piece of wood was the partridge he was after” 13 - - “‘Look what I got!’ he barked” 45 - - “‘Hello, what’s the matter here?’ asked the dog” 53 - - “‘These men seem never to let us animals alone’” 83 - - “There was a crash, and Sharp Eyes sprang out” 109 - - “‘Sharp Eyes,’ she cried, ‘don’t you know me?’” 123 - - - - -SHARP EYES, THE SILVER FOX - - - - -CHAPTER I - -SHARP EYES SEES SOMETHING - - -Away up in the North Woods lived a family of foxes. They had big, bushy -tails, like a dust brush, and they wore furry coats. Some of these -furry coats were of a reddish-yellow color, and some of them a sort of -gray. The foxes had long sharp noses and sharp teeth, and they were -very sly and cunning, as they had need to be. - -For a fox is not strong, like a lion or a tiger, and to get his food he -must be quick and sly, and steal up when no one sees him, to get a fat -duck or a chicken from the farmyard. - -Now in this family of foxes, about which I am going to tell you, there -was the father and mother, and three little ones. Mr. and Mrs. Fox were -well grown, fleet of foot, and they could both see and smell danger a -long way off, just as they could see and smell when they were near -some farmer’s house, where they might get a chicken or a duck. - -The home of the foxes was in a hollow log, in the deepest and darkest -part of the North Woods, and in this hollow log the three little foxes -lived. They were named Sharp Eyes, Twinkle and Winkle. - -Sharp Eyes was the oldest of the children, though they were all nearly -the same age. The reason he was called Sharp Eyes was because he had -such sharp, sparkling eyes, which seemed to look right through the -bushes and trees at anything he wanted to find. - -Twinkle, who was Sharp Eyes’ brother, was so called because when he ran -downhill or uphill his feet seemed to twinkle in and out like flashes -of light. - -Winkle, who was Sharp Eyes’ sister, was so called because she seemed to -winkle and blinkle her eyes, sleepy-like, when she looked at anything. - -So Sharp Eyes, Twinkle and Winkle lived with their father and mother -in the hollow log in the big woods. The little foxes, at first, stayed -very close to the log. In fact, they did not go outside it until they -were pretty well grown, and about the size of puppy dogs. Each day -their father and mother would crawl out of the log, look carefully -around to make sure there were no dogs, hunters, or other dangers -near, sniff the air to see if they could smell anything that might harm -them or their little ones, and then one or the other would slink slyly -away through the woods, to look for something to eat, not only for -themselves, but to bring home to the little foxes. - -One day when Mr. Fox had come home with a plump partridge and the -little foxes were having a good dinner, Sharp Eyes asked: - -“Mother, where did my father get this fine meat for us to eat?” - -“He caught it in the woods.” - -Of course the Fox family did not speak the same kind of language that -you boys and girls use. They talked in their own language, which they -could understand as well as you can understand one another. But so -that you may know what the foxes said among themselves, and what they -thought, I have put their sayings into your kind of words. - -Foxes, like other animals, talk with whispers, sniffles, snuffles, -whines, barks and howls, and it is very hard to understand them unless -you know their language, as I do. But, once you do, it is as easy to -know what they say as if you heard the boy on your next street call: - -“Come on, spin tops!” - -So now you’ll understand what I mean when I say a fox “says” this, -that, or the other. - -“Where did my father get this fine meat?” asked Sharp Eyes, and when -his mother told him Mr. Fox caught it in the woods, the little fox, as -he gnawed a bone, smacked his lips and asked: - -“But _how_ did he get it?” - -“I’ll tell you, little Sharp Eyes,” said Mr. Fox. “And you listen also, -Twinkle and Winkle. For you must soon learn to catch your own dinners -and suppers, as well as breakfasts.” - -So the little foxes listened while their father told them how to make a -living in the woods, where there are no stores at which animals can buy -what they want to eat. - -“I was coming along under the trees,” said Mr. Fox, “and I was looking -on both sides of me for something to bring home to your mother and you -to eat. Up to then I had not caught anything. I sprang after a muskrat, -but it jumped into the brook and got away from me. Then I tried to -creep softly up behind a young wild turkey in the woods, but he heard -me and flew away. - -“So I was beginning to think I’d never get a meal for my family, and I -knew you were hungry, when, all at once, I saw this partridge. I walked -as softly as I knew how over the leaves and sticks in the woods, and, -without his hearing me, I got so close to the bird that I could jump -on him, pin him down with my feet, and catch him in my sharp teeth. -Then I brought him home to you. That’s how I got your dinner, Sharp -Eyes.” - -“And a very good dinner it is, too,” said Mrs. Fox. “You animal -children ought to be very glad you have such a smart father. It is not -every fox that can catch a partridge.” - -“Oh, well, we mustn’t be proud,” said Mr. Fox, as, with his tail, he -brushed smooth a place inside the log, where he could lie down. “Our -children will soon be grown, and they will learn how to catch wild -turkeys, partridges, quail and muskrats for themselves.” - -“How do you catch wild things in the woods?” asked Sharp Eyes. - -“Yes, tell us, so we may learn,” begged Twinkle. - -“I will,” answered Mr. Fox. “It is time you little fox puppies learned -to hunt for yourselves. You are old enough. After you have had a nap -we will go outside the log house, and your mother and I will give you -lessons.” - -So the little foxes went to sleep after their meal, as nearly all wild -animals do, and as even your cat and dog do after they have eaten. They -always seem to feel sleepy after eating. And when Sharp Eyes, Twinkle -and Winkle awakened after their nap, they felt fine and fresh, and -felt like jumping around. - -In fact, Sharp Eyes felt so fresh that he cuffed his brother on the ear -with his paw. - -“Ma, make Sharp Eyes stop!” cried Twinkle, in fox language of course. - -“Oh, I wasn’t doing anything!” said Sharp Eyes. - -“Yes he was, too!” barked Sister Winkle. “And now he’s tickling me!” - -“I guess it’s time I gave you little foxes some lessons in -how-to-catch-things,” said Mr. Fox, as he stretched himself, for he, -too, had been sleeping. “You are so full of life that you are getting -into mischief. Come out, all of you, and I’ll show you how I caught the -partridge.” - -Sharp Eyes would have rushed out of the log at once, but his mother -held him back with her paw, saying: - -“Wait! Let your father take a look first, to see that there is no -danger. You must always be careful in going out of your house, whether -it is a hole under the rocks or a hollow log or a stump, to look for -danger. Watch your father!” - -Mr. Fox stuck his nose out of the log a little way and sniffed the air. -Then he stuck it out a little farther. Next he looked around with his -bright eyes. - -[Illustration: “He pretended a piece of wood was the partridge he was -after.”] - -“Is everything all right?” asked Mrs. Fox. - -“Everything is all right,” said Mr. Fox. - -So out in front of the hollow-log house, where there was a smooth, -level place, went Mr. Fox and the three little foxes. Mrs. Fox stayed -in the log to shake up the dried leaves that made the beds. That was -all the housekeeping work she had to do, for foxes, like most animals, -live a very simple life. - -“Now this is how I crept softly up behind the partridge,” said Mr. Fox, -as he went along, almost on his tiptoes, as you might say. “You must be -careful not to step on a stick so it breaks and makes a noise,” he told -the little foxes; “and do not rustle the dried leaves. For partridges -and other wild birds and all woodland creatures that we have to eat, -are very shy, and fly off or run away at the least noise. You see, we -have not sharp claws, like a cat, with which to grasp the things we -catch. We have to pin them down with our paws, as a dog does, or get -them in our sharp teeth, and we have to be very close to them before -they see us, so we can do that.” - -So Mr. Fox showed his little ones how to creep along softly over -the sticks, stones and leaves. He pretended a piece of wood was the -partridge he was after, and, when he got close enough, he gave a jump -and came down on top of it, quickly getting it in his mouth. - -“That’s the way I would have done it if it had been a real bird,” said -Mr. Fox. “Now you try, Sharp Eyes, and let us see how you would do it.” - -So the little fox boy tried, and so did his brother and his sister, and -for many days after that their father or their mother gave them hunting -lessons outside the hollow log. - -After a while Sharp Eyes, Twinkle, and Winkle learned to be very good -jumpers, and they could move over a bit of ground, covered with sticks, -stones and leaves, so softly that you never would have heard them. - -“Now come out in the woods, and let us see if you can be as quiet when -there is something real to catch, instead of the make-believe birds and -rats, that are really only pieces of wood,” said Mr. Fox. For, up to -this time, he had let the fox children practise on bits of bark, clumps -of grass, or a stone, pretending they were grouse or partridges. - -Through the woods went the family, Mr. Fox in front, then Sharp Eyes, -Twinkle and Winkle, and Mrs. Fox behind them all. The two old foxes -were looking out for danger, you see. - -All at once Mr. Fox stopped, and, speaking in an animal whisper, said: - -“Here is a mouse just in front of me, Sharp Eyes. He does not see me -yet. Come and see if you can get it!” - -Up came Sharp Eyes very, very softly. He saw a big wood mouse under the -roots of a tree. The mouse was gnawing the soft bark. - -“Now go softly,” said Mr. Fox. - -Sharp Eyes tried to, but alas! he stepped on a dried stick, which broke -with a crack. The mouse heard it and started to jump down into his -burrow under the earth. - -“No, you don’t!” cried Mr. Fox, and he made a big jump and caught the -mouse just in time. - -“That’s the way to do it!” barked Mrs. Fox. “The mouse would have -gotten away from you, Sharp Eyes.” - -“I’m sorry,” replied the little fox boy slowly and sadly. - -“Never mind,” said his father. “You’ll do better the next time.” - -But it was some days before the little foxes learned to catch anything. - -“Oh, shall we ever learn?” asked Twinkle. - -“Of course you will,” said his mother. “When I was a young fox, like -you, I thought I’d never catch my first mouse. But I did.” - -So Mr. and Mrs. Fox had to keep on catching the things the little -foxes ate, though each day Sharp Eyes, Twinkle and Winkle were getting -quicker and better. - -But one day Mr. Fox came home without any dinner. - -“What’s the matter?” asked Mrs. Fox. “Couldn’t you catch anything -to-day?” - -“No,” answered Mr. Fox. “In fact, I didn’t see a thing. I’ve tramped -all over these woods, but not a bird or an animal could I see. Of -course I saw cows and horses in the farmers’ yards, but they are too -big for me to carry off.” - -“Couldn’t you get a chicken or a duck?” - -“I saw some ducks and chickens on one farm,” replied Mr. Fox, “but the -farmer, or one of his men, was near them all the while with a gun or a -club, and I dared not try to catch one. I’d have been caught or hurt -myself if I had. I’m sorry, but we’ll have no dinner to-day.” - -Sharp Eyes and his brother and sister felt sad on hearing this. They -were very hungry. - -“Couldn’t we all go out hunting together?” asked Sharp Eyes, after a -bit. “Maybe we could see something you could catch,” he said to his -father. - -“Well, perhaps that would be a good plan,” replied Mr. Fox. “Come on, -we’ll all go out and see if we can find a meal.” - -So out into the woods went the five foxes――the two large ones and the -three smaller ones. Slowly and carefully they went along, looking from -side to side, and sniffing the air for any sign of something to eat. - -“There doesn’t seem to be anything,” said Mrs. Fox, with a hungry sigh. - -“No,” answered Mr. Fox, “there doesn’t. I never saw the woods so scarce -of food.” - -All of a sudden Sharp Eyes, who had gone a little way ahead, came -softly back. - -“I see something!” he said. “Shall I try to get it for our dinner?” - -“What is it? Where is it?” asked Mr. Fox eagerly. “I don’t see -anything,” and he looked as hard as he could through the bushes. - -“Right over there, by the old stump,” said Sharp Eyes. “Don’t you see? -It’s a big chicken.” - -Mr. Fox looked. Then he said: - -“That isn’t a chicken! It’s a wild turkey! If we get that it will make -a fine meal for all of us! Sharp Eyes, you were rightly named. You saw -this turkey when neither your mother nor I could see it. It’s a good -thing you did. Now we’ll have a fine meal!” - - - - -CHAPTER II - -SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING - - -Slowly and carefully, making not the least sound, Mr. Fox began to -creep through the woods toward the wild turkey. The big bird was eating -some forest berries, and had his back toward the fox. - -“Let me catch him!” whispered Sharp Eyes. “I saw him first, let me -creep up and jump on him!” - -“No,” whispered his mother. “It is true you had very keen sight to -see the turkey, Sharp Eyes, and when you grow up you will be a smart -fox. But just now, when we are all so hungry, it would not do to let -that turkey get away from us. They can fly faster than you can run or -jump. Even your father will have hard work getting it. But he can do it -better than you. - -“You saw the big bird first, Sharp Eyes. Now let your father get it for -us. Then we shall all have something to eat. The next wild turkey you -see you may catch for yourself.” - -“All right,” said Sharp Eyes. So he carefully watched his father to -see how the old fox would go about it to catch the wild turkey. - -Nearer and nearer crept Mr. Fox to the big bird, which was still eating -away, not hearing or seeing the danger that was so close to him. Mrs. -Fox and the three little foxes waited very anxiously indeed, for they -were very hungry. - -“Oh, I hope he gets it!” whispered Twinkle. - -“So do I,” said Sharp Eyes. - -“It was awfully smart of you to see it,” murmured Winkle. - -“Hush, children!” softly called Mrs. Fox. “Watch your father!” - -Just then Mr. Fox made a jump for the turkey. Up in the air went Sharp -Eyes’ father, and down he came, right on the back of the big, wild bird. - -“Gobble-obble-obble!” cried the turkey, and that was all he said. A -little later the fox family had a fine dinner, and they didn’t have to -wait for the turkey to be roasted, either. They ate it raw. - -Of course it was too bad for the turkey, but animals must live, and if -one lives on the other that is the law of the woods. There is no need -of feeling sorry. The foxes had to eat the turkey, just as the turkey -had to eat grasshoppers. - -“Oh, that was a fine meal!” cried Twinkle, when the turkey was all -gone, and nothing but the bones was left. - -“Yes, and if it hadn’t been for Sharp Eyes we might not have had it,” -said Mrs. Fox. - -“That’s right,” said Mr. Fox. “I looked and looked under the trees and -through the bushes, but I never saw that turkey. It took Sharp Eyes to -see it for us. His name is the right one if ever a name was.” - -Of course Sharp Eyes felt very proud and happy on hearing this, just -as you children feel when you do anything that pleases your father and -mother. - -“But I wish I could catch something myself,” said the little fox boy. - -“Oh, you will, some day,” his mother answered. “You are young yet――you -have plenty of time to learn.” - -After their turkey dinner the fox family went back to their home in the -hollow log and had a long sleep. And they did not need to hunt anything -more until the next day, for the turkey was a large one. Foxes or other -wild animals, hardly ever save anything over from one meal to the next. -They have no ice boxes or pantries. When they are hungry they go out -and get what they can to eat, and they don’t hunt for anything more -until they are hungry again. - -Of course, by the next day, Sharp Eyes, his brother and sister, as -well as his father and mother, were hungry once more. - -“I will go out and see what I can find,” said Mr. Fox. “The rest of you -stay here.” - -“Can’t I come with you?” asked Sharp Eyes. - -Mr. Fox seemed to think for a minute. - -“Yes,” he answered, “I guess it will be a good thing for you to come -along. My eyes are getting old, and are not as good as they once were. -Yours are young and bright. You may see something I can’t. Come with -me, Sharp Eyes.” - -“And us?” - -“Well―― Well, no, Twinkle and Winkle. This isn’t a lesson in hunting. I -think, if I take only Sharp Eyes along, we’ll be able to get something -to eat sooner.” - -So Sharp Eyes went hunting with his father, while Mrs. Fox remained at -home in the hollow log with Twinkle and Winkle. - -“I hope we’ll see another wild turkey,” said Sharp Eyes, as he trotted -along beside his father across the meadow. - -“Don’t expect such good luck,” answered the older fox. “If we get a -couple of wood mice, or perhaps a little duck that has paddled off down -stream away from the others, I shall be glad.” - -So to the woods they went, looking for mice which live in hollow stumps -or in the ground under the roots of trees. But all the mice seemed to -be away that day. Not one could Sharp Eyes or his father see. - -“Now we’ll go to the brook,” said the old fox. “Sometimes there are -little ducks there, who know no better than to swim too far from the -big ones, that, if I jump in among them, can make a loud quacking noise -and bring the farmer with his gun. Maybe we can steal up on a little -duck.” - -So down to the brook went Sharp Eyes and his father. But though there -were ducks and geese in the water (for the brook was near a farm) not -one of the fowls was off by itself. They all kept together and not far -from them was a farmer plowing in a field. - -“He may have a gun near him, or a club,” said Mr. Fox, “and with either -of those he could hurt us very much. We’ll not try to get a duck now. -We’ll have to go somewhere else for our dinner.” - -“But where?” asked Sharp Eyes. “I am hungry, and I know my mother is, -and so are the others.” - -“I know,” answered his father. “I am also hungry. We’ll go to the woods -once more. Maybe there’ll be some mice now.” - -So back to the woods they went. - -On all sides, among the trees and through the bushes, looked Mr. Fox -and Sharp Eyes. But no mice could they see. Nor did there seem to be -any partridges, quail or other wild birds. As for wild turkeys, not -even the gobble-obble of one could be heard. - -“What shall we do?” asked Sharp Eyes. - -“I’ll tell you,” his father answered. “There are two of us. If we keep -together we can be in only one place in the woods, but if you go one -way and I the other we can be in two places, and we’ll have a much -better chance to find something.” - -“All right,” said Sharp Eyes. “I’ll go this way,” and with his paw he -sort of pointed down among some trees where the shadows were deep and -dark. - -“It looks as though you could catch something there,” observed Mr. Fox. -“I’ll go the other way, and whichever of us first catches anything must -bark and howl. Then the other will know.” - -“I’ll do it,” said Sharp Eyes. - -So off he trotted by himself. It was the first time he had hunted -alone, and he felt a bit queer about it. Still he was a sly, cunning -chap, as are all fox creatures, and he wanted to show what he could do. - -“I’ll get another turkey,” said Sharp Eyes to himself. - -Through the woods he went, very softly and quietly, looking on all -sides, and sniffing the air to get a smell of something he might catch -as a dinner for himself and the rest of the fox family. - -All at once Sharp Eyes saw something moving behind a bush. It made a -rustling sound. - -“I wonder what that is,” thought the fox boy. - -Once more he sniffed the air. The wind was blowing toward him from -whatever was in the bush, and the wind brought to the nose of the fox -boy a wonderful perfume. - -“It smells like something good to eat!” thought Sharp Eyes. - -There was another rustling in the bushes. - -Then the fox boy saw some feathers shining in the sun. - -“It must be another wild turkey,” said Sharp Eyes to himself. “Oh, I -wonder if I can jump on it as my father did! I’m going to try!” - -As softly as he could, the fox boy crept up behind the bush. He heard -a scratching sound among the dried leaves. He saw more feathers, and -something red. - -“That’s the funny red thing that hangs down under a turkey’s chin,” -said the fox boy to himself. “I am having good luck! Oh, if I can only -jump on that bird before he hears or sees me and flies away!” - -Nearer and nearer he crept. He could see the big bird now. It did not -look exactly like the wild turkey. - -“Maybe it’s a new and better kind,” thought Sharp Eyes. “If I get it -I’ll bark for my father to come and see what good hunting I can do!” - -Nearer and nearer he crept. The big bird which was picking up something -from the ground under the bush, and scratching in the leaves, did not -seem to hear. - -“Ah ha!” whispered Sharp Eyes to himself. “Now for a good dinner for -all of us!” - -Through the air he jumped, and he landed with his front feet right on -the big bird’s back. - -“Burr-r-r-r-r!” barked Sharp Eyes, almost like a dog. - -“Cock-a-doodle-do!” crowed the big bird, and then it was very still. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -SHARP EYES HEARS SOMETHING - - -“Ah ha!” cried Sharp Eyes in fox talk, “I have caught you, my fine wild -turkey!” - -Then, with the big bird held tightly under his paws, the fox boy lifted -his nose high in the air and howled and barked. That was his way of -saying: - -“Come and see what I have, Father! I’ve caught a fine wild turkey!” - -Away off in the woods, where he was looking for something to eat, Mr. -Fox heard the call of Sharp Eyes. - -“Ah, I wonder if he is hurt, in danger, or if he has something for -dinner,” said Mr. Fox to himself. - -Mr. Fox listened carefully, and then by the difference in the howl and -bark, he could tell what Sharp Eyes was saying. It was this: - -“I have caught something! I have caught something!” - -“Ah, my little fox boy has had good luck,” said Mr. Fox. “Better luck -than I have had. I must go and see what he has caught!” - -Not having found anything that he could take home for his family’s -dinner, Mr. Fox turned and ran quickly through the woods toward Sharp -Eyes. He could tell where his little fox son was by noticing the -direction from which his howls and barks came. - -“What is it?” asked Mr. Fox as he came near. - -“I have caught a big wild turkey,” answered Sharp Eyes, still keeping -the large bird between his paws. - -“Ha! that is not a turkey,” said Mr. Fox, as he came near and saw what -Sharp Eyes had. - -“No?” asked the little fox in surprise. “What is it then?” - -“It’s a rooster,” said his father. “A great, big rooster that lives -down on the farm where the ducks are,” for there were farms near -the North Woods, though there were no cities. “Well do I know that -rooster,” went on Mr. Fox. “Many a time, when I have been creeping up -to get a chicken, he has seen me and crowed so loudly that the farmer -came out with a gun to drive me away. And so you have caught him, Sharp -Eyes!” - -“Yes, but I thought he was a wild turkey like the one I saw before. I -never have seen a rooster.” - -“He is as good as a wild turkey to eat,” went on Mr. Fox. “You have had -good luck. You have quick legs as well as sharp eyes. Now we shall not -be hungry.” - -So Mr. Fox carried the big rooster home to the other foxes in the -hollow log. The bird would have been too heavy for Sharp Eyes, who was -not yet full grown. - -“Oh, what a fine dinner!” said Mrs. Fox, when she saw the rooster. “Who -caught it?” - -“Sharp Eyes did,” answered his father. “We ought to be quite proud of -him!” - -“I am,” said the little fox boy’s mother. - -Then they had a rooster dinner, and Twinkle and Winkle listened as -Sharp Eyes told how he had caught the fowl, thinking it was a wild -turkey. - -“Though when it said ‘Cock-a-doodle-do!’ instead of ‘Gobble-obble-obble,’ -I thought it was funny,” said the little fox boy. - -“You are a real fox now――you can go out and catch things for yourself,” -said his father. “Now, Twinkle and Winkle, it is time you started in. -To-morrow let us see what you can do.” - -So the next day the three little foxes started off together on a -hunting trip. At first they saw nothing, but, after a bit, they spied -some wood mice and each caught one. - -“They are not as big as a rooster or a wild turkey,” said Sharp Eyes, -“but they will do for a start. We can’t catch big things every day.” - -Twinkle and Winkle were quite delighted with the mice. They were the -first things they had caught, except some grasshoppers, and they felt a -little bit proud of themselves. - -From then on the little foxes hunted every day. Twinkle and Winkle soon -learned to do nearly as well as Sharp Eyes, but their brother could -always see things in the woods before they could. - -His eyes seemed to grow sharper and brighter each day, and he could -tell a turkey, a partridge or other wild bird a long way off, so that -even his father used to say: - -“Sharp Eyes is the best hunter of us all. He is a fine fox!” - -Not far from where these foxes lived was another family, not quite the -same kind, though. One of these foxes, named Red Tail, as he heard -Sharp Eyes tell of having caught the rooster, said one day: - -“You had better look out for yourself, Sharp Eyes.” - -“Why had I, Red Tail?” - -“Oh, because,” was the answer, and that was all Red Tail would say just -then. - -“Pooh! I s’pose he means a hunter might shoot me,” said Sharp Eyes. -“But I’m not afraid. I’m going off in the woods now and see what I can -find for dinner.” - -Off went the little fox boy on another hunt. He looked all around, and -listened and smelled, and at last he saw something moving along the -ground. - -“Ha! Maybe that is another rooster or a turkey,” thought Sharp Eyes. -“I’ll get that for dinner.” - -Softly, softly he crept up toward the animal on the ground. Sharp Eyes -could now see it was an animal, and not a bird, and at first he thought -it was an extra large wood mouse. For the animal was of the same color, -a light gray. But when Sharp Eyes saw the big, curving bushy tail of -the creature he said: - -“Ha! I know him. It is a gray squirrel! Well, they are as good as a -rooster or a wild turkey, though not as large. I’ll get him!” - -Sharp Eyes crept toward the gray squirrel, but, just as the fox was -going to jump on it, something happened. - -With a chatter of his teeth and a frisk of his tail the squirrel sprang -up into a tree, and from there, safely out of reach, sitting on a limb, -with his tail curled up along his back the squirrel looked at Sharp -Eyes. - -“Ha! You thought you’d get me! didn’t you?” chattered the squirrel. - -“Oh, I don’t know. I’m not so very hungry,” drawled Sharp Eyes, -pretending he hadn’t been fooled when the squirrel jumped away. - -“Oh, yes you did! You tried to get me, but I was too quick for you――I -got away!” laughed and chattered the squirrel. “What’s your name, -little fox boy?” - -“Sharp Eyes. What’s yours?” - -“Oh, I am called Slicko, the jumping squirrel, and it’s because I -can jump so well that I got away from you,” answered the little gray -animal. “Haven’t you heard about me?” - -“Heard about you?” asked Sharp Eyes. “What do you mean? I hear you -talking now, and I heard you scrabbling around in the leaves.” - -“No, I mean, didn’t you hear about my having adventures, and being put -in a book?” asked Slicko. - -“No,” answered Sharp Eyes, looking hungrily up at the squirrel, “I -didn’t.” - -“Well, I _am_ in a book,” went on Slicko, “and it tells how I was -caught by some boys, and put in a cage. But I got away and came back to -the woods I love so well. But if you haven’t read the book about me, I -don’t s’pose you know Blackie, the lost cat, nor Don, the runaway dog.” - -“No,” said Sharp Eyes, “I don’t know either of them. I don’t like -dogs.” - -“Oh, but you’d like _Don_,” said Slicko. “He’s the nicest dog that ever -was! He’s in a book, too.” - -“I don’t know anything about books,” said Sharp Eyes. “All I know about -is being hungry――that’s why I tried to catch you.” - -“I’m glad you didn’t,” chattered Slicko. - -“So am I,” said the fox. “I guess I can easily catch a turkey or a -mouse or a rooster. I’ve caught roosters before. But now I wouldn’t -like to catch you as I like to hear you talk, though I don’t know -anything about books.” - -“Neither do I,” said Slicko. “All I know is I’m in one. And there’s a -book about Tum Tum, the jolly elephant. I don’t s’pose you know him, -either, do you?” - -“Is an elephant like a wild turkey?” asked Sharp Eyes. - -“I should say _not_!” laughed Slicko. “An elephant looks as if he had -two tails, but one is his trunk. Tum Tum was a jolly chap. He was in -the same circus with Mappo, the merry monkey. But excuse me, I have to -go now. I’ll see you some other time.” - -“I wish you would,” said the fox boy. “I’ll promise not to catch you. I -like to hear you talk. Tell me some more about your elephant and monkey -friends.” - -“I will,” promised Slicko, “and about the book I’m in, too. I had a -lot of adventures. Maybe you’ll have some, too, and have them put in a -book.” - -“Oh, no! That will never happen to me!” said Sharp Eyes. - -But you see how little he knew about it, for here he is in a book, and -I have a lot of adventures to tell you about him. - -So Slicko, the jumping squirrel, scrambled off among the trees, and the -little fox boy went to look for something to eat. - -Sharp Eyes presently caught a fat duck that had swum too far down the -brook, away from the farm, and, slinging her across his back, off to -the hollow log he trotted. - -And later that day, when Sharp Eyes was telling his friend, Red Tail, -about catching the duck, Sharp Eyes said: - -“I think I am getting to be a pretty good hunter, don’t you?” - -“Yes, you are,” said Red Tail. “But you had better look out.” - -“You said that the other day,” went on Sharp Eyes. “What do you mean? -Do you mean I’d better look out for Slicko, the squirrel?” - -“Oh, no,” answered Red Tail. “But did you ever stop to think that your -coat of fur is different from those that most of us wear?” - -“Why, no, I never took much notice,” said Sharp Eyes, as he looked at -himself as well as he could. “What’s the matter with my fur?” - -“Nothing, except that it is very beautiful,” said Red Tail. “Now you -are going to hear something that may scare you. Though you may not know -it, you are a silver fox.” - -“What’s that?” asked Sharp Eyes. - -“It means your fur is the color of silver,” went on Red Tail. “That -color is very scarce, and hunters like to get a silver fox more than -any other. That means they’ll hunt you out, and try to catch you rather -than any of us, for our fur is common. But yours is silver shade, and -can be sold for a lot of money. So you want to look out.” - -“Look out for what?” asked Sharp Eyes. - -“For hunters,” answered Red Tail. “I’ll tell you how I happen to know. -Last year, when I was a tiny little fox, I was caught in a trap. A man -who was a trapper of wild animals up in these North Woods caught me. He -took me home to his cabin, and there I saw the skins of many foxes hung -up to dry. - -“There were many like mine, but only one or two of a silver color. As I -was so small, the trapper kept me to tame me, and I stayed in his cabin -a long time. There I learned to know a little of the talk that men -hunters and trappers speak. - -“Other hunters and trappers used to come to the cabin to buy furs, and -they paid more for that of a silver fox than for any other. That is -how I know your silver coat would bring a lot of money if a hunter or -a trapper caught you. So you want to be careful when you go out in the -woods.” - -“Thank you, I will,” promised Sharp Eyes. “I’ll be careful. Thank you -for telling me, Red Tail.” - -The two foxes talked in animal talk a little longer, and Sharp Eyes was -just going back to his hollow log when, all of a sudden, a loud clap, -like thunder, sounded in the woods. - -“What’s that?” cried Sharp Eyes. “Is it going to rain?” - -“No! That was the sound of a gun!” cried Red Tail. “That was a hunter’s -gun! We had better hide, Sharp Eyes! The hunters, even now, may be -after your silver fur!” - -And away ran Red Tail and Sharp Eyes. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -SHARP EYES IS HURT - - -Sharp Eyes, the silver fox, could run very fast. So could Red Tail. -And they knew they must run fast to get away from the dogs of the -hunter. For when men go out to hunt wild animals or to trap them, dogs -generally go with the men, and though a man can not run as fast as a -fox or a deer, dogs can. - -Red Tail told this to Sharp Eyes as they hurried along together. Behind -them could be heard the rumble and roar of the man’s gun, sounding like -thunder. - -“Hurry, Sharp Eyes!” cried Red Tail. “Don’t let the hunter see you!” - -“What will he do if he sees me?” asked the little fox boy. - -“He’ll try to shoot you with his gun. That is, he will if he can not -catch you alive.” - -“Why would he want to catch me alive?” asked Sharp Eyes, as he trotted -along beside the other fox. They slunk down between bushes, ran under -fallen trees, crawled beneath old logs, and even ran in brooks of -water. - -“He’d like to catch you, instead of shooting you, because you are now a -small fox, and will be bigger some day,” answered Red Tail. “The bigger -you are the more fur you’ll have, and it is for your fine silver fur -that the hunter or trapper would like to get you.” - -“Wouldn’t he like yours, too?” asked Sharp Eyes. - -“Well, yes, I guess he’d take my fur, too, if he could get it,” -answered Red Tail. “But mine is not so nice as yours. Of course it -keeps me just as warm, and all that, but people who want fox furs seem -to like your silver color better, though why, I don’t know. You are a -rare fox, and more hunters or trappers will try to get you than would -try to get me. So be careful!” - -“I will,” promised Sharp Eyes. Then he asked: “Don’t you think we can -stop running now and take a rest? I’m tired,” and indeed the little fox -boy was weary. