Now all the time he was saying this, Jimmy knew perfectly well that Reddy was afraid, and he turned his head to hide a smile as Reddy swelled up to look very big and important and replied: “Oh, my, no! No, indeed, certainly not! I'm not afraid of anybody or anything. By the way, I saw a strange thing down on the Green Meadows early this morning. It was a half-eaten chicken hidden in a clump of grass and bushes. I wondered if you left it there.”
Jimmy Skunk pricked up his ears. “No,” said he, “I didn't leave it there. I haven't taken a chicken from Farmer Brown's this spring, and I haven't been up to his hen-house for more than a week. Who do you suppose could have left it there?”
“I haven't the least idea unless—” Reddy looked this way and that to make sure that they were alone—“unless it was the stranger who has frightened every one but me,” he finished in a whisper.
Jimmy pricked his ears up more than ever. “Do you really suppose it could have been?” he asked.
“Come down there with me and see for yourself,” replied Reddy. And Jimmy said he would.
VI. JIMMY SKUNK GOES WITH REDDY FOX
JIMMY SKUNK and Reddy Fox trotted along down the Crooked Little Path to the Green Meadows. Reddy was impatient and in a hurry. But Jimmy Skunk never hurries, and he didn't now. He just took his time, and Reddy Fox had to keep waiting for him. Reddy was nervous and anxious. He kept turning his head this way and that way. He looked behind every little bush and clump of grass. He cocked his sharp ears at every little sound. He sniffed every little breeze. It was very plain that Reddy Fox was ill at ease.
“Hurry up, Jimmy Skunk! Hurry up!” he urged every few minutes, and he had hard work to make his voice sound pleasant.