The Tale of Tommy Fox
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Arthur Scott Bailey >> The Tale of Tommy Fox
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[Illustration: "Run Along, Tommy Fox," the Squirrel Said]
SLEEPY-TIME TALES
THE TALE OF TOMMY FOX
BY
ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
ILLUSTRATED BY
HARRY L. SMITH
Copyright, 1915, by
A. S. BAILEY
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I TOMMY ENJOYS HIMSELF
II JOHNNIE GREEN GOES HUNTING
III TOMMY FOX LEARNS TO HUNT
IV MOTHER GROUSE'S CHILDREN
V TOMMY FOX IS HUNGRY
VI MR. GRAY SQUIRREL'S MISTAKE
VII TOMMY CHASES MR. WOODCHUCK
VIII SOMETHING MAKES TOMMY VERY PROUD
IX TOMMY FOX IN TROUBLE
X MRS. FOX OUTWITS DOG SPOT
XI TOMMY GROWS TOO CARELESS
XII OLD MR. CROW IS PLEASED
XIII JOHNNIE GREEN AND HIS NEW PET
XIV TOMMY FOX MAKES A STRANGE FRIEND
XV JOHNNIE GREEN FEELS SAD
XVI TOMMY BECOMES BOASTFUL
XVII PAYING A CALL ON A FRIEND
XVIII THE WORLD TURNS WHITE
XIX TOMMY FOX LEARNS A NEW TRICK
XX THE DRUMMER OF THE WOODS
XXI THE BIGGEST SURPRISE OF ALL
ILLUSTRATIONS
"RUN ALONG, TOMMY FOX," THE SQUIRREL SAID...... Frontispiece
A CLOUD OF FEATHERS FLOATED DOWN FROM THE LIMB
MR. WOODCHUCK WHISKED DOWN OUT OF SIGHT
TOMMY DASHED FOR THE LITTLE DOOR
TOMMY THOUGHT IT WAS HIS MOTHER'S VOICE
MRS. FOX AND TOMMY STARTED TO RUN
I
TOMMY ENJOYS HIMSELF
Tommy Fox was having a delightful time. If you could have come upon
him in the woods you would have been astonished at his antics. He
leaped high off the ground, and struck out with his paws. He opened
his mouth and thrust his nose out and then clapped his jaws shut
again, with a snap. Tommy burrowed his sharp face into the dead leaves
at his feet and tossed his head into the air. And then he jumped up
and barked just like a puppy.
If you could have hid behind a tree and watched Tommy Fox you would
have said that he was playing with something. But you never could have
told what it was, because you couldn't have seen it. And you may have
three guesses now, before I tell you what it was that Tommy Fox was
playing with. ... It was a feather! Yes--Tommy had found a downy,
brownish feather in the woods, which old Mother Grouse had dropped in
one of her flights. And Tommy was having great sport with it, tossing
it up in the air, and slapping and snapping at it, as it drifted
slowly down to the ground again.
He grew quite excited, did Tommy Fox. For he just couldn't help making
believe that it was old Mother Grouse herself--and not merely one of
her smallest feathers that he had found. And he leaped and bounded and
jumped and tumbled about and made a great fuss over nothing but that
little, soft, brownish feather.
There was something about that feather that made Tommy's nose twitch
and wrinkle and tremble. Tommy sniffed and sniffed at the bit of down,
for he liked the smell of it. It made him feel very hungry. And at
last he felt so hungry that he decided he would go home and see if his
mother had brought him something to eat. So he started homewards.
I must explain that Tommy lived with his mother and that their house
was right in the middle of one of Farmer Green's fields, not far from
the foot of Blue Mountain. When Tommy was quite small his mother had
chosen that place for her house, which was really a den that she had
dug in the ground. By having her house in the center of the field she
knew that no one could creep up and catch Tommy when he was playing
outside in the sunshine. Now Tommy was older, and had begun to roam
about in the woods and meadows alone. But Mrs. Fox liked her home in
the field, and so she continued to live there.