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth and his legs -ached. - -“No, we can’t stop yet,” said Red Tail. “We must run on a little more. -Then we can hide in the dark woods away from the hunter and his dogs -and take a long rest.” - -So on the two foxes ran farther and farther until at last Red Tail, who -was older than Sharp Eyes, and who had been chased by dogs and hunters -before, and knew their ways, said it would be safe to rest. They lay -down on the leaves under a tree and stayed as quiet as mice. They -listened, but could not hear the barking of the dogs nor the bang of -the gun. - -“I guess we got safely away,” said Red Tail, as he crept out a little -way and lapped up some water from a brook. Sharp Eyes did the same, for -they were both very thirsty from their run. - -“Is it all right to go home now?” asked Sharp Eyes, when he had rested -till his tongue was no longer hot nor his legs tired. - -“I’d better take a peep around and see,” answered his friend. “I know -more about hunters and dogs than you do.” - -So Red Tail peeped out from behind some bushes, ready to skip back -again and hide in case he saw danger. But he saw none, and, after a -little while, he and Sharp Eyes went on to their homes, which were not -houses such as you live in, but a hole in a hollow log or a den under -the earth with some rough stones for a front door. - -“Well! where have you been, Sharp Eyes?” asked his sister Winkle, as he -scrambled down inside the hollow log. - -“Oh, I’ve been chased by a hunter and his dogs, and I heard his gun -fired,” answered the little fox boy. - -“You did?” cried his mother, who was listening to what he said. “Oh, -Sharp Eyes, you must be careful!” - -“I will. That’s what Red Tail told me.” - -“And don’t go too much with that Red Tail boy, either,” said Mr. Fox. -“He is a daring sort of chap, and he might lead you into danger. Once -he went to a farmyard in broad daylight and took a chicken. He ought to -have waited until night. He is very daring.” - -“Well, he was good to me,” said Sharp Eyes. “He showed me how to run -away from the hunter.” - -“You must have had a terrible time,” said little Winkle. - -“Oh, it was a sort of adventure,” answered Sharp Eyes. - -“What’s adventure?” Twinkle, his brother, asked. - -“It’s things that happen to you,” answered Sharp Eyes. “And then they -are put into a book. That’s what happened to Slicko.” - -“Who’s Slicko?” asked Winkle. - -“A jumping squirrel,” replied Sharp Eyes, and he told of the talk the -two had had together. - -For some days after this nothing much happened to Sharp Eyes. He stayed -with his father and mother and brother and sister in their hollow log -house, going out now and then to get something to eat, or to drink -water at the brook. - -“That boy of ours is going to be very smart,” said Mr. Fox to his wife -one day. - -“What makes you think so?” she asked. - -“Why, when we were out hunting in the woods to-day he saw a big muskrat -that I couldn’t see, and he caught it.” - -“Yes, I think he has the best eyes, for seeing things to eat, of -any foxes in this wood,” said Mrs. Fox. “I only wish his fur was a -different color.” - -“Why?” - -“Because it is too beautiful. If it was red or brown, like yours and -mine, the hunters and trappers would not be after him so much. But he -is a silver fox, and you know how such skins are prized. There is a big -reward for a silver fox skin, Red Tail’s mother told me.” - -“Yes, I suppose there is,” said Mr. Fox. “I remember hearing, when I -was a boy, that a silver skin was much sought after by hunters. I never -was colored that way myself, but I knew a fox who was a boy when I was. -He had silver fur, and one day he did not come to play with us. We -asked where he was, and his father said a hunter had shot him to get -his silver fur.” - -“It’s too bad,” said Mrs. Fox. “I wish the hunters would leave us -alone. I must tell Sharp Eyes to be careful.” - -Each night, now that he was big enough, Sharp Eyes went out with his -father or mother, Twinkle or Winkle sometimes going with them, to hunt -for things to eat. When they dared they went to a farm which was not -far from the North Woods where they lived. - -“It is easier to get a chicken or a duck than to hunt for a wild turkey -or the wood mice,” said Mr. Fox. “We’ll eat at the farmyard if we can.” - -And often they did, though sometimes the dogs barked when the foxes -came near, or the farmer and his men would come out with guns, and -the foxes would have to run away. At such times they had to hunt for -something to eat in the woods. And, if they did not find it, they would -go hungry. That was no fun. - -One night, when the whole fox family had been out hunting and had been -frightened away from the farm by barking dogs, they were all very -hungry. - -“I wish I had something to eat,” sighed Winkle. - -“Well, we can’t have anything, so we’ll just have to wait,” said her -mother. - -“Where’s Sharp Eyes?” asked Mr. Fox. “Didn’t he come back with us?” - -“He said he was going back to the farm, and try to get a chicken or a -duck,” returned Twinkle. “He said he was terribly hungry. And so am I.” - -“Sharp Eyes may be caught,” said Mrs. Fox. “You had better go back and -make him come with you,” she went on to Mr. Fox. - -“I will,” said he, but just as he started out on the woodland path, -Sharp Eyes came running along, with a big chicken slung over his back. - -“Look what I got!” he barked, as he laid it in front of his mother. - -“Where did you get it?” asked Winkle. - -“At that farmyard. I waited until the wind was blowing the other way, -so the dogs could not smell me coming, and then I crawled in and got -this bird.” - -“It’s a wonder you weren’t caught yourself,” said his father. “You are -getting as reckless as Red Tail. You must look out for danger.” - -“I did,” answered Sharp Eyes. Then they all ate the chicken he had -brought, and his mother said he was very clever. - -“But you’ll not always be as lucky as that,” said Red Tail to Sharp -Eyes the next day, when the fox boy told what he had done. “Some day -you may be caught in a trap.” - -“What’s a trap?” asked Sharp Eyes. “Is it like a book that Slicko the -squirrel had adventures in?” - -[Illustration: “‘Look what I got!’ he barked.”] - -“No, a trap is something that hurts you,” said Red Tail. - -A few days after that the silver fox had a chance to see for himself, -and feel for himself, what a trap was like. - -Sharp Eyes was trotting along through the woods, not far from the -farmer’s yard; and as he was looking toward it hoping he might catch a -stray duck or a rooster, all of a sudden he saw a chicken lying to one -side of the path. - -“Oh, ho!” said Sharp Eyes to himself. “I’ll just get that and take it -home for lunch.” - -So he crept softly up on the chicken, which did not seem to know a fox -was so near. When he was close enough, Sharp Eyes gave a jump and came -straight down on top of the fowl, making a grab for it with his teeth. - -At the same time there was a sharp click, and Sharp Eyes felt a sudden -pain in one paw. It stung and ached. - -“Oh!” cried the fox boy. “I’m hurt! Something has me fast by the foot! -Oh, what can it be? Did the chicken bite me?” - -He tried to pull his paw loose, but could not. He was caught, and was -held fast. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -SHARP EYES MEETS DON - - -After the first pain felt on being caught, and when he found he could -not pull his paw loose, Sharp Eyes lay quietly on the ground, partly -covering up the chicken. He did not howl, which was his way of crying -when he was hurt, though he wanted to do so very much. But foxes and -other wild animals do not make much noise in the woods, for they like -to keep quiet so no larger animals, or hunter-men with their dogs, may -know where to find them. - -“Something terrible has happened to me,” thought Sharp Eyes, as once -more he tried to pull loose his paw. But he could not, and each time he -pulled the pain was worse. - -“If I make too much noise,” thought Sharp Eyes, “Bruin, the bear, may -hear me and come to bite me. Or the hunters may come with their dogs, -and I could not get away.” - -There were bears in the North Woods where Sharp Eyes lived, and hunters -and dogs often came to the forest. - -“And, now that I am caught fast, I can’t get away if they should come -up close to me,” thought the little fox boy. “I must keep quiet and not -make too much noise, though I would like to call and ask my father or -mother to come to help me.” - -Sharp Eyes whined a little from the pain, and then he tried to be brave -and not mind it. - -“I wonder what it is that has caught me,” said the little fox boy to -himself. “And why didn’t the chicken flutter and try to get away when I -jumped on her? That was very funny!” - -He soon saw the reason the chicken did not move. It was dead, and Sharp -Eyes knew he had not killed it. - -“She must have been dead when I jumped on her,” said the little fox -boy. “And now to see what has caught me.” - -He could move about a little, and, pawing with one of his feet that was -not caught, Sharp Eyes brushed the chicken to one side. Then he saw -that his left forefoot was caught between two jaws of iron. - -“Oh, I’m in a trap!” exclaimed Sharp Eyes. “I never saw a trap before, -but this is just what my father said they were like. He told me to keep -out of them, but I didn’t see this one. The chicken was in the way, or -I might have noticed the trap. Oh dear! I wonder if I will ever get -loose!” - -Sharp Eyes pulled some more, but the pain in his foot soon made him -stop. - -“If you had only been alive you could have told me about the trap, and -then I wouldn’t have been caught in it,” said Sharp Eyes, speaking to -the dead chicken, as though it were alive. - -If he had only known, the chicken was put there near the trap, partly -covering it, on purpose. It was bait for the trap, just as mousetraps -are baited with cheese. And the trap was set in the woods by a hunter -who hoped to catch a fox or some other wild animal in it. - -The chicken had been killed and put near the trap, for the hunter knew -wild animals like such things to eat. And the hunter knew that if a -fox came along, the first thing it would do would be to jump for the -chicken, thinking it was alive. - -Underneath the outspread wings of the chicken was the open trap, and as -soon as Sharp Eyes’ paw touched the spring, snap! shut went the jaws of -the trap, catching him fast there. It was the jaws of the trap pressing -on Sharp Eyes’ paw that hurt him. - -“Oh, if I could only get away!” said the little fox boy to himself. “If -I can only get away I’ll never jump at a chicken again, without looking -first to make sure there’s no trap!” - -But it was too late to think of that now. Sharp Eyes was caught, and -every time he pulled his leg it hurt him so that he soon stopped. - -“Red Tail was right,” he whispered to himself. “He said something would -happen to me some day, and it has. Oh dear!” - -Sharp Eyes kept quiet as long as he could, and then his paw pained him -so that he had to cry out. But he cried very softly. Then he called for -his father and mother, using fox language, of course. - -But they did not answer him, for they were far away. - -“Twinkle! Winkle! Can’t you come and help me out of the trap?” barked -the little fox boy, held fast, all alone in the woods, near the dead -chicken. - -But neither Twinkle nor Winkle answered. They, too, were far away. They -were off hunting with their father and mother, and though they wondered -where Sharp Eyes was, they thought he was safe. - -“Sharp Eyes can take care of himself,” said his mother. - -“But I hope the hunters or trappers don’t get him and take his lovely, -silver fur,” said Winkle. If they could only have known what had -happened to poor Sharp Eyes they would surely have gone to help him, -wouldn’t they? - -“But I _must_ get away,” thought Sharp Eyes. “If I stay in this trap -much longer the hunter will come and get me. Or his dogs will come and -bite me! Oh, I must get loose!” - -So he pulled and tugged away to get out of the trap, but his foot hurt -him more and more and he had to stop. - -Sharp Eyes was in such pain, and so troubled about what might happen to -him, that he did not even feel like eating some of the chicken, though -he had been hungry a little while before. Now his appetite was all gone. - -The little fox did not know what to do. He called again for his father -and his mother, and for Twinkle and Winkle, but none of them came. -Then, all at once, there was a noise in the bushes, and something -seemed to be coming toward Sharp Eyes where he was caught fast in the -trap. - -“Oh, I hope it’s my father or mother!” thought the fox. - -But it was not. Instead, a big dog, who was kind-looking, and not -fierce and angry, burst through the bushes. - -“Oh dear!” thought Sharp Eyes. “This is the hunter’s dog! Now I am -surely lost. They’ll take my silver fur. Oh, if I had only kept out of -the trap!” - -[Illustration: “‘Hello, what’s the matter here?’ asked the dog.”] - -Once more Sharp Eyes tried to get loose, but the pain in his leg made -him stop. He looked at the dog, and got as far away as he could. But -the trap was fast to a chain, of which one end was wound around a tree -and could not be pulled off. - -“Hello, what’s the matter here?” asked the dog, who, of course, could -speak animal talk, though not exactly the same language that Sharp Eyes -and his friends used. “What’s the matter?” - -“Oh, you know well enough what’s the matter,” said Sharp Eyes sadly. -“I’m caught in a trap your master set, and I suppose you and he are -coming to get me now.” - -“What’s that? A trap? I don’t know anything about a trap,” answered the -dog. “And I’m sure my master never set one. He lives in a big house far -away from here. I used to live in a house where there was a nice little -girl. I liked her very much, and often I went for walks with her. -Once I took her to a park menagerie, and she fell into the tank where -Chunky, the happy hippo, lived. But Chunky lifted her out of the water -on his broad back and saved her. Chunky is a friend of mine. - -“My people have taken a bungalow over on the lake off there, and we’re -staying there for a while. It’s a good way off from here, but not so -far as our real home, where we live all the time. - -“To-day I wanted to have some adventures, so I trotted off from my -master’s bungalow. They don’t need me to-day, as they have all gone -visiting. So I came to the woods, but I never expected to see you. Are -you another dog? You look a little like one, only your nose is sharper -than mine, and you are not so large.” - -“No, I am a fox, and my name is Sharp Eyes,” came the answer. “And I am -caught in a trap. But please don’t bite me.” - -“Bite you? Why should I bite you?” asked the dog. - -“Why, I thought all dogs belonged to hunters or trappers and that they -bit us foxes,” said Sharp Eyes. - -“Well, I don’t,” was the reply. “My name is Don, and once I was a -runaway dog, but I ran back. I am a little like a runaway dog to-day, -but I am going to run back home to-night, as soon as I have had some -adventures in the woods. This is the start of one, I guess. I’m sorry -you are in the trap.” - -“Are you, really?” asked Sharp Eyes, who had been taught that all dogs -were bad and cruel. - -“Of course I am, Sharp Eyes,” answered Don. “I know what it is to be in -pain, and I can see that where your paw is caught it must hurt you.” - -“Indeed it does,” answered the fox. “I’ve tried to get away but I -can’t.” - -“How did you get in the trap?” asked Don. - -“Oh, I didn’t look closely enough before I made a jump for this -chicken. It was right over the trap, to hide it, and now I am fast.” - -“Well, maybe you can get loose,” said Don. “I’ll help you. This is what -my friend Slicko, the jumping squirrel, would call an adventure.” - -“Oh, do _you_ know Slicko?” asked Sharp Eyes, and he was so surprised -that he forgot his pain for a moment. - -“Of course I know Slicko,” was the answer. “I stayed two or three -nights in the same woods with Slicko.” - -“Now I know who you are,” went on the fox. “I met Slicko, and we spoke -of you, though I never expected to meet you. And who is this Chunky you -talked of, and who saved your master’s little girl?” - -“Chunky is a hippopotamus, or, as I call him for short, a hippo,” said -Don. “He lived in a jungle in Africa for a long time and had lots -of adventures. Then he was caught in a pit trap and brought to this -country. He was in a circus, and I met him in the park menagerie. He -knew Tum Tum, the jolly elephant, Mappo, the merry monkey, and other -friends of mine. Chunky had a book written about him. I’ve had a book -written about me, too!” - -“So had Slicko,” said Sharp Eyes. “My! it seems quite fashionable to -get in a book nowadays.” - -“It is fashionable,” answered Don. “Almost as fashionable as your -silver fur. That’s why you were trapped, I presume. Some hunter wants -your fur.” - -“I suppose so,” said Sharp Eyes sadly. “Oh, I wish I could get out of -this trap!” - -“Hark!” cried Don suddenly. “Don’t you hear something?” - -“Yes, I do,” answered Sharp Eyes, listening. “But I can’t see anything, -held fast as I am.” - -“I’ll look,” offered Don, peeping out between two bushes. What he saw -made him cry out in animal talk: - -“Oh, it’s a man coming with a gun! I guess he’s coming to get you, -Sharp Eyes! He must have set the trap.” - -“Oh dear! what shall I do?” asked Sharp Eyes. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -SHARP EYES IS CAPTURED - - -Don, the kind dog, as soon as he had seen the hunter coming toward the -place in the woods where the trap that had caught the fox was set, ran -back toward Sharp Eyes. - -“What are you going to do?” asked Sharp Eyes. - -“I am going to try to help you get loose,” was the answer. “I don’t -want to see you taken away by the hunter, and maybe kept until you grow -to be a big fox, so they can take off your silver fur. I’m going to try -to help you get loose.” - -“How?” asked the fox. - -“Well, I’ll sort of push you, and you can sort of pull, and maybe you -can pull your leg loose from the trap.” - -“But it hurts when I pull on it,” said Sharp Eyes. - -“No matter,” replied Don. “It is better to be hurt a little on the foot -than to be kept a prisoner and maybe be hurt a lot, or even killed, -when they take your silver fur. And we must be quick! The hunter will -soon be here!” - -“Oh, I would like to get away!” cried Sharp Eyes. - -“Then pull as hard as you can on your leg that is caught in the trap,” -said Don. “There is a way to open spring traps by stepping on them, but -I don’t know about it. If my master were here he could do it. But he -isn’t. You must help yourself and I’ll help you. Come now, pull!” - -“Oh, but it hurts!” whimpered Sharp Eyes, as he pulled a little. - -“No matter! It must be done!” said Don. “You pull and I’ll push you, -Sharp Eyes.” - -Don, the kind dog, put his shoulder against that of Sharp Eyes. The fox -pulled on his leg as hard as he could. It hurt him very much, but the -hunter could be heard coming nearer and nearer and Sharp Eyes did not -want to be caught. - -“Pull! Pull!” softly barked Don. “Are you pulling?” - -“I am! I am!” answered Sharp Eyes. He felt as if his leg would come -off, and the pain in his toes was very bad. But he did not give up, -and, at last, with his pulling and Don’s pushing, out came the fox -boy’s foot from the trap. Sharp Eyes’ toes were cut, and the skin and -fur were scraped off so that he could not put that paw to the ground. - -“But don’t mind about that!” barked Don. “You can run on three legs -nearly as well as on four. I’ve done it myself when I’ve cut my foot -on a sharp stone or a bit of glass. Come on, the hunter is very close! -Run!” - -So Sharp Eyes ran, and Don ran with him, the fox limping on three legs. -The fox and the dog dodged in and out among the bushes and trees of the -woods, for they did not want the hunter to see them. - -“There, I guess we are far enough away now,” said Don, after a bit. “Do -you know your way home, Sharp Eyes?” - -“Oh, yes, thank you! Now that I am out of the trap I can easily find -it. Won’t you come home with me?” - -“No, I guess not. I’m looking for adventures. Besides, if I went home -with you, I might scare your folks. They don’t like dogs. But I’m not -the hunting kind.” - -“Then I’m sure they’d like you,” said Sharp Eyes. - -“Well, maybe some other time I’ll come to see you. Trot along home now -and look out for traps,” barked Don. - -“I will,” promised Sharp Eyes, as he limped along on three legs. The -one he had pulled from the trap hurt him very much, and was bleeding a -little. - -“But I’m glad I’m loose, anyhow,” thought Sharp Eyes. “No more traps -for me!” - -But you just wait and see what happened to him next. - -The hunter, with his dogs and gun, came to the place where he had set -the trap and baited it with a chicken. - -“Something has been here!” said the man. “The trap is sprung, but there -is nothing here now. I wonder what it was and how it got away.” - -His dog smelled around the trap, and then ran off through the woods, -barking. The dog had smelled the path taken by Don and Sharp Eyes, and -was after them――on the “trail” as the hunters say. - -The hunter looked at the trap more closely. He saw some bits of hair on -the jaws. - -“It must have been a fox,” said the hunter. “But the hairs are of -silver color, and not red like most foxes! A silver fox! If I could -capture him it would be great! Silver fox skins are rare! I must set -another kind of trap for this fox. I wonder how he got away.” - -The hunter could not guess that Don, the kind dog, had helped the -fox to get free, and was now running with him through the woods. The -hunter’s own particular hunting dog was also on the trail of the fox, -but pretty soon he came to a brook. There the fox smell stopped. - -The dog barked and howled, and ran up and down the stream, but he -could not smell the fox any more, and that is the only way he had of -following――by the smell, or “scent.” - -“Come on back,” said the hunter, as he followed on and saw where his -dog had stopped. “The fox has crossed running water, and the trail is -lost. I’ll set a better trap for him next time――one that will capture -him alive. It would be a pity to spoil that fine silver pelt in a -spring trap, or by shooting. Come on!” - -The hunter whistled to his dog, and they went back through the woods, -giving up the chase for that day. When running away, Sharp Eyes and Don -had been cute enough to go into the running water and wade part way up -the brook. - -The brook left no smell of the paws of Don or of Sharp Eyes, and the -hunter’s hound could not follow. When they can, wild animals will -always cross a stream, or wade up or down it, to lose their scent so -hunting dogs can not follow. - -“Well, I’ll leave you here,” said Don to Sharp Eyes, when they had run -on through the woods for some distance, after crossing and wading in -the brook. “I’ll go and see if I can have any more adventures.” - -“Wasn’t helping me one?” asked Sharp Eyes. - -“Yes, it was,” answered Don. “And if ever a book is written about you, -I hope that part is put in.” - -“Oh, there’ll never be a book written about _me_!” said Sharp Eyes. - -But that shows how little he knew about it, doesn’t it? - -“Do you think you’ll be all right?” asked Don. - -“Oh, yes, thank you. I can get home all right now,” said Sharp Eyes. -“I’ll have to limp on three legs for a while, but that’s nothing.” - -“It’s better than being held fast in the trap,” said the dog. - -“Indeed it is!” agreed the fox. - -Then Sharp Eyes hurried on until he reached his home in the hollow log. -By this time his father and mother, with Twinkle and Winkle, had come -back from the hunt. They had some partridges and wood mice, and there -was plenty for all to eat. - -“Oh, my poor little Sharp Eyes!” said Mrs. Fox, when she saw him. “What -hurt you?” - -“I got caught in a trap,” he answered, and he told all that had -happened, and how Don had helped him get loose. - -“That dog was very kind to you,” remarked Twinkle. - -“Yes, indeed he was. But you must be more careful,” said Mr. Fox -gravely. “The next time you get caught, Sharp Eyes, you may not get out -so easily. A scraped paw is nothing. You were very lucky.” - -Sharp Eyes thought so himself, and the next few days, as he limped -around through the woods, he kept a careful watch for traps or other -signs of danger. But he saw none. - -In about a week his foot was well enough for him to use again in -walking or running, but he still limped a little. It was not quite all -healed. - -One morning, very early, Sharp Eyes got up before any of the others, -and started out of the hollow log house. - -“I’m going through the woods and down by that farmhouse,” said the fox -to himself. “Maybe I can find a fat duck for breakfast.” - -Sharp Eyes did not go near the place where he had been caught in the -trap. He did not like to remember it, and he thought perhaps there -might be another set there to catch him. So he went about a mile out of -his way, and then circled around toward the farm. - -Before he reached it, and while still in the woods, the fox heard a -noise which sounded like: - -“Cock-a-doodle-do!” - -“Ha! I know what that is!” said Sharp Eyes. “That’s a rooster! The same -sort of bird I once thought was a wild turkey. Well, I am pretty good -at catching things now, and maybe I can catch that rooster. I’m going -to try!” - -Carefully, Sharp Eyes crept through the woods. The sound of the -rooster’s crowing sounded louder now, and it seemed to stay in the same -place. - -“He doesn’t hear me coming, or see me or smell me,” thought Sharp Eyes. -“Maybe I can get close enough up to him to grab him. But I must be -careful of traps!” - -On and on through the woods crept Sharp Eyes softly. He came to a -little place where the trees had been cut down, and in the center of -this clearing was what seemed to be a box. The crowing of the rooster -came from inside this box. - -“Oh, ho!” thought Sharp Eyes. “This is a henhouse――the same kind I went -into down at that farm, and brought out a fat duck. There is a rooster -in this little henhouse, and I’ll go in and get him. Then I’ll have a -fine dinner!” - -“Cock-a-doodle-do!” crowed the rooster. - -“I’m coming to get you!” laughed Sharp Eyes to himself. - -Nearer and nearer he went. He could look right in the box, now, and see -the rooster. The crowing fowl did not come out. - -“But I’ll soon fetch you out!” said Sharp Eyes. He looked all about on -the ground. He could see no traps in sight. The fox thought it was all -right. - -Softly he went up to the box. He went inside. At the far end he could -see the rooster, which was tied fast by one leg. That was the reason it -could not get out. - -“Ah, ha! Now I have you!” thought Sharp Eyes. - -He made a spring, inside the box, after the fowl. And just then -something happened. There was a clicking noise behind the fox, and, all -of a sudden, it got dark. - -“This is queer!” thought Sharp Eyes. “That click sounded just like a -trap, but I am not caught fast, as I was by my paw the other time. I -feel no pain. Still maybe this is a trick. I guess I’d better go out -again, and look around some more.” - -He turned to go out, but found he could not. Behind him a door had -sprung shut. Sharp Eyes was caught in the dark box with the rooster. -The little fox was captured! He was in another kind of trap! - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -SHARP EYES IS SOLD - - -If you have ever been shut up in a dark closet, and could not open the -door to get out, you can imagine how bad Sharp Eyes felt. Just as you -may have done, he banged against the walls, and pushed against the -door, but it would not open. - -“Oh dear!” whimpered the fox. “This is terrible! Here I am caught in a -trap again, and I said I’d be careful! I wonder how I can get out of -here!” - -Sharp Eyes looked about him. He saw that, surely enough, he was in a -trap, though a different kind from the one that had hurt his foot, and -had made him walk lame. This one did not pinch him. Then the fox looked -at the rooster, whose crowing had brought him to the trap. - -The rooster was not crowing now. I suppose he was too badly frightened -at having the fox so near him. But when Sharp Eyes looked again he saw -that he could not get the rooster, even though they were both in the -trap. - -For the rooster was in the back part, behind a screen of wire netting, -and though Sharp Eyes had very keen teeth, they could not gnaw through -wire. - -“Anyhow, I don’t feel like eating a rooster now,” said the fox to -himself. “I want to get out of here.” - -Once more he looked around the trap in which he was caught. The fox did -not know much about traps, but he could easily see that this one was -not going to be easy to get out from. It was like a big box, open at -one end, and it was through this open end that Sharp Eyes had walked in. - -As soon as he was inside, the open end of the box closed with a wooden -door, which snapped shut, just as might the door of a closet in which -you had gone to play hide-and-go-seek. - -Sharp Eyes pushed hard against this end door. He pushed against the -sides of the box, and he pushed against the wire screen behind which -the rooster stood. But the fox could not get out. Neither could the -rooster, and the fowl fluttered about every time the fox moved, -thinking, I suppose, that something dreadful was going to happen. - -But nothing did happen, at least for a while. The fox was shut up in -the trap, and all his trying could not get him out. - -“Maybe if I call for my father and mother, or for Don, the nice dog -who helped me before, they will come and save me,” thought Sharp Eyes. - -So he howled softly, and barked a little, almost like a dog, for a fox -is really a sort of wild dog. - -No one answered his calls for help, however, and then the fox, feeling -very sad, curled himself up in one corner of the box-trap and tried to -think what was best to do. For foxes and other wild animals do think, -in a way, and foxes, especially, are very smart at keeping out of -traps, or getting loose once they are caught. But there seemed to be no -way out for Sharp Eyes this time. - -“It was silly of me to come in here after this rooster,” thought the -fox boy. “I thought this box was a little chicken coop, but it was -nothing but a trap. Oh dear!” - -All of a sudden Sharp Eyes sat up. He heard some one coming through the -woods. He could hear the rustle of dried leaves and the cracking of -little sticks as they were stepped on and broken. At first Sharp Eyes -thought perhaps his father or mother, or some of the other foxes, might -be coming to help him. But as the noise grew louder, the fox said: - -“That can’t be any of my friends. They would never make as much noise -as that”; for, you know, wild animals go through the woods very softly -indeed. - -“Maybe it’s Don, come to help me again,” thought Sharp Eyes. “I’ll call -to him.” - -So, in animal talk, Sharp Eyes called: - -“Don! Don! Is that you? I’m in another trap! Please help me out!” - -Sharp Eyes listened, but he did not hear Don’s voice in answer. Instead -he heard man-talk, or, as afterward it turned out to be, boy-talk. - -“Hark!” cried one boy. “Did you hear that?” - -“Yes, I did,” answered another. “It sounded like a dog barking.” - -“It’s in my trap, whatever it is,” said the first boy. “But I don’t -believe it’s a dog.” - -Of course Sharp Eyes did not understand what the boys were talking -about, for he could not talk to them nor could they speak to him. But, -very shortly, Sharp Eyes saw four eyes looking down in at him from the -top of the cage. - -“Oh, something’s in your trap!” cried a boy, whose name was Jack. - -“Yes, and it’s a fox――a silver fox!” shouted a boy, whose name was Tom. -“Say, this is a fine catch! I can get some money for his fur!” - -“You can?” asked Jack. - -“I surely can! Silver foxes are worth a lot of money. I never thought -I’d get one when I set my trap here, but I have. I’ve caught a dandy -silver fox with our old rooster for bait.” - -“Didn’t the fox eat the rooster?” asked Jack. - -“No, he couldn’t,” replied Tom. “I put the rooster behind a wire screen -in one part of my box trap, and left the other end open for a fox to -come in. As soon as he did, he knocked down a stick that held the -spring door open, and the door shut down and caught the fox.” - -“What are you going to do with him?” asked Jack. - -“Well, I’ll take him home, and then I’ll have my father take off his -skin and sell it. Come on, help me carry the fox home.” - -“But won’t he bite?” asked Jack. - -“We won’t let him out of the trap,” said Tom. “He can’t get out. We’ll -carry him home, trap and all.” - -“And the rooster, too?” - -“Yes, the rooster too. He was good bait. I thought a fox would come to -my trap if he heard a rooster crow.” - -And that is just what happened, you know, though Sharp Eyes did not -understand all that the boys were talking about. - -Through the woods, for mile after mile, Tom and Jack carried Sharp Eyes -in the trap. At last they came to some fields and, crossing these, they -reached the house where Tom lived. His father was chopping wood and -another man was standing near. This man had a gun, and beside him lay a -hunting dog. - -“Hello, Tom, what have you there?” asked his father. - -“I caught a fox in my trap,” answered the boy. “It’s a silver fox, too!” - -“A silver fox!” cried the man with the gun. “Did you say a fox with -silver-colored fur?” - -“That’s what he is!” answered Tom, a bit proudly. At the same time the -dog jumped up, and, sniffing at the box-trap, began to bark. Poor Sharp -Eyes was much frightened, and scrambled around in his cage, trying hard -to get out. But he could not. - -“Be quiet, Skip!” called the hunter to his dog. “You won’t have to -chase this fox. He is safely caught. What are you going to do with -him?” the hunter asked Tom. - -“Sell his fur. I’ve heard that silver fox skins bring a big price down -in the city.” - -“That’s right, they do,” said the hunter. “Let me take a look at this -one.” - -Tom opened a little slide in the top of the trap. It was not large -enough for Sharp Eyes to jump out of, but it gave a good view of him. -The hunter looked down at the fox. He saw that one paw had been hurt -and was only just healed. - -“Well, I do declare!” exclaimed the hunter. “I believe that is the -same silver fox that got out of my trap, Tom. You are very lucky. A -silver fox skin is valuable. But you will not get much for this one.” - -“Why not?” asked Tom. - -“Because it is too small. You will have to wait for the fox to grow. -Then his skin will be worth twice as much. But if you don’t want to -wait, Tom, I’ll buy this fox from you alive, and I’ll keep him until he -is big. Then I can sell the skin.” - -Tom thought about it. He wanted money now, and did not like to have to -wait, perhaps a year, for Sharp Eyes to grow. - -“Yes,” said Tom to the man, “I’ll sell you this silver fox.” - -So Sharp Eyes was sold to the very hunter from whose trap Don had -helped him to escape, though the fox did not know this was the same -man and the dog who had chased him. The dog was sniffing and snuffing -around the trap. - -“Come away from there, Skip!” ordered his master. “You can’t chase that -fox. I’ve got him safe now.” - -So the hunter paid Tom a goodly sum of money for the silver fox, and -took him away in a box, into which he was turned from the trap. The -rooster was let out of his side of the trap, being no longer needed for -bait. And my! how gladly that rooster crowed! He must have felt, all -the while, that he was going to be eaten by the fox. - -As for Sharp Eyes, the hunter carried him away through the woods, to -his own log cabin, putting him in a strong box, on a wagon drawn by a -horse. - -“Well, I wonder what will happen to me next,” thought the silver fox. -“I seem to have gone from one trap to another. But this one is larger -than the one where the rooster was.” - -This was not really a trap, it was a box, and it had some soft straw -in it on which Sharp Eyes could lie down. And he was so tired, and -lonesome for his own folks, that he stretched out and tried to sleep. -But it was hard work, for the wagon jolted over the rough roads of -the forest. Sharp Eyes had been sold, and was going to have some new -adventures, but just what kind he did not know. