The Adventures of Reddy Fox

by Thornton W. Burgess

  Now Reddy Fox had grown as careless as he had grown bold. Instead oflooking sharply ahead, he looked this way and that way to see who waswatching and admiring him. So he took no note of where he was going andstarted straight for the old tree trunk on which Drummer the Woodpeckerwas pounding out his warning of danger.

  Now Reddy Fox has sharp eyes and very quick ears. My, my, indeed he has!But just now Reddy was as deaf as if he had cotton stuffed in his ears.He was chuckling to himself to think how he was going to fool Bowser theHound and how smart everyone would think him, when all of a sudden, heheard the rat-a-tat-tata-tat-tat of Drummer the Woodpecker and knew thatthat meant "Danger!"

  For just a wee little second it seemed to Reddy Fox that his heartstopped beating. He couldn't stop running, for he had let Bowserthe Hound get too close for that. Reddy's sharp eyes saw Drummer theWoodpecker near the top of the old tree trunk and noticed that Drummerseemed to be looking at something down below. Reddy Fox gave one quicklook at the foot of the old tree trunk and saw a gun pointed at him andbehind the gun the freckled face of Farmer Brown's boy. Reddy Fox gavea little gasp of fright and turned so suddenly that he almost fell flat.Then he began to run as never in his life had he run before. It seemedas though his flying feet hardly touched the grass. His eyes werepopping out with fright as with every jump he tried to run just a weebit faster.

  Bang! Bang! Two flashes of fire and two puffs of smoke darted frombehind the old tree trunk. Drummer the Woodpecker gave a frightenedscream and flew deep into the Green Forest. Peter Rabbit flattenedhimself under a friendly bramble bush. Johnny Chuck dived headfirst downhis doorway.

  Reddy Fox gave a yelp, a shrill little yelp of pain, and suddenly beganto go lame. But Farmer Brown's boy didn't know that. He thought he hadmissed and he growled to himself:

  "I'll get that fox yet for stealing my pet chicken!"

  VIII. Granny Fox Takes Care of Reddy

  Reddy Fox was so sore and lame that he could hardly hobble. He had hadthe hardest kind of work to get far enough ahead of Bowser the Hound tomix his trail up so that Bowser couldn't follow it. Then he had limpedhome, big tears running down his nose, although he tried hard not tocry. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" moaned Reddy Fox, as he crept in at the doorway ofhis home.

  "What's the matter now?" snapped old Granny Fox, who had just waked upfrom a sun nap.

  "I--I've got hurt," said Reddy Fox, and began to cry harder. Granny Foxlooked at Reddy sharply. "What have you been doing now--tearing yourclothes on a barbed-wire fence or trying to crawl through a bull-briarthicket? I should think you were big enough by this time to look out foryourself!" said Granny Fox crossly, as she came over to look at Reddy'shurts.

  "Please don't scold, please don't, Granny Fox," begged Reddy, who wasbeginning to feel sick to his stomach as well as lame, and to smartdreadfully.

  Granny Fox took one look at Reddy's wounds, and knew right away what hadhappened. She made Reddy stretch himself out at full length and thenshe went to work on him, washing his wounds with the greatest care andbinding them up. She was very gentle, was old Granny Fox, as she touchedthe sore places, but all the time she was at work her tongue flew, andthat wasn't gentle at all. Oh, my, no! There was nothing gentle aboutthat!

  You see, old Granny Fox is wise and very, very sharp and shrewd. Just assoon as she saw Reddy's hurts, she knew that they were made by shotfrom a gun, and that meant that Reddy Fox had been careless or he never,never would have been where he was in danger of being shot.

  "I hope this will teach you a lesson!" said Granny Fox. "What are youreyes and your ears and your nose for? To keep you out of just suchtrouble as this.

  "A little Fox must use his eyes Or get someday a sad surprise.

  "A little Fox must use his ears And know what makes each sound he hears.

  "A little Fox must use his nose And try the wind where'er he goes.

  "A little Fox must use all three To live to grow as old as me.

  "Now tell me all about it, Reddy Fox. This is summer and men don'thunt foxes now. I don't see how it happens that Farmer Brown's boy waswaiting for you with a gun."

  So Reddy Fox told Granny Fox all about how he had run too near the oldtree trunk behind which Farmer Brown's boy had been hiding, but Reddydidn't tell how he had been trying to show off, or how in broad daylighthe had stolen the pet chicken of Farmer Brown's boy. You may be sure hewas very careful not to mention that.

