"Softly, softly!" whispered the Fox; "someone may hear you."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

"Very well," replied Puss, "I'll whisper if you'll show me the way."

"Come along," replied the Fox. So they walked along through the dark forest, and every now and then the moon peeped through the tree tops to help Mr. Fox find his way, but for all that, the forest was very gloomy and Puss nearly stumbled two or three times and so did Mr. Fox.

"At first he came to a farmer's yard, Where the ducks and geese declared it hard That their nerves should be shaken and their rest be marred By the visit of Mister Fox."

"Do you hear what they say about me?" asked the Fox in a whisper.

"They say you give them bad dreams," replied Puss; "that you keep them awake and ruin their nerves."

"Ha, ha!" laughed Mr. Fox, "what do they expect? Do they imagine I come here to sing them to sleep? To stand under the coop window and sing a lullaby? Ha, ha! I'm very fond of duck and very fond of goose, but not in that way. Oh, my, no!" And he grinned until all his long white teeth shone in the moonlight.

MR. SLIPPER-SLOPPER

WHEN Mr. Fox laughed he showed all his long, sharp teeth, and Puss was mighty glad he had his trusty staff with him in case Mr. Fox became ugly. But nothing unpleasant happened, and by and by they came to the hen-house.

Puss was peeking through a crack in the boards, but before he had time to utter a cry of warning, Mr. Fox,

Seized the black duck by the neck, And swung her across his back; The black duck cried out, "Quack! quack! quack!"

With her legs hanging dangling down.

and away he went, out through the door, across the barnyard and up the hill. And I guess Lady Moon wished she hadn't shown that bad old fox the way through the dark forest.

And after that Puss pounded on the kitchen door and shouted, "The fox has run off with the black duck!"

"What's the matter?" asked Mrs. Slipper-Slopper. "Who has taken the black duck?"

[Ill.u.s.tration]

"Hurry up!" called Puss. "The fox has a good start; 'twill be hard to catch him."

So Mrs. Slipper-Slopper pulled in her head and pretty soon came thumping down the stairs and opened the door.

"Which way did the fox go?" asked Mr. Slipper-Slopper.

"Up the hill," said Puss.

"Where's my gun?" asked Mr. Slipper-Slopper, turning to his wife.

"Why, don't you remember, John?" she replied. "You lent it to old Neighbor Jones last week."

"So I did," said Mr. Slipper-Slopper. "Too bad!"

"Well, I'm going after him, anyway," cried Mr. Slipper-Slopper, picking up the broom. "If I catch him I'll hit him a whopper!"

"You wouldn't hit an old man like Neighbor Jones?" cried Mrs.

Slipper-Slopper excitedly.

"No----the fox," cried Mr. Slipper-Slopper. "I mean the fox."

"You'd better put on your boots," said his wife. "You can't go in your slippers."

A DINNER INVITATION

GOODNESS me, Mr. Slipper-Slopper took so long to pull on his boots that Puss said, "Really, if you don't hurry the fox will be miles away, and you'll never get back your gray goose."

"Yes, John, you had better take this young cat's advice," cried Mrs.

Slipper-Slopper.

"Then John, he went up to the hill, And he blew a blast both loud and shrill; Says the fox, 'This is very pretty music--still I'd rather be at my den.'"

"Gracious me!" exclaimed Puss to himself, "Mr. Slipper-Slopper is crazy.

Why does he blow his horn? It's bad enough to hunt a fox with a broom!"

"Look here, Mr. Slipper-Slopper," he cried, "you have no boots--you've nothing but slippers. You have no gun--you've nothing but an old broom.

And what's more, you have no sense. You deserve to lose your gray goose and your black duck. Good-by." And Puss ran off in disgust.

"I've no use for a man who can't protect his own," he muttered to himself. "I won't help catch that fox. Let him have a feast. He must eat as well as Mr. Slipper-Slopper. Probably Mr. Slipper-Slopper would have killed the gray goose for dinner in a few days, anyhow."

"h.e.l.loa, what are you talking about?" cried Mr. Fox, jumping out from behind a large stone.

"So you think old Slipper-Slopper would have killed the goose and eaten it himself, do you?" asked the fox with a grin.

"Well," answered Puss, startled at the sudden appearance of Mr. Fox, "I thought it pretty mean of you to steal his goose, but now that I've found out what a foolish man Mr. Slipper-Slopper is, I'm glad you have a good dinner in store for yourself and family."

"That's very nice of you," said Mr. Fox, with another grin.

"Neither have I forgotten that you helped me out of the forest,"

continued Puss, "and I feel very friendly toward you."

"If that's the case," said the fox in a kind voice, "you come home with me and Mrs. Fox will give you some of the best roast duck you ever tasted in your life."

ROAST DUCK