Tommy was so hungry, now, and in such a hurry to reach home, that you
might think that he would have gone straight toward his mother's
house. But he didn't. He trotted along a little way, and suddenly gave
a sidewise leap which carried him several feet away from the straight
path he had been following. Again he trotted ahead for a short
distance. And then he wheeled around and ran in a circle. And after he
had made the circle he jumped to one side once more, and ran along on
an old tree which had fallen upon the ground. He was not playing. No!
--Tommy Fox was just trying to obey his mother. Ever since he had been
big enough to wander off by himself she had told him that he must
never go anywhere without making jumps and circles. "It takes longer,"
she said; "but it is better to do that way, because it makes it hard
for a dog to follow you. If you ran straight ahead, Farmer Green's dog
could go smelling along in your footsteps, and if he didn't actually
catch you he could follow you right home and then we would have to
move, to say the least."
Tommy was so afraid of dogs that he almost never forgot to do just as
his mother told him. He was half-way home and passing through a clump
of evergreens, when he suddenly stopped. The wind was blowing in his
face, and brought to his nostrils a smell that made him tremble. It
was not a frightened sort of tremble, but a delicious, joyful shiver
that Tommy felt. For he smelled something that reminded him at once of
that feather with which he had been playing. And Tommy stood as still
as a statue and his sharp eyes looked all around. At first he could
see nothing. But in a minute or two he noticed something on the
ground, beneath one of the evergreen trees. He had looked at it
carefully several times; and each time he had decided that it was only
an old tree-root. But now he saw that he had been mistaken.
Yes! It was old Mother Grouse herself!
II
JOHNNIE GREEN GOES HUNTING
When Tommy Fox discovered old Mother Grouse crouched beneath the
evergreen tree he grew hungrier than ever. And he decided that he
would catch Mrs. Grouse and eat her on the spot.
Tommy had never caught a grouse. But his mother had brought home some
of old Mother Grouse's relations for him to eat; and Tommy knew of
nothing that tasted any better.
He thought that old Mother Grouse must be sleeping, she was so still.
And he did not mean to wake her if he could help it--at least, not
until he had caught her. So Tommy flattened himself out on his stomach
and began to creep towards her, very slowly and very carefully. He
didn't make the slightest noise. And soon he had stolen so close to
old Mother Grouse that he was just about to spring up and rush upon
her. Then all at once there was the most terrible noise. It was almost
as loud as thunder, and it seemed to Tommy that the ground was rising
right up in front of him. He was so startled that he fell over
backward. And his heart thumped and pounded against his ribs.
The next moment Tommy Fox felt very sheepish, for he realized that the
noise was nothing but the beating of old Mother Grouse's wings against
the air. And instead of the ground rising, it was old Mother Grouse
herself who had jumped up and sailed away. She hadn't been asleep. She
had seen him all the time.
[Illustration: A Cloud of Feathers Floated Down From the Limb]
And she had just waited until she saw that Tommy was trying to catch
her before she flew off.
Old Mother Grouse didn't fly far. She perched in a tree just a little
way off and sat there and looked down at Tommy Fox and chuckled to
herself. She knew that she was perfectly safe. And though Tommy Fox
trotted up to the tree where she sat and stared longingly up at her
she wasn't the least bit worried. For she knew quite well that Tommy
couldn't climb a tree.
Tommy felt very peevish. He was _so_ hungry! And he couldn't help
thinking how good old Mother Grouse would have tasted. He couldn't
reach her now. But still he didn't go along toward home. He simply
couldn't keep his greedy eyes off fat old Mother Grouse! And he
squatted down beside a bush and stared at her.
Old Mother Grouse didn't mind that. She just stared back at Tommy Fox;
and she didn't say a word to him, which somehow made Tommy still more
peevish.
How long Tommy would have stayed there it would be hard to tell. But
in a little while something happened that sent him home on the run. If
Mrs. Grouse and Tommy had been looking out as sharply as they
generally did, Farmer Green's boy never could have crept up so close
to them. But they were so busy staring at each other that they never
saw Farmer Green's boy at all.
