The Adventures of Reddy Fox
By
Thornton W. Burgess
The Adventures of Reddy Fox
I. Granny Fox Gives Reddy a Scare
Reddy Fox lived with Granny Fox. You see, Reddy was one of a large family, so
large that Mother Fox had hard work to feed so many hungry little mouths and so
she had let Reddy go to live with old Granny Fox. Granny Fox was the wisest,
slyest, smartest fox in all the country round, and now that Reddy had grown so
big, she thought it about time that he began to learn the things that every fox
should know. So every day she took him hunting with her and taught him all the
things that she had learned about hunting: about how to steal Farmer Brown's
chickens without awakening Bowser the Hound, and all about the thousand and
one ways of fooling a dog which she had learned.
This morning Granny Fox had taken Reddy across the Green Meadows, up
through the Green Forest, and over to the railroad track. Reddy had never been
there before and he didn't know just what to make of it. Granny trotted ahead
until they came to a long bridge. Then she stopped.
"Come here, Reddy, and look down," she commanded.
Reddy did as he was told, but a glance down made him giddy, so giddy that he
nearly fell. Granny Fox grinned.
"Come across," said she, and ran lightly across to the other side.
But Reddy Fox was afraid. Yes, Sir, he was afraid to take one step on the long
bridge. He was afraid that he would fall through into the water or onto the cruel
rocks below. Granny Fox ran back to where Reddy sat.
"For shame, Reddy Fox!" said she. "What are you afraid of? Just don't look down
and you will be safe enough. Now come along over with me."
But Reddy Fox hung back and begged to go home and whimpered. Suddenly
Granny Fox sprang to her feet, as if in great fright. "Bowser the Hound! Come,
Reddy, come!" she cried, and started across the bridge as fast as she could go.
Reddy didn't stop to look or to think. His one idea was to get away from Bowser
the Hound. "Wait, Granny! Wait!" he cried, and started after her as fast as he
could run. He was in the middle of the bridge before he remembered it at all.
When he was at last safely across, it was to find old Granny Fox sitting down
laughing at him. Then for the first time Reddy looked behind him to see where
Bowser the Hound might be. He was nowhere to be seen. Could he have fallen
off the bridge?
"Where is Bowser the Hound?" cried Reddy.
"Home in Farmer Brown's dooryard," replied Granny Fox dryly. Reddy stared at
her for a minute. Then he began to understand that Granny Fox had simply
scared him into running across the bridge. Reddy felt very cheap, very cheap
indeed. "Now we'll run back again," said Granny Fox. And this time Reddy did.
II. Granny Shows Reddy a Trick
Every day Granny Fox led Reddy Fox over to the long railroad bridge and made
him run back and forth across it until he had no fear of it whatever. At first it had
made him dizzy, but now he could run across at the top of his speed and not
mind it in the least. "I don't see what good it does to be able to run across a
bridge; anyone can do that!" exclaimed Reddy one day.
Granny Fox smiled. "Do you remember the first time you tried to do it?" she
asked.
Reddy hung his head. Of course he remembered--remembered that Granny had
had to scare him into crossing that first time.
Suddenly Granny Fox lifted her head. "Hark!" she exclaimed.
Reddy pricked up his sharp, pointed ears. Way off back, in the direction from
which they had come, they heard the baying of a dog. It wasn't the voice of
Bowser the Hound but of a younger dog. Granny listened for a few minutes. The
voice of the dog grew louder as it drew nearer.
"He certainly is following our track," said Granny Fox. "Now, Reddy, you run
across the bridge and watch from the top of the little hill over there. Perhaps I can
show you a trick that will teach you why I have made you learn to run across the
bridge."
Reddy trotted across the long bridge and up to the top of the hill, as Granny had
told him to. Then he sat down to watch. Granny trotted out in the middle of a field
and sat down. Pretty soon a young hound broke out of the bushes, his nose in
Granny's track. Then he looked up and saw her, and his voice grew still more
savage and eager. Granny Fox started to run as soon as she was sure that the
hound had seen her, but she did not run very fast. Reddy did not know what to
make of it, for Granny seemed simply to be playing with the hound and not really
trying to get away from him at all. Pretty soon Reddy heard another sound. It was
a long, low rumble. Then there was a distant whistle. It was a train.