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -SHARP EYES GOES TRAVELING - - -For many days, weeks and months Sharp Eyes was kept shut up in a box at -the cabin of the hunter who had bought him from Tom. The silver fox was -not kept in the same small cage in which he had traveled through the -woods. The hunter knew better than to do that, for he wanted the fox to -be well and strong, so his fur would grow thicker and longer and more -fluffy as Sharp Eyes grew. - -“We must make a nice cage for you, and tame you a bit, so you will eat -well and be happy,” said the hunter, when he got Sharp Eyes safely to -his cabin. “I think I can soon make you so tame you will not fret, and -always want to get out.” - -So the hunter made, near his cabin in the woods, a nice large cage for -Sharp Eyes, the silver fox. There were two parts to the cage, one a -dark one, with cool earth for the floor, but with tin underneath the -earth, so Sharp Eyes could not dig his way out, for foxes are almost as -good diggers as are dogs, when dogs bury bones. - -In this dark part of his cage Sharp Eyes could sleep and rest at night, -away from all danger. The other part of his cage was made of strong -wire, and was open on all sides and the top, so plenty of fresh air and -sunshine and even rain could come in. - -Foxes and other animals must have fresh air and sunshine, and they do -not mind being wet in the rain, for it all helps them to grow big and -strong. And the hunter wanted Sharp Eyes to become a big fox, with a -fine, shiny coat of fur. - -“I’ll make his cage as near like the woods as I can,” the hunter said, -so he put bits of stumps, rocks and branches of trees in the open part, -so that it looked a little like the woods. There was also clean, cool -water to drink. - -“But it isn’t the woods at all,” thought the unhappy Sharp Eyes, as -he roved about in the wire part of his new cage. “In the woods I can -run as far as I like, but here, when I go a little way, I bump my nose -against the wooden or the wire walls. I can not get out. I am as much -in a trap as ever, even if it is a larger one. Oh dear! I wish I could -get loose!” - -Sharp Eyes tried all the ways he knew of getting out of his cage near -the cabin in the woods, but the cage was made too strong for him. The -hunter well knew how to do such things. - -For a time Sharp Eyes felt so bad about being caught that he would not -eat. Even when the hunter put bits of wild turkey in the cage, Sharp -Eyes would not look at them. - -But wild animals can not very long stand being hungry, any more than -can boys and girls. Sharp Eyes sniffed the good things the hunter put -in to make him eat, and at last, after he had taken a drink of cool -water, he felt that he must chew something with his sharp teeth. He -went over, nibbled at a bit of partridge the hunter had tossed in, and -it tasted so good, that Sharp Eyes said to himself: - -“Oh, I might as well eat! I don’t believe that I’ll ever get out of -here. I may as well make the best of it.” - -So he ate and felt better. The hunter came and looked at Sharp Eyes. - -“Ah, ha!” exclaimed the man, “you are eating, I see. I am glad of it. -Now you will grow big, and your silver coat of fur will grow big on you -and I can take it off and sell it. Get big and fat, little fox.” - -Of course Sharp Eyes did not know what this meant, but he ate just the -same, and felt better. Then he ran around his cage looking for some way -of getting out, but there seemed none. The wooden and wire walls were -as strong as ever. - -So the days and nights passed. Often in the night, when the hunter was -fast asleep, Sharp Eyes would call, in animal language, for some of the -dwellers of the woods to come to him and help him get out. - -“Help me to get loose!” the fox boy would softly whine. But none came -near him who could help him. Not many wild animals, and no foxes, would -come close to the clearing in which the hunter’s cabin stood. - -Now and then a night bird, flying in the trees overhead, heard the call -of Sharp Eyes, and asked him: - -“What is the matter?” - -“Oh, I want to get out of here!” would answer the fox. “Can’t you fly -and tell my father or mother to get me out of this cage?” - -“I’ll try,” the bird would promise, just as some of the friends of -Chunky, the happy hippo, had promised to go to get Tum Tum, the -elephant, to help him out of the pit trap. But Tum Tum could not be -found then, nor could the birds find Mr. or Mrs. Fox. The father and -mother of Sharp Eyes were deep in the North Woods. - -Sometimes at night Sharp Eyes would cry for Don, the dog, to come to -help him get out of the cage, as Don had helped the fox pull loose from -the spring trap. And one night Don, who was roving in the woods far -away from his master’s house, as he had done once before, passed near -the hunter’s cabin. - -“What! are you here, Sharp Eyes?” asked the dog, in surprise. - -“Yes,” answered the wild creature. “Can’t you help me get out?” - -“I’ll try,” answered Don. - -But Sharp Eyes’ cage was made strong to keep animals from getting -in, as well as to keep Sharp Eyes from getting out, and Don could do -nothing. - -“I’m sorry,” he said to Sharp Eyes. “It needs some one stronger than -I am to break open your cage. If I could only get Chunky, the happy -hippo, here, he could open your cage with one shove of his big head.” - -“Can’t you get him here?” asked Sharp Eyes, eagerly. - -“I’m afraid not,” answered the dog. “He is in the park menagerie far -away. You’ll never see Chunky.” - -But just you wait and see what happens. - -So Sharp Eyes was kept in the hunter’s cage for nearly a year. And in -that time the silver fox grew quite tame. He saw that the hunter was -not going to hurt him――at least for a while, and the man brought good -things for the fox to eat and nice water to drink. - -After a while Sharp Eyes let the man put his hand through a hole in the -wire, and the fox did not try to bite as he had done at first. Then, a -little later, Sharp Eyes let the man pat him on the head, and the fox -rather liked it. - -“Hunters are not so bad as I thought,” said Sharp Eyes to himself. -“This one doesn’t shoot me, anyhow.” - -And even the hunter’s dog did not bark or growl at the fox as much as -it had at first. The two never were very good friends, but they did not -snap at one another as they had done during the first days after Sharp -Eyes was brought to the cabin in the woods. - -“I chased after you once,” said the hunter’s dog to Sharp Eyes. - -“Yes, I know you did, Skip,” replied the fox, in animal language. “But -Red Tail and I waded in a brook of water, and then you could not smell -us to come after us.” - -“Yes, you fooled me,” said the dog, with a sort of barking laugh. “I -was mad at the time, but I’ve gotten over it now.” - -“Would you chase me again if you had the chance?” asked Sharp Eyes. - -“Yes, I guess I would,” answered the dog. “You see, I am used to -hunting, and I can’t get over it so soon, even if you are a tamer fox -than you were at first. If you get out of the cage I’ll have to bring -you back, but I’ll try not to hurt you.” - -“Then I guess I’d better be careful how I get out of this cage,” -thought Sharp Eyes to himself. “I must not do it when Skip, the dog, is -near. But I would like to get away.” - -More days passed. Sharp Eyes kept on getting big and strong until he -was nearly as large as Skip. - -Then one day a strange man came to the cabin in the woods where the -hunter lived. This man looked like a hunter, but he carried no gun. -Instead, over his back, slung on a strap, was a black box. - -“I suppose that is some other kind of trap,” thought Sharp Eyes as he -saw it. “These men seem never to let us animals alone.” - -But Sharp Eyes was mistaken. What the new man had on his back was not -a trap, but a camera for taking pictures of wild animals and birds. He -had come to the woods to do this. He was hunting animals in a new way, -but Sharp Eyes did not know that. - -“What have you in this cage?” asked the camera man of the hunter. - -“That is a silver fox,” was the answer. “I am letting him grow big so -his fur will be larger. It will make a nice muff and neck piece for -some woman.” - -[Illustration: “‘These men seem never to let us animals alone.’”] - -“Oh, it would be a shame to kill that fox just for his fur!” said the -camera man. “Why not keep him alive?” - -“I paid money for him,” said the hunter, “and I need to get back more -money for him.” - -“Then I will buy him of you alive,” said the camera man. “I’ll pay you.” - -“What will you do with him?” asked the hunter. - -“I’ll not kill him,” answered the other. “That would be too bad. I -think I will put him in a place where many people can come to look at -him. He is a handsome fox, and I’d like to have the boys and girls, as -well as grown-ups, see him. Sell him to me alive.” - -“I will,” said the hunter, and he did. - -By this time Sharp Eyes was quite tame, but he could not be allowed to -run around loose. He was let out of his cage, sometimes, but there was -a collar around his neck, such as some dogs wear, and a chain was fast -to the collar. So Sharp Eyes could go only as far as the chain let him. -But this was better than being shut in the wire cage. Sharp Eyes liked -it outside. - -The camera man bought Sharp Eyes and put him in a large box. Then the -box was put on a wagon and once more the silver fox was traveling. Only -this time he went a long way. - -From the wagon the box, with the silver fox in it, was put on a train -(though Sharp Eyes did not know what that was) and taken farther and -farther away from the woods. - -Sharp Eyes rode on the train in his wooden cage. He was a little -frightened, but not very much, for he was used to having men around him -now, and some of the trainmen gave him bits of meat to eat and water to -drink. - -Finally, after he had been traveling on the train for a long, long -while, Sharp Eyes looked out of an open door, and through the bars of -his cage. The train had stopped and, not far away, Sharp Eyes could see -what looked like a big, white house, with gaily-colored flags, floating -from poles and ropes, on it. - -“Oh, what is that?” asked Sharp Eyes aloud, in animal talk, before he -remembered there was no one in the railroad car to answer. - -But, just then, the silver fox saw, standing on the ground outside his -car, a great big animal that seemed to have two tails. - -“Ha! So you want to know what that white house is, do you?” asked the -big animal of Sharp Eyes. “Well, that is a circus tent, and I belong to -the circus!” - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -SHARP EYES IN THE ZOO - - -The train in which Sharp Eyes, the silver fox, was riding had stopped -so the engine could get a drink of water, and it happened to stop near -the circus tent, which was the white thing Sharp Eyes had thought was -the large house. So the fox had time to talk to the big animal who had -spoken in such a friendly way. - -“Oh, so that is a circus, is it?” asked Sharp Eyes. “Seems to me I have -heard that name before. I wonder where it was? But who are you, may I -ask, and why have you two tails?” - -“There it goes again!” cried the big creature. “Every one who sees me -for the first time thinks I have two tails. Even Chunky, the happy -hippo, thought that.” - -“Oh, Chunky! That’s where I heard the word circus before. Don, the dog, -told me that Chunky was once in a circus before he was put in a park -menagerie.” - -“Oh, ho! So you know Don, the dog, do you?” asked the big animal who -belonged to the circus. - -“Yes,” answered Sharp Eyes, “I do. Don once helped me to get out of a -pinching trap. But no one helped me out of the trap where the rooster -was. That’s why I’m here now.” - -“What is your name?” asked the big animal. The fox told and then -inquired: - -“And what is your name, if you please, and why have you two tails?” - -“I haven’t,” was the answer. “That’s a mistake. I am Tum Tum, the jolly -elephant, and one of the dingle-dangle-down things is my trunk, in -which I pick up peanuts. The other is my tail.” - -“Oh, I see!” exclaimed Sharp Eyes. “So you are Tum Tum! I think I heard -Slicko, the squirrel, speak of you.” - -“Yes, we are good friends.” - -“And Don often mentioned you,” went on the silver fox. “But it seems to -me he said you had left the circus, and had gone back to the jungle to -help catch and train wild elephants.” - -“I did,” answered Tum Tum. “I was there for a while. But now I am back -in the circus again. It was while I was on a sort of visit to the -jungle that I met Chunky, the happy hippo, and pulled him out of a mud -hole.” - -“And where is Chunky now?” asked Sharp Eyes. “I would like to see him.” - -“He was with this circus,” answered Tum Tum, the elephant, “but now he -is in the park zoo, or menagerie, as they call it to be stylish. Did -Don tell you how Chunky saved a little girl who fell into his tank?” - -“Yes,” answered Sharp Eyes, “he did. Chunky must be real smart.” - -“Well, not as smart as a fox, for I have heard that they are very smart -and cunning,” returned the elephant. “But still Chunky does very well. -He can do tricks, and he has had a book written about him.” - -“There it goes again!” cried Sharp Eyes. “Every one seems to be in a -book; but I’m not.” - -“Maybe you will be some day,” said Tum Tum. “You are young yet. But -tell me――why did they catch you and put you in a box on a train? Can -you do circus tricks?” - -“No,” replied the fox. “But they think my silver fur is worth much -money. That’s why they caught me. I wish I was red or brown, and then -they wouldn’t bother me so. But silver foxes are rare, they say.” - -“I believe they are,” went on the elephant. “I have been in a circus a -long while and I never saw a silver fox before, nor are there any in -the zoological park, where Chunky lives. - -“But I must be going,” went on Tum Tum, the jolly elephant. “I have to -push some of the heavy wagons around the circus lot. They always call -on me for that, as I am so strong. I hope you’ll have a nice time where -you are going.” - -“I don’t expect to have,” answered Sharp Eyes. “It is no fun to be shut -up in a cage. I wish I could walk around loose, like you.” - -“I guess I’m too big to be in a cage,” said Tum Tum, “though they have -sort of cages for elephants in the parks. Well, good-bye! Maybe I’ll -see you again.” - -“I hope so,” replied Sharp Eyes, who liked the big, jolly chap. - -So the elephant went to push the circus wagons, and the train puffed -away with the silver fox. - -All the while, as the train rumbled on, Sharp Eyes wondered where he -was being taken. - -“If my silver fur is worth so much,” thought Sharp Eyes, “I suppose -they are carrying me to some place where they can take it off. I shall -not like that. I want my fur left on. I’ll be cold in the winter -without my nice fur coat.” - -Sometimes hunting dogs were brought into the same car with Sharp Eyes. -The dogs became very much excited when they saw the fox in his cage, -and barked at him. But they could not get at him, for the cage was made -of heavy wire. Still, Sharp Eyes did not like to be barked at. - -“Why don’t you be quiet and let me alone?” he asked the dogs, in animal -talk. - -“Oh, we are hunting dogs and we always bark at a fox,” said one of the -dogs. - -“Well, I have a dog friend named Don, and he doesn’t bark at me,” went -on the silver fox. - -“We don’t know Don,” said the hunting dogs, and they barked louder than -ever. - -Once a monkey in a cage was brought into the same car with Sharp Eyes. -The monkey did not seem happy, but crouched in a corner. - -“Who are you, where are you going and what’s the matter?” asked Sharp -Eyes. - -“My name is Chacko,” answered the monkey, “and I am being taken to a -zoological park.” - -“Well, don’t feel sad about that,” advised Sharp Eyes. “I have heard of -a hippo named Chunky who is in a zoo, and he is very happy.” - -“Has he the toothache?” asked Chacko. - -“I don’t believe he has,” answered Sharp Eyes. - -“No wonder he is happy then,” went on the monkey. “I have the toothache -very bad.” - -“I’m sorry,” said Sharp Eyes. “I wish I could help you, but I can’t get -out of my cage. Did you ever hear of Mappo, a merry monkey?” - -“Has he the toothache?” asked Chacko. - -“I hardly think he has,” the fox answered. - -“Well, then I don’t know him,” said the other, holding his paw up to -his jaw. “I never heard of Mappo.” - -“Tum Tum, or some of the animal friends I have met, spoke of him,” said -Sharp Eyes. “He likes cocoanuts I believe.” - -“Oh, we monkeys all do,” said Chacko. “But I couldn’t eat any now, on -account of my tooth. However, I don’t know Mappo.” - -Sharp Eyes talked a little while longer to Chacko, to try to make the -little furry chap forget his troubles, and the monkey did for a time. -Then Sharp Eyes went to sleep. - -Sharp Eyes was suddenly awakened by feeling his cage lifted up and set -down again. The fox could feel the wind blowing on him, and he knew he -must be outside the train. But he liked the fresh air. - -“I wonder where I am?” he inquired, partly aloud. - -“We are on a wagon, being ridden through the streets of a big city,” -answered Chacko, the monkey, who was on the same wagon as Sharp Eyes, -but in a different cage. The monkey’s toothache was better now. - -“What’s a city?” asked Sharp Eyes. - -“Oh,” answered the monkey, “it’s a place where they have more houses -than there are trees in the woods, but I don’t like it. Once I was in a -city park menagerie, and I never got half enough peanuts. I don’t like -the noise, either.” - -There was a great deal of noise as the wagon, with the cages of Sharp -Eyes and Chacko on it, rattled through the streets. - -At last the wagon turned into a quieter place, where there was much -green grass and many trees. - -“Oh! are they taking me back home again?” asked Sharp Eyes aloud, as he -saw the trees. “This looks a little like my home,” and he looked down -from the wagon, hoping to see a hollow tree. - -“No, this is not the forest,” said Chacko, the monkey. “This is a -menagerie, or zoo. I remember the place. I lived here a number of years -ago. I am glad to be back, for here the children give you many peanuts. -They don’t feed them all to the squirrels.” - -“And so this is a zoo, is it?” asked Sharp Eyes. - -“Yes, that’s what it is,” answered the monkey. “We’ll soon be put in -larger cages, where the boys and girls can see us. You’ll like it in -the zoo, Sharp Eyes.” - -“I hope I shall,” returned the silver fox. “Oh, there is my friend Tum -Tum!” he cried, as he caught sight of an elephant. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -SHARP EYES MEETS CHUNKY - - -Sharp Eyes’ cage was being lifted down from the wagon, on which it had -been brought to the park from the train, when the silver fox called out -about the elephant. His cage was set down on the ground, near where -some of the big animals, with trunks and tails, were swaying to and fro -behind big, strong bars. - -“Who did you say it was?” asked Chacko, as his cage was placed beside -that of Sharp Eyes. - -“Tum Tum, the jolly elephant,” answered the silver fox. “I see him over -there.” - -“My name is not Tum Tum,” said the elephant, for he had heard what -Sharp Eyes said. - -“Not Tum Tum!” exclaimed the fox. “Then what is it?” - -“My name is Bunga,” was the answer. “But I have heard of your friend -Tum Tum. He is in a circus, is he not?” - -“Yes,” answered Sharp Eyes. “I met him not long ago. He had been on a -sort of vacation in the jungle, but now he is back in the circus. I -thought, at first, that you were he.” - -“No, but all we elephants look pretty much alike,” said Bunga, “so I -don’t wonder you made a mistake. How is Tum Tum?” - -“Very well and jolly,” answered Sharp Eyes. - -“Oh, he always was that,” said another elephant. “Tum Tum never was -cross or unhappy.” - -“I was unhappy when my paw was caught in a pinching trap,” said Sharp -Eyes. “I hope I shall be happy here.” - -“We’ll try to make you so,” put in a long-necked giraffe, looking over -the tops of the walls of his cage, in which he was kept next to the -elephants. “We are always glad to see new animals come in,” went on the -giraffe. “We get sort of lonesome just among ourselves. Tell us, have -you had any adventures?” - -“No, not any, I’m sorry to say.” - -“Oh, yes you have!” chattered Chacko, the monkey, to whom the fox had -talked in the train. “You’ve had lots of adventures! You found a wild -turkey, and you got out of one trap and into another, and you were -chased by a dog.” - -“Are those adventures?” asked Sharp Eyes, in surprise. - -“Of course,” answered Bunga, the elephant. “Please tell us about them.” - -So Sharp Eyes told the zoo animals all that had happened to him. - -“And now you are here,” said Bunga, when the fox had finished. - -“Yes, I am here,” agreed the fox. “And I expect the next thing they’ll -do will be to take off my silver skin and sell it,” he added sadly. - -“Take off your skin and sell it? Well, I guess not!” growled a tiger in -the next cage. “They would no more skin you than they would me! They -keep us for people to look at. Make your mind easy. You will not be -hurt while you are in the zoo. You can not get away, it is true, but -you will have a good place to stay, and all you want to eat. - -“I used to think, when I first came here, that I would like to go back -to the jungle, but there I had to sneak out at night to get something -to eat, or water to drink. Here they bring it to me. Of course I am -shut up in a cage, but it is not so bad.” - -“Really won’t they take off my fur?” - -“No indeed!” said the elephant. - -“Then I’m glad,” went on the fox. “I’ll try to like it here in the -zoo, though I’ll miss the North Woods and my father, mother, my sister -Winkle and my brother Twinkle.” - -“Oh, you’ll like it here after you get used to being stared at by the -crowd of boys and girls and the men and women who come in,” said a -lion, in a cage next the tiger. - -So the animals talked among themselves, trying to make Sharp Eyes -feel at home, for an animal gets almost as lonesome and homesick in a -strange place as you boys and girls might do. - -After a while some men came and lifted up the cage of the silver fox, -from where it had been placed when taken off the wagon, and carried it -to a large building. Along the walls were many other cages, and in one -end was a very large one. - -The bars of the big cage were set very far apart, and when the fox saw -them he said to himself: - -“Ha! if they put me in that cage, with such wide-apart bars in front, -I can easily slip out between them and go back to where my father and -mother live in the hollow log. I must try to run away.” - -Sharp Eyes looked a little closer, and noticed that there was a big -pool of water――about a hundred bath tubs full I guess――at one end of -the big cage. - -“Ha! I’d like to get a drink there,” thought the silver fox. “I am very -thirsty!” - -Just then, all of a sudden, one of the men carrying the cage in which -the fox was still locked, let his end of the box fall. Then the other -man dropped his end, and down the fox cage crashed to the stone floor -in the animal house. - -“Look out!” cried one of the men. “The cage will break and that silver -fox will get out!” - -And that is just what happened. The cage crashed to the floor, one end -burst open, and the next minute Sharp Eyes found himself free. - -“Oh, at last I can run away!” he thought to himself. “But first I’ll go -and get a drink of water in that pool inside the big-barred cage. Then -I’ll run away.” - -Before any of the men could grab him, Sharp Eyes made a dash toward the -big pool. Down into it ran a sloping walk, or little hill of stone. -Down this Sharp Eyes walked until he could put his nose in the water. - -Sharp Eyes was just going to take a drink when, all at once, he noticed -that the water in the pool was moving. Then, suddenly, something big -and dark brown rose up, as if from the bottom. Sharp Eyes saw a big -mouth open right in front of him. It was a mouth so big that it looked -like the front door of a real house, and inside it was lined with -something that seemed to be red flannel. And then, out of the mouth, -came a puffing sound, and the big animal who belonged to the big mouth, -made a grunting noise, as though gaping and stretching after a sleep. - -“Oh, my!” cried Sharp Eyes, as he saw the big mouth. “Who are you, if -you please?” - -“I might ask the same thing of you,” went on the big animal, as he -walked up the stone hill, water dripping off him. - -“I am called Sharp Eyes, the silver fox,” was the answer, “and I have -had many adventures, but they have not been put into a book as yet.” - -You see Sharp Eyes didn’t know about this book just then. - -“I’ve had adventures also, and they _have_ been put into a book,” went -on the big creature. - -“What is your name?” asked Sharp Eyes. - -“I am Chunky, the happy hippo, and――” - -“Oh, I’ve heard about you!” interrupted Sharp Eyes. - -“You have?” asked Chunky. “Perhaps you read a copy of the book in which -I am spoken of?” - -“No, I can’t read,” said Sharp Eyes. “But I heard Don, the dog, telling -about you. I liked to hear about you.” - -“That’s very nice of you,” said Chunky. “Yes, Don and I were great -friends. Did Don tell you how I saved the little girl who fell into my -pool?” - -“Yes,” answered Sharp Eyes, “he did. It was very nice of you to save -her.” - -“Pooh! that was nothing,” said Chunky. “When I saw you standing on the -edge of my pool, I thought it was some one else who had fallen in, and -I came up to see about it. But I am glad to meet you.” - -“And I’m glad to meet you,” said Sharp Eyes. “Very glad indeed to meet -you, Chunky. Now I wonder what I had better do――run away now that I am -out of my cage, or stay and let them put me in another? What would you -do, Chunky?” - -“I’d stay here in the zoo,” said the happy hippo. “They will give you -nice things to eat and clean water to drink. It is better than the -jungle or the woods. Stay here and be happy.” - -“I guess I will,” said Sharp Eyes. - -By this time the menagerie men had run toward the hippo’s cage. They -saw Sharp Eyes standing by the big, squatty creature. - -“Don’t let him get away!” cried a tall man with a long, sharp hook in -his hand. “Catch the silver fox! Don’t let him escape!” - -So the men, with ropes and long poles, ran to catch Sharp Eyes before -he could get out of the hippo’s cage. But Sharp Eyes was not going to -run away. - -“Get him! Get him!” cried the men, one to the other. “Get the silver -fox!” - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -SHARP EYES GETS AWAY - - -For a time there was much excitement in the animal house of the park, -where Sharp Eyes had gotten out of his cage. At first the men did not -see where he had run to――inside the hippo’s cage. But when they found -him they were very anxious to get Sharp Eyes back. - -People who had come into the park to look at the animals, heard the -shouts and saw men running about. - -“What is the matter?” asked several. - -“Oh, one of the animals is loose,” answered a policeman. - -“Maybe it’s a lion or a tiger!” cried a woman with a baby in her arms. -“Come on, children!” and she caught the hand of her little boy, who, in -turn held the hand of his sister, and they all ran out. - -Some of the other men, women and children also ran out when they heard -that a lion was loose. But this was not so. It was only Sharp Eyes, and -he was so tame now that he would have bitten no one. - -“Get him! There he is! There’s the fox!” cried the head animal man, as -he pointed to Sharp Eyes inside the hippo’s cage. “Bring up one of the -small dens, on wheels, and we’ll drive the fox into that.” - -The men stood in front of Chunky’s cage with sticks and ropes, to drive -Sharp Eyes back if he should try to run out. But the fox was not going -to do anything like that. - -“I said I’d stay here, and I will,” he explained to Chunky, in animal -talk, of course. “They needn’t make so much fuss about me going to run -away. I’m not!” - -And Sharp Eyes did not. He stayed quietly in Chunky’s cage, talking to -the hippo in animal language, until the park men brought up a sort of -traveling cage, and opened it. Then Sharp Eyes said to the hippo: - -“Well, I’ll go in there, as they seem to want me to. Anyhow, it’s a -nicer cage than the one I was in. I’ll see you again, Chunky, my boy.” - -“I hope so,” said the happy hippo, who always seemed to be smiling. -“Next time I see you, Sharp Eyes, remind me to tell you a funny story -about Tum Tum.” - -“I will,” said Sharp Eyes. - -Then the animal men wheeled the cage with the fox in it away. - -“Say,” said one of the men to the others, “that silver fox didn’t give -us any trouble.” - -“No,” was the answer. “I thought sure we’d have to chase him all over -the grounds, but he was as quiet as could be. I guess he isn’t as wild -as we imagined.” - -And Sharp Eyes was not. The kindness of the hunter who bought him from -the boy was beginning to tell. The silver fox knew that not all men -were unkind. Some, such as those in the zoo, and the camera man, were -good to wild animals. - -For the first few days Sharp Eyes was kept by himself in the small cage -into which he had been put when the first one broke. Nor was he allowed -to stay near the other animals. He was put by himself in a dark corner -of an animal house. - -“You’ll be quieter there, and will get to feeling at home,” said one of -the park animal keepers. “When you quiet down a bit we’ll put you in -with the other foxes, for we have a lot of red and black ones in the -park.” - -Of course Sharp Eyes did not know just what the man was saying, but it -sounded kind, and kind and gentle tones to wild animals mean more than -just what the words themselves express. - -Sharp Eyes did not like to be left alone, but he could not help -himself. He was given plenty to eat and to drink, but he did not think -the zoo a nice place. He was too lonesome in it. - -Then came a day when he was taken from the traveling cage and placed -in a den with other foxes. Here he thought he would have a good time, -but when the red, brown and black foxes saw him in his fine silver coat -they sort of turned up their noses, and one said: - -“Oh, ho! A silver fox! Well, I suppose he’ll be too proud to speak to -us common chaps!” - -“Oh, no, I won’t,” said Sharp Eyes quickly. “I’m a fox, just like you; -and I’ll tell you some of my adventures if you’d like to hear them.” - -“There he goes! Proud of his adventures!” sniffed a red fox. - -Sharp Eyes wasn’t proud at all, as we know. He only wanted to be -friendly, but the other foxes would not be, and kept to themselves, -leaving Sharp Eyes on one side of the cage. - -One yellow fox tried to bite Sharp Eyes when our friend was eating some -meat in the den, but Sharp Eyes soon showed that he had as keen teeth -as any of them, and then they were glad to let him alone. - -But Sharp Eyes did not have a happy time. - -In the first place he was lonesome. He wanted to make friends with the -other foxes, but they would not. Many, many times he wished he was -back in the woods with Winkle and Twinkle, playing in the bushes, or -running in and out of the hollow log. - -After a while Sharp Eyes grew so lonesome and unhappy that he did not -eat as much as he ought. Instead of keeping fat, and growing nicely, he -became thin. - -“This will never do,” said one of the park animal men one day, when he -stopped to look in the fox den. “That silver chap isn’t doing well at -all. What’s the matter with him?” - -“I guess he and the other foxes don’t get along well together,” -answered the keeper who had charge of feeding the foxes. “The silver -one keeps to himself all the while.” - -“That isn’t good,” said the animal man, who was a person like the one -with the camera, who had first taken a liking to Sharp Eyes. “We must -put this silver fox where he will be happier, and will make friends -with other animals.” - -“I think he’d like to be near Chunky, the happy hippo,” said the keeper. - -“What makes you think that?” - -“Because when Sharp Eyes first came to our park, and his cage broke, he -went in the hippo’s cage and they seemed to like each other.” - -“Ha! Well, maybe it would be a good thing to move this silver fox back -near the hippo,” said the animal man. “Sharp Eyes is not the same -sort as these red or black foxes. His coat of fur is much better. He -is a different kind of fox, and if we put him in a cage by himself the -people will look at him more. Sharp Eyes ought to like that. It will -keep him from getting lonesome and homesick for the woods from which he -came.” - -So, a few days later, they took Sharp Eyes out of the main fox den, -and put him in a cage by himself not far from where Chunky, the happy -hippo, lived. - -“Ah! I am glad to see you again!” cried the animal with the big mouth -which looked like a piano lined with red flannel. “So you have come to -see me?” - -“Yes. And I didn’t like it with the other foxes,” answered Sharp Eyes. -“I am glad they brought me here.” - -Soon he and the hippo were talking away to one another at a great rate, -though if you had stood in front of their cages you would not have -thought that they were doing anything more than grunting or barking. -But that was their way of talking. - -“You said you were going to tell me a funny story of Tum Tum, the jolly -elephant,” said Sharp Eyes to Chunky one day. - -“Oh, yes, so I did. Well, it was Mappo, the monkey, who told me. It -seems, that, once upon a time, Tum Tum was in the jungle looking for -something to eat. He was very hungry, and he was looking for what they -call apples in this country though we call them something else in -Africa, where the jungle is. Tum Tum was in our jungle once, you know.” - -“Yes,” said Sharp Eyes, “I remember. He told me when I met him near the -circus grounds.” - -“Well, Tum Tum went all over our jungle looking for an apple, but he -could not find any. Finally, however, he saw a little monkey pick -something that looked like an apple from a tree. - -“‘Here, give me that!’ cried Tum Tum. ‘I haven’t had an apple in ever -so long. Give me that apple, little monkey, and I’ll give you a ride on -my back.’ - -“‘All right,’ said the monkey. ‘But give me the ride first.’ So Tum Tum -gave the monkey a ride all over the jungle, and then he asked for the -apple. - -“‘Here it is!’ cried the monkey, and he handed something to Tum Tum. -Our elephant friend quickly took it in his trunk, and, not stopping to -look at it, popped it into his mouth and gave it a big, hard bite. But -what do you s’pose it was?” asked Chunky, as he told Sharp Eyes the -story. - -“I can’t guess,” said the fox. - -“It was a hard cocoanut!” laughed the hippo. “And Tum Tum nearly broke -his teeth on it. After that he always looked at what he ate before -putting it in his mouth.” - -“That was a funny story,” said Sharp Eyes. Then he and the hippo talked -for a long time, and the fox watched the big animal go into his tank -and sink away down under the water. - -Days and weeks went by, and many people came to the park to look at the -animals. Many of them stopped in front of the cage where the silver fox -was. Sharp Eyes was bigger than ever and very beautiful. - -But still Sharp Eyes was not happy. He missed the long runs he used to -have in the woods, and he missed the fun with his brother and sister, -Twinkle and Winkle. - -“Sharp Eyes, you are not happy,” said Chunky one day. - -“No, I am not,” answered the fox. - -“What is the matter?” asked the happy hippo. - -“Well, I don’t like it here,” the silver fox replied. “I want to go -back to my woods and live in the hollow log.” - -“Well, perhaps you are right,” said the hippo, after thinking about it -and opening his mouth to catch a loaf of bread his keeper threw in. -“Some animals like it here in the zoo, and others do not. For them -there is one of two things to do――die or get out. I don’t want to see -you die, Sharp Eyes, so I will help you get out.” - -[Illustration: “There was a crash, and Sharp Eyes sprang out.”] - -“How?” asked Sharp Eyes eagerly. - -“This way,” said the hippo. “They often let me out in the yard to walk -around, for I am quite tame now. The next time I am out I will bump -into your cage as if by accident. I am so big and strong, and your cage -is so weak, that it will not take a very hard bump to break it. When I -break it, and I’ll do it without hurting you, you can run out and go -back to your woods.” - -“Oh, thank you!” barked Sharp Eyes. “I’ll do that! Please break open my -cage and let me out as soon as you can.” - -And Chunky did. A few days later, when he was in the yard back of his -cage, wandering about and eating hay, he strolled over to the cage of -the fox. - -“Watch out now, Sharp Eyes,” said the hippo. “I am going to bump -against you. Good-bye, when you get out. Think of me sometimes and give -my love to Tum Tum, Don or any of my friends you see.” - -“I will,” said the fox. - -The next minute the big hippo bumped sharply against the fox cage. -There was a crash, a splintering of wood, and Sharp Eyes sprang out. -The silver fox was running away. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -SHARP EYES GETS HOME - - -“How good it is to be free!” thought Sharp Eyes, the silver fox, as -he bounded out of the broken cage and ran quickly to hide under some -bushes that grew near the place in the zoölogical park where Chunky, -the happy hippo, lived. “How good it is to be free! Good-bye, Chunky!” -he called softly to his friend, from where he was hidden under the -bush. “Good-bye! I wish you were coming with me.” - -“No, thank you,” said the hippo. “I am better off in the park. I need -to be warm, for I come from Jungle Land. As for you, with your warm -coat of silver fur, you do not mind winter and snow. Good-bye and good -luck to you!” - -Then the hippo went to take a swim in the pool of his cage, and Sharp -Eyes, remembering the hiding tricks his father and mother had taught -him when he lived in the woods, made ready to get as far away as he -could. - -The silver fox kept very quiet under the bush, waiting to see what -would happen. Soon, he knew, the animal keepers would find out he was -gone, and they would hunt for him. Sharp Eyes did not want them to find -him. - -“I must creep away as carefully as if I was hunting a chicken at the -farm near the North Woods where I used to live,” said Sharp Eyes to -himself. “But no more chickens for me, unless I can be sure there is no -trap near by! I must be very careful!” - -Carefully and slyly he looked around. He saw no one, and he thought it -would be a good thing to run a little farther away from the park. He -was too close to his broken cage. - -Trailing his big, bushy tail along behind him, Sharp Eyes crept out -from under the bush and ran across the path. A little distance farther -on were some trees, and the silver fox hoped they would prove to be a -wood in which he might hide. - -But just as he was going in among these trees (which were not a wood, -but only a part of the park) one of the keepers saw him. - -“Oh, the silver fox is out of his cage!” cried this man. “We must get -the silver fox!” - -He ran toward Sharp Eyes, and so did some other men who heard the cry. -If they had had some dogs to help them they might have caught the fox. -But Sharp Eyes could run faster than the fastest man, and he was in -among the farthest trees before the keepers had reached the first ones. - -“Now I must hide,” said Sharp Eyes to himself. “If I can find a hollow -log I’ll crawl in that.” - -But the woods of the park were not like those of the north, where the -fox had lived. There were no fallen trees or hollow logs. - -Sharp Eyes heard the men running after him and shouting. They were -getting nearer and nearer. He must find some place to hide. He looked -all about him, and, at last, saw a little hollow place, filled with -dried leaves, beneath the roots of a tree. - -Quickly scraping the ground away with his fore paws, the silver fox -made the hole a little larger. Then he crawled down into it, and -managed to scatter some leaves about on top of the hole, so that it did -not show very plainly. - -Sharp Eyes was hidden in this hole when the men from the park rushed -into the patch of woods. - -“Do you see that fox?” asked one man. - -“No, he must have run right on,” answered another. - -Even while they said this the men stood near the hole in which Sharp -Eyes was hidden. But they could not see him on account of the leaves -he had brushed over himself. Dogs could have smelled the fox, but the -noses of the men were not keen enough for this. Nor were they hunters -or trappers, who might have seen the marks left by Sharp Eyes’ feet in -the soft dirt. - -So the animal keepers passed right on, leaving the silver fox in the -hole. And then his heart stopped beating so fast, for he felt that he -was safe, at least for a time, and might, at last, get far, far away. - -“I’ll wait a bit, until the men get out of the woods,” thought the -silver fox. “Then I’ll run as far as I can. But I guess I’ll wait until -after dark. Then they can’t see me so plainly.” - -Sharp Eyes was not hungry, for he had been well fed in the zoo. But -he was thirsty, and he dared not go out for a drink. How he wished he -could lap up some water from the pool in which Chunky, the happy hippo, -swam. But that could not be done. - -So Sharp Eyes remained hidden under the roots of the tree. The animal -keepers hunted all over the woods, but could not find the silver fox. -They came back to his broken cage, and the head keeper said: - -“Well, it is too bad that silver fox got away, for he was a beautiful -animal, and the boys and the girls, and their fathers and mothers, -liked to look at him. But maybe he will be happier if he gets back to -his own woods. I wonder how he could break out of his cage?” - -The man did not know the trick Chunky had played, and you may be sure -the happy hippo did not tell. He missed Sharp Eyes, Chunky did, but -there were other animals in the zoo for the hippo to talk to. - -“Though I liked to talk to that fox about Tum Tum and our other -friends,” said Chunky to himself. “However, maybe Sharp Eyes is better -off out of his cage. I hope so.” - -The silver fox waited until night before coming out of his hiding -place. Even then he looked around very carefully to make sure there was -no danger. Foxes can see in the dark almost as well as cats, and our -friend had eyes that were brighter and better than those of most foxes. - -“I guess no one is around now to catch me,” thought the silver fox to -himself, as he came out of the hole. “I don’t smell any dogs to chase -me. Oh, how good it is to be free, and not shut up in a cage! Now I am -going back to the North Woods――to my father and mother, and to Twinkle -and Winkle!” - -Sharp Eyes did not know how far it was to the North Woods where he used -to live. Perhaps it was just as well he did not, or he might never -have tried to go there. As it was, he set off in the dark. - -No one visited the zoo after dark, and even the watchmen and animal -keepers went to bed. So did the animals, except maybe the elephants, -and they sleep standing up. Thus no one saw Sharp Eyes as he ran -through the park in the darkness of the night. From tree to bush and -from bush to tree he ran until he came to a stone wall. This was one -end of the park, and, to get out, the fox had to jump over this wall. - -But that was easy for him. Often had he jumped over high bushes, fallen -trees in the woods, or fences around a farm, when he wanted to get a -fat chicken. - -So, with a bound and a leap, Sharp Eyes went over the wall, and, to his -surprise, he found himself in a queer place. It was a very light place -and noisy. Big yellow things, like railroad cars were running up and -down. They were the trolleys, though the fox did not know that. Then -too, he saw black things, like big bugs, making no noise with their -wheels, but puffing white smoke out of the back, also running up and -down, in and out among the yellow things. These were automobiles. - -And Sharp Eyes also saw many people in the street, for it was into a -city street he had leaped after jumping over the park wall. - -For a few seconds Sharp Eyes stood very still, after landing in the -street. He crouched back against the stone wall, and then he heard a -sudden shout. - -“Oh, look what a beautiful silver dog!” cried a lady. Of course Sharp -Eyes did not know just what she said, but that was it. - -“A dog? That isn’t a dog!” said a man with the lady. “That’s a silver -fox, and it must have gotten away from the zoo. I wonder if it’s tame -enough for me to catch.” - -“Oh, don’t! He might bite you!” said the lady. But the man ran toward -the fox. However, Sharp Eyes did not wait for the man to come very -close. With a little bark, the silver fox bounded to one side and ran -along the street. - -By this time several other men and boys had seen him, and they ran -after him, some thinking he was a dog. The heart of Sharp Eyes beat -very fast, and he hardly knew what to do. At last he saw a dark place, -which he thought was a cave in which he might hide――it was really -underneath the high front steps of a house on the street――and the -silver fox crawled back into the darkest corner. - -He was delighted when the men and boys ran past his new hiding place, -for that told him he had not been seen. - -“I hope they don’t get me,” thought the silver fox. - -And the men and boys did not. They knew nothing about hunting foxes, -even in the streets of a big city and they soon gave up the chase. -Sharp Eyes stayed under the steps in the darkness until the streets -grew quiet. Late at night, or, rather, very early in the morning, the -trolley cars and automobiles stopped running. The streets had no one in -them. And then it was that the fox came quietly out and ran along. He -did not know just where he was going. He wanted to get to the country -and to the woods. He wanted to get back home. - -On and on he ran, and if any one in the city saw him in those early -hours of the morning, they must have thought him a stray dog, for they -did not chase him. - -The silver fox was tired and hungry. He managed to find a bit of -meat in an ash box, and once he came to a fountain where horses were -watered, and he got a drink. Then he felt better. - -It would take another book, almost as large as this, to tell all the -adventures of Sharp Eyes as he ran through the city and at last got to -the country where there were some woods. - -At times boys and men saw him and chased him, and, more than once, dogs -ran after him, barking. But Sharp Eyes was a smart fox. He had the -smartness of a wild animal and the cunning of a partly tamed one. So he -knew how to hide and how to get away. - -On and on he traveled. It was quite different from being carried in a -cage by the hunter or riding in the railroad train. It was hard work. -The feet of Sharp Eyes became sore, especially the one which had been -hurt in the trap. - -Often the silver fox was hungry and thirsty, but he kept on and on. He -did not go near cities but kept to the country and the woods. Often he -would take a chicken or a duck from a farm at night. He did not know -it was wrong, for he had to live, and this was the only way he had of -getting food. - -On and on he went. Sometimes he had to wade across brooks, and more -than once he swam rivers. All the while he was looking for his old home -in the North Woods, not knowing how far away it was. When he met any -animals who seemed kind――horses, dogs or cats――Sharp Eyes would ask -them: - -“Do you know where my hollow-log home is? Or do you know my father or -mother, or my brother Twinkle or my sister Winkle?” - -“No,” would be the answer. “We don’t know.” - -“Then I must go on farther,” said Sharp Eyes. - -By this time his silver coat was tattered and tangled. In it were burrs -and briars. The feet of the silver fox were cut and sore. But still he -kept on. - -Once a hunter shot at him, hoping to get the silver fur, but the bullet -whistled over Sharp Eyes’ back. Once a savage dog chased him, and he -had to run very fast, turning many ways, and finally waded a long -distance in a brook before the dog lost the scent and gave up. - -“Oh dear!” thought Sharp Eyes. “I wonder if I shall ever get home -again!” - -He was very tired, but he would not give up. One evening, after a day -of hard travel, the silver fox felt that he could go no farther. He saw -a stream of water just ahead of him, and slowly he limped to it to get -a drink. - -As he was lapping up the cool drops he heard behind him a voice he -seemed to know. It was animal talk, and some one said: - -“Oh, Mother! Look! There is a strange fox!” - -“Yes, so it is,” another voice answered. “Well, don’t bother him. He -looks tired and weary. Let him drink, and, when he is rested, we can -give him some of the chicken you and Twinkle caught to-day.” - -“What’s that――Twinkle?” cried Sharp Eyes, stopping his drinking and -turning quickly around. “Who is Twinkle?” he asked in fox talk. - -“That is the name of my brother,” said the smaller of the two foxes, -who were near a hole in the bank of the stream. “I am Winkle.” - -“Then you must be my sister!” cried Sharp Eyes. - -“Your sister!” exclaimed the other fox. “Why――why――” - -But suddenly the larger fox sprang forward. With eager eyes she looked -at the silver animal. - -“Sharp Eyes! Sharp Eyes!” she cried, “don’t you know me? I am your -mother! Oh, how glad I am to have you back!” and she rubbed her cold -nose against his and kissed him with her tongue. - -“Sharp Eyes! Who is talking of Sharp Eyes?” asked another fox, coming -to the opening of the hole in the side of the stream-bank. “Sharp Eyes -has been gone a long time.” - -“But he is back now!” cried the mother fox. “See, here he is! He has -grown to be a big fox, and his silver coat is all ragged and torn, but -he is our Sharp Eyes just the same.” - -[Illustration: “‘Sharp Eyes!’ she cried, ‘don’t you know me?’”] - -The other big fox came down to the edge of the stream. He looked -carefully at the silver fox. So did a smaller animal, and to him Sharp -Eyes said: - -“Don’t you know me, brother Twinkle?” - -“Why, it is Sharp Eyes!” cried the other. “I can tell him by the scar -on his foot where he was caught in the trap.” - -“Yes, I am Sharp Eyes,” said the silver fox. “And, oh, how glad I am to -get back home again! I am so glad to see you――Father and Mother――and -you, Twinkle and Winkle! I thought I should never get to the North -Woods again.” - -“These are not the North Woods,” said the father fox. “Those woods are -far, far away. We left them long ago――soon after you were missing. We -came to these woods to live. How did you find us and where have you -been?” - -“I have been in many places,” answered the silver fox, “and I have had -many adventures. I don’t know how I happened to find you. I guess it -was just an accident, such as Chunky, the happy hippo, said he would -make believe happened to my cage when he leaned against it and set me -free. But at last I am home again!” - -“Yes,” said his mother, “in our new home. Are you hungry, Sharp Eyes?” - -“Am I hungry?” he cried. “Well, I should say I _am_!” - -“I’ll bring you some of the chicken that Brother Twinkle and I caught -to-day,” said Winkle. “We are good hunters now, Sharp Eyes.” - -“Yes, indeed they are good hunters,” said Mr. Fox. “Well, Sharp Eyes, I -guess you have had enough of adventures, haven’t you?” - -“Indeed I have!” answered the silver fox, as he ate some chicken in the -new cave-house. “I am never going away again.” - -“Tell us your adventures,” said Twinkle, when his brother had rested in -the cave. - -“They were so many it will take me quite a while,” answered the silver -fox. “I met many animal friends, and they had their adventures put into -books. Maybe that will happen to me.” - -And it did, and here’s the very book, as you can see for yourself. And -now, as we have brought these adventures of Sharp Eyes to an end, we -will say good-bye to him. - - -THE END - - - - -STORIES FOR CHILDREN - -(From four to nine years old) - - -THE KNEETIME ANIMAL STORIES - -BY RICHARD BARNUM - -[Illustration] - -In all nursery literature animals have played a conspicuous part; and -the reason is obvious for nothing entertains a child more than the -antics of an animal. These stories abound in amusing incidents such as -children adore and the characters are so full of life, so appealing to -a child’s imagination, that none will be satisfied until they have met -all of their favorites――Squinty, Slicko, Mappo, Tum Tum, etc. - - 1 SQUINTY, THE COMICAL PIG. - 2 SLICKO, THE JUMPING SQUIRREL. - 3 MAPPO, THE MERRY MONKEY. - 4 TUM TUM, THE JOLLY ELEPHANT. - 5 DON, A RUNAWAY DOG. - 6 DIDO, THE DANCING BEAR. - 7 BLACKIE, A LOST CAT. - 8 FLOP EAR, THE FUNNY RABBIT. - 9 TINKLE, THE TRICK PONY. - 10 LIGHTFOOT, THE LEAPING GOAT. - 11 CHUNKY, THE HAPPY HIPPO. - 12 SHARP EYES, THE SILVER FOX. - -_Cloth, Large 12mo., Illustrated, Per vol. 50 cents_ - -For sale at all bookstores or sent (postage paid) on receipt of price -by the publishers. - - - BARSE & HOPKINS - Publishers 28 West 23rd Street New York - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes: - - ――Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). - - ――Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected. - - ――Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved. - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox, by Richard Barnum - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHARP EYES, THE SILVER FOX *** - -***** This file should be named 62441-0.txt or 62441-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/4/4/62441/ - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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-} - -/* Hanging indent. */ -.hang { - text-indent: -2em; - padding-left: 3em; -} - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox, by Richard Barnum - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox - His Many Adventures - -Author: Richard Barnum - -Illustrator: Walter S. Rogers - -Release Date: June 21, 2020 [EBook #62441] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHARP EYES, THE SILVER FOX *** - - - - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - - -<div class="figcenter" id="cover"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover" title="cover" /> -</div> - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="figcenter" id="i_frontis"> - <img src="images/i_frontis.jpg" alt="" title="" /> - <br /> - <div class="caption"><a href="#Page_98">“The next minute Sharp Eyes found himself free.”</a></div> -</div> - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="noi subtitle"><i>Kneetime Animal Stories</i></p> - -<h1>SHARP EYES<br /> -THE SILVER FOX</h1> - -<p class="noi subtitle">HIS MANY ADVENTURES</p> - -<p class="p2 noic">BY</p> - -<p class="noi author">RICHARD BARNUM</p> - -<p class="noi works">Author of “Squinty, the Comical Pig,” “Mappo,<br /> -the Merry Monkey,” “Tum Tum, the Jolly<br /> -Elephant,” “Tinkle, the Trick Pony,”<br /> -“Chunky, the Happy Hippo,” etc.</p> - -<p class="p4 noi works"><i>ILLUSTRATED BY</i></p> - -<p class="noic"><i>WALTER S. ROGERS</i></p> - -<p class="p4 noic">NEW YORK<br /> -<span class="noi adauthor">BARSE & HOPKINS</span><br /> -PUBLISHERS</p> - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="adbox"> -<p class="noi author">KNEETIME ANIMAL STORIES</p> - -<p class="noic">By Richard Barnum</p> - -<p class="noic"><i>Large 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, -50 cents, postpaid</i></p> - -<ul> -<li class="hang"><span class="smcap">Squinty, The Comical Pig.</span></li> -<li class="hang"><span class="smcap">Slicko, The Jumping Squirrel.</span></li> -<li class="hang"><span class="smcap">Mappo, The Merry Monkey.</span></li> -<li class="hang"><span class="smcap">Tum Tum, The Jolly Elephant.</span></li> -<li class="hang"><span class="smcap">Don, A Runaway Dog.</span></li> -<li class="hang"><span class="smcap">Dido, The Dancing Bear.</span></li> -<li class="hang"><span class="smcap">Blackie, A Lost Cat.</span></li> -<li class="hang"><span class="smcap">Flop Ear, The Funny Rabbit.</span></li> -<li class="hang"><span class="smcap">Tinkle, The Trick Pony.</span></li> -<li class="hang"><span class="smcap">Lightfoot, The Leaping Goat.</span></li> -<li class="hang"><span class="smcap">Chunky, The Happy Hippo.</span></li> -<li class="hang"><span class="smcap">Sharp Eyes, The Silver Fox.</span></li> -</ul> - -<p class="noic">BARSE & HOPKINS<br /> -Publishers New York</p> -</div> - -<p class="p2 noic">Copyright, 1918,<br /> -by<br /> -Barse & Hopkins</p> - -<hr class="r20" /> - -<p class="noic"><i>Sharp Eyes, The Silver Fox</i></p> - -<p class="p4 noi works">VAIL·BALLOU COMPANY<br /> -BINGHAMTON AND NEW YORK</p> - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - - -<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> -<col style="width: 20%;" /> -<col style="width: 70%;" /> -<col style="width: 10%;" /> -<tr> - <th class="smfontr">CHAPTER</th> - <th class="tdl"></th> - <th class="smfontr">PAGE</th> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">I</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">Sharp Eyes Sees Something</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">7</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">II</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">Sharp Eyes Catches Something</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">20</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">III</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">Sharp Eyes Hears Something</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">28</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">IV</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">Sharp Eyes Is Hurt</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">38</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">V</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">Sharp Eyes Meets Don</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">48</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">VI</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">Sharp Eyes Is Captured</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">59</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">VII</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Sharp Eyes Is Sold</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">68</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">VIII</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Sharp Eyes Goes Traveling</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">76</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">IX</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Sharp Eyes in the Zoo</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">87</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">X</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">Sharp Eyes Meets Chunky</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">94</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">XI</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">Sharp Eyes Gets Away</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">101</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdrt">XII</td> - <td class="tdl smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Sharp Eyes Gets Home</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">112</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - - -<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations"> -<col style="width: 80%;" /> -<col style="width: 20%;" /> -<tr> - <th class="tdl hang"> </th> - <th class="smfontr">PAGE</th> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#i_frontis">“The next minute Sharp Eyes found himself -free”</a></td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Frontispiece</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#i_p013">“He pretended a piece of wood was the partridge -he was after”</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">13</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#i_p045">“‘Look what I got!’ he barked”</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">45</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#i_p053">“‘Hello, what’s the matter here?’ asked the dog”</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">53</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#i_p083">“‘These men seem never to let us animals alone’”</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">83</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#i_p109">“There was a crash, and Sharp Eyes sprang out”</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">109</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#i_p123">“‘Sharp Eyes,’ she cried, ‘don’t you know me?’”</a></td> - <td class="tdrb">123</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="noi title">SHARP EYES,<br /> -THE SILVER FOX</p> - - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I<br /> -<small>SHARP EYES SEES SOMETHING</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">Away up in the North Woods lived a -family of foxes. They had big, bushy -tails, like a dust brush, and they wore -furry coats. Some of these furry coats were of -a reddish-yellow color, and some of them a sort -of gray. The foxes had long sharp noses and -sharp teeth, and they were very sly and cunning, -as they had need to be.</p> - -<p>For a fox is not strong, like a lion or a tiger, -and to get his food he must be quick and sly, -and steal up when no one sees him, to get a fat -duck or a chicken from the farmyard.</p> - -<p>Now in this family of foxes, about which I am -going to tell you, there was the father and -mother, and three little ones. Mr. and Mrs. -Fox were well grown, fleet of foot, and they -could both see and smell danger a long way off, -just as they could see and smell when they were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span> -near some farmer’s house, where they might get -a chicken or a duck.</p> - -<p>The home of the foxes was in a hollow log, -in the deepest and darkest part of the North -Woods, and in this hollow log the three little -foxes lived. They were named Sharp Eyes, -Twinkle and Winkle.</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes was the oldest of the children, -though they were all nearly the same age. The -reason he was called Sharp Eyes was because he -had such sharp, sparkling eyes, which seemed -to look right through the bushes and trees at -anything he wanted to find.</p> - -<p>Twinkle, who was Sharp Eyes’ brother, was -so called because when he ran downhill or uphill -his feet seemed to twinkle in and out like -flashes of light.</p> - -<p>Winkle, who was Sharp Eyes’ sister, was so -called because she seemed to winkle and blinkle -her eyes, sleepy-like, when she looked at anything.</p> - -<p>So Sharp Eyes, Twinkle and Winkle lived -with their father and mother in the hollow log in -the big woods. The little foxes, at first, stayed -very close to the log. In fact, they did not go -outside it until they were pretty well grown, and -about the size of puppy dogs. Each day their -father and mother would crawl out of the log, -look carefully around to make sure there were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span> -no dogs, hunters, or other dangers near, sniff -the air to see if they could smell anything that -might harm them or their little ones, and then -one or the other would slink slyly away through -the woods, to look for something to eat, not only -for themselves, but to bring home to the little -foxes.</p> - -<p>One day when Mr. Fox had come home with -a plump partridge and the little foxes were having -a good dinner, Sharp Eyes asked:</p> - -<p>“Mother, where did my father get this fine -meat for us to eat?”</p> - -<p>“He caught it in the woods.”</p> - -<p>Of course the Fox family did not speak the -same kind of language that you boys and girls -use. They talked in their own language, which -they could understand as well as you can understand -one another. But so that you may know -what the foxes said among themselves, and what -they thought, I have put their sayings into your -kind of words.</p> - -<p>Foxes, like other animals, talk with whispers, -sniffles, snuffles, whines, barks and howls, and it -is very hard to understand them unless you know -their language, as I do. But, once you do, it is -as easy to know what they say as if you heard -the boy on your next street call:</p> - -<p>“Come on, spin tops!”</p> - -<p>So now you’ll understand what I mean when<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span> -I say a fox “says” this, that, or the other.</p> - -<p>“Where did my father get this fine meat?” -asked Sharp Eyes, and when his mother told -him Mr. Fox caught it in the woods, the little -fox, as he gnawed a bone, smacked his lips and -asked:</p> - -<p>“But <em>how</em> did he get it?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you, little Sharp Eyes,” said Mr. -Fox. “And you listen also, Twinkle and -Winkle. For you must soon learn to catch your -own dinners and suppers, as well as breakfasts.”</p> - -<p>So the little foxes listened while their father -told them how to make a living in the woods, -where there are no stores at which animals can -buy what they want to eat.</p> - -<p>“I was coming along under the trees,” said -Mr. Fox, “and I was looking on both sides of -me for something to bring home to your mother -and you to eat. Up to then I had not caught -anything. I sprang after a muskrat, but it -jumped into the brook and got away from me. -Then I tried to creep softly up behind a young -wild turkey in the woods, but he heard me and -flew away.</p> - -<p>“So I was beginning to think I’d never get -a meal for my family, and I knew you were -hungry, when, all at once, I saw this partridge. -I walked as softly as I knew how over the leaves -and sticks in the woods, and, without his hearing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span> -me, I got so close to the bird that I could jump -on him, pin him down with my feet, and catch -him in my sharp teeth. Then I brought him -home to you. That’s how I got your dinner, -Sharp Eyes.”</p> - -<p>“And a very good dinner it is, too,” said Mrs. -Fox. “You animal children ought to be very -glad you have such a smart father. It is not -every fox that can catch a partridge.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, we mustn’t be proud,” said Mr. -Fox, as, with his tail, he brushed smooth a place -inside the log, where he could lie down. “Our -children will soon be grown, and they will learn -how to catch wild turkeys, partridges, quail and -muskrats for themselves.”</p> - -<p>“How do you catch wild things in the -woods?” asked Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Yes, tell us, so we may learn,” begged -Twinkle.</p> - -<p>“I will,” answered Mr. Fox. “It is time you -little fox puppies learned to hunt for yourselves. -You are old enough. After you have had a nap -we will go outside the log house, and your -mother and I will give you lessons.”