XIX. BOWSER THE HOUND HAS A VISITOR
BOWSER the Hound lay in Fanner Brown's dooryard dozing in the sun. Bowser was dreaming. Yes, Sir, Bowser was dreaming. Farmer Brown's boy, passing through the yard on his way to the cornfield, laughed.
“Sic him, Bowser! Sic him! That's the dog! Don't let him fool you this time,” said he.
You see, Bowser was talking in his sleep. He was whining eagerly, and every once in a while breaking out into excited little yelps, and so Farmer Brown's boy knew that he was dreaming that he was hunting, that he was on the trail of Reddy Fox or sly old Granny Fox. His eyes were shut, and he didn't; hear what Fanner Brown's boy said. The latter went off laughing, his hoe on his shoulder, for there was work for him down in the cornfield.
Bowser kept right on getting more and more excited. It was a splendid hunt he was having there in dreamland. Across the Green Meadows, along the edge of the Green Forest, and up through the Old Pasture he ran, all in his dream, you know, and just ahead of him ran old Granny Fox. Not once was he fooled by her tricks, and she tried every one she knew. For once he was too smart for her, and it made him tingle all over with delight, for he was sure that this time he would catch her.
And then something queer happened. Yes, Sir, it was something very queer indeed. He saw Granny Fox stop just a little way ahead of him. She sat down facing him and began to laugh at him. She laughed and laughed fit to kill herself. It made Bowser very angry. Oh, very angry indeed. No one likes to be laughed at, you know, and to be laughed at by Granny Fox of all people was more than Bowser could stand. He opened his mouth to give a great roar as he sprang at her and then—why, Bowser waked up. Yes, Sir, he really had given a great roar, and had waked himself up with his own voice.
For a few minutes Bowser winked and blinked, for the sun was shining in his eyes. Then he winked and blinked some more, but not because of the sun. Oh, my, no! it wasn't because of the sun that he winked and blinked now. It was because—what do you think? Why, it was because Bowser the Hound couldn't tell whether he was awake or asleep. He thought that he was awake. He was sure that he was awake, and yet—well, there sat old Granny Fox laughing at him, just as he had seen her in his dream. Yes, Sir, there she sat, laughing at him. Poor Bowser! He just didn't know what to think. He rubbed both eyes and looked. There she sat, laughing just as before. Bowser closed his eyes tight and kept them closed for a whole minute. Perhaps when he opened them again, she would be gone. Then he would know that she was only a dream fox, after all.
But no, Sir! When he opened his eyes again, there she sat, laughing harder than ever. Just then a hen came around a corner of the house. Granny Fox stopped laughing. Like a flash she caught the hen, slung her over her shoulder and trotted away, all the time keeping one eye on Bowser.
Then Bowser knew that this was no dream fox, but old Granny Fox herself, and that she had had the impudence and boldness to steal a hen right under his very nose! He was awake now, was Bowser, very much awake. With a great roar of anger, he sprang to his feet, and started after Granny, and startled the Merry Little Breezes at play on the Green Meadows.
XX. THE CLEVER PLAN OF GRANNY FOX
THE bold visit of old Granny Fox to Bowser the Hound in Farmer Brown's dooryard right in broad daylight was all a part of the clever plan Granny had worked out to make trouble for Old Man Coyote. First she had sent Reddy Fox to make sure that Old Man Coyote was taking his usual sun-nap in his usual place. If he were, Reddy was to softly steal away and then hurry to the top of the Crooked Little Path where it comes down the hill. When he got there, he was to bark three times. Granny was to be hidden behind the old stone wall on the edge of Farmer Brown's orchard, and when she heard Reddy bark, she was to do her part, while Reddy was to hide in a secret place on the edge of the Green Forest and watch what would happen.
It all turned out just as Granny had planned. She had been in hiding behind the old stone wall only a few minutes when she heard Reddy bark three times. Granny grinned. Then she stole up to Farmer Brown's dooryard, and there she found Bowser the Hound fast asleep and dreaming. She was just getting ready to bark to waken him, when he waked himself with his own voice. It was just then that a hen happened to walk around the corner of the house. Granny's eyes sparkled. “Good,” said she to herself. “I'll take this hen along with me, and Reddy and I will have a good dinner after I have set Bowser to chasing Old Man Coyote,”—for that was what Granny was planning to do. So she caught the hen, threw it over her shoulder, and started off with Bowser the Hound after her, making a great noise with his big voice.