Granny heard it, too. As she ran, she began to work back toward the long bridge.
The train was in sight now. Suddenly Granny Fox started across the bridge so
fast that she looked like a little red streak. The dog was close at her heels when
she started and he was so eager to catch her that he didn't see either the bridge
or the train. But he couldn't begin to run as fast as Granny Fox. Oh, my, no!
When she had reached the other side, he wasn't halfway across, and right
behind him, whistling for him to get out of the way, was the train.
The hound gave one frightened yelp, and then he did the only thing he could do;
he leaped down, down into the swift water below, and the last Reddy saw of him
he was frantically trying to swim ashore.
"Now you know why I wanted you to learn to cross a bridge; it's a very nice way
of getting rid of dogs," said Granny Fox, as she climbed up beside Reddy.
III. Bowser the Hound Isn't Fooled
Reddy Fox had been taught so much by Granny Fox that he began to feel very
wise and very important. Reddy is naturally smart and he had been very quick to
learn the tricks that old Granny Fox had taught him. But Reddy Fox is a boaster.
Every day he swaggered about on the Green Meadows and bragged how smart
he was. Blacky the Crow grew tired of Reddy's boasting.
"If you're so smart, what is the reason you always keep out of sight of Bowser the
Hound?" asked Blacky. "For my part, I don't believe that you are smart enough to
fool him."
A lot of little meadow people heard Blacky say this, and Reddy knew it. He also
knew that if he didn't prove Blacky in the wrong he would be laughed at forever
after. Suddenly he remembered the trick that Granny Fox had played on the
young hound at the railroad bridge. Why not play the same trick on Bowser and
invite Blacky the Crow to see him do it? He would.
"If you will be over at the railroad bridge when the train comes this afternoon, I'll
show you how easy it is to fool Bowser the Hound," said Reddy.
Blacky agreed to be there, and Reddy started off to find out where Bowser was.
Blacky told everyone he met how Reddy Fox had promised to fool Bowser
Blacky the Crow was on hand promptly that afternoon and with him came his
cousin, Sammy Jay. Presently they saw Reddy Fox hurrying across the fields,
and behind him in full cry came Bowser the Hound. Just as old Granny Fox had
done with the young hound, Reddy allowed Bowser to get very near him and
then, as the train came roaring along, he raced across the long bridge just ahead
of it. He had thought that Bowser would be so intent on catching him that he
would not notice the train until he was on the bridge and it was too late, as had
been the case with the young hound. Then Bowser would have to jump down into
the swift river or be run over. As soon as Reddy was across the bridge, he
jumped off the track and turned to see what would happen to Bowser the Hound.
The train was halfway across the bridge, but Bowser was nowhere to be seen.
He must have jumped already. Reddy sat down and grinned in the most self-satisfied way.
The long train roared past, and Reddy closed his eyes to shut out the dust and
smoke. When he opened them again, he looked right into the wide-open mouth
of Bowser the Hound, who was not ten feet away.
"Did you think you could fool me with that old trick?" roared Bowser.
Reddy didn't stop to make reply; he just started off at the top of his speed, a
badly frightened little fox.
You see, Bowser the Hound knew all about that trick and he had just waited until
the train had passed and then had run across the bridge right behind it.
And as Reddy Fox, out of breath and tired, ran to seek the aid of Granny Fox in
getting rid of Bowser the Hound, he heard a sound that made him grind his teeth.
"Haw, haw, haw! How smart we are!"
It was Blacky the Crow.
IV. Reddy Fox Grows Bold
Reddy Fox was growing bold. Everybody said so, and what everybody says must
be so. Reddy Fox had always been very sly and not bold at all. The truth is
Reddy Fox had so many times fooled Bowser the Hound and Farmer Brown's
boy that he had begun to think himself very smart indeed. He had really fooled
himself. Yes, Sir, Reddy Fox had fooled himself. He thought himself so smart that
nobody could fool him.
