Green Meadow Stories - Thornton W. Burgess (best novels for students txt) 📗

to have him come. It seemed ages before he heard sounds which told him that people were awake in Farmer Brown’s house.

Finally he heard a distant door slam. Then he heard a whistle, a merry whistle. It drew nearer and nearer; Farmer Brown’s boy was coming to feed the hens. Reddy tried to hold his breath. He heard the click of the henyard gate as Farmer Brown’s boy opened it, then he heard the crunch, crunch, crunch of Farmer Brown’s boy’s feet on the snow.

Suddenly the henhouse door was thrown open and Farmer Brown’s boy stepped inside. In his hand he held a pan filled with the breakfast he had brought for the hens. Suddenly a box in the darkest corner of the henhouse moved. Farmer Brown’s boy turned to look, and as he did so a slim form dashed fairly between his legs. It startled him so that he dropped the pan and spilled the corn all over the henhouse floor. “Great Scott!” he exclaimed. “What under the sun was that?” and rushed to the door to see. He was just in time to get a glimpse of a red coat and a bushy tail disappearing around a corner of the barn.

XVIII Mutual Relief

The wise Fox knows that with every chicken he steals he puts an increased price on his own skin.

Bowser the Hound

When Reddy Fox dashed between the legs of Farmer Brown’s boy and out of the open door of the henhouse, it was with his heart in his mouth. At least, it seemed that way. Would he find the henyard gate open? Supposing Farmer Brown’s boy had closed it after he entered! Reddy would then be a prisoner just as he had been all night, and all hope would end.

Just imagine with what terrible anxiety and eagerness Reddy looked towards that gate as he dashed out of the open door. Just imagine the relief that was his when he saw that the gate was open. In that very instant the snowy outside world became more beautiful and wonderful than ever it had been in all his life before. He was free! free! free!

If ever there was a surprised boy, that boy was Farmer Brown’s as he watched Reddy twist around a corner of the barn and disappear.

“Reddy Fox!” he exclaimed. “Now how under the sun did that rascal get in here?” Then, as he realized that Reddy had actually been inside the henhouse, anxiety for the biddies swept over him. Hastily he turned, fully expecting to see either the bodies of two or three hens on the floor, or scattered feathers to show that Reddy had enjoyed a midnight feast. There were no feathers, and so far as he could see, all the hens were standing or walking about.

At once Farmer Brown’s boy began to count them. Of course, he knew exactly how many there should be. When he got through counting, not one was missing. Farmer Brown’s boy was puzzled. He counted them again. Then he counted them a third time. He began to think there must be something wrong with his counting. After the fourth count, however, he was forced to believe that not a single one was missing.

If Reddy Fox had been relieved when he discovered that henyard gate open, Farmer Brown’s boy was equally relieved when he found that not a single biddie had been taken. When two people are relieved at the same time, it is called mutual relief. But there was this difference between Reddy Fox and Farmer Brown’s boy: Reddy knew all about what had happened, and Farmer Brown’s boy couldn’t even guess. He went all around that henhouse, trying to find a way by which Reddy Fox had managed to get in. Of course, he discovered that the little sliding door where the biddies go in and out of the henhouse was open. He guessed that this was the way by which Reddy had entered.

But this didn’t explain matters at all. He knew that the gate had been latched when he entered the henyard that morning. How had Reddy managed to get into that henyard with that gate closed? To this day, Farmer Brown’s boy is still wondering.

XIX Where Was Bowser the Hound?

A good Hound never barks on a cold trail.

Bowser the Hound

Where was Bowser the Hound? That was the question which was puzzling all the little people who knew him. Also it was puzzling Farmer Brown’s boy and Farmer Brown and Mrs. Brown. I have said that it was puzzling all the little people who knew him. This is not quite true, because there were two who could at least guess what had become of Bowser. One was Old Man Coyote, who had, as you remember, led Bowser far away and got him lost. The other was Blacky the Crow, who had discovered Bowser in his trouble and had helped him.

Old Man Coyote didn’t know exactly where Bowser was, and he wasn’t interested enough to think much about it. He hoped that Bowser had been so badly lost that he never would return. Blacky the Crow knew exactly where Bowser was, but he kept it to himself. It pleases Blacky to have a secret which other people would give much to know. Blacky is one of those people who can keep a secret. He isn’t at all like Peter Rabbit.

Reddy Fox was one who was very much interested in the fate of Bowser the Hound. As day after day went by and Bowser did not appear, Reddy had a growing hope that he never would appear.

“I can’t imagine what Old Man Coyote could have done to Bowser,” said Reddy to himself. “He certainly couldn’t have killed Bowser in a fight, for that old rascal would never in the world dare face Bowser the Hound in a fight. But he certainly has caused something to happen to Bowser. If that bothersome dog never returns, it certainly will make things a