Now, of course Granny knew that she couldn't carry that hen very far and keep ahead of Bowser, so she ran straight across the Old Orchard towards the secret place on the edge of the Green Forest where she knew that Reddy Fox was hiding. When she was sure that Reddy could see her, she gave the hen a toss over into the grass and then raced away towards the Green Meadows. You see, she knew that Bowser would keep on right after her, and when it was safe for him to do so, Reddy would steal out from his hiding place and get the hen, and that is just what did happen.
Away ran Granny, and after her ran Bowser, and all the little meadow and forest people heard his great voice and were glad that he was not after them. But Granny Fox was not worried. You see, she had fooled him so many times that she knew she could do it again. So she kept just a little way ahead of him and gradually led him towards the place where Old Man Coyote took his sun-nap every day. But she was too smart to run straight towards it, “For,” said she to herself, “if I do that, he will become alarmed and run away before Bowser is near enough to see him.” So she ran in a big circle around the place, feeling sure that Old Man Coyote would lie perfectly still so as not to be seen.
Round and round ran Granny Fox with Bowser after her, and all the time she was making the circles smaller and smaller so as to get nearer and nearer to the napping-place of Old Man Coyote. When she thought that she was near enough, she suddenly started straight for it.
“Now,” thought she, “he'll jump and run, and when Bowser sees him, he will forget all about me. He will follow Old Man Coyote, and perhaps he will drive him away from the Green Meadows forever.”
Nearer and nearer to the napping place Granny drew. She was almost there. Why didn't Old Man Coyote jump and run? At last she was right to it. She could see just where he had been stretched out, but he wasn't there now. There wasn't a sign of him anywhere! What did it mean? Just then she heard a sound over in the Green Forest that made her grind her teeth with rage.
“Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho! Hee, hee, nee! Ha, ho, hee, ho!” It was the laughter of Old Man Coyote.
XXI. HOW PETER RABBIT HELPED OLD MAN COYOTE
A kindly word, a kindly deed,
Is like the planting of a seed;
It first sends forth a little root
And by and by bears splendid fruit.
WHEN Old Man Coyote first came to the Green Meadows, to live, he chased Peter Rabbit and gave Peter a terrible fright. After that for some time Peter kept very close to the dear Old Briar-patch, where he always felt perfectly safe. But Peter dearly loves to roam, and Peter is very, very curious, so it wasn't long before he began to grow tired of the Old Briar-patch and long to go abroad on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest as he always had done, and find out all that was going on among his neighbors.
Of course Peter heard a great deal, for Sammy Jay and Blacky the Crow would stop almost every day to tell him the latest news about Old Man Coyote. They told him all about how Granny Fox had tried to make trouble between him and Prickly Porky the Porcupine, and how she had been found out. After they had gone, Peter sat very still for a long time, thinking it all over.
“H-m-m,” said Peter to himself, “it is very plain to me that Old Man Coyote is smarter than Granny Fox, and that means a great deal to me. Y es, Sir, that means a great deal to me. It means that I have got to watch out for him even sharper than I have to watch out for Granny and Reddy Fox. Dear me, dear me, just as if I didn't have troubles enough as it is!”
As he talked, Peter was sitting on the very edge of the Old Briar-patch, looking towards the place where Sammy Jay had told him that Old Man Coyote took his sun-nap every day. Suddenly he saw something that made him stop thinking about his troubles and sit up a little straighter and open his big eyes a little wider. It was Reddy Fox, creeping very, very slowly and carefully towards the napping place of Old Man Coyote. When he was near enough to see, Reddy lay down in the grass and watched. After a little while he tiptoed back to the Green Forest.
Peter scratched his long left ear with his long right hind foot. “Now what did Reddy Fox do that for?” he said, thoughtfully.