Now it is one of the worst habits in the world to think too much of one's self. And
Reddy Fox had the habit. Oh, my, yes! Reddy Fox certainly did have the habit!
When anyone mentioned Bowser the Hound, Reddy would turn up his nose and
say: "Pooh! It's the easiest thing in the world to fool him."
You see, he had forgotten all about the time Bowser had fooled him at the
railroad bridge.
Whenever Reddy saw Farmer Brown's boy he would say with the greatest scorn:
"Who's afraid of him? Not I!"
So as Reddy Fox thought more and more of his own smartness, he grew bolder
and bolder. Almost every night he visited Farmer Brown's henyard. Farmer
Brown set traps all around the yard, but Reddy always found them and kept out
of them. It got so that Unc' Billy Possum and Jimmy Skunk didn't dare go to the
henhouse for eggs any more, for fear that they would get into one of the traps set
for Reddy Fox. Of course they missed those fresh eggs and of course they
blamed Reddy Fox.
"Never mind," said Jimmy Skunk, scowling down on the Green Meadows where
Reddy Fox was taking a sun bath, "Farmer Brown's boy will get him yet! I hope
he does!" Jimmy said this a little spitefully and just as if he really meant it.
Now when people think that they are very, very smart, they like to show off. You
know it isn't any fun at all to feel smart unless others can see how smart you are.
So Reddy Fox, just to show off, grew very bold, very bold indeed. He actually
went up to Farmer Brown's henyard in broad daylight, and almost under the nose
of Bowser the Hound he caught the pet chicken of Farmer Brown's boy. 'Ol
Mistah Buzzard, sailing overhead high up in the blue, blue sky, saw Reddy Fox
and shook his bald head:
"Ah
see
Trouble
on
the
way;
Yes,
Ah
do!
Yes,
Ah
do!
Hope
it
ain't
a-gwine
to
stay;
Yes,
Ah
do!
Yes,
Ah
do!
Trouble
am
a
spry
ol'
man,
Bound
to
find
yo'
if
he
can;
If
he
finds
yo'
bound
to
stick.
When
Ah
sees
him,
Ah
runs
quick!
Yes, Ah do! Yes, Ah do!"
But Reddy Fox thought himself so smart that it seemed as if he really were
hunting for Ol' Mr. Trouble. And when he caught the pet chicken of Farmer
Brown's boy, Ol' Mr. Trouble was right at his heels.
V. Reddy Grows Careless
Ol' Mistah Buzzard was right. Trouble was right at the heels of Reddy Fox,
although Reddy wouldn't have believed it if he had been told. He had stolen that
plump pet chicken of Farmer Brown's boy for no reason under the sun but to
show off. He wanted everyone to know how bold he was. He thought himself so
smart that he could do just exactly what he pleased and no one could stop him.
He liked to strut around through the Green Forest and over the Green Meadows
and brag about what he had done and what he could do.
Now people who brag and boast and who like to show off are almost sure to
come to grief. And when they do, very few people are sorry for them. None of the
little meadow and forest people liked Reddy Fox, anyway, and they were getting
so tired of his boasting that they just ached to see him get into trouble. Yes, Sir,
they just ached to see Reddy get into trouble.
Peter Rabbit, happy-go-lucky Peter Rabbit, shook his head gravely when he
heard how Reddy had stolen that pet chicken of Farmer Brown's boy, and was
boasting about it to everyone.
"Reddy Fox is getting so puffed up that pretty soon he won't be able to see his
own feet," said Peter Rabbit.
"Well, what if he doesn't?" demanded Jimmy Skunk.
Peter looked at Jimmy in disgust:
"He
comes
to
grief,
however
fleet,
Who doesn't watch his flying feet.
"Jimmy Skunk, if you didn't have that little bag of scent that everybody is afraid
of, you would be a lot more careful where you step," replied Peter. "If Reddy
doesn't watch out, someday he'll step right into a trap.
