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Show I THE YOUNG POX THINKS HIM -SELF sMAKT By Thornton w . Burgess f self pray never think too wall; Your cleverness let others tell. I ild Cranny I'ox. The young Fox. who had been so rudely awakened from his dream of u dinner on one of Farmer Brown's ,hens, turned cold with fi'ht to the very pit of his stomach when he looked up to see Bowser the Hound Coming straight toward him and only a little way off. Once he had sen Bowser Chase his father, Roddy Fox. kind he knew that, smart as he is. Roddy had had hard work to fool this dog with the great voice. lo you wonder that th.it young Fox turned :cold with fright? For a couple of seeonds he stood perfectly still. The truth is he was too frightened to move But, fright-j 0hed as he was. he saw that Bowser ' had not yet seen him. Bowser WSSI Simply lazily coming over to the hen-: yard to find out what the hens had made such a fuss about He was tak-j ling his time alout It, for ho didn't, x:'( t In find anybody th r. . The discovery th it Uows. i hadn't son him gnve the young Fox a little1 hope. If he was careful perhaps In-could In-could steal away without being seen I Then all would be well. You see, the yonn ro was not well enough ac-l Qualnted with Bowser to understand that Bowser depends nn l is uosu rather thin his eyes. The voun? Fox didn't once think that he would have a trail for Bowser to follow. His only thought was to get out of sight j 'If onl;, I can find a hidinj plac right close by. H piac that fellow1 can't ,'ct Into. I'll bo all right." thought the young Fox. "I don't want to run across to the stone wall along the Old Orchard because I am afraid he would see me. Perhaps if 1 can slip around to the other side of Chs henhouse I can get away by keeping that between us." 1 With a last glance :it Bowser, tb make sure that Bowser hadn't yet seen him. the ou:ig Fox crept carefully care-fully but swiftly along close to the-henhouse the-henhouse and dodged around back of It He was now out of sight of Bow , ser and this gave hint new courage Then his h art sink again. To run ;u. m-is to tin bushes along the stone wall on the edge of the Old orchard would brn;s h.ru In plain sight of that dreadful dog again if he .should chan. to look up. To run across the Green Alt idows to the Old Pasture or to th" i?i ecu Forest v. ould be to be oi: in' the open for a long distance. Hastily the young Fox looked all' His nose told him that there was no one In there. about hinl. Then he discovered a queer thing! ho hadn't noticed when lie had first crept over back of the henhouse. There seemed to be a hole in it just about big enough for him to get through. Swiftly he ran over to it It was .lark Inside. Ills nose told him that there was no one In there. Hi re was just the h.ding place he was looklrfg for Without wailing a second he slipped inside. Now. what the young Fcx had found was an old barrel lylii? on it.s side, only one board of llie head had been knocked out. This left an opening big enough for llf young Fo;:. but not big enough for Bowser the Hound. Once inside, the young Fox uighe.l with relief. That dog hadn't seen him go in there an.l he fejt safe. He felt so safe thatJor a few minutes all fear left him. He chuckled to himself. I was smart.' said the voung Fox to himself, "not to lose my head and try to run away. That tellow would nr., .en- me and have chased me. Xov. he doesn't know that I have been, anywhere around and all 1 need do Is I to keep quiet until the way U clear. 1 hen l can try again to get one of. those hens. 1 simply must have one Of them, and if 1 had gon back to the Green Forest 1 would bays had to make the long trip over again. Thero Is nothing like using one's wits. This hiding place was iuad for me. M;.. I'm glad that dog didn't see me! And I'm glad 1 was smart enough to look for a hiding pl.tce t r. lit close at hand. I'll have something to boast about by and by. Yes, sir, I'll have something to Inxist about, I can take cure of mysell ah rlgWt." (Copyright. it2L. by T. W Burgess i The next story. "The Young Fox Discovers His Mistake." |