</p> - -<p>So the little foxes went to sleep after their -meal, as nearly all wild animals do, and as even -your cat and dog do after they have eaten. -They always seem to feel sleepy after eating. -And when Sharp Eyes, Twinkle and Winkle<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span> -awakened after their nap, they felt fine and -fresh, and felt like jumping around.</p> - -<p>In fact, Sharp Eyes felt so fresh that he -cuffed his brother on the ear with his paw.</p> - -<p>“Ma, make Sharp Eyes stop!” cried Twinkle, -in fox language of course.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I wasn’t doing anything!” said Sharp -Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Yes he was, too!” barked Sister Winkle. -“And now he’s tickling me!”</p> - -<p>“I guess it’s time I gave you little foxes some -lessons in how-to-catch-things,” said Mr. Fox, -as he stretched himself, for he, too, had been -sleeping. “You are so full of life that you are -getting into mischief. Come out, all of you, -and I’ll show you how I caught the partridge.”</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes would have rushed out of the log -at once, but his mother held him back with her -paw, saying:</p> - -<p>“Wait! Let your father take a look first, to -see that there is no danger. You must always be -careful in going out of your house, whether it is -a hole under the rocks or a hollow log or a -stump, to look for danger. Watch your -father!”</p> - -<p>Mr. Fox stuck his nose out of the log a little -way and sniffed the air. Then he stuck it out -a little farther. Next he looked around with -his bright eyes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="i_p013"> - <img src="images/i_p013.jpg" alt="" title="" /> - <br /> - <div class="caption"><a href="#Page_14">“He pretended a piece of wood was the partridge he was -after.”</a></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14-<br />15]</span></p> - -<p>“Is everything all right?” asked Mrs. Fox.</p> - -<p>“Everything is all right,” said Mr. Fox.</p> - -<p>So out in front of the hollow-log house, where -there was a smooth, level place, went Mr. Fox -and the three little foxes. Mrs. Fox stayed in -the log to shake up the dried leaves that made -the beds. That was all the housekeeping work -she had to do, for foxes, like most animals, live -a very simple life.</p> - -<p>“Now this is how I crept softly up behind -the partridge,” said Mr. Fox, as he went along, -almost on his tiptoes, as you might say. “You -must be careful not to step on a stick so it breaks -and makes a noise,” he told the little foxes; “and -do not rustle the dried leaves. For partridges -and other wild birds and all woodland creatures -that we have to eat, are very shy, and fly off or -run away at the least noise. You see, we have -not sharp claws, like a cat, with which to grasp -the things we catch. We have to pin them -down with our paws, as a dog does, or get them -in our sharp teeth, and we have to be very close -to them before they see us, so we can do that.”</p> - -<p>So Mr. Fox showed his little ones how to -creep along softly over the sticks, stones and -leaves. <a href="#i_p013">He pretended a piece of wood was the -partridge he was after</a>, and, when he got close -enough, he gave a jump and came down on top -of it, quickly getting it in his mouth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span></p> - -<p>“That’s the way I would have done it if it had -been a real bird,” said Mr. Fox. “Now you -try, Sharp Eyes, and let us see how you would -do it.”</p> - -<p>So the little fox boy tried, and so did his -brother and his sister, and for many days after -that their father or their mother gave them -hunting lessons outside the hollow log.</p> - -<p>After a while Sharp Eyes, Twinkle, and -Winkle learned to be very good jumpers, and -they could move over a bit of ground, covered -with sticks, stones and leaves, so softly that you -never would have heard them.</p> - -<p>“Now come out in the woods, and let us see -if you can be as quiet when there is something -real to catch, instead of the make-believe birds -and rats, that are really only pieces of wood,” -said Mr. Fox. For, up to this time, he had let -the fox children practise on bits of bark, clumps -of grass, or a stone, pretending they were grouse -or partridges.</p> - -<p>Through the woods went the family, Mr. -Fox in front, then Sharp Eyes, Twinkle and -Winkle, and Mrs. Fox behind them all. The -two old foxes were looking out for danger, you -see.</p> - -<p>All at once Mr. Fox stopped, and, speaking -in an animal whisper, said:</p> - -<p>“Here is a mouse just in front of me, Sharp<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span> -Eyes. He does not see me yet. Come and see -if you can get it!”</p> - -<p>Up came Sharp Eyes very, very softly. He -saw a big wood mouse under the roots of a tree. -The mouse was gnawing the soft bark.</p> - -<p>“Now go softly,” said Mr. Fox.</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes tried to, but alas! he stepped on a -dried stick, which broke with a crack. The -mouse heard it and started to jump down into -his burrow under the earth.</p> - -<p>“No, you don’t!” cried Mr. Fox, and he made -a big jump and caught the mouse just in time.</p> - -<p>“That’s the way to do it!” barked Mrs. Fox. -“The mouse would have gotten away from you, -Sharp Eyes.”</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry,” replied the little fox boy slowly -and sadly.</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” said his father. “You’ll do -better the next time.”</p> - -<p>But it was some days before the little foxes -learned to catch anything.</p> - -<p>“Oh, shall we ever learn?” asked Twinkle.</p> - -<p>“Of course you will,” said his mother. -“When I was a young fox, like you, I thought -I’d never catch my first mouse. But I did.”</p> - -<p>So Mr. and Mrs. Fox had to keep on catching -the things the little foxes ate, though each day -Sharp Eyes, Twinkle and Winkle were getting -quicker and better.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span></p> - -<p>But one day Mr. Fox came home without any -dinner.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” asked Mrs. Fox. -“Couldn’t you catch anything to-day?”</p> - -<p>“No,” answered Mr. Fox. “In fact, I didn’t -see a thing. I’ve tramped all over these woods, -but not a bird or an animal could I see. Of -course I saw cows and horses in the farmers’ -yards, but they are too big for me to carry off.”</p> - -<p>“Couldn’t you get a chicken or a duck?”</p> - -<p>“I saw some ducks and chickens on one farm,” -replied Mr. Fox, “but the farmer, or one of his -men, was near them all the while with a gun or -a club, and I dared not try to catch one. I’d -have been caught or hurt myself if I had. I’m -sorry, but we’ll have no dinner to-day.”</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes and his brother and sister felt -sad on hearing this. They were very hungry.</p> - -<p>“Couldn’t we all go out hunting together?” -asked Sharp Eyes, after a bit. “Maybe we -could see something you could catch,” he said to -his father.</p> - -<p>“Well, perhaps that would be a good plan,” -replied Mr. Fox. “Come on, we’ll all go out -and see if we can find a meal.”</p> - -<p>So out into the woods went the five foxes—the -two large ones and the three smaller ones. -Slowly and carefully they went along, looking<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span> -from side to side, and sniffing the air for any -sign of something to eat.</p> - -<p>“There doesn’t seem to be anything,” said -Mrs. Fox, with a hungry sigh.</p> - -<p>“No,” answered Mr. Fox, “there doesn’t. I -never saw the woods so scarce of food.”</p> - -<p>All of a sudden Sharp Eyes, who had gone -a little way ahead, came softly back.</p> - -<p>“I see something!” he said. “Shall I try to -get it for our dinner?”</p> - -<p>“What is it? Where is it?” asked Mr. Fox -eagerly. “I don’t see anything,” and he looked -as hard as he could through the bushes.</p> - -<p>“Right over there, by the old stump,” said -Sharp Eyes. “Don’t you see? It’s a big -chicken.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Fox looked. Then he said:</p> - -<p>“That isn’t a chicken! It’s a wild turkey! -If we get that it will make a fine meal for all of -us! Sharp Eyes, you were rightly named. -You saw this turkey when neither your mother -nor I could see it. It’s a good thing you did. -Now we’ll have a fine meal!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II<br /> -<small>SHARP EYES CATCHES SOMETHING</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">Slowly and carefully, making not the -least sound, Mr. Fox began to creep -through the woods toward the wild turkey. -The big bird was eating some forest berries, -and had his back toward the fox.</p> - -<p>“Let me catch him!” whispered Sharp Eyes. -“I saw him first, let me creep up and jump on -him!”</p> - -<p>“No,” whispered his mother. “It is true you -had very keen sight to see the turkey, Sharp -Eyes, and when you grow up you will be a -smart fox. But just now, when we are all so -hungry, it would not do to let that turkey get -away from us. They can fly faster than you -can run or jump. Even your father will have -hard work getting it. But he can do it better -than you.</p> - -<p>“You saw the big bird first, Sharp Eyes. -Now let your father get it for us. Then we -shall all have something to eat. The next wild -turkey you see you may catch for yourself.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Sharp Eyes. So he carefully<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span> -watched his father to see how the old fox -would go about it to catch the wild turkey.</p> - -<p>Nearer and nearer crept Mr. Fox to the big -bird, which was still eating away, not hearing -or seeing the danger that was so close to him. -Mrs. Fox and the three little foxes waited very -anxiously indeed, for they were very hungry.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I hope he gets it!” whispered Twinkle.</p> - -<p>“So do I,” said Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“It was awfully smart of you to see it,” murmured -Winkle.</p> - -<p>“Hush, children!” softly called Mrs. Fox. -“Watch your father!”</p> - -<p>Just then Mr. Fox made a jump for the -turkey. Up in the air went Sharp Eyes’ father, -and down he came, right on the back of the big, -wild bird.</p> - -<p>“Gobble-obble-obble!” cried the turkey, and -that was all he said. A little later the fox family -had a fine dinner, and they didn’t have to -wait for the turkey to be roasted, either. They -ate it raw.</p> - -<p>Of course it was too bad for the turkey, but -animals must live, and if one lives on the other -that is the law of the woods. There is no need -of feeling sorry. The foxes had to eat the -turkey, just as the turkey had to eat grasshoppers.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that was a fine meal!” cried Twinkle,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span> -when the turkey was all gone, and nothing but -the bones was left.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and if it hadn’t been for Sharp Eyes we -might not have had it,” said Mrs. Fox.</p> - -<p>“That’s right,” said Mr. Fox. “I looked and -looked under the trees and through the bushes, -but I never saw that turkey. It took Sharp -Eyes to see it for us. His name is the right one -if ever a name was.”</p> - -<p>Of course Sharp Eyes felt very proud and -happy on hearing this, just as you children feel -when you do anything that pleases your father -and mother.</p> - -<p>“But I wish I could catch something myself,” -said the little fox boy.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you will, some day,” his mother answered. -“You are young yet—you have plenty -of time to learn.”</p> - -<p>After their turkey dinner the fox family went -back to their home in the hollow log and had a -long sleep. And they did not need to hunt anything -more until the next day, for the turkey was -a large one. Foxes or other wild animals, -hardly ever save anything over from one meal -to the next. They have no ice boxes or pantries. -When they are hungry they go out and get what -they can to eat, and they don’t hunt for anything -more until they are hungry again.</p> - -<p>Of course, by the next day, Sharp Eyes, his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span> -brother and sister, as well as his father and -mother, were hungry once more.</p> - -<p>“I will go out and see what I can find,” said -Mr. Fox. “The rest of you stay here.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t I come with you?” asked Sharp -Eyes.</p> - -<p>Mr. Fox seemed to think for a minute.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” he answered, “I guess it will be a good -thing for you to come along. My eyes are getting -old, and are not as good as they once were. -Yours are young and bright. You may see -something I can’t. Come with me, Sharp -Eyes.”</p> - -<p>“And us?”</p> - -<p>“Well— Well, no, Twinkle and Winkle. -This isn’t a lesson in hunting. I think, if I -take only Sharp Eyes along, we’ll be able to -get something to eat sooner.”</p> - -<p>So Sharp Eyes went hunting with his father, -while Mrs. Fox remained at home in the hollow -log with Twinkle and Winkle.</p> - -<p>“I hope we’ll see another wild turkey,” said -Sharp Eyes, as he trotted along beside his father -across the meadow.</p> - -<p>“Don’t expect such good luck,” answered the -older fox. “If we get a couple of wood mice, -or perhaps a little duck that has paddled off -down stream away from the others, I shall be -glad.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span></p> - -<p>So to the woods they went, looking for mice -which live in hollow stumps or in the ground -under the roots of trees. But all the mice -seemed to be away that day. Not one could -Sharp Eyes or his father see.</p> - -<p>“Now we’ll go to the brook,” said the old fox. -“Sometimes there are little ducks there, who -know no better than to swim too far from -the big ones, that, if I jump in among them, -can make a loud quacking noise and bring the -farmer with his gun. Maybe we can steal up -on a little duck.”</p> - -<p>So down to the brook went Sharp Eyes and -his father. But though there were ducks and -geese in the water (for the brook was near a -farm) not one of the fowls was off by itself. -They all kept together and not far from them -was a farmer plowing in a field.</p> - -<p>“He may have a gun near him, or a club,” -said Mr. Fox, “and with either of those he could -hurt us very much. We’ll not try to get a duck -now. We’ll have to go somewhere else for -our dinner.”</p> - -<p>“But where?” asked Sharp Eyes. “I am -hungry, and I know my mother is, and so are -the others.”</p> - -<p>“I know,” answered his father. “I am also -hungry. We’ll go to the woods once more. -Maybe there’ll be some mice now.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span></p> - -<p>So back to the woods they went.</p> - -<p>On all sides, among the trees and through the -bushes, looked Mr. Fox and Sharp Eyes. But -no mice could they see. Nor did there seem to -be any partridges, quail or other wild birds. As -for wild turkeys, not even the gobble-obble of -one could be heard.</p> - -<p>“What shall we do?” asked Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you,” his father answered. “There -are two of us. If we keep together we can be -in only one place in the woods, but if you go -one way and I the other we can be in two places, -and we’ll have a much better chance to find -something.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Sharp Eyes. “I’ll go this -way,” and with his paw he sort of pointed -down among some trees where the shadows were -deep and dark.</p> - -<p>“It looks as though you could catch something -there,” observed Mr. Fox. “I’ll go the -other way, and whichever of us first catches -anything must bark and howl. Then the other -will know.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll do it,” said Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>So off he trotted by himself. It was the first -time he had hunted alone, and he felt a bit queer -about it. Still he was a sly, cunning chap, as -are all fox creatures, and he wanted to show -what he could do.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span></p> - -<p>“I’ll get another turkey,” said Sharp Eyes to -himself.</p> - -<p>Through the woods he went, very softly and -quietly, looking on all sides, and sniffing the -air to get a smell of something he might catch -as a dinner for himself and the rest of the fox -family.</p> - -<p>All at once Sharp Eyes saw something moving -behind a bush. It made a rustling sound.</p> - -<p>“I wonder what that is,” thought the fox boy.</p> - -<p>Once more he sniffed the air. The wind was -blowing toward him from whatever was in the -bush, and the wind brought to the nose of the -fox boy a wonderful perfume.</p> - -<p>“It smells like something good to eat!” -thought Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>There was another rustling in the bushes.</p> - -<p>Then the fox boy saw some feathers shining -in the sun.</p> - -<p>“It must be another wild turkey,” said Sharp -Eyes to himself. “Oh, I wonder if I can jump -on it as my father did! I’m going to try!”</p> - -<p>As softly as he could, the fox boy crept up -behind the bush. He heard a scratching sound -among the dried leaves. He saw more feathers, -and something red.</p> - -<p>“That’s the funny red thing that hangs down -under a turkey’s chin,” said the fox boy to himself. -“I am having good luck! Oh, if I can<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span> -only jump on that bird before he hears or sees -me and flies away!”</p> - -<p>Nearer and nearer he crept. He could see -the big bird now. It did not look exactly like -the wild turkey.</p> - -<p>“Maybe it’s a new and better kind,” thought -Sharp Eyes. “If I get it I’ll bark for my father -to come and see what good hunting I can do!”</p> - -<p>Nearer and nearer he crept. The big bird -which was picking up something from the -ground under the bush, and scratching in the -leaves, did not seem to hear.</p> - -<p>“Ah ha!” whispered Sharp Eyes to himself. -“Now for a good dinner for all of us!”</p> - -<p>Through the air he jumped, and he landed -with his front feet right on the big bird’s back.</p> - -<p>“Burr-r-r-r-r!” barked Sharp Eyes, almost -like a dog.</p> - -<p>“Cock-a-doodle-do!” crowed the big bird, -and then it was very still.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III<br /> -<small>SHARP EYES HEARS SOMETHING</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">“Ah ha!” cried Sharp Eyes in fox talk, -“I have caught you, my fine wild -turkey!”</p> - -<p>Then, with the big bird held tightly under -his paws, the fox boy lifted his nose high in the -air and howled and barked. That was his way -of saying:</p> - -<p>“Come and see what I have, Father! I’ve -caught a fine wild turkey!”</p> - -<p>Away off in the woods, where he was looking -for something to eat, Mr. Fox heard the call of -Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Ah, I wonder if he is hurt, in danger, or if -he has something for dinner,” said Mr. Fox to -himself.</p> - -<p>Mr. Fox listened carefully, and then by the -difference in the howl and bark, he could tell -what Sharp Eyes was saying. It was this:</p> - -<p>“I have caught something! I have caught -something!”</p> - -<p>“Ah, my little fox boy has had good luck,” -said Mr. Fox. “Better luck than I have had. -I must go and see what he has caught!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span></p> - -<p>Not having found anything that he could -take home for his family’s dinner, Mr. Fox -turned and ran quickly through the woods toward -Sharp Eyes. He could tell where his little -fox son was by noticing the direction from -which his howls and barks came.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” asked Mr. Fox as he came near.</p> - -<p>“I have caught a big wild turkey,” answered -Sharp Eyes, still keeping the large bird between -his paws.</p> - -<p>“Ha! that is not a turkey,” said Mr. Fox, as -he came near and saw what Sharp Eyes had.</p> - -<p>“No?” asked the little fox in surprise. -“What is it then?”</p> - -<p>“It’s a rooster,” said his father. “A great, -big rooster that lives down on the farm where -the ducks are,” for there were farms near the -North Woods, though there were no cities. -“Well do I know that rooster,” went on Mr. -Fox. “Many a time, when I have been creeping -up to get a chicken, he has seen me and -crowed so loudly that the farmer came out with -a gun to drive me away. And so you have -caught him, Sharp Eyes!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but I thought he was a wild turkey like -the one I saw before. I never have seen a -rooster.”</p> - -<p>“He is as good as a wild turkey to eat,” went -on Mr. Fox. “You have had good luck. You<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span> -have quick legs as well as sharp eyes. Now we -shall not be hungry.”</p> - -<p>So Mr. Fox carried the big rooster home to -the other foxes in the hollow log. The bird -would have been too heavy for Sharp Eyes, who -was not yet full grown.</p> - -<p>“Oh, what a fine dinner!” said Mrs. Fox, -when she saw the rooster. “Who caught -it?”</p> - -<p>“Sharp Eyes did,” answered his father. “We -ought to be quite proud of him!”</p> - -<p>“I am,” said the little fox boy’s mother.</p> - -<p>Then they had a rooster dinner, and Twinkle -and Winkle listened as Sharp Eyes told how he -had caught the fowl, thinking it was a wild -turkey.</p> - -<p>“Though when it said ‘Cock-a-doodle-do!’ instead -of ‘Gobble-obble-obble,’ I thought it was -funny,” said the little fox boy.</p> - -<p>“You are a real fox now—you can go out and -catch things for yourself,” said his father. -“Now, Twinkle and Winkle, it is time you -started in. To-morrow let us see what you can -do.”</p> - -<p>So the next day the three little foxes started -off together on a hunting trip. At first they -saw nothing, but, after a bit, they spied some -wood mice and each caught one.</p> - -<p>“They are not as big as a rooster or a wild<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span> -turkey,” said Sharp Eyes, “but they will do for -a start. We can’t catch big things every day.”</p> - -<p>Twinkle and Winkle were quite delighted -with the mice. They were the first things they -had caught, except some grasshoppers, and they -felt a little bit proud of themselves.</p> - -<p>From then on the little foxes hunted every -day. Twinkle and Winkle soon learned to do -nearly as well as Sharp Eyes, but their brother -could always see things in the woods before they -could.</p> - -<p>His eyes seemed to grow sharper and brighter -each day, and he could tell a turkey, a partridge -or other wild bird a long way off, so that even -his father used to say:</p> - -<p>“Sharp Eyes is the best hunter of us all. He -is a fine fox!”</p> - -<p>Not far from where these foxes lived was another -family, not quite the same kind, though. -One of these foxes, named Red Tail, as he heard -Sharp Eyes tell of having caught the rooster, -said one day:</p> - -<p>“You had better look out for yourself, Sharp -Eyes.”</p> - -<p>“Why had I, Red Tail?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, because,” was the answer, and that was -all Red Tail would say just then.</p> - -<p>“Pooh! I s’pose he means a hunter might -shoot me,” said Sharp Eyes. “But I’m not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span> -afraid. I’m going off in the woods now and see -what I can find for dinner.”</p> - -<p>Off went the little fox boy on another hunt. -He looked all around, and listened and smelled, -and at last he saw something moving along the -ground.</p> - -<p>“Ha! Maybe that is another rooster or a -turkey,” thought Sharp Eyes. “I’ll get that for -dinner.”</p> - -<p>Softly, softly he crept up toward the animal -on the ground. Sharp Eyes could now see it -was an animal, and not a bird, and at first he -thought it was an extra large wood mouse. For -the animal was of the same color, a light gray. -But when Sharp Eyes saw the big, curving -bushy tail of the creature he said:</p> - -<p>“Ha! I know him. It is a gray squirrel! -Well, they are as good as a rooster or a wild -turkey, though not as large. I’ll get him!”</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes crept toward the gray squirrel, -but, just as the fox was going to jump on it, -something happened.</p> - -<p>With a chatter of his teeth and a frisk of his -tail the squirrel sprang up into a tree, and from -there, safely out of reach, sitting on a limb, -with his tail curled up along his back the squirrel -looked at Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Ha! You thought you’d get me! didn’t -you?” chattered the squirrel.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t know. I’m not so very hungry,” -drawled Sharp Eyes, pretending he hadn’t been -fooled when the squirrel jumped away.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes you did! You tried to get me, but -I was too quick for you—I got away!” laughed -and chattered the squirrel. “What’s your name, -little fox boy?”</p> - -<p>“Sharp Eyes. What’s yours?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I am called Slicko, the jumping squirrel, -and it’s because I can jump so well that I -got away from you,” answered the little gray -animal. “Haven’t you heard about me?”</p> - -<p>“Heard about you?” asked Sharp Eyes. -“What do you mean? I hear you talking now, -and I heard you scrabbling around in the -leaves.”</p> - -<p>“No, I mean, didn’t you hear about my having -adventures, and being put in a book?” asked -Slicko.</p> - -<p>“No,” answered Sharp Eyes, looking hungrily -up at the squirrel, “I didn’t.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I <em>am</em> in a book,” went on Slicko, “and -it tells how I was caught by some boys, and put -in a cage. But I got away and came back to the -woods I love so well. But if you haven’t read -the book about me, I don’t s’pose you know -Blackie, the lost cat, nor Don, the runaway dog.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Sharp Eyes, “I don’t know either -of them. I don’t like dogs.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, but you’d like <em>Don</em>,” said Slicko. “He’s -the nicest dog that ever was! He’s in a book, -too.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know anything about books,” said -Sharp Eyes. “All I know about is being -hungry—that’s why I tried to catch you.”</p> - -<p>“I’m glad you didn’t,” chattered Slicko.</p> - -<p>“So am I,” said the fox. “I guess I can easily -catch a turkey or a mouse or a rooster. I’ve -caught roosters before. But now I wouldn’t -like to catch you as I like to hear you talk, -though I don’t know anything about books.”</p> - -<p>“Neither do I,” said Slicko. “All I know is -I’m in one. And there’s a book about Tum -Tum, the jolly elephant. I don’t s’pose you -know him, either, do you?”</p> - -<p>“Is an elephant like a wild turkey?” asked -Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“I should say <em>not</em>!” laughed Slicko. “An -elephant looks as if he had two tails, but one is -his trunk. Tum Tum was a jolly chap. He -was in the same circus with Mappo, the merry -monkey. But excuse me, I have to go now. -I’ll see you some other time.”</p> - -<p>“I wish you would,” said the fox boy. “I’ll -promise not to catch you. I like to hear you -talk. Tell me some more about your elephant -and monkey friends.”</p> - -<p>“I will,” promised Slicko, “and about the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span> -book I’m in, too. I had a lot of adventures. -Maybe you’ll have some, too, and have them put -in a book.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no! That will never happen to me!” -said Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>But you see how little he knew about it, for -here he is in a book, and I have a lot of adventures -to tell you about him.</p> - -<p>So Slicko, the jumping squirrel, scrambled off -among the trees, and the little fox boy went to -look for something to eat.</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes presently caught a fat duck that -had swum too far down the brook, away from -the farm, and, slinging her across his back, off -to the hollow log he trotted.</p> - -<p>And later that day, when Sharp Eyes was telling -his friend, Red Tail, about catching the -duck, Sharp Eyes said:</p> - -<p>“I think I am getting to be a pretty good -hunter, don’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, you are,” said Red Tail. “But you had -better look out.”</p> - -<p>“You said that the other day,” went on Sharp -Eyes. “What do you mean? Do you mean I’d -better look out for Slicko, the squirrel?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no,” answered Red Tail. “But did you -ever stop to think that your coat of fur is different -from those that most of us wear?”</p> - -<p>“Why, no, I never took much notice,” said<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span> -Sharp Eyes, as he looked at himself as well as -he could. “What’s the matter with my fur?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing, except that it is very beautiful,” -said Red Tail. “Now you are going to hear -something that may scare you. Though you -may not know it, you are a silver fox.”</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” asked Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“It means your fur is the color of silver,” went -on Red Tail. “That color is very scarce, and -hunters like to get a silver fox more than any -other. That means they’ll hunt you out, and try -to catch you rather than any of us, for our fur is -common. But yours is silver shade, and can be -sold for a lot of money. So you want to look -out.”</p> - -<p>“Look out for what?” asked Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“For hunters,” answered Red Tail. “I’ll tell -you how I happen to know. Last year, when I -was a tiny little fox, I was caught in a trap. A -man who was a trapper of wild animals up in -these North Woods caught me. He took me -home to his cabin, and there I saw the skins of -many foxes hung up to dry.</p> - -<p>“There were many like mine, but only one or -two of a silver color. As I was so small, the -trapper kept me to tame me, and I stayed in his -cabin a long time. There I learned to know a -little of the talk that men hunters and trappers -speak.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span></p> - -<p>“Other hunters and trappers used to come to -the cabin to buy furs, and they paid more for -that of a silver fox than for any other. That is -how I know your silver coat would bring a lot -of money if a hunter or a trapper caught you. -So you want to be careful when you go out in -the woods.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, I will,” promised Sharp Eyes. -“I’ll be careful. Thank you for telling me, Red -Tail.”</p> - -<p>The two foxes talked in animal talk a little -longer, and Sharp Eyes was just going back to -his hollow log when, all of a sudden, a loud clap, -like thunder, sounded in the woods.</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” cried Sharp Eyes. “Is it going -to rain?”</p> - -<p>“No! That was the sound of a gun!” cried -Red Tail. “That was a hunter’s gun! We had -better hide, Sharp Eyes! The hunters, even -now, may be after your silver fur!”</p> - -<p>And away ran Red Tail and Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV<br /> -<small>SHARP EYES IS HURT</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">Sharp Eyes, the silver fox, could run -very fast. So could Red Tail. And they -knew they must run fast to get away from -the dogs of the hunter. For when men go out -to hunt wild animals or to trap them, dogs generally -go with the men, and though a man can -not run as fast as a fox or a deer, dogs can.</p> - -<p>Red Tail told this to Sharp Eyes as they hurried -along together. Behind them could be -heard the rumble and roar of the man’s gun, -sounding like thunder.</p> - -<p>“Hurry, Sharp Eyes!” cried Red Tail. -“Don’t let the hunter see you!”</p> - -<p>“What will he do if he sees me?” asked the -little fox boy.</p> - -<p>“He’ll try to shoot you with his gun. That is, -he will if he can not catch you alive.”</p> - -<p>“Why would he want to catch me alive?” -asked Sharp Eyes, as he trotted along beside the -other fox. They slunk down between bushes, -ran under fallen trees, crawled beneath old logs, -and even ran in brooks of water.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span></p> - -<p>“He’d like to catch you, instead of shooting -you, because you are now a small fox, and will be -bigger some day,” answered Red Tail. “The -bigger you are the more fur you’ll have, and it is -for your fine silver fur that the hunter or trapper -would like to get you.”</p> - -<p>“Wouldn’t he like yours, too?” asked Sharp -Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Well, yes, I guess he’d take my fur, too, if -he could get it,” answered Red Tail. “But mine -is not so nice as yours. Of course it keeps me -just as warm, and all that, but people who want -fox furs seem to like your silver color better, -though why, I don’t know. You are a rare fox, -and more hunters or trappers will try to get you -than would try to get me. So be careful!”</p> - -<p>“I will,” promised Sharp Eyes. Then he -asked: “Don’t you think we can stop running -now and take a rest? I’m tired,” and indeed -the little fox boy was weary. His tongue was -hanging out of his mouth and his legs ached.</p> - -<p>“No, we can’t stop yet,” said Red Tail. “We -must run on a little more. Then we can hide -in the dark woods away from the hunter and his -dogs and take a long rest.”</p> - -<p>So on the two foxes ran farther and farther -until at last Red Tail, who was older than Sharp -Eyes, and who had been chased by dogs and -hunters before, and knew their ways, said it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span> -would be safe to rest. They lay down on the -leaves under a tree and stayed as quiet as mice. -They listened, but could not hear the barking of -the dogs nor the bang of the gun.</p> - -<p>“I guess we got safely away,” said Red Tail, -as he crept out a little way and lapped up some -water from a brook. Sharp Eyes did the same, -for they were both very thirsty from their run.