Now, Johnnie Green had his gun with him, for he was hunting grouse. He
did not see Tommy Fox at all, because Tommy was hidden behind the
bush. But Johnnie Green saw old Mother Grouse; and almost as soon as
he saw her he fired.
The old shot-gun made a tremendous roar. The woods rang and echoed
with the noise. And Tommy Fox saw a cloud of feathers float down from
the limb where old Mother Grouse had been sitting. But old Mother
Grouse herself flew away. The shot had knocked out some of her tail-
feathers, but hadn't hurt her at all.
It all happened very quickly. And Tommy Fox felt himself leaping high
in the air. He was so frightened that he had jumped almost out of his
skin. And he ran and ran, and ran faster than he had ever run before
in all his rather short life.
Johnnie Green saw him run. But his gun wasn't loaded now, and he
couldn't shoot. And he didn't have his dog with him, either. It was
lucky for Tommy Fox that there was no dog there. For Tommy was so
scared that he forgot all about jumping sideways, and running in
circles, as his mother had taught him. He just ran straight for his
home in the middle of the big field; and when he got there he scurried
through the door and scampered inside; and he never came out again all
that day.
III
TOMMY FOX LEARNS TO HUNT
Tommy Fox was hunting crickets in the field near his mother's house.
Being a young fox, not much more than half-grown, Tommy knew very
little of hunting. In fact, crickets were about the only thing he
could hunt and _catch_. Of course, any one can _hunt_. The hard part
of it is to _catch_ what you are hunting.
Tommy was glad that he knew how to capture crickets, for he was very
fond of them. To be sure, it took a great many crickets to satisfy his
hunger. But they were good when he wanted a light lunch; and there was
fun, too, in hunting them.
This is the way Tommy Fox caught crickets. He would stand very still
in the tall grass and watch sharply. Wherever he saw the grass moving,
Tommy would pounce upon that spot, bringing his two front paws down
tight against the ground. And in the bunch of grass that lay beneath
his paws Tommy almost always found a fat cricket.
There was just one drawback about that kind of hunting. He could catch
crickets only upon still days, when there was no wind; because when
the wind blew, the grass waved everywhere, and Tommy couldn't tell
whether it was crickets or whether it was wind that made the grass
move.
Well, upon this very day when Tommy Fox was amusing himself, and
swallowing crickets as fast as he could grab them, his mother came out
of her house and watched him for a little while. Tommy was feeling
quite proud of his skill.
"I can hunt--can't I, Mother?" he exclaimed. "Watch me! I get them
almost every time!" he boasted.
Mrs. Fox did not answer. She was thinking deeply. She knew that there
were a great many things she must teach her son, because he was
growing up; and some day he would be leaving home to go out into the
world and take care of himself. And Mrs. Fox knew that Tommy would
have to learn to catch bigger things than crickets in order to keep
from starving.
Pretty soon Mrs. Fox started across the field. She was gone rather a
long time. But she came back at last, carrying something that squirmed
and twisted and wriggled. Whatever it was that Mrs. Fox was bringing
home, it was furry, and quite big and heavy. When Tommy saw it he
stopped hunting crickets at once. He knew what his mother had. It was
a woodchuck!
"Hurrah!" he shouted. "I'm hungry! May I eat all of him I want?" You
might think that he had swallowed so many crickets that he wouldn't
want anything more to eat just then. But to tell the truth, it was
very seldom that Tommy Fox wasn't hungry as a bear.
"Not so fast!" Mrs. Fox said. "I'm going to teach you to hunt. And
you're to begin with this woodchuck. Now I'm going to let him go, and
you must catch him." So Mrs. Fox let the woodchuck slip away; and off
he scampered, with Tommy after him. Mrs. Fox followed close behind.
And soon she saw Tommy give a great spring and land right on top of
the woodchuck.