The next day and the next day and the day after that, Peter saw Reddy Fox do the same thing, and all the time Peter's curiosity grew and grew and grew. He didn't say anything about it to any one, but just puzzled and puzzled over it.
Late that afternoon Peter beard footsteps just outside the Old Briar-patch. Peeping out, he saw Old Man Coyote passing. Peter's curiosity could be kept down no longer.
“How do you do, Mr. Coyote?” said Peter in a very small and frightened sounding voice, but in a very polite manner.
Old Man Coyote stopped and peeped through the brambles. “Hello, Peter Rabbit,” said he. “I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you outside of the Old Briar-patch for some time.” He grinned when he said this in a way that showed all his long sharp teeth.
“No,” replied Peter, “I—I—well, you see, I'm afraid of Old Granny and Reddy Fox.”
Old Man Coyote grinned again, for he knew that it was himself Peter really feared. “Pooh, Peter Rabbit! You shouldn't be afraid of them!” said he. “They're not very smart. You ought to be able to keep out of their way.”
Peter hopped a little nearer to the edge of the Old Briar-patch. “Tell me, Mr. Coyote, what is Reddy Fox watching you for every day when you take your sun-nap?”
“What's that?” demanded Old Man Coyote sharply.
He listened gravely while Peter told him what he had seen. When Peter had finished, Mr. Coyote smiled, and somehow this time he didn't show all those dreadful teeth.
“Thank you, Peter Rabbit,” said he. “You have done me a great favor, and I hope I can return it some time. Do you know, I believe that we are going to be friends.”
And with that Old Man Coyote went on his way, chuckling to himself.
XXII. WHY THE CLEVER PLAN OF GRANNY FOX FAILED
WHEN Old Man Coyote, chuckling to himself, left Peter Rabbit and the Old Briar-patch, he went straight over to look around the place where he took his sun-nap every day. His sharp eyes soon saw the place where Reddy Fox had been lying in the grass to watch him, for of course the grass was pressed down by the weight of Reddy's body.
“Peter Rabbit told me the truth, sure enough, and I guess I owe him a good turn,” muttered Old Man Coyote, as he studied and studied to see why Reddy was watching him every day. You see, he is so sharp and clever himself that he was sure right away that Reddy had some plan in mind to bring him to the same place every day.
But he didn't let on that he knew anything about what was going on. Oh, my, no! The next day he curled up for his sun-nap just as usual, only this time he took care to lie in such a way that he would be looking towards Reddy's hiding place. Then he pretended to go to sleep, but if you had been there and looked into his eyes, you would have found no sleepy-winks there. No, Sir, you wouldn't have found one single sleepy-wink! Instead, his eyes were as bright as if there were no such thing as sleep. He saw Reddy steal out of the Green Forest. Then he closed his eyes all but just a tiny little crack, through which he could see Reddy's hiding place, but all the time he looked as if his eyes were shut tight.
Reddy crept softly as he could, which is very softly indeed, to his hiding place and lay down to watch. Old Man Coyote pretended to be very fast asleep, and every once in a while he would make believe snore. But all the time he was watching Reddy. After a little while Reddy tiptoed away until he felt sure that it was safe to run. Then he hurried as fast as he could go to report to old Granny Fox in the Green Forest. Old Man Coyote chuckled as he watched Reddy disappear.
“I don't know what it all means,” said he, “but if he and old Granny Fox think that they are going to catch me napping, they are making one of the biggest mistakes of their lives.”
The next day and the next the same thing happened, but the day after that Reddy only stopped long enough to make sure that Old Man Coyote was there just as usual, and then he hurried away to the top of the Crooked Little Path that comes down the hill. There he barked three times. Old Man Coyote watched him go and heard him bark.
“That's some kind of a signal,” said he to himself, “and unless I am greatly mistaken, it means mischief. I think I won't take a nap to-day, for I want to see what is going on.”