  And so old Granny Fox puckered up her brows and thought and thought,trying to find some good reason why Farmer Brown's boy should have beenhunting in the summertime.

  "Caw, caw, caw!" shouted Blacky the Crow.

  The face of Granny Fox cleared. "Blacky the Crow has been stealing, andFarmer Brown's boy was out after him when Reddy came along," said GrannyFox, talking out loud to herself.

  Reddy Fox grew very red in the face, but he never said a word.

  IX. Peter Rabbit Hears the News

  Johnny Chuck came running up to the edge of the Old Briarpatch quiteout of breath. You see, he is so round and fat and roly-poly that to runmakes him puff and blow. Johnny Chuck's eyes danced with excitement ashe peered into the Old Briar-patch, trying to see Peter Rabbit.

  "Peter! Peter Rabbit! Oh, Peter!" he called. No one answered. JohnnyChuck looked disappointed. It was the middle of the morning, and he hadthought that Peter would surely be at home then. He would try once more."Oh, you Peter Rabbit!" he shouted in such a high-pitched voice that itwas almost a squeal.

  "What you want?" asked a sleepy voice from the middle of the OldBriar-patch.

  Johnny Chuck's face lighted up. "Come out here, Peter, where I can lookat you," cried Johnny.

  "Go away, Johnny Chuck! I'm sleepy," said Peter Rabbit, and his voicesounded just a wee bit cross, for Peter had been out all night, a habitwhich Peter has.

  "I've got some news for you, Peter," called Johnny Chuck eagerly.

  "How do you know it's news to me?" asked Peter, and Johnny noticed thathis voice wasn't quite so cross.

  "I'm almost sure it is, for I've just heard it myself, and I've hurriedright down here to tell you because I think you'll want to know it,"replied Johnny Chuck.

  "Pooh!" said Peter Rabbit, "it's probably as old as the hills to me.You folks who go to bed with the sun don't hear the news until it's old.What is it?"

  "It's about Reddy Fox," began Johnny Chuck, but Peter Rabbit interruptedhim.

  "Shucks, Johnny Chuck! You are slow! Why, it was all over Green Meadowslast night how Reddy Fox had been shot by Farmer Brown's boy!" jeeredPeter Rabbit. "That's no news. And here you've waked me up to tell mesomething I knew before you went to bed last night! Serves Reddy Foxright. Hope he'll be lame for a week," added Peter Rabbit.

  "He can't walk at all!" cried Johnny Chuck in triumph, sure now thatPeter Rabbit hadn't heard the news.

  "What's that?" demanded Peter, and Johnny Chuck could hear him beginto hop along one of his little private paths in the heart of the OldBriar-patch. He knew now that Peter Rabbit's curiosity was aroused, andhe smiled to himself.

  In a few minutes Peter thrust a sleepy-looking face out from the OldBriar-patch and grinned rather sheepishly. "What was that you weresaying about Reddy Fox?" he asked again.

  "I've a good mind not to tell you, Mr. Know-it-all," exclaimed JohnnyChuck.

  "Oh, please, Johnny Chuck," pleaded Peter Rabbit.

  Finally Johnny gave in. "I said that Reddy Fox can't walk. Aren't youglad, Peter?"

  "How do you know?" asked Peter, for Peter is very suspicious of ReddyFox, and has to watch out for his tricks all the time.

  "Jimmy Skunk told me. He was up by Reddy's house early this morning andsaw Reddy try to walk. He tried and tried and couldn't. You won't haveto watch out for Reddy Fox for some time, Peter. Serves him right,doesn't it?''

  "Let's go up and see if it really is true!" said Peter suddenly.

  "All right," said Johnny Chuck, and off they started.

  X. Poor Reddy Fox

  Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck stole up t
he hill toward the home of ReddyFox. As they drew near, they crept from one bunch of grass to anotherand from bush to bush, stopping behind each to look and listen. Theywere not taking any chances. Johnny Chuck was not much afraid of ReddyFox, for he had whipped him once, but he was afraid of old Granny Fox.Peter Rabbit was afraid of both. The nearer he got to the home of ReddyFox, the more anxious and nervous he grew. You see, Reddy Fox had playedso many tricks to try and catch Peter that Peter was not quite sure thatthis was not another trick. So he kept a sharp watch in every direction,ready to run at the least sign of danger.