Jimmy Skunk chuckled. "I wish he would!" said he.
Now when Farmer Brown's boy heard about the boldness of Reddy Fox, he shut
his mouth tight in a way that was unpleasant to see and reached for his gun. "I
can't afford to raise chickens to feed foxes!" said he. Then he whistled for Bowser
the Hound, and together they started out. It wasn't long before Bowser found
Reddy's tracks.
"Bow, wow, wow, wow!" roared Bowser the Hound.
Reddy Fox, taking a nap on the edge of the Green Forest, heard Bowser's big,
deep voice. He pricked up his ears, then he grinned. "I feel just like a good run
today," said he, and trotted off along the Crooked Little Path down the hill.
Now this was a beautiful summer day and Reddy knew that in summer men and
boys seldom hunt foxes. "It's only Bowser the Hound," thought Reddy, "and when
I've had a good run, I'll play a trick on him so that he will lose my track." So
Reddy didn't use his eyes as he should have done. You see, he thought himself
so smart that he had grown careless. Yes, Sir, Reddy Fox had grown careless.
He kept looking back to see where Bowser the Hound was, but didn't look around
to make sure that no other danger was near.
Ol' Mistah Buzzard, sailing round and round, way up in the blue, blue sky, could
see everything going on down below. He could see Reddy Fox running along the
edge of the Green Forest and every few minutes stopping to chuckle and listen to
Bowser the Hound trying to pick out the trail Reddy had made so hard to follow
by his twists and turns. And he saw something else, did Ol' Mistah Buzzard. It
looked to him very much like the barrel of a gun sticking out from behind an old
tree just ahead of Reddy.
"Ah reckon it's just like Ah said: Reddy Fox is gwine to meet trouble right smart
soon," muttered Ol' Mistah Buzzard.
VI. Drummer the Woodpecker Drums in Vain
Once upon a time, before he had grown to think himself so very, very smart,
Reddy Fox would never, never have thought of running without watching out in
every direction. He would have seen that thing that looked like the barrel of a gun
sticking out from behind the old tree toward which he was running, and he would
have been very suspicious, very suspicious indeed. But now all Reddy could
think of was what a splendid chance he had to show all the little meadow and
forest people what a bold, smart fellow he was.
So once more Reddy sat down and waited until Bowser the Hound was almost
up to him. Just then Drummer the Woodpecker began to make a tremendous
noise--rat-a-tat-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat-tat! Now everybody who heard
that rat-a-tat-tat-tat knew that it was a danger signal. Drummer the Woodpecker
never drums just that way for pleasure. But Reddy Fox paid no attention to it. He
didn't notice it at all. You see, he was so full of the idea of his own smartness that
he didn't have room for anything else.
"Stupid thing!" said Drummer the Woodpecker to himself. "I don't know what I am
trying to warn him for, anyway. The Green Meadows and the Green Forest would
be better off without him, a lot better off! Nobody likes him. He's a dreadful bully
and is all the time trying to catch or scare to death those who are smaller than
he. Still, he is so handsome!" Drummer cocked his head on one side and looked
over at Reddy Fox.
Reddy was laughing to see how hard Bowser the Hound was working to untangle
Reddy's mixed-up trail.
"Yes, Sir, he certainly is handsome," said Drummer once more.
Then he looked down at the foot of the old tree on which he was sitting, and what
he saw caused Drummer to make up his mind. "I surely would miss seeing that
beautiful red coat of his! I surely would!" he muttered. "If he doesn't hear and
heed now, it won't be my fault!" Then Drummer the Woodpecker began such a
furious rat-a-tat-tat-tat on the trunk of the old tree that it rang through the Green
Forest and out across the Green Meadows almost to the Purple Hills.
Down at the foot of the tree a freckled face on which there was a black scowl
looked up. It was the face of Farmer Brown's boy.
"What ails that pesky woodpecker?" he muttered. "If he doesn't keep still, he'll
scare that fox!"
