“I’m glad you didn’t,” chattered Slicko.
“So am I,” said the fox. “I guess I can easily catch a turkey or a mouse or a rooster. I’ve caught roosters before. But now I wouldn’t like to catch you as I like to hear you talk, though I don’t know anything about books.”
“Neither do I,” said Slicko. “All I know is I’m in one. And there’s a book about Tum Tum, the jolly elephant. I don’t s’pose you know him, either, do you?”
“Is an elephant like a wild turkey?” asked Sharp Eyes.
“I should say not!” laughed Slicko. “An elephant looks as if he had two tails, but one is his trunk. Tum Tum was a jolly chap. He was in the same circus with Mappo, the merry monkey. But excuse me, I have to go now. I’ll see you some other time.”
“I wish you would,” said the fox boy. “I’ll promise not to catch you. I like to hear you talk. Tell me some more about your elephant and monkey friends.”
“I will,” promised Slicko, “and about the book I’m in, too. I had a lot of adventures. Maybe you’ll have some, too, and have them put in a book.”
“Oh, no! That will never happen to me!” said Sharp Eyes.
But you see how little he knew about it, for here he is in a book, and I have a lot of adventures to tell you about him.
So Slicko, the jumping squirrel, scrambled off among the trees, and the little fox boy went to look for something to eat.