</p> - -<p>“Is it all right to go home now?” asked Sharp -Eyes, when he had rested till his tongue was no -longer hot nor his legs tired.</p> - -<p>“I’d better take a peep around and see,” answered -his friend. “I know more about hunters -and dogs than you do.”</p> - -<p>So Red Tail peeped out from behind some -bushes, ready to skip back again and hide in case -he saw danger. But he saw none, and, after a -little while, he and Sharp Eyes went on to their -homes, which were not houses such as you live -in, but a hole in a hollow log or a den under the -earth with some rough stones for a front door.</p> - -<p>“Well! where have you been, Sharp Eyes?” -asked his sister Winkle, as he scrambled down -inside the hollow log.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’ve been chased by a hunter and his -dogs, and I heard his gun fired,” answered the -little fox boy.</p> - -<p>“You did?” cried his mother, who was listening<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span> -to what he said. “Oh, Sharp Eyes, you must -be careful!”</p> - -<p>“I will. That’s what Red Tail told me.”</p> - -<p>“And don’t go too much with that Red Tail -boy, either,” said Mr. Fox. “He is a daring -sort of chap, and he might lead you into danger. -Once he went to a farmyard in broad daylight -and took a chicken. He ought to have waited -until night. He is very daring.”</p> - -<p>“Well, he was good to me,” said Sharp Eyes. -“He showed me how to run away from the -hunter.”</p> - -<p>“You must have had a terrible time,” said -little Winkle.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it was a sort of adventure,” answered -Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“What’s adventure?” Twinkle, his brother, -asked.</p> - -<p>“It’s things that happen to you,” answered -Sharp Eyes. “And then they are put into a -book. That’s what happened to Slicko.”</p> - -<p>“Who’s Slicko?” asked Winkle.</p> - -<p>“A jumping squirrel,” replied Sharp Eyes, and -he told of the talk the two had had together.</p> - -<p>For some days after this nothing much happened -to Sharp Eyes. He stayed with his father -and mother and brother and sister in their -hollow log house, going out now and then to get<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span> -something to eat, or to drink water at the brook.</p> - -<p>“That boy of ours is going to be very smart,” -said Mr. Fox to his wife one day.</p> - -<p>“What makes you think so?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Why, when we were out hunting in the -woods to-day he saw a big muskrat that I -couldn’t see, and he caught it.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I think he has the best eyes, for seeing -things to eat, of any foxes in this wood,” said -Mrs. Fox. “I only wish his fur was a different -color.”</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“Because it is too beautiful. If it was red or -brown, like yours and mine, the hunters and -trappers would not be after him so much. But -he is a silver fox, and you know how such skins -are prized. There is a big reward for a silver -fox skin, Red Tail’s mother told me.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I suppose there is,” said Mr. Fox. “I -remember hearing, when I was a boy, that a silver -skin was much sought after by hunters. I -never was colored that way myself, but I knew a -fox who was a boy when I was. He had silver -fur, and one day he did not come to play with -us. We asked where he was, and his father said -a hunter had shot him to get his silver fur.”</p> - -<p>“It’s too bad,” said Mrs. Fox. “I wish the -hunters would leave us alone. I must tell Sharp -Eyes to be careful.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span></p> - -<p>Each night, now that he was big enough, -Sharp Eyes went out with his father or mother, -Twinkle or Winkle sometimes going with them, -to hunt for things to eat. When they dared they -went to a farm which was not far from the North -Woods where they lived.</p> - -<p>“It is easier to get a chicken or a duck than to -hunt for a wild turkey or the wood mice,” said -Mr. Fox. “We’ll eat at the farmyard if we -can.”</p> - -<p>And often they did, though sometimes the -dogs barked when the foxes came near, or the -farmer and his men would come out with guns, -and the foxes would have to run away. At such -times they had to hunt for something to eat in -the woods. And, if they did not find it, they -would go hungry. That was no fun.</p> - -<p>One night, when the whole fox family had -been out hunting and had been frightened away -from the farm by barking dogs, they were all -very hungry.</p> - -<p>“I wish I had something to eat,” sighed -Winkle.</p> - -<p>“Well, we can’t have anything, so we’ll just -have to wait,” said her mother.</p> - -<p>“Where’s Sharp Eyes?” asked Mr. Fox. -“Didn’t he come back with us?”</p> - -<p>“He said he was going back to the farm, and -try to get a chicken or a duck,” returned Twinkle.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span> -“He said he was terribly hungry. And -so am I.”</p> - -<p>“Sharp Eyes may be caught,” said Mrs. Fox. -“You had better go back and make him come -with you,” she went on to Mr. Fox.</p> - -<p>“I will,” said he, but just as he started out on -the woodland path, Sharp Eyes came running -along, with a big chicken slung over his back.</p> - -<p><a href="#i_p045">“Look what I got!” he barked</a>, as he laid it in -front of his mother.</p> - -<p>“Where did you get it?” asked Winkle.</p> - -<p>“At that farmyard. I waited until the wind -was blowing the other way, so the dogs could not -smell me coming, and then I crawled in and got -this bird.”</p> - -<p>“It’s a wonder you weren’t caught yourself,” -said his father. “You are getting as reckless as -Red Tail. You must look out for danger.”</p> - -<p>“I did,” answered Sharp Eyes. Then they all -ate the chicken he had brought, and his mother -said he was very clever.</p> - -<p>“But you’ll not always be as lucky as that,” -said Red Tail to Sharp Eyes the next day, when -the fox boy told what he had done. “Some day -you may be caught in a trap.”</p> - -<p>“What’s a trap?” asked Sharp Eyes. “Is it -like a book that Slicko the squirrel had adventures -in?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="i_p045"> - <img src="images/i_p045.jpg" alt="" title="" /> - <br /> - <div class="caption"><a href="#Page_44">“‘Look what I got!’ he barked.”</a></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46-<br />47]</span></p> - -<p>“No, a trap is something that hurts you,” said -Red Tail.</p> - -<p>A few days after that the silver fox had a -chance to see for himself, and feel for himself, -what a trap was like.</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes was trotting along through the -woods, not far from the farmer’s yard; and as he -was looking toward it hoping he might catch a -stray duck or a rooster, all of a sudden he saw -a chicken lying to one side of the path.</p> - -<p>“Oh, ho!” said Sharp Eyes to himself. “I’ll -just get that and take it home for lunch.”</p> - -<p>So he crept softly up on the chicken, which -did not seem to know a fox was so near. When -he was close enough, Sharp Eyes gave a jump -and came straight down on top of the fowl, making -a grab for it with his teeth.</p> - -<p>At the same time there was a sharp click, and -Sharp Eyes felt a sudden pain in one paw. It -stung and ached.</p> - -<p>“Oh!” cried the fox boy. “I’m hurt! Something -has me fast by the foot! Oh, what can it -be? Did the chicken bite me?”</p> - -<p>He tried to pull his paw loose, but could not. -He was caught, and was held fast.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V<br /> -<small>SHARP EYES MEETS DON</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">After the first pain felt on being caught, -and when he found he could not pull his -paw loose, Sharp Eyes lay quietly on the -ground, partly covering up the chicken. He -did not howl, which was his way of crying when -he was hurt, though he wanted to do so very -much. But foxes and other wild animals do not -make much noise in the woods, for they like to -keep quiet so no larger animals, or hunter-men -with their dogs, may know where to find them.</p> - -<p>“Something terrible has happened to me,” -thought Sharp Eyes, as once more he tried to -pull loose his paw. But he could not, and each -time he pulled the pain was worse.</p> - -<p>“If I make too much noise,” thought Sharp -Eyes, “Bruin, the bear, may hear me and come -to bite me. Or the hunters may come with their -dogs, and I could not get away.”</p> - -<p>There were bears in the North Woods where -Sharp Eyes lived, and hunters and dogs often -came to the forest.</p> - -<p>“And, now that I am caught fast, I can’t get<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span> -away if they should come up close to me,” -thought the little fox boy. “I must keep quiet -and not make too much noise, though I would -like to call and ask my father or mother to come -to help me.”</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes whined a little from the pain, and -then he tried to be brave and not mind it.</p> - -<p>“I wonder what it is that has caught me,” said -the little fox boy to himself. “And why didn’t -the chicken flutter and try to get away when I -jumped on her? That was very funny!”</p> - -<p>He soon saw the reason the chicken did not -move. It was dead, and Sharp Eyes knew he -had not killed it.</p> - -<p>“She must have been dead when I jumped on -her,” said the little fox boy. “And now to see -what has caught me.”</p> - -<p>He could move about a little, and, pawing with -one of his feet that was not caught, Sharp Eyes -brushed the chicken to one side. Then he saw -that his left forefoot was caught between two -jaws of iron.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’m in a trap!” exclaimed Sharp Eyes. -“I never saw a trap before, but this is just what -my father said they were like. He told me to -keep out of them, but I didn’t see this one. The -chicken was in the way, or I might have noticed -the trap. Oh dear! I wonder if I will ever get -loose!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span></p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes pulled some more, but the pain -in his foot soon made him stop.</p> - -<p>“If you had only been alive you could have -told me about the trap, and then I wouldn’t have -been caught in it,” said Sharp Eyes, speaking to -the dead chicken, as though it were alive.</p> - -<p>If he had only known, the chicken was put -there near the trap, partly covering it, on purpose. -It was bait for the trap, just as mousetraps -are baited with cheese. And the trap was -set in the woods by a hunter who hoped to catch -a fox or some other wild animal in it.</p> - -<p>The chicken had been killed and put near -the trap, for the hunter knew wild animals like -such things to eat. And the hunter knew that -if a fox came along, the first thing it would do -would be to jump for the chicken, thinking it -was alive.</p> - -<p>Underneath the outspread wings of the -chicken was the open trap, and as soon as Sharp -Eyes’ paw touched the spring, snap! shut went -the jaws of the trap, catching him fast there. -It was the jaws of the trap pressing on Sharp -Eyes’ paw that hurt him.</p> - -<p>“Oh, if I could only get away!” said the little -fox boy to himself. “If I can only get away I’ll -never jump at a chicken again, without looking -first to make sure there’s no trap!”</p> - -<p>But it was too late to think of that now.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span> -Sharp Eyes was caught, and every time he -pulled his leg it hurt him so that he soon -stopped.</p> - -<p>“Red Tail was right,” he whispered to himself. -“He said something would happen to me -some day, and it has. Oh dear!”</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes kept quiet as long as he could, and -then his paw pained him so that he had to cry -out. But he cried very softly. Then he called -for his father and mother, using fox language, -of course.</p> - -<p>But they did not answer him, for they were -far away.</p> - -<p>“Twinkle! Winkle! Can’t you come and -help me out of the trap?” barked the little fox -boy, held fast, all alone in the woods, near the -dead chicken.</p> - -<p>But neither Twinkle nor Winkle answered. -They, too, were far away. They were off hunting -with their father and mother, and though -they wondered where Sharp Eyes was, they -thought he was safe.</p> - -<p>“Sharp Eyes can take care of himself,” said -his mother.</p> - -<p>“But I hope the hunters or trappers don’t get -him and take his lovely, silver fur,” said Winkle. -If they could only have known what had happened -to poor Sharp Eyes they would surely -have gone to help him, wouldn’t they?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span></p> - -<p>“But I <em>must</em> get away,” thought Sharp Eyes. -“If I stay in this trap much longer the hunter -will come and get me. Or his dogs will come -and bite me! Oh, I must get loose!”</p> - -<p>So he pulled and tugged away to get out of -the trap, but his foot hurt him more and more -and he had to stop.</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes was in such pain, and so troubled -about what might happen to him, that he did not -even feel like eating some of the chicken, though -he had been hungry a little while before. Now -his appetite was all gone.</p> - -<p>The little fox did not know what to do. He -called again for his father and his mother, and -for Twinkle and Winkle, but none of them -came. Then, all at once, there was a noise in -the bushes, and something seemed to be coming -toward Sharp Eyes where he was caught fast in -the trap.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I hope it’s my father or mother!” thought -the fox.</p> - -<p>But it was not. Instead, a big dog, who was -kind-looking, and not fierce and angry, burst -through the bushes.</p> - -<p>“Oh dear!” thought Sharp Eyes. “This is -the hunter’s dog! Now I am surely lost. -They’ll take my silver fur. Oh, if I had only -kept out of the trap!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="i_p053"> - <img src="images/i_p053.jpg" alt="" title="" /> - <br /> - <div class="caption"><a href="#Page_54">“‘Hello, what’s the matter here?’ asked the dog.”</a></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54-<br />55]</span></p> - -<p>Once more Sharp Eyes tried to get loose, but -the pain in his leg made him stop. He looked -at the dog, and got as far away as he could. But -the trap was fast to a chain, of which one end -was wound around a tree and could not be pulled -off.</p> - -<p><a href="#i_p053">“Hello, what’s the matter here?” asked the -dog</a>, who, of course, could speak animal talk, -though not exactly the same language that Sharp -Eyes and his friends used. “What’s the matter?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you know well enough what’s the matter,” -said Sharp Eyes sadly. “I’m caught in a -trap your master set, and I suppose you and he -are coming to get me now.”</p> - -<p>“What’s that? A trap? I don’t know anything -about a trap,” answered the dog. “And -I’m sure my master never set one. He lives in -a big house far away from here. I used to live -in a house where there was a nice little girl. I -liked her very much, and often I went for walks -with her. Once I took her to a park menagerie, -and she fell into the tank where Chunky, the -happy hippo, lived. But Chunky lifted her out -of the water on his broad back and saved her. -Chunky is a friend of mine.</p> - -<p>“My people have taken a bungalow over on -the lake off there, and we’re staying there for a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span> -while. It’s a good way off from here, but not -so far as our real home, where we live all the -time.</p> - -<p>“To-day I wanted to have some adventures, -so I trotted off from my master’s bungalow. -They don’t need me to-day, as they have all gone -visiting. So I came to the woods, but I never -expected to see you. Are you another dog? -You look a little like one, only your nose is -sharper than mine, and you are not so large.”</p> - -<p>“No, I am a fox, and my name is Sharp Eyes,” -came the answer. “And I am caught in a trap. -But please don’t bite me.”</p> - -<p>“Bite you? Why should I bite you?” asked -the dog.</p> - -<p>“Why, I thought all dogs belonged to hunters -or trappers and that they bit us foxes,” said -Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t,” was the reply. “My name is -Don, and once I was a runaway dog, but I ran -back. I am a little like a runaway dog to-day, -but I am going to run back home to-night, as -soon as I have had some adventures in the woods. -This is the start of one, I guess. I’m sorry you -are in the trap.”</p> - -<p>“Are you, really?” asked Sharp Eyes, who -had been taught that all dogs were bad and cruel.</p> - -<p>“Of course I am, Sharp Eyes,” answered Don. -“I know what it is to be in pain, and I can see<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span> -that where your paw is caught it must hurt you.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed it does,” answered the fox. “I’ve -tried to get away but I can’t.”</p> - -<p>“How did you get in the trap?” asked Don.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I didn’t look closely enough before I -made a jump for this chicken. It was right over -the trap, to hide it, and now I am fast.”</p> - -<p>“Well, maybe you can get loose,” said Don. -“I’ll help you. This is what my friend Slicko, -the jumping squirrel, would call an adventure.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, do <em>you</em> know Slicko?” asked Sharp Eyes, -and he was so surprised that he forgot his pain -for a moment.</p> - -<p>“Of course I know Slicko,” was the answer. -“I stayed two or three nights in the same woods -with Slicko.”</p> - -<p>“Now I know who you are,” went on the fox. -“I met Slicko, and we spoke of you, though I -never expected to meet you. And who is this -Chunky you talked of, and who saved your master’s -little girl?”</p> - -<p>“Chunky is a hippopotamus, or, as I call him -for short, a hippo,” said Don. “He lived in a -jungle in Africa for a long time and had lots of -adventures. Then he was caught in a pit trap -and brought to this country. He was in a circus, -and I met him in the park menagerie. He knew -Tum Tum, the jolly elephant, Mappo, the merry -monkey, and other friends of mine. Chunky<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span> -had a book written about him. I’ve had a book -written about me, too!”</p> - -<p>“So had Slicko,” said Sharp Eyes. “My! it -seems quite fashionable to get in a book nowadays.”</p> - -<p>“It is fashionable,” answered Don. “Almost -as fashionable as your silver fur. That’s why -you were trapped, I presume. Some hunter -wants your fur.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so,” said Sharp Eyes sadly. “Oh, -I wish I could get out of this trap!”</p> - -<p>“Hark!” cried Don suddenly. “Don’t you -hear something?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I do,” answered Sharp Eyes, listening. -“But I can’t see anything, held fast as I am.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll look,” offered Don, peeping out between -two bushes. What he saw made him cry out in -animal talk:</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s a man coming with a gun! I guess -he’s coming to get you, Sharp Eyes! He must -have set the trap.”</p> - -<p>“Oh dear! what shall I do?” asked Sharp -Eyes.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI<br /> -<small>SHARP EYES IS CAPTURED</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">Don, the kind dog, as soon as he had seen -the hunter coming toward the place in -the woods where the trap that had -caught the fox was set, ran back toward Sharp -Eyes.</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do?” asked Sharp -Eyes.</p> - -<p>“I am going to try to help you get loose,” was -the answer. “I don’t want to see you taken away -by the hunter, and maybe kept until you grow -to be a big fox, so they can take off your silver -fur. I’m going to try to help you get loose.”</p> - -<p>“How?” asked the fox.</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll sort of push you, and you can sort -of pull, and maybe you can pull your leg loose -from the trap.”</p> - -<p>“But it hurts when I pull on it,” said Sharp -Eyes.</p> - -<p>“No matter,” replied Don. “It is better to be -hurt a little on the foot than to be kept a prisoner -and maybe be hurt a lot, or even killed, when -they take your silver fur. And we must be -quick! The hunter will soon be here!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, I would like to get away!” cried Sharp -Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Then pull as hard as you can on your leg -that is caught in the trap,” said Don. “There -is a way to open spring traps by stepping on -them, but I don’t know about it. If my master -were here he could do it. But he isn’t. You -must help yourself and I’ll help you. Come -now, pull!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but it hurts!” whimpered Sharp Eyes, -as he pulled a little.</p> - -<p>“No matter! It must be done!” said Don. -“You pull and I’ll push you, Sharp Eyes.”</p> - -<p>Don, the kind dog, put his shoulder against -that of Sharp Eyes. The fox pulled on his leg -as hard as he could. It hurt him very much, -but the hunter could be heard coming nearer and -nearer and Sharp Eyes did not want to be -caught.</p> - -<p>“Pull! Pull!” softly barked Don. “Are you -pulling?”</p> - -<p>“I am! I am!” answered Sharp Eyes. He -felt as if his leg would come off, and the pain in -his toes was very bad. But he did not give up, -and, at last, with his pulling and Don’s pushing, -out came the fox boy’s foot from the trap. -Sharp Eyes’ toes were cut, and the skin and fur -were scraped off so that he could not put that -paw to the ground.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span></p> - -<p>“But don’t mind about that!” barked Don. -“You can run on three legs nearly as well as on -four. I’ve done it myself when I’ve cut my foot -on a sharp stone or a bit of glass. Come on, the -hunter is very close! Run!”</p> - -<p>So Sharp Eyes ran, and Don ran with him, the -fox limping on three legs. The fox and the dog -dodged in and out among the bushes and trees -of the woods, for they did not want the hunter -to see them.</p> - -<p>“There, I guess we are far enough away now,” -said Don, after a bit. “Do you know your way -home, Sharp Eyes?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, thank you! Now that I am out of -the trap I can easily find it. Won’t you come -home with me?”</p> - -<p>“No, I guess not. I’m looking for adventures. -Besides, if I went home with you, I -might scare your folks. They don’t like dogs. -But I’m not the hunting kind.”</p> - -<p>“Then I’m sure they’d like you,” said Sharp -Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Well, maybe some other time I’ll come to see -you. Trot along home now and look out for -traps,” barked Don.</p> - -<p>“I will,” promised Sharp Eyes, as he limped -along on three legs. The one he had pulled -from the trap hurt him very much, and was -bleeding a little.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span></p> - -<p>“But I’m glad I’m loose, anyhow,” thought -Sharp Eyes. “No more traps for me!”</p> - -<p>But you just wait and see what happened to -him next.</p> - -<p>The hunter, with his dogs and gun, came to -the place where he had set the trap and baited -it with a chicken.</p> - -<p>“Something has been here!” said the man. -“The trap is sprung, but there is nothing here -now. I wonder what it was and how it got -away.”</p> - -<p>His dog smelled around the trap, and then -ran off through the woods, barking. The dog -had smelled the path taken by Don and Sharp -Eyes, and was after them—on the “trail” as the -hunters say.</p> - -<p>The hunter looked at the trap more closely. -He saw some bits of hair on the jaws.</p> - -<p>“It must have been a fox,” said the hunter. -“But the hairs are of silver color, and not red -like most foxes! A silver fox! If I could capture -him it would be great! Silver fox skins are -rare! I must set another kind of trap for this -fox. I wonder how he got away.”</p> - -<p>The hunter could not guess that Don, the kind -dog, had helped the fox to get free, and was now -running with him through the woods. The -hunter’s own particular hunting dog was also on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span> -the trail of the fox, but pretty soon he came to a -brook. There the fox smell stopped.</p> - -<p>The dog barked and howled, and ran up and -down the stream, but he could not smell the fox -any more, and that is the only way he had of following—by -the smell, or “scent.”</p> - -<p>“Come on back,” said the hunter, as he followed -on and saw where his dog had stopped. -“The fox has crossed running water, and the trail -is lost. I’ll set a better trap for him next time—one -that will capture him alive. It would be a -pity to spoil that fine silver pelt in a spring trap, -or by shooting. Come on!”</p> - -<p>The hunter whistled to his dog, and they went -back through the woods, giving up the chase for -that day. When running away, Sharp Eyes and -Don had been cute enough to go into the running -water and wade part way up the brook.</p> - -<p>The brook left no smell of the paws of Don or -of Sharp Eyes, and the hunter’s hound could not -follow. When they can, wild animals will always -cross a stream, or wade up or down it, to -lose their scent so hunting dogs can not follow.</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll leave you here,” said Don to Sharp -Eyes, when they had run on through the woods -for some distance, after crossing and wading in -the brook. “I’ll go and see if I can have any -more adventures.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span></p> - -<p>“Wasn’t helping me one?” asked Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it was,” answered Don. “And if ever a -book is written about you, I hope that part is -put in.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, there’ll never be a book written about -<em>me</em>!” said Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>But that shows how little he knew about it, -doesn’t it?</p> - -<p>“Do you think you’ll be all right?” asked Don.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, thank you. I can get home all right -now,” said Sharp Eyes. “I’ll have to limp on -three legs for a while, but that’s nothing.”</p> - -<p>“It’s better than being held fast in the trap,” -said the dog.</p> - -<p>“Indeed it is!” agreed the fox.</p> - -<p>Then Sharp Eyes hurried on until he reached -his home in the hollow log. By this time his -father and mother, with Twinkle and Winkle, -had come back from the hunt. They had some -partridges and wood mice, and there was plenty -for all to eat.</p> - -<p>“Oh, my poor little Sharp Eyes!” said Mrs. -Fox, when she saw him. “What hurt you?”</p> - -<p>“I got caught in a trap,” he answered, and he -told all that had happened, and how Don had -helped him get loose.</p> - -<p>“That dog was very kind to you,” remarked -Twinkle.</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed he was. But you must be more<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span> -careful,” said Mr. Fox gravely. “The next time -you get caught, Sharp Eyes, you may not get out -so easily. A scraped paw is nothing. You were -very lucky.”</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes thought so himself, and the next -few days, as he limped around through the -woods, he kept a careful watch for traps or other -signs of danger. But he saw none.</p> - -<p>In about a week his foot was well enough for -him to use again in walking or running, but he -still limped a little. It was not quite all healed.</p> - -<p>One morning, very early, Sharp Eyes got up -before any of the others, and started out of the -hollow log house.</p> - -<p>“I’m going through the woods and down by -that farmhouse,” said the fox to himself. -“Maybe I can find a fat duck for breakfast.”</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes did not go near the place where -he had been caught in the trap. He did not like -to remember it, and he thought perhaps there -might be another set there to catch him. So he -went about a mile out of his way, and then circled -around toward the farm.</p> - -<p>Before he reached it, and while still in the -woods, the fox heard a noise which sounded like:</p> - -<p>“Cock-a-doodle-do!”</p> - -<p>“Ha! I know what that is!” said Sharp Eyes. -“That’s a rooster! The same sort of bird I once -thought was a wild turkey. Well, I am pretty<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span> -good at catching things now, and maybe I can -catch that rooster. I’m going to try!”</p> - -<p>Carefully, Sharp Eyes crept through the -woods. The sound of the rooster’s crowing -sounded louder now, and it seemed to stay in the -same place.</p> - -<p>“He doesn’t hear me coming, or see me or -smell me,” thought Sharp Eyes. “Maybe I can -get close enough up to him to grab him. But -I must be careful of traps!”</p> - -<p>On and on through the woods crept Sharp -Eyes softly. He came to a little place where -the trees had been cut down, and in the center -of this clearing was what seemed to be a box. -The crowing of the rooster came from inside this -box.</p> - -<p>“Oh, ho!” thought Sharp Eyes. “This is a -henhouse—the same kind I went into down at -that farm, and brought out a fat duck. There -is a rooster in this little henhouse, and I’ll go in -and get him. Then I’ll have a fine dinner!”</p> - -<p>“Cock-a-doodle-do!” crowed the rooster.</p> - -<p>“I’m coming to get you!” laughed Sharp Eyes -to himself.</p> - -<p>Nearer and nearer he went. He could look -right in the box, now, and see the rooster. The -crowing fowl did not come out.</p> - -<p>“But I’ll soon fetch you out!” said Sharp Eyes. -He looked all about on the ground. He could<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span> -see no traps in sight. The fox thought it was all -right.</p> - -<p>Softly he went up to the box. He went inside. -At the far end he could see the rooster, -which was tied fast by one leg. That was the -reason it could not get out.</p> - -<p>“Ah, ha! Now I have you!” thought Sharp -Eyes.</p> - -<p>He made a spring, inside the box, after the -fowl. And just then something happened. -There was a clicking noise behind the fox, and, -all of a sudden, it got dark.</p> - -<p>“This is queer!” thought Sharp Eyes. “That -click sounded just like a trap, but I am not -caught fast, as I was by my paw the other time. -I feel no pain. Still maybe this is a trick. I -guess I’d better go out again, and look around -some more.”</p> - -<p>He turned to go out, but found he could not. -Behind him a door had sprung shut. Sharp -Eyes was caught in the dark box with the rooster. -The little fox was captured! He was in another -kind of trap!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br /> -<small>SHARP EYES IS SOLD</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">If you have ever been shut up in a dark -closet, and could not open the door to get -out, you can imagine how bad Sharp Eyes -felt. Just as you may have done, he banged -against the walls, and pushed against the door, -but it would not open.</p> - -<p>“Oh dear!” whimpered the fox. “This is terrible! -Here I am caught in a trap again, and -I said I’d be careful! I wonder how I can get -out of here!”</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes looked about him. He saw that, -surely enough, he was in a trap, though a different -kind from the one that had hurt his foot, -and had made him walk lame. This one did not -pinch him. Then the fox looked at the rooster, -whose crowing had brought him to the trap.</p> - -<p>The rooster was not crowing now. I suppose -he was too badly frightened at having the fox -so near him. But when Sharp Eyes looked -again he saw that he could not get the rooster, -even though they were both in the trap.</p> - -<p>For the rooster was in the back part, behind<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span> -a screen of wire netting, and though Sharp Eyes -had very keen teeth, they could not gnaw through -wire.</p> - -<p>“Anyhow, I don’t feel like eating a rooster -now,” said the fox to himself. “I want to get -out of here.”</p> - -<p>Once more he looked around the trap in which -he was caught. The fox did not know much -about traps, but he could easily see that this one -was not going to be easy to get out from. It -was like a big box, open at one end, and it was -through this open end that Sharp Eyes had -walked in.</p> - -<p>As soon as he was inside, the open end of the -box closed with a wooden door, which snapped -shut, just as might the door of a closet in which -you had gone to play hide-and-go-seek.</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes pushed hard against this end door. -He pushed against the sides of the box, and he -pushed against the wire screen behind which the -rooster stood. But the fox could not get out. -Neither could the rooster, and the fowl fluttered -about every time the fox moved, thinking, I suppose, -that something dreadful was going to happen.</p> - -<p>But nothing did happen, at least for a while. -The fox was shut up in the trap, and all his -trying could not get him out.</p> - -<p>“Maybe if I call for my father and mother,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span> -or for Don, the nice dog who helped me before, -they will come and save me,” thought Sharp -Eyes.</p> - -<p>So he howled softly, and barked a little, almost -like a dog, for a fox is really a sort of -wild dog.</p> - -<p>No one answered his calls for help, however, -and then the fox, feeling very sad, curled himself -up in one corner of the box-trap and tried -to think what was best to do. For foxes and -other wild animals do think, in a way, and foxes, -especially, are very smart at keeping out of traps, -or getting loose once they are caught. But -there seemed to be no way out for Sharp Eyes -this time.</p> - -<p>“It was silly of me to come in here after this -rooster,” thought the fox boy. “I thought this -box was a little chicken coop, but it was nothing -but a trap. Oh dear!”