nd his eyes twinkled when he saw Reddy hide the fat
hen in the hollow stump. He knew that no matter how far Bowser might
chase Reddy, Reddy would come back for that fat hen, and he was rather
glad to think that Reddy would have that good dinner after all.

"No one will ever think to look in that hollow stump," thought Blacky,
"and I certainly will not tell any one. Reddy has earned that dinner.
Now I think I'll go get something to eat myself."

At that very instant Blacky's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of a gray form
with broad wings, and in a perfect panic of fear Blacky began to fly as
fast as he knew how for a thick spruce-tree not far away. He plunged in
among the branches and hid in the thickest part he could find. With
little shivers of fear running all over him, he peeked out and watched
that big gray form. On broad wings it sailed over to that hollow stump.
Two long legs with great curving claws reached down in, and a moment
later that fat hen was disappearing over the tree tops. Blacky sighed
with relief.

[Illustration: ON BROAD WINGS IT SAILED OVER TO THAT HOLLOW STUMP. _Page
199._]

"It's a lucky thing for me that robber, Mr. Goshawk, saw Reddy hide that
fat hen," muttered Blacky. "If he hadn't, he might have caught me, for I
didn't see him at all."

CHAPTER XLII

ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL

When things go wrong, just patient be
Until the end you plainly see.
For often things that seem all bad
Will end by making all hands glad.

_Bowser the Hound._

Reddy Fox, trotting homeward, had nothing but bitterness in his heart,
and nothing at all in his stomach. He was tired and hungry and bitterly
disappointed. He was in a country with which he was not familiar, and so
he did not know where to hunt, and he felt that he just must get
something to eat. Do what he would, he couldn't help thinking about
that fat hen he had hidden and which had so mysteriously disappeared.
The more he thought of it, the worse he felt. It was bad enough to be
hungry and have no idea where the next meal was coming from, but it was
many times worse to have had that meal and then lose it. To Reddy,
everything was all wrong.

Now on his way home Ready had to pass several farms. Hunger made him
bold, and at each farm he stole softly as near as possible to the
farmyard, hoping that he might find more fat hens unguarded. Now it
happened that that afternoon a farmer at one of these farms was
preparing som