He shook a fist at Drummer, but Drummer didn't appear to notice. He kept right
on, rat-a-tat-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
VII. Too Late Reddy Fox Hears
Drummer the Woodpecker was pounding out his danger signal so fast and so
hard that his red head flew back and forth almost too fast to see. Rat-a-tat-tat-a-tat-tat, beat Drummer on the old tree trunk on the edge of the Green Forest.
When he stopped for breath, he looked down into the scowling face of Farmer
Brown's boy, who was hiding behind the old tree trunk.
Drummer didn't like the looks of that scowl, not a bit. And he didn't like the looks
of the gun which Farmer Brown's boy had. He knew that Farmer Brown's boy
was hiding there to shoot Reddy Fox, but Drummer was beginning to be afraid
that Farmer Brown's boy might guess what all that drumming meant--that it was a
warning to Reddy Fox. And if Farmer Brown's boy did guess that, why--why--
anyway, on the other side of the tree there was a better place to drum. So
Drummer the Woodpecker crept around to the other side of the tree and in a
minute was drumming harder than ever. Whenever he stopped for breath, he
looked out over the Green Meadows to see if Reddy Fox had heard his warning.
But if Reddy had heard, he hadn't heeded. Just to show off before all the little
meadow and forest people, Reddy had waited until Bowser the Hound had
almost reached him. Then, with a saucy flirt of his tail, Reddy Fox started to show
how fast he could run, and that is very fast indeed. It made Bowser the Hound
seem very slow, as, with his nose to the ground, he came racing after Reddy,
making a tremendous noise with his great voice.
Now Reddy Fox had grown as careless as he had grown bold. Instead of looking
sharply ahead, he looked this way and that way to see who was watching and
admiring him. So he took no note of where he was going and started straight for
the old tree trunk on which Drummer the Woodpecker was 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 the Hound and
how smart everyone would think him, when all of a sudden, he heard the rat-a-tat-tata-tat-tat of Drummer the Woodpecker and knew that that meant "Danger!"
For just a wee little second it seemed to Reddy Fox that his heart stopped
beating. He couldn't stop running, for he had let Bowser the Hound get too close
for that. Reddy's sharp eyes saw Drummer the Woodpecker near the top of the
old tree trunk and noticed that Drummer seemed to be looking at something
down below. Reddy Fox gave one quick look at the foot of the old tree trunk and
saw a gun pointed at him and behind the gun the freckled face of Farmer Brown's
boy. Reddy Fox gave a 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 seemed as
though his flying feet hardly touched the grass. His eyes were popping out with
fright as with every jump he tried to run just a wee bit faster.
Bang! Bang! Two flashes of fire and two puffs of smoke darted from behind the
old tree trunk. Drummer the Woodpecker gave a frightened scream and flew
deep into the Green Forest. Peter Rabbit flattened himself under a friendly
bramble bush. Johnny Chuck dived headfirst down his doorway.
Reddy Fox gave a yelp, a shrill little yelp of pain, and suddenly began to go lame.
But Farmer Brown's boy didn't know that. He thought he had missed 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 had the
hardest kind of work to get far enough ahead of Bowser the Hound to mix his trail
up so that Bowser couldn't follow it. Then he had limped home, big tears running
down his nose, although he tried hard not to cry. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" moaned Reddy
Fox, as he crept in at the doorway of his home.
"What's the matter now?" snapped old Granny Fox, who had just waked up from
a sun nap.
"I--I've got hurt," said Reddy Fox, and began to cry harder. Granny Fox looked at
Reddy sharply. "What have you been doing now--tearing your clothes on a
barbed-wire fence or trying to crawl through a bull-briar thicket? I should think
you were big enough by this time to look out for yourself!" said Granny Fox
crossly, as she came over to look at Reddy's hurts.
"Please don't scold, please don't, Granny Fox," begged Reddy, who was
beginning to feel sick to his stomach as well as lame, and to smart dreadfully.
Granny Fox took one look at Reddy's wounds, and knew right away what had
happened. She made Reddy stretch himself out at full length and then she went
to work on him, washing his wounds with the greatest care and binding them up.
She was very gentle, was old Granny Fox, as she touche