</p> - -<p>All of a sudden Sharp Eyes sat up. He heard -some one coming through the woods. He could -hear the rustle of dried leaves and the cracking -of little sticks as they were stepped on and -broken. At first Sharp Eyes thought perhaps -his father or mother, or some of the other foxes, -might be coming to help him. But as the noise -grew louder, the fox said:</p> - -<p>“That can’t be any of my friends. They -would never make as much noise as that”; for,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span> -you know, wild animals go through the woods -very softly indeed.</p> - -<p>“Maybe it’s Don, come to help me again,” -thought Sharp Eyes. “I’ll call to him.”</p> - -<p>So, in animal talk, Sharp Eyes called:</p> - -<p>“Don! Don! Is that you? I’m in another -trap! Please help me out!”</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes listened, but he did not hear Don’s -voice in answer. Instead he heard man-talk, or, -as afterward it turned out to be, boy-talk.</p> - -<p>“Hark!” cried one boy. “Did you hear -that?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I did,” answered another. “It sounded -like a dog barking.”</p> - -<p>“It’s in my trap, whatever it is,” said the first -boy. “But I don’t believe it’s a dog.”</p> - -<p>Of course Sharp Eyes did not understand -what the boys were talking about, for he could -not talk to them nor could they speak to him. -But, very shortly, Sharp Eyes saw four eyes looking -down in at him from the top of the cage.</p> - -<p>“Oh, something’s in your trap!” cried a boy, -whose name was Jack.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and it’s a fox—a silver fox!” shouted -a boy, whose name was Tom. “Say, this is a -fine catch! I can get some money for his fur!”</p> - -<p>“You can?” asked Jack.</p> - -<p>“I surely can! Silver foxes are worth a lot -of money. I never thought I’d get one when I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span> -set my trap here, but I have. I’ve caught a -dandy silver fox with our old rooster for bait.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t the fox eat the rooster?” asked Jack.</p> - -<p>“No, he couldn’t,” replied Tom. “I put the -rooster behind a wire screen in one part of my -box trap, and left the other end open for a fox -to come in. As soon as he did, he knocked down -a stick that held the spring door open, and the -door shut down and caught the fox.”</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do with him?” asked -Jack.</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll take him home, and then I’ll have -my father take off his skin and sell it. Come on, -help me carry the fox home.”</p> - -<p>“But won’t he bite?” asked Jack.</p> - -<p>“We won’t let him out of the trap,” said Tom. -“He can’t get out. We’ll carry him home, trap -and all.”</p> - -<p>“And the rooster, too?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, the rooster too. He was good bait. I -thought a fox would come to my trap if he heard -a rooster crow.”</p> - -<p>And that is just what happened, you know, -though Sharp Eyes did not understand all that -the boys were talking about.</p> - -<p>Through the woods, for mile after mile, Tom -and Jack carried Sharp Eyes in the trap. At -last they came to some fields and, crossing these, -they reached the house where Tom lived. His<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span> -father was chopping wood and another man was -standing near. This man had a gun, and beside -him lay a hunting dog.</p> - -<p>“Hello, Tom, what have you there?” asked -his father.</p> - -<p>“I caught a fox in my trap,” answered the boy. -“It’s a silver fox, too!”</p> - -<p>“A silver fox!” cried the man with the gun. -“Did you say a fox with silver-colored fur?”</p> - -<p>“That’s what he is!” answered Tom, a bit -proudly. At the same time the dog jumped up, -and, sniffing at the box-trap, began to bark. -Poor Sharp Eyes was much frightened, and -scrambled around in his cage, trying hard to get -out. But he could not.</p> - -<p>“Be quiet, Skip!” called the hunter to his dog. -“You won’t have to chase this fox. He is safely -caught. What are you going to do with him?” -the hunter asked Tom.</p> - -<p>“Sell his fur. I’ve heard that silver fox skins -bring a big price down in the city.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right, they do,” said the hunter. -“Let me take a look at this one.”</p> - -<p>Tom opened a little slide in the top of the trap. -It was not large enough for Sharp Eyes to jump -out of, but it gave a good view of him. The -hunter looked down at the fox. He saw that -one paw had been hurt and was only just healed.</p> - -<p>“Well, I do declare!” exclaimed the hunter.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span> -“I believe that is the same silver fox that got out -of my trap, Tom. You are very lucky. A silver -fox skin is valuable. But you will not get -much for this one.”</p> - -<p>“Why not?” asked Tom.</p> - -<p>“Because it is too small. You will have to -wait for the fox to grow. Then his skin will be -worth twice as much. But if you don’t want to -wait, Tom, I’ll buy this fox from you alive, and -I’ll keep him until he is big. Then I can sell -the skin.”</p> - -<p>Tom thought about it. He wanted money -now, and did not like to have to wait, perhaps a -year, for Sharp Eyes to grow.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Tom to the man, “I’ll sell you this -silver fox.”</p> - -<p>So Sharp Eyes was sold to the very hunter -from whose trap Don had helped him to escape, -though the fox did not know this was the same -man and the dog who had chased him. The dog -was sniffing and snuffing around the trap.</p> - -<p>“Come away from there, Skip!” ordered his -master. “You can’t chase that fox. I’ve got -him safe now.”</p> - -<p>So the hunter paid Tom a goodly sum of -money for the silver fox, and took him away in -a box, into which he was turned from the trap. -The rooster was let out of his side of the trap, -being no longer needed for bait. And my! how<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span> -gladly that rooster crowed! He must have felt, -all the while, that he was going to be eaten by -the fox.</p> - -<p>As for Sharp Eyes, the hunter carried him -away through the woods, to his own log cabin, -putting him in a strong box, on a wagon drawn -by a horse.</p> - -<p>“Well, I wonder what will happen to me -next,” thought the silver fox. “I seem to have -gone from one trap to another. But this one is -larger than the one where the rooster was.”</p> - -<p>This was not really a trap, it was a box, and -it had some soft straw in it on which Sharp Eyes -could lie down. And he was so tired, and lonesome -for his own folks, that he stretched out -and tried to sleep. But it was hard work, for -the wagon jolted over the rough roads of the -forest. Sharp Eyes had been sold, and was going -to have some new adventures, but just what -kind he did not know.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII<br /> -<small>SHARP EYES GOES TRAVELING</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">For many days, weeks and months Sharp -Eyes was kept shut up in a box at the -cabin of the hunter who had bought him -from Tom. The silver fox was not kept in -the same small cage in which he had traveled -through the woods. The hunter knew better -than to do that, for he wanted the fox to be well -and strong, so his fur would grow thicker and -longer and more fluffy as Sharp Eyes grew.</p> - -<p>“We must make a nice cage for you, and tame -you a bit, so you will eat well and be happy,” -said the hunter, when he got Sharp Eyes safely to -his cabin. “I think I can soon make you so tame -you will not fret, and always want to get out.”</p> - -<p>So the hunter made, near his cabin in the -woods, a nice large cage for Sharp Eyes, the -silver fox. There were two parts to the cage, -one a dark one, with cool earth for the floor, but -with tin underneath the earth, so Sharp Eyes -could not dig his way out, for foxes are almost -as good diggers as are dogs, when dogs bury -bones.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span></p> - -<p>In this dark part of his cage Sharp Eyes could -sleep and rest at night, away from all danger. -The other part of his cage was made of strong -wire, and was open on all sides and the top, so -plenty of fresh air and sunshine and even rain -could come in.</p> - -<p>Foxes and other animals must have fresh air -and sunshine, and they do not mind being wet -in the rain, for it all helps them to grow big and -strong. And the hunter wanted Sharp Eyes to -become a big fox, with a fine, shiny coat of fur.</p> - -<p>“I’ll make his cage as near like the woods as -I can,” the hunter said, so he put bits of stumps, -rocks and branches of trees in the open part, so -that it looked a little like the woods. There was -also clean, cool water to drink.</p> - -<p>“But it isn’t the woods at all,” thought the unhappy -Sharp Eyes, as he roved about in the wire -part of his new cage. “In the woods I can run -as far as I like, but here, when I go a little -way, I bump my nose against the wooden or the -wire walls. I can not get out. I am as much -in a trap as ever, even if it is a larger one. Oh -dear! I wish I could get loose!”</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes tried all the ways he knew of getting -out of his cage near the cabin in the woods, -but the cage was made too strong for him. The -hunter well knew how to do such things.</p> - -<p>For a time Sharp Eyes felt so bad about being<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span> -caught that he would not eat. Even when the -hunter put bits of wild turkey in the cage, Sharp -Eyes would not look at them.</p> - -<p>But wild animals can not very long stand being -hungry, any more than can boys and girls. -Sharp Eyes sniffed the good things the hunter -put in to make him eat, and at last, after he had -taken a drink of cool water, he felt that he must -chew something with his sharp teeth. He went -over, nibbled at a bit of partridge the hunter had -tossed in, and it tasted so good, that Sharp Eyes -said to himself:</p> - -<p>“Oh, I might as well eat! I don’t believe that -I’ll ever get out of here. I may as well make the -best of it.”</p> - -<p>So he ate and felt better. The hunter came -and looked at Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Ah, ha!” exclaimed the man, “you are eating, -I see. I am glad of it. Now you will grow big, -and your silver coat of fur will grow big on you -and I can take it off and sell it. Get big and -fat, little fox.”</p> - -<p>Of course Sharp Eyes did not know what this -meant, but he ate just the same, and felt better. -Then he ran around his cage looking for some -way of getting out, but there seemed none. The -wooden and wire walls were as strong as ever.</p> - -<p>So the days and nights passed. Often in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span> -night, when the hunter was fast asleep, Sharp -Eyes would call, in animal language, for some -of the dwellers of the woods to come to him and -help him get out.</p> - -<p>“Help me to get loose!” the fox boy would -softly whine. But none came near him who -could help him. Not many wild animals, and -no foxes, would come close to the clearing in -which the hunter’s cabin stood.</p> - -<p>Now and then a night bird, flying in the trees -overhead, heard the call of Sharp Eyes, and -asked him:</p> - -<p>“What is the matter?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I want to get out of here!” would answer -the fox. “Can’t you fly and tell my father or -mother to get me out of this cage?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll try,” the bird would promise, just as -some of the friends of Chunky, the happy hippo, -had promised to go to get Tum Tum, the elephant, -to help him out of the pit trap. But Tum -Tum could not be found then, nor could the -birds find Mr. or Mrs. Fox. The father and -mother of Sharp Eyes were deep in the North -Woods.</p> - -<p>Sometimes at night Sharp Eyes would cry for -Don, the dog, to come to help him get out of -the cage, as Don had helped the fox pull loose -from the spring trap. And one night Don, who<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span> -was roving in the woods far away from his master’s -house, as he had done once before, passed -near the hunter’s cabin.</p> - -<p>“What! are you here, Sharp Eyes?” asked the -dog, in surprise.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered the wild creature. “Can’t -you help me get out?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll try,” answered Don.</p> - -<p>But Sharp Eyes’ cage was made strong to keep -animals from getting in, as well as to keep Sharp -Eyes from getting out, and Don could do nothing.</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry,” he said to Sharp Eyes. “It needs -some one stronger than I am to break open your -cage. If I could only get Chunky, the happy -hippo, here, he could open your cage with one -shove of his big head.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t you get him here?” asked Sharp Eyes, -eagerly.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid not,” answered the dog. “He is -in the park menagerie far away. You’ll never -see Chunky.”</p> - -<p>But just you wait and see what happens.</p> - -<p>So Sharp Eyes was kept in the hunter’s cage -for nearly a year. And in that time the silver -fox grew quite tame. He saw that the hunter -was not going to hurt him—at least for a while, -and the man brought good things for the fox to -eat and nice water to drink.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span></p> - -<p>After a while Sharp Eyes let the man put his -hand through a hole in the wire, and the fox did -not try to bite as he had done at first. Then, a -little later, Sharp Eyes let the man pat him on -the head, and the fox rather liked it.</p> - -<p>“Hunters are not so bad as I thought,” said -Sharp Eyes to himself. “This one doesn’t shoot -me, anyhow.”</p> - -<p>And even the hunter’s dog did not bark or -growl at the fox as much as it had at first. The -two never were very good friends, but they did -not snap at one another as they had done during -the first days after Sharp Eyes was brought to -the cabin in the woods.</p> - -<p>“I chased after you once,” said the hunter’s -dog to Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know you did, Skip,” replied the fox, -in animal language. “But Red Tail and I -waded in a brook of water, and then you could -not smell us to come after us.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, you fooled me,” said the dog, with a sort -of barking laugh. “I was mad at the time, but -I’ve gotten over it now.”</p> - -<p>“Would you chase me again if you had the -chance?” asked Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I guess I would,” answered the dog. -“You see, I am used to hunting, and I can’t get -over it so soon, even if you are a tamer fox than -you were at first. If you get out of the cage I’ll<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span> -have to bring you back, but I’ll try not to hurt -you.”</p> - -<p>“Then I guess I’d better be careful how I get -out of this cage,” thought Sharp Eyes to himself. -“I must not do it when Skip, the dog, is near. -But I would like to get away.”</p> - -<p>More days passed. Sharp Eyes kept on getting -big and strong until he was nearly as large -as Skip.</p> - -<p>Then one day a strange man came to the cabin -in the woods where the hunter lived. This man -looked like a hunter, but he carried no gun. Instead, -over his back, slung on a strap, was a black -box.</p> - -<p>“I suppose that is some other kind of trap,” -thought Sharp Eyes as he saw it. <a href="#i_p083">“These men -seem never to let us animals alone.”</a></p> - -<p>But Sharp Eyes was mistaken. What the new -man had on his back was not a trap, but a camera -for taking pictures of wild animals and birds. -He had come to the woods to do this. He was -hunting animals in a new way, but Sharp Eyes -did not know that.</p> - -<p>“What have you in this cage?” asked the -camera man of the hunter.</p> - -<p>“That is a silver fox,” was the answer. “I am -letting him grow big so his fur will be larger. -It will make a nice muff and neck piece for some -woman.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="i_p083"> - <img src="images/i_p083.jpg" alt="" title="" /> - <br /> - <div class="caption"><a href="#Page_82">“‘These men seem never to let us animals alone.’”</a></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>[84-<br />85]</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, it would be a shame to kill that fox just -for his fur!” said the camera man. “Why not -keep him alive?”</p> - -<p>“I paid money for him,” said the hunter, “and -I need to get back more money for him.”</p> - -<p>“Then I will buy him of you alive,” said the -camera man. “I’ll pay you.”</p> - -<p>“What will you do with him?” asked the -hunter.</p> - -<p>“I’ll not kill him,” answered the other. -“That would be too bad. I think I will put him -in a place where many people can come to look -at him. He is a handsome fox, and I’d like to -have the boys and girls, as well as grown-ups, see -him. Sell him to me alive.”</p> - -<p>“I will,” said the hunter, and he did.</p> - -<p>By this time Sharp Eyes was quite tame, but -he could not be allowed to run around loose. -He was let out of his cage, sometimes, but there -was a collar around his neck, such as some dogs -wear, and a chain was fast to the collar. So -Sharp Eyes could go only as far as the chain let -him. But this was better than being shut in the -wire cage. Sharp Eyes liked it outside.</p> - -<p>The camera man bought Sharp Eyes and put -him in a large box. Then the box was put on a -wagon and once more the silver fox was traveling. -Only this time he went a long way.</p> - -<p>From the wagon the box, with the silver fox<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span> -in it, was put on a train (though Sharp Eyes did -not know what that was) and taken farther and -farther away from the woods.</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes rode on the train in his wooden -cage. He was a little frightened, but not very -much, for he was used to having men around him -now, and some of the trainmen gave him bits of -meat to eat and water to drink.</p> - -<p>Finally, after he had been traveling on the -train for a long, long while, Sharp Eyes looked -out of an open door, and through the bars of -his cage. The train had stopped and, not far -away, Sharp Eyes could see what looked like a -big, white house, with gaily-colored flags, floating -from poles and ropes, on it.</p> - -<p>“Oh, what is that?” asked Sharp Eyes aloud, -in animal talk, before he remembered there was -no one in the railroad car to answer.</p> - -<p>But, just then, the silver fox saw, standing on -the ground outside his car, a great big animal -that seemed to have two tails.</p> - -<p>“Ha! So you want to know what that white -house is, do you?” asked the big animal of Sharp -Eyes. “Well, that is a circus tent, and I belong -to the circus!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX<br /> -<small>SHARP EYES IN THE ZOO</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">The train in which Sharp Eyes, the silver -fox, was riding had stopped so the engine -could get a drink of water, and it -happened to stop near the circus tent, which was -the white thing Sharp Eyes had thought was the -large house. So the fox had time to talk to the -big animal who had spoken in such a friendly -way.</p> - -<p>“Oh, so that is a circus, is it?” asked Sharp -Eyes. “Seems to me I have heard that name before. -I wonder where it was? But who are -you, may I ask, and why have you two tails?”</p> - -<p>“There it goes again!” cried the big creature. -“Every one who sees me for the first time thinks -I have two tails. Even Chunky, the happy -hippo, thought that.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Chunky! That’s where I heard the -word circus before. Don, the dog, told me that -Chunky was once in a circus before he was put -in a park menagerie.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, ho! So you know Don, the dog, do -you?” asked the big animal who belonged to the -circus.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span></p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered Sharp Eyes, “I do. Don -once helped me to get out of a pinching trap. -But no one helped me out of the trap where the -rooster was. That’s why I’m here now.”</p> - -<p>“What is your name?” asked the big animal. -The fox told and then inquired:</p> - -<p>“And what is your name, if you please, and -why have you two tails?”</p> - -<p>“I haven’t,” was the answer. “That’s a mistake. -I am Tum Tum, the jolly elephant, and -one of the dingle-dangle-down things is my -trunk, in which I pick up peanuts. The other -is my tail.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I see!” exclaimed Sharp Eyes. “So you -are Tum Tum! I think I heard Slicko, the -squirrel, speak of you.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, we are good friends.”</p> - -<p>“And Don often mentioned you,” went on the -silver fox. “But it seems to me he said you had -left the circus, and had gone back to the jungle -to help catch and train wild elephants.”</p> - -<p>“I did,” answered Tum Tum. “I was there -for a while. But now I am back in the circus -again. It was while I was on a sort of visit to -the jungle that I met Chunky, the happy hippo, -and pulled him out of a mud hole.”</p> - -<p>“And where is Chunky now?” asked Sharp -Eyes. “I would like to see him.”</p> - -<p>“He was with this circus,” answered Tum<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span> -Tum, the elephant, “but now he is in the park -zoo, or menagerie, as they call it to be stylish. -Did Don tell you how Chunky saved a little girl -who fell into his tank?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered Sharp Eyes, “he did. -Chunky must be real smart.”</p> - -<p>“Well, not as smart as a fox, for I have heard -that they are very smart and cunning,” returned -the elephant. “But still Chunky does very well. -He can do tricks, and he has had a book written -about him.”</p> - -<p>“There it goes again!” cried Sharp Eyes. -“Every one seems to be in a book; but I’m not.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe you will be some day,” said Tum -Tum. “You are young yet. But tell me—why -did they catch you and put you in a box on a -train? Can you do circus tricks?”</p> - -<p>“No,” replied the fox. “But they think my -silver fur is worth much money. That’s why -they caught me. I wish I was red or brown, -and then they wouldn’t bother me so. But silver -foxes are rare, they say.”</p> - -<p>“I believe they are,” went on the elephant. -“I have been in a circus a long while and I never -saw a silver fox before, nor are there any in the -zoological park, where Chunky lives.</p> - -<p>“But I must be going,” went on Tum Tum, -the jolly elephant. “I have to push some of the -heavy wagons around the circus lot. They always<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span> -call on me for that, as I am so strong. I -hope you’ll have a nice time where you are -going.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t expect to have,” answered Sharp -Eyes. “It is no fun to be shut up in a cage. I -wish I could walk around loose, like you.”</p> - -<p>“I guess I’m too big to be in a cage,” said -Tum Tum, “though they have sort of cages -for elephants in the parks. Well, good-bye! -Maybe I’ll see you again.”</p> - -<p>“I hope so,” replied Sharp Eyes, who liked -the big, jolly chap.</p> - -<p>So the elephant went to push the circus -wagons, and the train puffed away with the silver -fox.</p> - -<p>All the while, as the train rumbled on, Sharp -Eyes wondered where he was being taken.</p> - -<p>“If my silver fur is worth so much,” thought -Sharp Eyes, “I suppose they are carrying me to -some place where they can take it off. I shall -not like that. I want my fur left on. I’ll be -cold in the winter without my nice fur coat.”</p> - -<p>Sometimes hunting dogs were brought into -the same car with Sharp Eyes. The dogs became -very much excited when they saw the fox -in his cage, and barked at him. But they could -not get at him, for the cage was made of heavy -wire. Still, Sharp Eyes did not like to be -barked at.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span></p> - -<p>“Why don’t you be quiet and let me alone?” -he asked the dogs, in animal talk.</p> - -<p>“Oh, we are hunting dogs and we always bark -at a fox,” said one of the dogs.</p> - -<p>“Well, I have a dog friend named Don, and -he doesn’t bark at me,” went on the silver -fox.</p> - -<p>“We don’t know Don,” said the hunting dogs, -and they barked louder than ever.</p> - -<p>Once a monkey in a cage was brought into the -same car with Sharp Eyes. The monkey did -not seem happy, but crouched in a corner.</p> - -<p>“Who are you, where are you going and -what’s the matter?” asked Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“My name is Chacko,” answered the monkey, -“and I am being taken to a zoological park.”</p> - -<p>“Well, don’t feel sad about that,” advised -Sharp Eyes. “I have heard of a hippo named -Chunky who is in a zoo, and he is very happy.”</p> - -<p>“Has he the toothache?” asked Chacko.</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe he has,” answered Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“No wonder he is happy then,” went on the -monkey. “I have the toothache very bad.”</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry,” said Sharp Eyes. “I wish I -could help you, but I can’t get out of my cage. -Did you ever hear of Mappo, a merry monkey?”</p> - -<p>“Has he the toothache?” asked Chacko.</p> - -<p>“I hardly think he has,” the fox answered.</p> - -<p>“Well, then I don’t know him,” said the other,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span> -holding his paw up to his jaw. “I never heard -of Mappo.”</p> - -<p>“Tum Tum, or some of the animal friends I -have met, spoke of him,” said Sharp Eyes. “He -likes cocoanuts I believe.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we monkeys all do,” said Chacko. “But -I couldn’t eat any now, on account of my tooth. -However, I don’t know Mappo.”</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes talked a little while longer to -Chacko, to try to make the little furry chap forget -his troubles, and the monkey did for a time. -Then Sharp Eyes went to sleep.</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes was suddenly awakened by feeling -his cage lifted up and set down again. The -fox could feel the wind blowing on him, and -he knew he must be outside the train. But he -liked the fresh air.</p> - -<p>“I wonder where I am?” he inquired, partly -aloud.</p> - -<p>“We are on a wagon, being ridden through the -streets of a big city,” answered Chacko, the monkey, -who was on the same wagon as Sharp Eyes, -but in a different cage. The monkey’s toothache -was better now.</p> - -<p>“What’s a city?” asked Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Oh,” answered the monkey, “it’s a place -where they have more houses than there are trees -in the woods, but I don’t like it. Once I was -in a city park menagerie, and I never got half<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span> -enough peanuts. I don’t like the noise, either.”</p> - -<p>There was a great deal of noise as the wagon, -with the cages of Sharp Eyes and Chacko on it, -rattled through the streets.</p> - -<p>At last the wagon turned into a quieter place, -where there was much green grass and many -trees.</p> - -<p>“Oh! are they taking me back home again?” -asked Sharp Eyes aloud, as he saw the trees. -“This looks a little like my home,” and he looked -down from the wagon, hoping to see a hollow -tree.</p> - -<p>“No, this is not the forest,” said Chacko, the -monkey. “This is a menagerie, or zoo. I remember -the place. I lived here a number of -years ago. I am glad to be back, for here the -children give you many peanuts. They don’t -feed them all to the squirrels.”</p> - -<p>“And so this is a zoo, is it?” asked Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Yes, that’s what it is,” answered the monkey. -“We’ll soon be put in larger cages, where the -boys and girls can see us. You’ll like it in the -zoo, Sharp Eyes.”</p> - -<p>“I hope I shall,” returned the silver fox. -“Oh, there is my friend Tum Tum!” he cried, as -he caught sight of an elephant.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X<br /> -<small>SHARP EYES MEETS CHUNKY</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">Sharp Eyes’ cage was being lifted down -from the wagon, on which it had been -brought to the park from the train, when -the silver fox called out about the elephant. -His cage was set down on the ground, near where -some of the big animals, with trunks and tails, -were swaying to and fro behind big, strong bars.</p> - -<p>“Who did you say it was?” asked Chacko, as -his cage was placed beside that of Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Tum Tum, the jolly elephant,” answered the -silver fox. “I see him over there.”</p> - -<p>“My name is not Tum Tum,” said the elephant, -for he had heard what Sharp Eyes said.</p> - -<p>“Not Tum Tum!” exclaimed the fox. “Then -what is it?”</p> - -<p>“My name is Bunga,” was the answer. “But -I have heard of your friend Tum Tum. He is -in a circus, is he not?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered Sharp Eyes. “I met him -not long ago. He had been on a sort of vacation -in the jungle, but now he is back in the -circus. I thought, at first, that you were he.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span></p> - -<p>“No, but all we elephants look pretty much -alike,” said Bunga, “so I don’t wonder you made -a mistake. How is Tum Tum?”</p> - -<p>“Very well and jolly,” answered Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Oh, he always was that,” said another elephant. -“Tum Tum never was cross or unhappy.”</p> - -<p>“I was unhappy when my paw was caught in -a pinching trap,” said Sharp Eyes. “I hope I -shall be happy here.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll try to make you so,” put in a long-necked -giraffe, looking over the tops of the walls -of his cage, in which he was kept next to the -elephants. “We are always glad to see new animals -come in,” went on the giraffe. “We get -sort of lonesome just among ourselves. Tell us, -have you had any adventures?”</p> - -<p>“No, not any, I’m sorry to say.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes you have!” chattered Chacko, the -monkey, to whom the fox had talked in the train. -“You’ve had lots of adventures! You found a -wild turkey, and you got out of one trap and into -another, and you were chased by a dog.”</p> - -<p>“Are those adventures?” asked Sharp Eyes, in -surprise.</p> - -<p>“Of course,” answered Bunga, the elephant. -“Please tell us about them.”</p> - -<p>So Sharp Eyes told the zoo animals all that -had happened to him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span></p> - -<p>“And now you are here,” said Bunga, when -the fox had finished.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I am here,” agreed the fox. “And I -expect the next thing they’ll do will be to take -off my silver skin and sell it,” he added sadly.</p> - -<p>“Take off your skin and sell it? Well, I guess -not!” growled a tiger in the next cage. “They -would no more skin you than they would me! -They keep us for people to look at. Make your -mind easy. You will not be hurt while you are -in the zoo. You can not get away, it is true, but -you will have a good place to stay, and all you -want to eat.</p> - -<p>“I used to think, when I first came here, that -I would like to go back to the jungle, but there -I had to sneak out at night to get something to -eat, or water to drink. Here they bring it to -me. Of course I am shut up in a cage, but it is -not so bad.”</p> - -<p>“Really won’t they take off my fur?”</p> - -<p>“No indeed!” said the elephant.</p> - -<p>“Then I’m glad,” went on the fox. “I’ll try -to like it here in the zoo, though I’ll miss the -North Woods and my father, mother, my sister -Winkle and my brother Twinkle.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you’ll like it here after you get used to -being stared at by the crowd of boys and girls -and the men and women who come in,” said a -lion, in a cage next the tiger.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span></p> - -<p>So the animals talked among themselves, trying -to make Sharp Eyes feel at home, for an animal -gets almost as lonesome and homesick in a -strange place as you boys and girls might do.</p> - -<p>After a while some men came and lifted up -the cage of the silver fox, from where it had -been placed when taken off the wagon, and carried -it to a large building. Along the walls -were many other cages, and in one end was a -very large one.</p> - -<p>The bars of the big cage were set very far -apart, and when the fox saw them he said to -himself:</p> - -<p>“Ha! if they put me in that cage, with such -wide-apart bars in front, I can easily slip out -between them and go back to where my father -and mother live in the hollow log. I must try -to run away.”</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes looked a little closer, and noticed -that there was a big pool of water—about a hundred -bath tubs full I guess—at one end of the -big cage.</p> - -<p>“Ha! I’d like to get a drink there,” thought -the silver fox. “I am very thirsty!”</p> - -<p>Just then, all of a sudden, one of the men carrying -the cage in which the fox was still locked, -let his end of the box fall. Then the other man -dropped his end, and down the fox cage crashed -to the stone floor in the animal house.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span></p> - -<p>“Look out!” cried one of the men. “The cage -will break and that silver fox will get out!”</p> - -<p>And that is just what happened. The cage -crashed to the floor, one end burst open, and <a href="#i_frontis">the -next minute Sharp Eyes found himself free</a>.</p> - -<p>“Oh, at last I can run away!” he thought to -himself. “But first I’ll go and get a drink of -water in that pool inside the big-barred cage. -Then I’ll run away.”</p> - -<p>Before any of the men could grab him, Sharp -Eyes made a dash toward the big pool. Down -into it ran a sloping walk, or little hill of stone. -Down this Sharp Eyes walked until he could put -his nose in the water.