With that, Old Man Coyote made a very long leap off to one side, then two more, so as to leave no scent to show which way he had gone. Then, chuckling to himself, he hurried to the Green Forest and hid where he could watch Reddy Fox. He saw Reddy hide on the edge of the Green Forest where he could watch Farmer Brown's dooryard, and then he crept up where he could watch too. Of course he saw old Granny Fox when she led Bowser the Hound down across the Green Meadows, and he guessed right away what her plan was. It tickled him so that he had to clap both hands over his mouth as he watched sly old Granny take Bowser straight over to his napping-place, and when he saw how surprised she was to find him gone he sat up and laughed until all the little people on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest heard him and wondered what could be tickling Old Man Coyote so.
XXIII. OLD MAN COYOTE GETS A GOOD DINNER
WHEN old Granny Fox found that Old Man Coyote was not at his usual napping-place, she was sure that Reddy Fox must have been very stupid and thought that he saw him there when he didn't. She hurried to the Laughing Brook and waded in it for a little way in order to destroy her scent so that Bowser the Hound would not know in which direction she had gone. You know water is always the friend of little animals who leave scent in their footsteps. Bowser came baying up to the edge of the Laughing Brook, and there he stopped, for his wonderful nose could not follow Granny in the water and he could not tell whether she had gone up or down or across the brook.
But Bowser is not one to give up easily. No, indeed! He had learned many of Granny's tricks, and now he knew well enough what Granny had done. At least, Bowser thought that he knew.
“She'll wade a little way, and then she will come out of the water, so all I have to do is to find the place where she has come out, and there I will find her tracks again,” said he, and with his nose to the ground he hurried down one bank of the Laughing Brook.
He went as far as he thought Granny could have waded, but there was no trace of her. Then he crossed the brook, and with his nose still to the ground, ran back to the starting place along the other bank.
“She didn't go down the brook, so she must have gone up,” said Bowser, and started up the brook as eagerly as he had gone down. After running as far as he thought Granny could possibly have waded, Bowser crossed over and ran back along the other bank to the starting place without finding any trace of Granny Fox. At last, with a foolish and ashamed air, Bowser gave it up and started for home, and all the time Granny Fox was lying in plain sight, watching him. Yes, Sir, she was watching him and laughing to herself. You see, she knew perfectly well that Bowser depends more on his nose than on his eyes, and that when he is running with his nose to the ground, he can see very little about him. So she had simply waded down the Laughing Brook to a flat rock in the middle of it, and on this she had stretched herself out and kept perfectly still. Twice Bowser had gone right past without seeing her. She enjoyed seeing him fooled so much that for the time being she quite forgot about Old Man Coyote and the failure of her clever plan to make trouble for him.
But when Bowser the Hound had gone, Granny remembered. She stopped laughing, and a look of angry disappointment crossed her face as she trotted towards home. But as she trotted along, her face cleared a little. “Any way, Reddy and I will have a good dinner on that fat hen I caught in Farmer Brown's dooryard,” she muttered.
When she reached home, there sat Reddy on the doorstep, but there was no sign of the fat hen, and Reddy looked very uneasy and frightened.
“Where's that fat hen I caught?” demanded Granny crossly.
“I—I—I'm sorry, Granny, but I haven't got it,” said Reddy.
“Haven't got it!” snapped Granny. “What's the matter with you, Reddy Fox? Didn't you see me throw it in the grass when I ran past the place where you were hiding, and didn't you know enough to go and get it?”
“Yes,” replied Reddy, “I saw you throw it in the grass, and I went out and got it, but on my way home I met some one who took it away from me.”
“Took it away from you!” exclaimed Granny. “Who was it? Tell me this instant! Who was it?”
“Old Man Coyote,” replied Reddy in a low, frightened voice.
Old Granny Fox simply stared at Reddy. She couldn't find a word to say. Instead of making trouble for Old Man Coyote, she had furnished him with a good dinner. He was smarter than she. She decided then and there that she could not drive Old Man Coyote out of the Green Forest and that she would either have to leave herself or accept him and make the best of it.
But that's what Old Man Coyote had thought all along, for he quite liked his new home and took a good deal of interest in his new neighbors.
One of these whom he found most interesting was Paddy the Beaver. Paddy really is a very wonderful fellow and I will tell you about him in the next book.