Doctor Rabbit and Brushtail the Fox | Page 2

of the most cunning
animals there is. I'm sorry he's come into our woods."
Cheepy Chipmunk was so frightened that his teeth were chattering as
he asked, "Who is he?"
"He's Brushtail the Fox," Doctor Rabbit said. "I saw him a number of
times in the woods up along the Deep River where I used to live. We'll
see more of him--we can count on that. And now, Friend Cheepy, you
must stay right here at my house until we are sure Brushtail has stopped
watching us out of the corner of his eye."

CHATTY RED SQUIRREL IS HEARD SCOLDING LOUDLY
Doctor Rabbit was right. Brushtail the Fox had seen exactly who was in
Doctor Rabbit's front yard, but he did not act as if he knew there was
any one within a mile of him. No, he just kept right on walking slowly
under the trees. And then all of a sudden Chatty Red Squirrel almost
made him look up. Chatty was high up in a big hackberry tree, and
from this safe perch he scolded Brushtail as loudly as he could.
"Get out of these woods!" Chatty Squirrel shouted angrily. "You have
no right in here. You are just sneaking around trying to catch somebody.
But you can't. I won't let you. I'll tell on you. Look here, everybody.
Here is old Brushtail the Fox. I know you, Mr. Brushtail. I've seen you

before in the woods up along the Deep River. Look out, everybody!
Brushtail is around. He's right under this tree, right this minute. I can
see him. Look out for Mr. Brushtail! Here he is!"
Well, Doctor Rabbit and Cheepy Chipmunk watched and listened while
Chatty Squirrel scolded Brushtail the Fox so loudly. But Brushtail paid
no attention whatever to Chatty. The fact was that he did hear every
word Chatty Squirrel said and he was pretty angry about it, too,
because you see he did not want all the little creatures of the Big Green
Woods to know he was around. He wanted to get one or two of them
for breakfast before they even dreamed he was anywhere near.
But even if he was angry, Brushtail knew, of course, that he could not
climb that tree after Chatty Squirrel, so he just ground his teeth and
walked on. He decided that he would make Chatty pay for this, indeed
he would. He would catch him the very first of all. And so as Doctor
Rabbit and Cheepy Chipmunk looked and listened, Brushtail, without
saying a word, walked on and finally slipped out of sight among some
leafy bushes.
"I'm going home this minute!" Cheepy Chipmunk exclaimed, his voice
trembling with fear; and away he went for his stump as fast as he could
run.
After Cheepy had gone, Doctor Rabbit said to himself, "Well, I do
declare! So Brushtail the Fox has found the Big Green Woods, and
likely enough intends to live here. If he does we'll certainly all have to
watch out every minute. Indeed we will. I'm glad Chatty Squirrel is
scolding so loudly. Perhaps our friends will all hear and be on the
lookout."
Chatty Squirrel, who had followed along in the branches of the trees
and kept sight of slinky Brushtail, was now heard quite a distance away,
scolding louder than ever.
"I wonder what Chatty is scolding about out there now," Doctor Rabbit
said. "It sounds as if he were still talking to Brushtail. Perhaps Brushtail
has stopped out there, and possibly he has caught something and is

eating it. I'm going to slip out that way and see. I'll take the path that
leads past several briar patches, and if Mr. Fox runs for me I'll just slip
into a briar patch. If he tries to follow me in there he knows what he'll
get. He'll get his eyes scratched out with the briars. My, how Chatty is
scolding! He's scolding Brushtail, too. Brushtail must be doing
something unusual or Chatty would not talk so excitedly."

BRUSHTAIL THE FOX PLAYS "POSSUM"
Doctor Rabbit hurried away from his home toward the place where he
heard Chatty Squirrel scolding Brushtail the Fox. Doctor Rabbit, to tell
the truth, was afraid to venture out there so close to Brushtail, but then,
he reasoned, he would have to go sooner or later and get something to
eat, so he might as well venture out now and see what the old villain
was doing.
Doctor Rabbit kept in the path that led past several briar patches, and
this made him feel pretty safe. The nearer Doctor Rabbit came to the
place where Chatty Squirrel was scolding, the louder sounded Chatty's
angry voice. Doctor Rabbit crept close, and slipped into a briar patch.
Not more than twenty feet away, lying on the