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Show g) BEDTIME I I -i y?l I BURGESS 1 I .AsK-jitd Srip3m f i 0 "-- : ; 1 SAMMY JAY SPOILS THE PLAN OF REDDY FOX D EDDY FOX found Sammy Jay in a bad temper. Sammy had missed his usual breakfast of corn stolen from Farmer Brown's corn-crib corn-crib and it had made him cross. "Good morning," said Reddy in his politest manner and no one can be more polite than Reddy Fox when ! he sets out to be. "Morning," mumbled Sammy i Jay. I "I found out something this morning morn-ing which may interest you," said Reddy; taking no notice of Sammy's cross looks. "It won't,"., replied Sammy positively. posi-tively. "It won't. Nothing interests me." "Not even traps?" asked Reddy slyly. "What's that?" demanded Sammy, Sam-my, looking at Reddy sharply. "Oh, nothing much," replied Reddy, Red-dy, quite as if the matter didn't interest him especially, "only I found out something this morning that I thought you might like to see if you were not such a coward." "Who says I'm a coward?" shrieked Sammy Jay, dancing about with anger. "I do," replied Reddy. "You don't dare go with me tomorrow morning and see what is going on at Farmer Brown's corncrib." "It isn't true!" Sammy shrieked. "I dare go wherever you dare go, so there, Reddy Fox!" "Then I dare you to meet me tomorrow morning on the edge of the Green Forest at sunup and go with me to watch Farmer Brown's corn-crib," corn-crib," Reddy replied. "I'll be there! I'll have you to understand that you don't dare do "Who says I'm a coward?" shrieked Sammy Jay. anything that I don't dare do!" snapped Sammy. "All right, see that you are on hand at sunup sharp," replied Reddy, Red-dy, and trotted away grinning. Early the next morning Reddy Fox and Sammy Jay met at the edge of the Green Forest. "Now," Reddy explained, ' "we will go over by the fence back of the corncrib. I will hide there just where I hid yesterday morning, and you will hide in the evergreen tree close by. Watch the roof of the corncrib and I think you will see something that may explain how you happened to be caught by the bill the other morning. But, whatever you see, don't make a sound, not the least bit of a sound." Sammy promised, and they hurried hur-ried over to their hiding places. Hardly had Sammy settled himself in the evergreen tree when he saw Chatterer the Red Squirrel jump to the roof of the corncrib from the limb of a tree which overhung it. Almost in a flash Chatterer had disappeared dis-appeared through a hole just under un-der the edge of the roof. No sooner was he out of sight than Reddy Fox ran swiftly across to the old stone wall on the edge of the Old Orchard and hid behind it. Right away Sammy Sam-my Jay guessed that Chatterer had had something to do with the terrible terri-ble fright he had had at the corncrib. "It wasn't a trap at all, but Chatterer!" Chat-terer!" thought Sammy, and right away he grew so angry that he could hardly sit still. Pretty soon out came Chatterer with his cheeks stuffed full of corn. That was too much for Sammy Jay. He forgot all about his promise not to make a sound. He darted out of his hiding place and flew at Chatterer in a terrible ter-rible rage, screaming at the top of his voice and calling Chatterer every ev-ery bad thing he could think of. Of course. Chatterer couldn't reply, because be-cause his cheeks were stuffed with corn, but he could run. Like a little lit-tle red flash he was in the tree that overhung the corncrib and dodging around the trunk. Over behind the stone wall Reddy Fox snarled, for with such a noise he knew it wasn't safe for him to stay a minute longer. |