  When they had tiptoed and crawled to a point where they could see thedoorstep of the Fox home, Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck lay down in aclump of bushes and watched. Pretty soon they saw old Granny Fox comeout. She sniffed the wind and then she started off at a quick run downthe Lone Little Path. Johnny Chuck gave a sigh of relief, for he wasn'tafraid of Reddy and now he felt safe. But Peter Rabbit was just aswatchful as ever.

  "I've got to see Reddy for myself before I'll go a step nearer," hewhispered. Just then Johnny Chuck put a hand on his lips and pointedwith the other hand. There was Reddy Fox crawling out of his doorwayinto the sun. Peter Rabbit leaned forward to see better. Was Reddy Foxreally so badly hurt, or was he only pretending?

  Reddy Fox crawled painfully out onto his doorstep. He tried to standand walk, but he couldn't because he was too stiff and sore. So he justcrawled. He didn't know that anyone was watching him, and with everymovement he made a face. That was because it hurt so.

  Peter Rabbit, watching from the clump of bushes, knew then that Reddywas not pretending. He knew that he had nothing, not the least littlething, to fear from Reddy Fox. So Peter gave a whoop of joy and sprangout into view.

  Reddy looked up and tried to grin, but made a face of pain instead. Yousee, it hurt so to move.

  "I suppose you're tickled to death to see me like this," he growled toPeter Rabbit.

  Now Peter had every reason to be glad, for Reddy Fox had tried his bestto catch Peter Rabbit to give to old Granny Fox for her dinner, and timeand again Peter had just barely escaped. So at first Peter Rabbit hadwhooped with joy. But as he saw how very helpless Reddy really was andhow much pain he felt, suddenly Peter Rabbit's big, soft eyes filledwith tears of pity.

  He forgot all about the threats of Reddy Fox and how Reddy had tried totrick him. He forgot all about how mean Reddy had been.

  "Poor Reddy Fox," said Peter Rabbit. "Poor Reddy Fox."

  XI. Granny Fox Returns

  Up over the hill trotted old Granny Fox. She was on her way home witha tender young chicken for Reddy Fox. Poor Reddy! Of course, it was hisown fault, for he had been showing off and he had been careless or henever would have gone so near to the old tree trunk behind which FarmerBrown's boy was hiding.

  But old Granny Fox didn't know this. She never makes such mistakesherself. Oh, my, no! So now, as she came up over the hill to a placewhere she could see her home, she laid the chicken down and then shecrept behind a little bush and looked all over the Green Meadows to seeif the way was clear. She knew that Bowser the Hound was chained up. Shehad seen Farmer Brown and Farmer Brown's boy hoeing in the cornfield, soshe had nothing to fear from them.

  Looking over to her doorstep, she saw Reddy Fox lying in the sun, andthen she saw something else, something that made her eyes flash and herteeth come together with a snap. It was Peter Rabbit sitting up verystraight, not ten feet from Reddy Fox.

  "So that's that young scamp of a Peter Rabbit whom Reddy was going tocatch for me when I was sick and couldn't! I'll just show Reddy Fox howeasily it can be done, and he shall have tender young rabbit with hischicken!" said Granny Fox to herself.

  So first she studied and studied every clump of grass and every bushbehind which she could creep. She saw that she could get almost to wherePeter Rabbit was sitting and never once show herself to him. Thenshe looked this way and looked that way to make sure that no one waswatching her.

  No one did she see on the Green Meadows who was looking her way. ThenGranny Fox began to crawl from one clump of grass to another and frombush to bush. Sometimes she wriggled along flat on her stomach. Littleby little she was drawing nearer and nearer to Peter Rabbit.

  Now with all her smartness old Granny Fox had forgotten one thing. Yes,Sir, she had forgotten one thing. Never once had she thought to look upin the sky.

  And there was Ol' Mistah Buzzard sailing round and round and lookingdown and seeing all that was going on below.

  Ol' Mistah Buzzard is sharp. He knew just what old Granny Fox wasplanning to do--knew it as well as if he had read her thoughts. His eyestwinkled.

  "Ah cert'nly can't allow li'l' Brer Rabbit to be hurt, Ah cert'nlycan't!" muttered Ol' Mistah Buzzard, and chuckled.

  Then he slanted his broad wings downward and without a sound slid downout of the sky till he was right behind Granny Fox.

  "Do yo' always crawl home, Granny Fox?" asked Ol' Mistah Buzzard.