Tommy was greatly excited. But he was hungry, too, "May I eat him
now?" he asked.
"No! Let him go again," his mother commanded. "And see if you can
catch him more quickly next time."
Tommy obeyed. And though he overtook the woodchuck sooner, he was not
so careful to avoid the 'chuck's sharp teeth, and he got a savage nip
right on his nose.
Tommy was surprised. He was so surprised that he dropped the
woodchuck. And you may believe that Mr. Woodchuck lost no time. He
scurried away as fast as his legs would carry him.
Tommy began to whimper. His nose hurt; and he thought he had lost his
dinner, too.
But Mrs. Fox bounded after Mr. Woodchuck and brought him back again.
She made Tommy stop crying. And he had to begin his lesson all over
again.
When Mrs. Fox thought that Tommy had learned enough for that day they
both sat down and made a meal of that unfortunate Mr. Woodchuck. And
Tommy felt that he had already become a mighty hunter. He hadn't the
least doubt that he could go into the woods and catch almost anything
he saw.
We shall see later whether Tommy Fox knew as much as he thought he
did.
IV
MOTHER GROUSE'S CHILDREN
The very next day after his first lesson in hunting, when his mother
had brought home the live woodchuck, Tommy Fox went off into the woods
alone. He had made up his mind that he would surprise his mother by
bringing home some nice tidbit for dinner--a rabbit, perhaps, or maybe
a squirrel. He wasn't quite sure _what_ it would be, because you know
when hunting you have to take what you find--if you can catch it.
Tommy Fox hadn't been long in the woods before he had even better luck
than he had expected. He was creeping through a thicket, making no
noise at all, when what should he see but that sly old Mother Grouse,
with all her eleven children! They were very young, were old Mother
Grouse's children; and they hadn't yet learned to fly. And there they
were, all on the ground, with the proud old lady in their midst.
Tommy Fox was so pleased that he almost laughed out loud. He tried to
keep still; but he couldn't help snickering a little. And old Mother
Grouse heard him. She started to fly. But instead of tearing off out
of danger, she lighted on the ground quite near Tommy.
"How stupid of her!" he thought. "I'll just catch the old lady first,
and then get the youngsters afterward. _They_ can't fly away."
So Tommy made a leap for old Mother Grouse. He just missed her.
She rose in the nick of time and slipped away from him. But she didn't
fly far. So Tommy followed. And he stole up very slyly; and once more,
when he was quite near the old lady, he sprang at her.
It was really very annoying. For again old Mother Grouse just escaped.
Again she flew a little further away, lighted on the ground, and
seemed to forget that Tommy Fox was so near.
That same thing happened as many as a dozen times. And the twelfth
time that Mrs. Grouse rose before one of Tommy's rushes she didn't
come down again. She lighted in a tree. And since it appeared to Tommy
that she had no intention of leaving her safe perch, he gave up in
disgust. He was very angry because he hadn't caught old Mother Grouse.
But there was her family! He would get _them_--the whole eleven of
them! And he turned back toward the place where he had first come upon
them.
Now, sly old Mother Grouse had played a trick on Tommy Fox. If he had
just left her alone he could have caught every one of her children.
But she had tempted him to follow her. And every time she rose from
the ground and flew a short distance, she led Tommy further away from
her little ones.
Tommy had some trouble in finding the exact spot where he had stumbled
upon Mrs. Grouse and her children. But he found it again, at last. And
little good it did him; for not a trace of those eleven young grouse
could he discover. They had all disappeared--every single one of them!
_They_ knew what to do when their mother led Tommy Fox away. Each of
them found a safe hiding-place. Some of them burrowed beneath the
fallen leaves; some of them hid behind old stumps; some of them crept
into a hollow log. And try as he would, Tommy Fox was unable to find
so much as one downy feather.
