But one old judge was rather spry--
Oh yes, he was!
You'd not have thought him half so spry,
But oh, he was!
He said, "Why really, on my word!
Disqualify that shocking bird!--
Absurd!"
So Tom's bird was disqualified--
Of course it was!
Disgracefully disqualified,
Ah yes, it was!
And Tom, although he thought he knew
A thing or two, found others too
Who knew.
"Mr. Thomas must have believed that honesty was the best policy, before he got through with the bird show," your Aunt Amy suggested, and Mrs. Mouser Cat laughed as she replied:
"It would have shamed almost any cat; but it didn't seem to make a bit of difference with young Thomas. He was just as pert as ever the next day, and went around telling about the prize he would have taken if the judge hadn't discovered the fraud. It would have served him right if he had been punished as was Mr. Fox."
WHEN MR. FOX WAS TOO CUNNING.
"Is that another story?" your Aunt Amy asked.
"Yes, it is," Mrs. Mouser said reflectively, "and it shows that there are times when even a fox can be too cunning. One day while Mr. Fox, who used to live down in the swamp, was sneaking around behind the barn on this farm, he saw a bag hanging on the limb of a tree just over the water barrel.
"'Now I wonder what that is?' he said to himself, as he stopped and looked first at the bag and then at the barrel. 'It smells good, and I believe there's meat somewhere around here.'
"Then he climbed upon the barrel, and saw that it was half full of water, so he began to wonder what the meaning of it was.