Blacky was doubly pleased with himself. He was pleased to think that he had found a way of getting Bowser back home, and he was quite as much pleased because he had been smart enough to outwit Reddy Fox. He didn't wish Reddy any harm, and he felt sure that no harm would come to him. He didn't even wish him to lose that dinner Reddy had come so far to get, but he didn't care if Reddy did lose it, if only his plan worked out as he hoped it would. "I wonder what he'll do with that fat hen," muttered Blacky, as he watched Reddy race away with it thrown over his shoulders. "He can't carry that hen far and keep out of the way of Bowser. I think I'll follow and see what he does with it." So Blacky followed, and his eyes twinkled when he saw Reddy hide the fat hen in the hollow stump. He knew that no matter how far Bowser might chase Reddy, Reddy would come back for that fat hen, and he was rather glad to think that Reddy would have that good dinner after all. "No one will ever think to look in that hollow stump," thought Blacky, "and I certainly will not tell any one. Reddy has earned that dinner. Now I think I'll go get something to eat myself." At that very instant Blacky's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of a gray form with broad wings, and in a perfect panic of fear Blacky began to fly as fast as he knew how for a thick spruce-tree not far away. He plunged in among the branches and hid in the thickest part he could find. With little shivers of fear running all over him, he peeked out and watched that big gray form. On broad wings it sailed over to that hollow stump. Two long legs with great curving claws reached down in, and a moment later that fat hen was disappearing over the tree tops. Blacky sighed with relief. [Illustration: ON BROAD WINGS IT SAILED OVER TO THAT HOLLOW STUMP. _Page 199._] "It's a lucky thing for me that robber, Mr. Goshawk, saw Reddy hide that fat hen," muttered Blacky. "If he hadn't, he might have caught me, for I didn't see him at all." CHAPTER XLII ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL When things go wrong, just patient be Until the end you plainly see. For often things that seem all bad Will end by making all hands glad. _Bowser the Hound._ Reddy Fox, trotting homeward, had nothing but bitterness in his heart, and nothing at all in his stomach. He was tired and hungry and bitterly disappointed. He was in a country with which he was not familiar, and so he did not know where to hunt, and he felt that he just must get something to eat. Do what he would, he couldn't help thinking about that fat hen he had hidden and which had so mysteriously disappeared. The more he thought of it, the worse he felt. It was bad enough to be hungry and have no idea where the next meal was coming from, but it was many times worse to have had that meal and then lose it. To Reddy, everything was all wrong.