He was so disappointed--and so ashamed--that he went home and stayed
there. But he had learned something. Yes! Tommy Fox knew that if he
ever met old Mother Grouse and her family again he would catch her
children first. Afterward he would try to capture the sly old lady
herself. But he didn't believe, just then, that he would ever be able
to catch her. You see, Tommy realized that he wasn't quite so clever
as he had thought.
V
TOMMY FOX IS HUNGRY
Tommy Fox kept a sharp look-out to see what he could capture to eat.
But he could discover nothing at all. To be sure, there were birds in
the trees, and birds' nests too, and Tommy was very fond of birds'
eggs. But he couldn't climb trees. The birds were out of his reach;
and so were the squirrels. He saw plenty of red squirrels, and gray
squirrels, and little striped chipmunks. They looked down from the
branches and chattered and scolded at him. They were perfectly safe,
and they knew it.
Tommy Fox sat down to think. As I have said, he was hungry. And there
is nothing that sharpens a fox's wits like hunger. He looked very
innocent, as he rested under a big chestnut tree, and gazed up at a
gray squirrel which was perched on a limb over his head.
"Run along, Tommy Fox," the squirrel said to him.--"There's no use of
your staying here. I shan't come down until you're gone."
Tommy didn't say anything. He just whined a few times, and held his
paw against his stomach. And he gave one or two groans.
The gray squirrel came a little further down the tree and looked at
Tommy again. He wondered if Tommy was ill. And then, when Tommy
stretched himself out on the ground and lay quite still the gray
squirrel was sure that Tommy Fox had eaten something that hurt him.
"What is it?" the squirrel inquired.
Tommy looked up and murmured something. The squirrel couldn't hear
what he said, but he thought he caught the word _poison_. And he
decided that Tommy had probably devoured a poisoned chicken-head which
Farmer Green had thrown out for him.
I am afraid that the squirrel didn't feel very sorry. He didn't like
Tommy Fox, for Tommy was always trying to catch him. But if he wasn't
sorry, he was curious. And he sat up on a low branch and looked at
Tommy for a long time.
Tommy Fox never moved again. His eyes were shut; his beautiful red
tail, with its white tip, lay limp on the ground; and his legs stuck
out as stiff as pokers.
Mr. Gray Squirrel felt sure that Tommy was very ill. He called and
called to Tommy. But he got no reply. And at last he decided that
Tommy must be dead. So he slipped down the tree to the ground, to get
a better look.
At first Mr. Gray Squirrel stayed close to the tree, so that he could
scamper up again in case he was mistaken. But Tommy Fox never moved an
eyelash. And at last Mr. Gray Squirrel grew quite bold. He edged
closer to Tommy. He had never been so near a fox before, and he was
curious to see what he looked like. He stole up beside Tommy and was
just about to call to his friends in the next tree-top to come down,
when he received the surprise of his life.
As Mr. Gray Squirrel watched, he thought he saw one of Tommy Fox's
eyelids quiver. And a great fear seized him. Had he been mistaken? Was
Tommy Fox playing dead?
VI
MR. GRAY SQUIRREL'S MISTAKE
Mr. Gray Squirrel certainly was mistaken, when he thought that Tommy
Fox was dead and came down out of the chestnut tree to look at him.
Tommy wasn't even ill. You remember that he was very hungry? And that
he had not been able to find anything to eat? Tommy could not climb
the tree, where Mr. Gray Squirrel sat. So the only thing left for him
to do was to make Mr. Gray Squirrel come down where _he_ was.
That was what Tommy Fox was thinking about, when he sat there on his
haunches and looked up so innocently at Mr. Gray Squirrel. As Tommy
sat there a bright idea came to him. So he held his paw to his stomach
and pretended to be ill. And as soon as he saw that Mr. Gray Squirrel
thought he was ill, Tommy fell over on his side and made believe he
was dead.
Though his eyes were shut tight, Tommy's ears were so sharp that he
could tell when Mr. Gray Squirrel came down the tree. And he could
hear him slowly picking his way nearer and nearer. Tommy's nose was
sharp, too, and he could smell Mr. Gray Squirrel. He smelled so good
that Tommy couldn't help opening one eye the least bit, just to see
him. That was when Mr. Gray Squirrel noticed that his eyelid quivered.
