seemed a good deal disturbed, he for one would not
mind an hour or two of digging, if it would save her geese.

"Oh, I have nothing against her geese, boys," replied the old gentleman
with a kind of apologetic laugh. "I like to hear her stand up for them
once in a while.

"I wanted to get this corn hoed by to-morrow," he continued. "Let's see,
to-morrow is Saturday. We will take the crowbar and some shovels and
make a little trip over to that burrow, later this afternoon. Don't say
anything about it at dinner; for likely as not we shall not find the fox
there."

After we had hoed for some time longer, Addison said, "What if we have
Halse run over to Edwardses', right after dinner, and ask Tom to take a
bar, or shovel, and go with us. Tom is a good hand at digging,--and that
fox may trouble them, too."

The Old Squire laughed. "You are a pretty crafty boy, Addison," said he.

Ad looked a little confused. "I knew Tom would like to go first rate,"
said he; "and as there may be considerable hard digging before us, I
thought it would be all right to have somebody who could take his turn
at it."

"Quite right," replied Gramp, still laughing. "Craft is a good thing and
often helps along famously. But don't grow too crafty.

"I am quite willing for you to send for Thomas," he added. "I think it
is a good idea."

Accordingly, at noon Halse went to the Edwards homestead, bearing an
invitation to a fox-digging bee. They, too, were busy with their hoeing,
but Mr. Edwards, who was a very good-humored man, gave Thomas permission
to join us at two o'clock. When we went out from dinner to our own
hoeing, we took along an axe, two spades, a hog-hook to pull out the
fox, and a crowbar, also the gun; and after working two hours in the
corn-field, we set off across the fields and pastures for the fox
burrow, just as Thomas came running across lots to join us.

"Mother's glad to have me go," said he. "She lost a turkey last week;
and father says there's a fox over in that burrow, this summer, no
mistake. Father gets up at half-past three every morning now, and he
says he has heard a fox bark over that way at about sunrise for a
fortnight. But we will end his fun for him."

Thomas was such a resolute boy that it was always a treat to hear him
talk.

Crossing the pasture, we climbed the hillside of the Aunt Hannah lot,
and again entering the maple woods, went on for forty or fifty rods over
rather rough ground.

"That's the k