Old Granny Fox | Page 6

Granny Fox. You see, he hasn't lived
nearly as long, so of course there is much knowledge of many things
stored away in Granny's head of which Reddy knows little.
But once in a while even the smartest people are caught napping. Yes,
Sir, that does happen. They will be careless sometimes. It was just so
with Old Granny Fox. With all her smartness and cleverness and
wisdom she grew careless, and all the smartness and cleverness and
wisdom in the world is useless if the possessor becomes careless.
You see, Old Granny Fox had become so used to thinking that she was
smarter than any one else, unless it was Old Man Coyote, that she
actually believed that no one was smart enough ever to surprise her.
Yes, Sir, she actually believed that. Now, you know when a person
reaches the point of thinking that no one else in all the Great World is
quite so smart, that person is like Peter Rabbit when he made ready one
winter day to jump out on the smooth ice of the Smiling Pool, -- getting
ready for a fall. It was this way with Old Granny Fox.
Because she had lived near Farmer Brown's so long and had been
hunted so often by Farmer Brown's boy and by Bowser the Hound, she
had got the idea in her head that no matter what she did they would not
be able to catch her. So at last she grew careless. Yes, Sir, she grew
careless. And that is something no Fox or anybody else can afford to
do.
Now on the edge of the Green Forest was a warm, sunny knoll, which,
as you know, is a sort of little hill. It overlooked the Green Meadows
and was quite the most pleasant and comfortable place for a sun-nap
that ever was. At least, that is what Old Granny Fox thought. She took
sun-naps there very often. It was her favorite resting place. When
Bowser the Hound had found her trail and had chased her until she was
tired of running and had had quite all the exercise she needed or wanted,

she would play one of her clever tricks by which to make Bowser lose
her trail. Then she would hurry straight to that knoll to rest and grin at
her own smartness.
It happened that she did this one day when there was fresh snow on the
ground. Of course, every time she put a foot down she left a print in the
snow. And where she curled up in the sun she left the print of her body.
They were very plain to see, were these prints, and Farmer Brown's boy
saw them.
He had been tramping through the Green Forest late in the afternoon
and just by chance happened across Granny's footprints. Just for fun he
followed them and so came to the sunny knoll. Granny had left some
time before, but of course she couldn't take the print of her body with
her. That remained in the snow, and Farmer Brown's boy saw it and
knew instantly what it meant. He grinned, and could Granny Fox have
seen that grin, she would have been uncomfortable. You see, he knew
that he had found the place where Granny was in the habit of taking a
sun-nap.
"So," said he, "this is the place where you rest, Old Mrs. Fox, after
running Bowser almost off his feet. I think we will give you a surprise
one of these days. Yes, indeed, I think we will give you a surprise. You
have fooled us many times, and now it is our turn."
The next day Farmer Brown's boy shouldered his terrible gun and sent
Bowser the Hound to hunt for the trail of Old Granny Fox. It wasn't
long before Bowser's great voice told all the Great World that he had
found Granny's tracks. Farmer Brown's boy grinned just as he had the
day before. Then with his terrible gun he went over to the Green Forest
and hid under some pine boughs right on the edge of that sunny knoll.
He waited patiently a long, long time. He heard Bowser's great voice
growing more and more excited as he followed Old Granny Fox. By
and by Bowser stopped baying and began to yelp impatiently. Farmer
Brown's boy knew exactly what that meant. It meant that Granny had
played one of her smart tricks and Bowser had lost her trail.
A few minutes later out of the Green Forest came Old Granny Fox, and
she was grinning, for once more she had fooled Bowser the Hound and
now could take a nap in peace. Still grinning, she turned around two or
three times to make herself comfortable and then, with a sigh