</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes was just going to take a drink -when, all at once, he noticed that the water in -the pool was moving. Then, suddenly, something -big and dark brown rose up, as if from the -bottom. Sharp Eyes saw a big mouth open -right in front of him. It was a mouth so big -that it looked like the front door of a real house, -and inside it was lined with something that -seemed to be red flannel. And then, out of the -mouth, came a puffing sound, and the big animal -who belonged to the big mouth, made a grunting -noise, as though gaping and stretching after -a sleep.</p> - -<p>“Oh, my!” cried Sharp Eyes, as he saw the big -mouth. “Who are you, if you please?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span></p> - -<p>“I might ask the same thing of you,” went on -the big animal, as he walked up the stone hill, -water dripping off him.</p> - -<p>“I am called Sharp Eyes, the silver fox,” was -the answer, “and I have had many adventures, -but they have not been put into a book as yet.”</p> - -<p>You see Sharp Eyes didn’t know about this -book just then.</p> - -<p>“I’ve had adventures also, and they <em>have</em> been -put into a book,” went on the big creature.</p> - -<p>“What is your name?” asked Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“I am Chunky, the happy hippo, and—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’ve heard about you!” interrupted -Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>“You have?” asked Chunky. “Perhaps you -read a copy of the book in which I am spoken -of?”</p> - -<p>“No, I can’t read,” said Sharp Eyes. “But -I heard Don, the dog, telling about you. I liked -to hear about you.”</p> - -<p>“That’s very nice of you,” said Chunky. -“Yes, Don and I were great friends. Did Don -tell you how I saved the little girl who fell into -my pool?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered Sharp Eyes, “he did. It was -very nice of you to save her.”</p> - -<p>“Pooh! that was nothing,” said Chunky. -“When I saw you standing on the edge of my -pool, I thought it was some one else who had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span> -fallen in, and I came up to see about it. But I -am glad to meet you.”</p> - -<p>“And I’m glad to meet you,” said Sharp Eyes. -“Very glad indeed to meet you, Chunky. Now -I wonder what I had better do—run away now -that I am out of my cage, or stay and let them -put me in another? What would you do, -Chunky?”</p> - -<p>“I’d stay here in the zoo,” said the happy -hippo. “They will give you nice things to eat -and clean water to drink. It is better than the -jungle or the woods. Stay here and be happy.”</p> - -<p>“I guess I will,” said Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>By this time the menagerie men had run toward -the hippo’s cage. They saw Sharp Eyes -standing by the big, squatty creature.</p> - -<p>“Don’t let him get away!” cried a tall man -with a long, sharp hook in his hand. “Catch -the silver fox! Don’t let him escape!”</p> - -<p>So the men, with ropes and long poles, ran to -catch Sharp Eyes before he could get out of the -hippo’s cage. But Sharp Eyes was not going to -run away.</p> - -<p>“Get him! Get him!” cried the men, one to -the other. “Get the silver fox!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI<br /> -<small>SHARP EYES GETS AWAY</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">For a time there was much excitement in -the animal house of the park, where -Sharp Eyes had gotten out of his cage. -At first the men did not see where he had run -to—inside the hippo’s cage. But when they -found him they were very anxious to get Sharp -Eyes back.</p> - -<p>People who had come into the park to look -at the animals, heard the shouts and saw men -running about.</p> - -<p>“What is the matter?” asked several.</p> - -<p>“Oh, one of the animals is loose,” answered a -policeman.</p> - -<p>“Maybe it’s a lion or a tiger!” cried a woman -with a baby in her arms. “Come on, children!” -and she caught the hand of her little boy, who, -in turn held the hand of his sister, and they all -ran out.</p> - -<p>Some of the other men, women and children -also ran out when they heard that a lion was -loose. But this was not so. It was only Sharp -Eyes, and he was so tame now that he would -have bitten no one.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span></p> - -<p>“Get him! There he is! There’s the fox!” -cried the head animal man, as he pointed to -Sharp Eyes inside the hippo’s cage. “Bring up -one of the small dens, on wheels, and we’ll drive -the fox into that.”</p> - -<p>The men stood in front of Chunky’s cage with -sticks and ropes, to drive Sharp Eyes back if he -should try to run out. But the fox was not going -to do anything like that.</p> - -<p>“I said I’d stay here, and I will,” he explained -to Chunky, in animal talk, of course. “They -needn’t make so much fuss about me going to -run away. I’m not!”</p> - -<p>And Sharp Eyes did not. He stayed quietly -in Chunky’s cage, talking to the hippo in animal -language, until the park men brought up a sort -of traveling cage, and opened it. Then Sharp -Eyes said to the hippo:</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll go in there, as they seem to want -me to. Anyhow, it’s a nicer cage than the one -I was in. I’ll see you again, Chunky, my boy.”</p> - -<p>“I hope so,” said the happy hippo, who always -seemed to be smiling. “Next time I see you, -Sharp Eyes, remind me to tell you a funny story -about Tum Tum.”</p> - -<p>“I will,” said Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p>Then the animal men wheeled the cage with -the fox in it away.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span></p> - -<p>“Say,” said one of the men to the others, “that -silver fox didn’t give us any trouble.”</p> - -<p>“No,” was the answer. “I thought sure we’d -have to chase him all over the grounds, but he -was as quiet as could be. I guess he isn’t as wild -as we imagined.”</p> - -<p>And Sharp Eyes was not. The kindness of -the hunter who bought him from the boy was -beginning to tell. The silver fox knew that not -all men were unkind. Some, such as those in -the zoo, and the camera man, were good to wild -animals.</p> - -<p>For the first few days Sharp Eyes was kept -by himself in the small cage into which he had -been put when the first one broke. Nor was he -allowed to stay near the other animals. He was -put by himself in a dark corner of an animal -house.</p> - -<p>“You’ll be quieter there, and will get to feeling -at home,” said one of the park animal keepers. -“When you quiet down a bit we’ll put you -in with the other foxes, for we have a lot of red -and black ones in the park.”</p> - -<p>Of course Sharp Eyes did not know just what -the man was saying, but it sounded kind, and -kind and gentle tones to wild animals mean more -than just what the words themselves express.</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes did not like to be left alone, but<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span> -he could not help himself. He was given -plenty to eat and to drink, but he did not think -the zoo a nice place. He was too lonesome in it.</p> - -<p>Then came a day when he was taken from the -traveling cage and placed in a den with other -foxes. Here he thought he would have a good -time, but when the red, brown and black foxes -saw him in his fine silver coat they sort of turned -up their noses, and one said:</p> - -<p>“Oh, ho! A silver fox! Well, I suppose -he’ll be too proud to speak to us common chaps!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, I won’t,” said Sharp Eyes quickly. -“I’m a fox, just like you; and I’ll tell you some -of my adventures if you’d like to hear them.”</p> - -<p>“There he goes! Proud of his adventures!” -sniffed a red fox.</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes wasn’t proud at all, as we know. -He only wanted to be friendly, but the other -foxes would not be, and kept to themselves, leaving -Sharp Eyes on one side of the cage.</p> - -<p>One yellow fox tried to bite Sharp Eyes when -our friend was eating some meat in the den, but -Sharp Eyes soon showed that he had as keen -teeth as any of them, and then they were glad -to let him alone.</p> - -<p>But Sharp Eyes did not have a happy time.</p> - -<p>In the first place he was lonesome. He -wanted to make friends with the other foxes, but -they would not. Many, many times he wished<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span> -he was back in the woods with Winkle and -Twinkle, playing in the bushes, or running in -and out of the hollow log.</p> - -<p>After a while Sharp Eyes grew so lonesome -and unhappy that he did not eat as much as he -ought. Instead of keeping fat, and growing -nicely, he became thin.</p> - -<p>“This will never do,” said one of the park -animal men one day, when he stopped to look -in the fox den. “That silver chap isn’t doing -well at all. What’s the matter with him?”</p> - -<p>“I guess he and the other foxes don’t get along -well together,” answered the keeper who had -charge of feeding the foxes. “The silver one -keeps to himself all the while.”</p> - -<p>“That isn’t good,” said the animal man, who -was a person like the one with the camera, who -had first taken a liking to Sharp Eyes. “We -must put this silver fox where he will be happier, -and will make friends with other animals.”</p> - -<p>“I think he’d like to be near Chunky, the -happy hippo,” said the keeper.</p> - -<p>“What makes you think that?”</p> - -<p>“Because when Sharp Eyes first came to our -park, and his cage broke, he went in the hippo’s -cage and they seemed to like each other.”</p> - -<p>“Ha! Well, maybe it would be a good thing -to move this silver fox back near the hippo,” -said the animal man. “Sharp Eyes is not the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span> -same sort as these red or black foxes. His coat -of fur is much better. He is a different kind of -fox, and if we put him in a cage by himself the -people will look at him more. Sharp Eyes -ought to like that. It will keep him from getting -lonesome and homesick for the woods from -which he came.”</p> - -<p>So, a few days later, they took Sharp Eyes out -of the main fox den, and put him in a cage by -himself not far from where Chunky, the happy -hippo, lived.</p> - -<p>“Ah! I am glad to see you again!” cried the -animal with the big mouth which looked like a -piano lined with red flannel. “So you have -come to see me?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. And I didn’t like it with the other -foxes,” answered Sharp Eyes. “I am glad they -brought me here.”</p> - -<p>Soon he and the hippo were talking away to -one another at a great rate, though if you had -stood in front of their cages you would not have -thought that they were doing anything more -than grunting or barking. But that was their -way of talking.</p> - -<p>“You said you were going to tell me a funny -story of Tum Tum, the jolly elephant,” said -Sharp Eyes to Chunky one day.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, so I did. Well, it was Mappo, the -monkey, who told me. It seems, that, once upon<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span> -a time, Tum Tum was in the jungle looking for -something to eat. He was very hungry, and he -was looking for what they call apples in this -country though we call them something else in -Africa, where the jungle is. Tum Tum was in -our jungle once, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Sharp Eyes, “I remember. He -told me when I met him near the circus -grounds.”</p> - -<p>“Well, Tum Tum went all over our jungle -looking for an apple, but he could not find any. -Finally, however, he saw a little monkey pick -something that looked like an apple from a tree.</p> - -<p>“‘Here, give me that!’ cried Tum Tum. ‘I -haven’t had an apple in ever so long. Give me -that apple, little monkey, and I’ll give you a ride -on my back.’</p> - -<p>“‘All right,’ said the monkey. ‘But give me -the ride first.’ So Tum Tum gave the monkey -a ride all over the jungle, and then he asked for -the apple.</p> - -<p>“‘Here it is!’ cried the monkey, and he handed -something to Tum Tum. Our elephant friend -quickly took it in his trunk, and, not stopping to -look at it, popped it into his mouth and gave it -a big, hard bite. But what do you s’pose it -was?” asked Chunky, as he told Sharp Eyes the -story.</p> - -<p>“I can’t guess,” said the fox.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span></p> - -<p>“It was a hard cocoanut!” laughed the hippo. -“And Tum Tum nearly broke his teeth on it. -After that he always looked at what he ate before -putting it in his mouth.”</p> - -<p>“That was a funny story,” said Sharp Eyes. -Then he and the hippo talked for a long time, -and the fox watched the big animal go into his -tank and sink away down under the water.</p> - -<p>Days and weeks went by, and many people -came to the park to look at the animals. Many -of them stopped in front of the cage where the -silver fox was. Sharp Eyes was bigger than -ever and very beautiful.</p> - -<p>But still Sharp Eyes was not happy. He -missed the long runs he used to have in the -woods, and he missed the fun with his brother -and sister, Twinkle and Winkle.</p> - -<p>“Sharp Eyes, you are not happy,” said Chunky -one day.</p> - -<p>“No, I am not,” answered the fox.</p> - -<p>“What is the matter?” asked the happy hippo.</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t like it here,” the silver fox replied. -“I want to go back to my woods and live -in the hollow log.”</p> - -<p>“Well, perhaps you are right,” said the hippo, -after thinking about it and opening his mouth -to catch a loaf of bread his keeper threw in. -“Some animals like it here in the zoo, and others -do not. For them there is one of two things to -do—die or get out. I don’t want to see you die, -Sharp Eyes, so I will help you get out.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="i_p109"> - <img src="images/i_p109.jpg" alt="" title="" /> - <br /> - <div class="caption"><a href="#Page_110">“There was a crash, and Sharp Eyes sprang out.”</a></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>[110-<br />111]</span></p> - -<p>“How?” asked Sharp Eyes eagerly.</p> - -<p>“This way,” said the hippo. “They often let -me out in the yard to walk around, for I am quite -tame now. The next time I am out I will bump -into your cage as if by accident. I am so big -and strong, and your cage is so weak, that it will -not take a very hard bump to break it. When I -break it, and I’ll do it without hurting you, you -can run out and go back to your woods.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, thank you!” barked Sharp Eyes. “I’ll -do that! Please break open my cage and let me -out as soon as you can.”</p> - -<p>And Chunky did. A few days later, when he -was in the yard back of his cage, wandering -about and eating hay, he strolled over to the -cage of the fox.</p> - -<p>“Watch out now, Sharp Eyes,” said the hippo. -“I am going to bump against you. Good-bye, -when you get out. Think of me sometimes and -give my love to Tum Tum, Don or any of my -friends you see.”</p> - -<p>“I will,” said the fox.</p> - -<p>The next minute the big hippo bumped -sharply against the fox cage. <a href="#i_p109">There was a -crash</a>, a splintering of wood, <a href="#i_p109">and Sharp Eyes -sprang out</a>. The silver fox was running away.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII<br /> -<small>SHARP EYES GETS HOME</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p class="cap">“How good it is to be free!” thought -Sharp Eyes, the silver fox, as he -bounded out of the broken cage and -ran quickly to hide under some bushes that grew -near the place in the zoölogical park where -Chunky, the happy hippo, lived. “How good -it is to be free! Good-bye, Chunky!” he called -softly to his friend, from where he was hidden -under the bush. “Good-bye! I wish you were -coming with me.”</p> - -<p>“No, thank you,” said the hippo. “I am better -off in the park. I need to be warm, for I -come from Jungle Land. As for you, with your -warm coat of silver fur, you do not mind winter -and snow. Good-bye and good luck to you!”</p> - -<p>Then the hippo went to take a swim in the -pool of his cage, and Sharp Eyes, remembering -the hiding tricks his father and mother had -taught him when he lived in the woods, made -ready to get as far away as he could.</p> - -<p>The silver fox kept very quiet under the bush, -waiting to see what would happen. Soon, he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span> -knew, the animal keepers would find out he was -gone, and they would hunt for him. Sharp -Eyes did not want them to find him.</p> - -<p>“I must creep away as carefully as if I was -hunting a chicken at the farm near the North -Woods where I used to live,” said Sharp Eyes -to himself. “But no more chickens for me, unless -I can be sure there is no trap near by! I -must be very careful!”</p> - -<p>Carefully and slyly he looked around. He -saw no one, and he thought it would be a good -thing to run a little farther away from the park. -He was too close to his broken cage.</p> - -<p>Trailing his big, bushy tail along behind him, -Sharp Eyes crept out from under the bush and -ran across the path. A little distance farther -on were some trees, and the silver fox hoped they -would prove to be a wood in which he might -hide.</p> - -<p>But just as he was going in among these trees -(which were not a wood, but only a part of the -park) one of the keepers saw him.</p> - -<p>“Oh, the silver fox is out of his cage!” cried -this man. “We must get the silver fox!”</p> - -<p>He ran toward Sharp Eyes, and so did some -other men who heard the cry. If they had had -some dogs to help them they might have caught -the fox. But Sharp Eyes could run faster than -the fastest man, and he was in among the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span> -farthest trees before the keepers had reached the -first ones.</p> - -<p>“Now I must hide,” said Sharp Eyes to himself. -“If I can find a hollow log I’ll crawl in -that.”</p> - -<p>But the woods of the park were not like those -of the north, where the fox had lived. There -were no fallen trees or hollow logs.</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes heard the men running after him -and shouting. They were getting nearer and -nearer. He must find some place to hide. He -looked all about him, and, at last, saw a little -hollow place, filled with dried leaves, beneath -the roots of a tree.</p> - -<p>Quickly scraping the ground away with his -fore paws, the silver fox made the hole a little -larger. Then he crawled down into it, and managed -to scatter some leaves about on top of the -hole, so that it did not show very plainly.</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes was hidden in this hole when the -men from the park rushed into the patch of -woods.</p> - -<p>“Do you see that fox?” asked one man.</p> - -<p>“No, he must have run right on,” answered -another.</p> - -<p>Even while they said this the men stood near -the hole in which Sharp Eyes was hidden. But -they could not see him on account of the leaves<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span> -he had brushed over himself. Dogs could have -smelled the fox, but the noses of the men were -not keen enough for this. Nor were they hunters -or trappers, who might have seen the marks -left by Sharp Eyes’ feet in the soft dirt.</p> - -<p>So the animal keepers passed right on, leaving -the silver fox in the hole. And then his -heart stopped beating so fast, for he felt that he -was safe, at least for a time, and might, at last, -get far, far away.</p> - -<p>“I’ll wait a bit, until the men get out of the -woods,” thought the silver fox. “Then I’ll run -as far as I can. But I guess I’ll wait until after -dark. Then they can’t see me so plainly.”</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes was not hungry, for he had been -well fed in the zoo. But he was thirsty, and he -dared not go out for a drink. How he wished -he could lap up some water from the pool in -which Chunky, the happy hippo, swam. But -that could not be done.</p> - -<p>So Sharp Eyes remained hidden under the -roots of the tree. The animal keepers hunted -all over the woods, but could not find the silver -fox. They came back to his broken cage, and -the head keeper said:</p> - -<p>“Well, it is too bad that silver fox got away, -for he was a beautiful animal, and the boys and -the girls, and their fathers and mothers, liked to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span> -look at him. But maybe he will be happier if -he gets back to his own woods. I wonder how -he could break out of his cage?”</p> - -<p>The man did not know the trick Chunky had -played, and you may be sure the happy hippo -did not tell. He missed Sharp Eyes, Chunky -did, but there were other animals in the zoo for -the hippo to talk to.</p> - -<p>“Though I liked to talk to that fox about Tum -Tum and our other friends,” said Chunky to -himself. “However, maybe Sharp Eyes is better -off out of his cage. I hope so.”</p> - -<p>The silver fox waited until night before coming -out of his hiding place. Even then he -looked around very carefully to make sure there -was no danger. Foxes can see in the dark almost -as well as cats, and our friend had eyes that -were brighter and better than those of most -foxes.</p> - -<p>“I guess no one is around now to catch me,” -thought the silver fox to himself, as he came out -of the hole. “I don’t smell any dogs to chase -me. Oh, how good it is to be free, and not shut -up in a cage! Now I am going back to the -North Woods—to my father and mother, and -to Twinkle and Winkle!”</p> - -<p>Sharp Eyes did not know how far it was to -the North Woods where he used to live. Perhaps -it was just as well he did not, or he might<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span> -never have tried to go there. As it was, he set -off in the dark.</p> - -<p>No one visited the zoo after dark, and even -the watchmen and animal keepers went to bed. -So did the animals, except maybe the elephants, -and they sleep standing up. Thus no one saw -Sharp Eyes as he ran through the park in the -darkness of the night. From tree to bush and -from bush to tree he ran until he came to a stone -wall. This was one end of the park, and, to -get out, the fox had to jump over this wall.</p> - -<p>But that was easy for him. Often had he -jumped over high bushes, fallen trees in the -woods, or fences around a farm, when he wanted -to get a fat chicken.</p> - -<p>So, with a bound and a leap, Sharp Eyes went -over the wall, and, to his surprise, he found himself -in a queer place. It was a very light place -and noisy. Big yellow things, like railroad -cars were running up and down. They were the -trolleys, though the fox did not know that. -Then too, he saw black things, like big bugs, -making no noise with their wheels, but puffing -white smoke out of the back, also running up -and down, in and out among the yellow things. -These were automobiles.</p> - -<p>And Sharp Eyes also saw many people in the -street, for it was into a city street he had leaped -after jumping over the park wall.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span></p> - -<p>For a few seconds Sharp Eyes stood very still, -after landing in the street. He crouched back -against the stone wall, and then he heard a sudden -shout.</p> - -<p>“Oh, look what a beautiful silver dog!” cried -a lady. Of course Sharp Eyes did not know -just what she said, but that was it.</p> - -<p>“A dog? That isn’t a dog!” said a man with -the lady. “That’s a silver fox, and it must have -gotten away from the zoo. I wonder if it’s tame -enough for me to catch.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, don’t! He might bite you!” said the -lady. But the man ran toward the fox. However, -Sharp Eyes did not wait for the man to -come very close. With a little bark, the silver -fox bounded to one side and ran along the -street.</p> - -<p>By this time several other men and boys had -seen him, and they ran after him, some thinking -he was a dog. The heart of Sharp Eyes beat -very fast, and he hardly knew what to do. At -last he saw a dark place, which he thought was -a cave in which he might hide—it was really -underneath the high front steps of a house on -the street—and the silver fox crawled back into -the darkest corner.</p> - -<p>He was delighted when the men and boys ran -past his new hiding place, for that told him he -had not been seen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span></p> - -<p>“I hope they don’t get me,” thought the silver -fox.</p> - -<p>And the men and boys did not. They knew -nothing about hunting foxes, even in the streets -of a big city and they soon gave up the chase. -Sharp Eyes stayed under the steps in the darkness -until the streets grew quiet. Late at night, -or, rather, very early in the morning, the trolley -cars and automobiles stopped running. The -streets had no one in them. And then it was -that the fox came quietly out and ran along. He -did not know just where he was going. He -wanted to get to the country and to the woods. -He wanted to get back home.</p> - -<p>On and on he ran, and if any one in the city -saw him in those early hours of the morning, -they must have thought him a stray dog, for they -did not chase him.</p> - -<p>The silver fox was tired and hungry. He -managed to find a bit of meat in an ash box, and -once he came to a fountain where horses were -watered, and he got a drink. Then he felt better.</p> - -<p>It would take another book, almost as large -as this, to tell all the adventures of Sharp Eyes -as he ran through the city and at last got to the -country where there were some woods.</p> - -<p>At times boys and men saw him and chased -him, and, more than once, dogs ran after him,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span> -barking. But Sharp Eyes was a smart fox. He -had the smartness of a wild animal and the cunning -of a partly tamed one. So he knew how to -hide and how to get away.</p> - -<p>On and on he traveled. It was quite different -from being carried in a cage by the hunter -or riding in the railroad train. It was hard -work. The feet of Sharp Eyes became sore, -especially the one which had been hurt in the -trap.</p> - -<p>Often the silver fox was hungry and thirsty, -but he kept on and on. He did not go near -cities but kept to the country and the woods. -Often he would take a chicken or a duck from -a farm at night. He did not know it was wrong, -for he had to live, and this was the only way he -had of getting food.</p> - -<p>On and on he went. Sometimes he had to -wade across brooks, and more than once he swam -rivers. All the while he was looking for his old -home in the North Woods, not knowing how far -away it was. When he met any animals who -seemed kind—horses, dogs or cats—Sharp Eyes -would ask them:</p> - -<p>“Do you know where my hollow-log home is? -Or do you know my father or mother, or my -brother Twinkle or my sister Winkle?”</p> - -<p>“No,” would be the answer. “We don’t -know.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span></p> - -<p>“Then I must go on farther,” said Sharp -Eyes.</p> - -<p>By this time his silver coat was tattered and -tangled. In it were burrs and briars. The feet -of the silver fox were cut and sore. But still he -kept on.</p> - -<p>Once a hunter shot at him, hoping to get the -silver fur, but the bullet whistled over Sharp -Eyes’ back. Once a savage dog chased him, and -he had to run very fast, turning many ways, and -finally waded a long distance in a brook before -the dog lost the scent and gave up.</p> - -<p>“Oh dear!” thought Sharp Eyes. “I wonder -if I shall ever get home again!”</p> - -<p>He was very tired, but he would not give up. -One evening, after a day of hard travel, the silver -fox felt that he could go no farther. He -saw a stream of water just ahead of him, and -slowly he limped to it to get a drink.</p> - -<p>As he was lapping up the cool drops he heard -behind him a voice he seemed to know. It was -animal talk, and some one said:</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mother! Look! There is a strange -fox!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, so it is,” another voice answered. -“Well, don’t bother him. He looks tired and -weary. Let him drink, and, when he is rested, -we can give him some of the chicken you and -Twinkle caught to-day.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span></p> - -<p>“What’s that—Twinkle?” cried Sharp Eyes, -stopping his drinking and turning quickly -around. “Who is Twinkle?” he asked in fox -talk.</p> - -<p>“That is the name of my brother,” said the -smaller of the two foxes, who were near a hole -in the bank of the stream. “I am Winkle.”</p> - -<p>“Then you must be my sister!” cried Sharp -Eyes.</p> - -<p>“Your sister!” exclaimed the other fox. -“Why—why—”</p> - -<p>But suddenly the larger fox sprang forward. -With eager eyes she looked at the silver animal.</p> - -<p>“Sharp Eyes! <a href="#i_p123">Sharp Eyes!” she cried, “don’t -you know me?</a> I am your mother! Oh, how -glad I am to have you back!” and she rubbed her -cold nose against his and kissed him with her -tongue.</p> - -<p>“Sharp Eyes! Who is talking of Sharp -Eyes?” asked another fox, coming to the opening -of the hole in the side of the stream-bank. -“Sharp Eyes has been gone a long time.”</p> - -<p>“But he is back now!” cried the mother fox. -“See, here he is! He has grown to be a big fox, -and his silver coat is all ragged and torn, but he -is our Sharp Eyes just the same.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="i_p123"> - <img src="images/i_p123.jpg" alt="" title="" /> - <br /> - <div class="caption"><a href="#Page_122">“‘Sharp Eyes!’ she cried, ‘don’t you know me?’”</a></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>[124-<br />125]</span></p> - -<p>The other big fox came down to the edge of -the stream. He looked carefully at the silver -fox. So did a smaller animal, and to him Sharp -Eyes said:</p> - -<p>“Don’t you know me, brother Twinkle?”</p> - -<p>“Why, it is Sharp Eyes!” cried the other. “I -can tell him by the scar on his foot where he was -caught in the trap.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I am Sharp Eyes,” said the silver fox. -“And, oh, how glad I am to get back home -again! I am so glad to see you—Father and -Mother—and you, Twinkle and Winkle! I -thought I should never get to the North Woods -again.”</p> - -<p>“These are not the North Woods,” said the -father fox. “Those woods are far, far away. -We left them long ago—soon after you were -missing. We came to these woods to live. -How did you find us and where have you been?”</p> - -<p>“I have been in many places,” answered the -silver fox, “and I have had many adventures. I -don’t know how I happened to find you. I guess -it was just an accident, such as Chunky, the -happy hippo, said he would make believe happened -to my cage when he leaned against it and -set me free. But at last I am home again!”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said his mother, “in our new home. -Are you hungry, Sharp Eyes?”</p> - -<p>“Am I hungry?” he cried. “Well, I should -say I <em>am</em>!”</p> - -<p>“I’ll bring you some of the chicken that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span> -Brother Twinkle and I caught to-day,” said -Winkle. “We are good hunters now, Sharp -Eyes.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed they are good hunters,” said Mr. -Fox. “Well, Sharp Eyes, I guess you have had -enough of adventures, haven’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Indeed I have!” answered the silver fox, as -he ate some chicken in the new cave-house. “I -am never going away again.”</p> - -<p>“Tell us your adventures,” said Twinkle, when -his brother had rested in the cave.</p> - -<p>“They were so many it will take me quite a -while,” answered the silver fox. “I met many -animal friends, and they had their adventures -put into books. Maybe that will happen to me.”</p> - -<p>And it did, and here’s the very book, as you -can see for yourself. And now, as we have -brought these adventures of Sharp Eyes to an -end, we will say good-bye to him.</p> - - -<p class="p4 noic">THE END</p> - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="noic adgroup">STORIES FOR CHILDREN</p> - -<p class="noic">(From four to nine years old)</p> - -<p class="noic adtitle">THE KNEETIME ANIMAL STORIES</p> - -<p class="noic adauthor">BY RICHARD BARNUM</p> - -<div class="figleft" id="i_bm01"> - <img src="images/i_bm01.jpg" alt="The Kneetime Animal Stories" title="The Kneetime Animal Stories" /> -</div> - -<p>In all nursery literature animals have -played a conspicuous part; and the reason -is obvious for nothing entertains a child -more than the antics of an animal. These -stories abound in amusing incidents such -as children adore and the characters are -so full of life, so appealing to a child’s -imagination, that none will be satisfied until -they have met all of their favorites—Squinty, -Slicko, Mappo, Tum Tum, etc.</p> - -<div class="adpage"> -<ol> -<li>SQUINTY, THE COMICAL PIG.</li> -<li>SLICKO, THE JUMPING SQUIRREL.</li> -<li>MAPPO, THE MERRY MONKEY.</li> -<li>TUM TUM, THE JOLLY ELEPHANT.</li> -<li>DON, A RUNAWAY DOG.</li> -<li>DIDO, THE DANCING BEAR.</li> -<li>BLACKIE, A LOST CAT.</li> -<li>FLOP EAR, THE FUNNY RABBIT.</li> -<li>TINKLE, THE TRICK PONY.</li> -<li>LIGHTFOOT, THE LEAPING GOAT.</li> -<li>CHUNKY, THE HAPPY HIPPO.</li> -<li>SHARP EYES, THE SILVER FOX.</li> -</ol> -</div> - -<p class="noic"><i>Cloth, Large 12mo., Illustrated, Per vol. 50 cents</i></p> - -<p class="noi works">For sale at all bookstores or sent (postage paid) on receipt of price by -the publishers.</p> - -<hr class="r20" /> - -<p class="noic"><span class="adtitle">BARSE & HOPKINS</span><br /> -Publishers 28 West 23rd Street New York</p> - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="tnote"> -<p class="noi tntitle">Transcriber’s Notes:</p> - -<p class="smfont">Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected.</p> - -<p class="smfont">Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.</p> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox, by Richard Barnum - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHARP EYES, THE SILVER FOX *** - -***** This file should be named 62441-h.htm or 62441-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/4/4/62441/ - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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