And Tommy saw at once that Mr. Gray Squirrel had caught that flicker
of his eyelid, and that he was frightened. Tommy knew then that he
must act quickly.
He jumped up like a flash. But quick as he was, Mr. Gray Squirrel was
even quicker. He reached the tree just ahead of Tommy Fox; and though
Tommy leaped high up the trunk, he was too late. Mr. Gray Squirrel
scrambled up the tree so fast that his big, bushy tail just whisked
across Tommy's face. And in another second he was safe in the tree-
top, chattering and scolding, and calling Tommy names.
Tommy Fox felt very foolish. He realized that if he had jumped up
without first opening his eye he would not have given Mr. Gray
Squirrel any warning; and then he would have caught the plump old
fellow. But it was too late now. Another time he would know better.
And he sneaked off, to try the same trick on one of Mr. Gray
Squirrel's friends.
It was no use. Mr. Squirrel followed him, jumping from one tree-top to
another, and made a great noise, calling after him, and jeering at
him, and telling all his friends about the mean trick Tommy had tried
to play on him.
And to Tommy's great disgust, an old crow high up in a tall tree heard
the story, and haw-hawed loudly, he was so amused. He made such a
racket that all the forest-people heard him; and Tommy knew that there
was no sense in trying to catch a squirrel around there _that_ day. He
went down into the meadow and began hunting crickets. And though he
didn't have as good a lunch as he wanted, probably he ate all that was
good for him.
VII
TOMMY CHASES MR. WOODCHUCK
Tommy Fox went up into Farmer Green's back-pasture, which, lay even
nearer Blue Mountain than the field where Tommy and his mother lived.
He skulked along among the rocky hummocks, and the old stumps which
dotted the pasture thickly. His ears and his eyes and his nose were
all alert to discover any small animal that might be stirring--
especially his nose; for Tommy could smell things when they were a
long way off.
Tommy's mother had explained to him that he must always hunt with the
wind blowing in his face; because then the breeze brought to him the
scent of any animal that might be in front of him, whether it happened
to be an animal that Tommy was hunting, or some animal that was
hunting _him_. In that way Tommy would be able to know what was ahead
of him, even if he couldn't see it.
[Illustration: Mr. Woodchuck Whisked Down Out of Sight]
But if he were careless, and trotted along with the wind blowing
_behind him_--ah! that was quite different. The other forest-people
would all know he was coming, for then _they_ would be able to get
Tommy's scent. And some day, if he were so foolish as to go about with
the wind at his back, some day he might stumble right onto a wildcat,
or a dog, or a man, or some other terrible creature.
Well--Tommy remembered all these things that his mother had told him.
The wind blew fresh in his face. And to his delight all at once he
smelled a woodchuck. There was no mistaking that savoury smell. It
affected Tommy very pleasantly--much as you are affected by catching a
whiff of hot peanuts, or pop-corn, or candy cooking on the stove.
Tommy stole along very carefully. And as he peered around a stump he
saw, not ten jumps ahead of him, a fine, fat woodchuck. Tommy crept up
a little closer; and then he sprang for Mr. Woodchuck with a rush.
Pudgy Mr. Woodchuck saw Tommy just in time. He turned tail and ran for
his life; and he was so spry, though he was quite a fat, elderly
gentleman, that he reached his hole and whisked down out of sight just
as Tommy was about to seize him.
Tommy was disappointed. But he was determined to get that woodchuck,
and he began to dig away at Mr. Woodchuck's hole. You see, Mr.
Woodchuck was smaller than Tommy Fox, and since the underground tunnel
that led to his home was only big enough to admit _him_, Tommy was
obliged to make it larger. Though Mr. Woodchuck's hole was under a
shady oak tree, Tommy found digging to be somewhat warm work, so he
took off his neat, red coat and hung it carefully upon a bush.