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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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