When Brushtail the Fox slipped into the place where there were so many
leafy bushes, it was very hard for Doctor Rabbit to see him from his
big tree. Sometimes he lost sight of Brushtail altogether, and then
for an instant he would see his long, sharp nose, or his reddish-brown
coat, or his big bushy tail. And all the time Brushtail became more
and more cautious. He moved so slowly and so quietly among the bushes
that Doctor Rabbit had to strain his eyes to see him. Then suddenly
Brushtail jumped high up onto the dead limb of a big fallen tree. He
walked out on this limb, then jumped far out into a dense thicket and
disappeared.
Yes, sir, Brushtail the Fox was gone! Doctor Rabbit stood by his
window in the tree and looked and looked. He thought he would
presently see a sharp nose or a bushy tail, but he did not. Brushtail
was hiding somewhere in that thicket.
"Well! well! well!" Doctor Rabbit exclaimed. "I certainly should like
to know what old Brushtail is doing in there. I am positive he is in
that thicket. He never could have slipped out without my seeing him.
Yes, sir, he's in there. And that's probably where he always hides.
Likely enough he has a den in there. I shouldn't be surprised if there
are a lot of rocks in there and Brushtail the Fox has a big hole away
back under them."
"Well," Doctor Rabbit continued, talking softly to himself, "I'm going
to slip out there as near as possible and keep watch and see if I can
discover anything more about Brushtail. I must not tell anyone as yet
what I have seen. No, if I want to get a lot of information I must
just keep still and do the finding out myself. It isn't safe to trust
too many people."
Doctor Rabbit ran downstairs and was starting out into the woods to
try to get nearer Brushtail's hiding place when he saw something that
made him keep still and watch. Farmer Roe and his boy were coming
through the woods toward Doctor Rabbit's tree. Just as they went past,
Doctor Rabbit heard Farmer Roe say, "Yes, I'm certain that there is a
fox in these woods. That was a fox's track we saw in the yard this
morning, and that was a fox, I am sure, that took the old white hen
last night. Our chickens will be in danger until we get rid of him."
"Do you suppose he hides in these woods in the daytime?" asked Farmer
Roe's boy.
"I shouldn't be surprised," replied Farmer Roe. "In fact, I'm pretty
sure he hides close by. There is one thing that puzzles me, however,
and that is that although Yappy trailed that fox directly from the
chicken yard, he lost the trail right in the woods and could not pick
it up again. The fox has played some trick, of course," said Farmer
Roe, "and we must try and find out what it is. I really shouldn't be
surprised," he went on, "if that fox is lying around close enough to
see us this minute. We'll just keep watch until we discover his hiding
place."