But Reddy Fox didn't hear, or if he heard he didn't heed. His sharp ears could hear Danny Meadow Mouse running almost underneath him. Granny Fox could stop if she wanted to, but he was going to have Danny Meadow Mouse for his breakfast! Down into the snow he plunged as hard as ever he could.
“Oh! Oh! Wow! Wow! Oh dear! Oh dear!”
That wasn't the voice of Danny Meadow Mouse. Oh, my, no! It was the voice of Reddy Fox. Yes, Sir, it was the voice of Reddy Fox. He had landed with one of his black paws right on one of those sharp wire barbs, and it did hurt dreadfully.
“I never did know a young Fox who could get into as much trouble as you can!” snapped old Granny Fox, as Reddy hobbled along on three legs behind her, across the snow-covered Green Meadows. “It serves you right for forgetting!”
“Yes'm,” said Reddy meekly.
And safe in the hollow of the old fence post, Danny Meadow Mouse was dressing the scratch on his leg made by the claws of old Granny Fox.
VII
Old Granny Fox
Tries a New Plan
Old Granny Fox kept thinking about Danny Meadow Mouse. She knew that he was fat, and it made her mouth water every time she thought of him. She made up her mind that she must and would have him. She knew that Danny had been very, very much frightened when she and Reddy Fox had tried so hard to catch him by plunging down through the snow into his little tunnels after him, and she felt pretty sure that he wouldn't go far away from the old fence post, in the hollow of which he was snug and safe.
Old Granny Fox is very smart. “Danny Meadow Mouse won't put his nose out of that old fence post for a day or two. Then he'll get tired of staying inside all the time, and he'll peep out of one of his little round doorways to see if the way is clear. If he doesn't see any danger, he'll come out and run around on top of the snow to get some of the seeds in the tops of the tall grasses that stick out through the snow. If nothing frightens him, he'll keep going a little farther and a little farther from that old fence post. I must see to it that Danny Meadow Mouse isn't frightened for a few days.” So said old Granny Fox to herself, as she lay under a hemlock tree, studying how she could best get the next meal.
Then she called Reddy Fox to her and forbade him to go down on the meadows until she should tell him he might. Reddy grumbled and mumbled and didn't see why he shouldn't go where he pleased, but he didn't dare disobey. You see, he had a sore foot. He had hurt it on a wire barb when he was plunging through the snow after Danny Meadow Mouse, and now he had to run on three legs. That meant that he must depend upon Granny Fox to help him get enough to eat. So Reddy didn't dare to disobey.