The next day Farmer Brown’s boy shouldered his terrible gun and sent
Bowser the Hound to hunt for the trail of Old Granny Fox. It wasn’t
long before Bowser’s great voice told all the Great World that he had
found Granny’s tracks. Farmer Brown’s boy grinned just as he had the
day before. Then with his terrible gun he went over to the Green Forest
and hid under some pine boughs right on the edge of that sunny knoll.
He waited patiently a long, long time. He heard Bowser’s great voice
growing more and more excited as he followed Old Granny Fox. By and by
Bowser stopped baying and began to yelp impatiently. Farmer Brown’s boy
knew exactly what that meant. It meant that Granny had played one of
her smart tricks and Bowser had lost her trail.
A few minutes later out of the Green Forest came Old Granny Fox, and
she was grinning, for once more she had fooled Bowser the Hound and now
could take a nap in peace. Still grinning, she turned around two or
three times to make herself comfortable and then, with a sigh of
contentment, curled up for a sun-nap, and in a few minutes was asleep.
And just a little way off behind the pine boughs sat Farmer Brown’s boy
holding his terrible gun and grinning. At last he had caught Old Granny
Fox napping.
CHAPTER VII
Granny Fox Has A Bad Dream
Nothing ever simply happens;
Bear that point in mind.
If you look long and hard enough
A cause you’ll always find.
—_Old Granny Fox_.
Old Granny Fox was dreaming. Yes, Sir, she was dreaming. There she lay,
curled up on the sunny little knoll on the edge of the Green Forest,
fast asleep and dreaming. It was a very pleasant and very comfortable
place indeed. You see, jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun poured his warmest
rays right down there from the blue, blue sky. When Old Granny Fox was
tired, she often slipped over there for a short nap and sun-bath even
in winter. She was quite sure that no one knew anything about it. It
was one of her secrets.
This morning Old Granny Fox was very tired, unusually so. In the first
place she had been out hunting all night. Then, before she could reach
home, Bowser the Hound had found her tracks and started to follow them.
Of course, it wouldn’t have done to go home then. It wouldn’t have done
at all. Bowser would have followed her straight there and so found out
where she lived. So she had led Bowser far away across the Green
Meadows and through the Green Forest and finally played one of her
smart tricks which had so mixed her tracks that Bowser could no longer
follow them. While he had sniffed and snuffed and snuffed and sniffed
with that wonderful nose of his, trying to find out where she had gone,
Old Granny Fox had trotted straight to the sunny knoll and there curled
up to rest. Right away she fell asleep.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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