WHEN Mr. Fox laughed he showed all his long, sharp teeth, and Puss was
mighty glad he had his trusty staff with him in case Mr. Fox became
ugly. But nothing unpleasant happened, and by and by they came to the
hen-house.
Puss was peeking through a crack in the boards, but before he had time
to utter a cry of warning, Mr. Fox,
Seized the black duck by the neck,
And swung her across his back;
The black duck cried out, "Quack! quack! quack!"
With her legs hanging dangling down.
and away he went, out through the door, across the barnyard and up the
hill. And I guess Lady Moon wished she hadn't shown that bad old fox the
way through the dark forest.
And after that Puss pounded on the kitchen door and shouted, "The fox
has run off with the black duck!"
"What's the matter?" asked Mrs. Slipper-Slopper. "Who has taken the
black duck?"
[Illustration]
"Hurry up!" called Puss. "The fox has a good start; 'twill be hard to
catch him."
So Mrs. Slipper-Slopper pulled in her head and pretty soon came thumping
down the stairs and opened the door.
"Which way did the fox go?" asked Mr. Slipper-Slopper.
"Up the hill," said Puss.
"Where's my gun?" asked Mr. Slipper-Slopper, turning to his wife.
"Why, don't you remember, John?" she replied. "You lent it to old
Neighbor Jones last week."
"So I did," said Mr. Slipper-Slopper. "Too bad!"
"Well, I'm going after him, anyway," cried Mr. Slipper-Slopper, picking
up the broom. "If I catch him I'll hit him a whopper!"
"You wouldn't hit an old man like Neighbor Jones?" cried Mrs.
Slipper-Slopper excitedly.
"No----the fox," cried Mr. Slipper-Slopper. "I mean the fox."
"You'd better put on your boots," said his wife. "You can't go in your
slippers."