  Granny Fox was so startled, for she hadn't heard a sound, that shejumped almost out of her skin. Of course Peter Rabbit saw her then, andwas off like a shot.

  Granny Fox showed all her teeth. "I wish you would mind your ownbusiness, Mistah Buzzard!" she snarled.

  "Cert'nly, cert'nly, Ah sho'ly will!" replied Ol' Mistah Buzzard, andsailed up into the blue, blue sky.

  XII. The Lost Chicken

  When old Granny Fox had laid down the chicken she was bringing home toReddy Fox to try to catch Peter Rabbit, she had meant to go right backand get it as soon as she had caught Peter. Now she saw Peter goingacross the Green Meadows, lipperty-lipperty-lip, as fast as he could go.She was so angry that she hopped up and down. She tore up the grass andground her long, white teeth. She glared up at Ol' Mistah Buzzard, whohad warned Peter Rabbit, but all she could do was to scold, and thatdidn't do her much good, for in a few minutes Ol' Mistah Buzzard wasso far up in the blue, blue sky that he couldn't hear a word she wassaying. My, my, but old Granny Fox certainly was angry! If she hadn'tbeen so angry she might have seen Johnny Chuck lying as flat as he couldmake himself behind a big clump of grass.

  Johnny Chuck was scared. Yes, indeed, Johnny Chuck was dreadfullyscared. He had fought Reddy Fox and whipped him, but he knew that oldGranny Fox would be too much for him. So it was with great relief thatJohnny Chuck saw her stop tearing up the grass and trot over to see howReddy Fox was getting along. Then Johnny Chuck crept along until he wasfar enough away to run. How he did run! He was so fat and roly-poly thathe was all out of breath when he reached home, and so tired that he justdropped down on his doorstep and panted.

  "Serves me right for having so much curiosity," said Johnny Chuck tohimself.

  Reddy Fox looked up as old Granny Fox came hurrying home. He was weakand very, very hungry. But he felt sure that old Granny Fox wouldbring him something nice for his breakfast, and as soon as he heard herfootsteps his mouth began to water.

  "Did you bring me something nice, Granny?" asked Reddy Fox.

  Now old Granny Fox had been so put out by the scare she had had and byher failure to catch Peter Rabbit that she had forgotten all about thechicken she had left up on the hill. When Reddy spoke, she rememberedit, and the thought of having to go way back after it didn't improve hertemper a bit.

  "No!" she snapped. "I haven't!--You don't deserve any breakfast anyway.If you had any gumption"--that's the word Granny Fox used, gumption--"ifyou had any gumption at all, you wouldn't have gotten in trouble, andcould get your own breakfast."

  Reddy Fox didn't know what gumption meant, but he did know that he wasvery, very hungry, and do what he would, he couldn't keep back a coupleof big tears of disappointment. Granny Fox saw them.

  "There, there, Reddy! Don't cry. I've got a fine fat chicken for you upon the hill, and I'll run back and get it," said Granny Fox.

  So off she started up the hill to the place where she had left thechicken when she started to try to catch Peter Rabbit. When she gotthere, there wasn't any chicken. No, Sir, there was no chic
ken atall--just a few feathers. Granny Fox could hardly believe her own eyes.She looked this way and she looked that way, but there was no chicken,just a few feathers. Old Granny Fox flew into a greater rage thanbefore.

  XIII. Granny Fox Calls Jimmy Skunk Names

  Granny Fox couldn't believe her own eyes. No, Sir, she couldn't believeher own eyes, and she rubbed them two or three times to make sure thatshe was seeing right. That chicken certainly had disappeared, and leftno trace of where it had gone.

  It was very queer. Old Granny Fox sat down to think who would dare stealanything from her. Then she walked in a big circle with her nose to theground, sniffing and sniffing. What was she doing that for? Why, tosee if she could find the tracks of anyone who might have stolen herchicken.

  "Aha!" exclaimed old Granny Fox, starting to run along the top of thehill, her nose to the ground. "Aha! I'll catch him this time!"

  In a few minutes she began to run more slowly, and every two or threesteps she would look ahead. Suddenly her eyes snapped, and she beganto creep almost flat on her stomach, just as she had crept for PeterRabbit. But it wasn't Peter Rabbit this time. It was--who do you think?Jimmy Skunk! Yes, Sir, it was Jimmy Skunk. He was slowly ambling along,for Jimmy Skunk never hurries. Every big stick or stone that he couldmove, he would pull over or look under, for Jimmy Skunk was hunting forbeetles.