Down plumped the little possum, with wide open, hissing mouth. But instead of running, he lay where he had fallen.
Red Ben was greatly surprised. He had meant no harm. Carefully he sniffed and pawed the motionless creature. Yes, his playfellow was certainly dead. For a minute or two he walked around. There was nothing he could do, so he decided to leave the place.
“Possum fell over backwards”
Just as he reached the next tree, however, he heard a scraping noise and whirled around in time to see the apparently dead possum go up the oak’s trunk even faster than the first time. Sticking his sharp little toe nails into the crevices of the rough bark, he could get a good hold where Red Ben’s toes, which were formed for running, could not have gripped at all. When nearly at the top of the tree, he stopped to look down at Red Ben, grinning. The fox had at first fooled the little possum, but now the little fellow had done some fooling himself.
Red Ben looked around for the mice and other little creatures, but found that they had vanished. Being the color of the dead leaves and limbs near which they played and fed, and knowing all the holes and how best to reach the nearest one, all of them could hide quickly. They had been frightened. Many minutes would pass before they dared to crawl out again.
CHAPTER IX
STUDYING THE ENEMY
When Red Ben was trotting back to the Swamp, he heard Farmer Slown’s hound baying. He stopped at once to listen. It was not the joy cry that comes with the scent of a fresh trail; there was, indeed, a wail at the end that puzzled him. He listened a while in silence, then, pointing his sharp nose in that direction, barked back his defiance. “Yap, yap, ya-rrrrr.” After a pause he barked again.
The hound, who was tied in the barnyard and howling simply because he felt lonely, heard the fox and at once grew quiet. Farmer Slown heard him too, through his open window. He, however, did not remain quiet. He fussed and fumed the rest of the night, and made more plans to catch the fox which was so bold as to bark at him.
Red Ben, meanwhile, stole along the fence towards the farm buildings. He was drawn by an irresistible curiosity. It was here his greatest enemy lived, the one who was somehow connected with the disappearance of his mother and of his brothers.