mp partridge, and they know how to catch him,
too, when the snow is deep; but I verily believe there's nothing goes
quite so near the right spot in a fox's stomach as rabbit meat. Mr.
Crow says that years and years ago, when the mountains were only grown
into little hills, Clote Scarpe, the Great Spirit who made all the
birds and animals, used to walk around listening to any complaint his
creatures might make. I wish he would come around the big woods now!
You can set it down as a fact that I'd beg him to fix it so that the
first taste of rabbit would make a fox so sick that he'd come pretty
near turning himself inside out, and then there'd be a little peace
for my family.

"No; it's as you say, Clote Scarpe doesn't pay very much attention to
us wood folks now, and it wouldn't surprise me a little bit if it were
all one of Mr. Crow's yarns--I mean about the Great Spirit's listening
to our troubles, for if anything like that ever had happened, it seems
as if some of my people would have fixed it for us long ago. Yet, if
you'd listen to Mr. Turtle, he'd tell you that years and years ago,
before even the rocks had grown, one of his greatest, greatest
grandfathers, who didn't have any hard shell on his back, went to
Clote Scarpe and had himself fixed so that none of the animals could
bite him, and that's the reason why he's got a house to live in this
day that even Jimmy Hedgehog can't harm.

"Don't be afraid that I won't finish my story I began a while ago.
Speaking of the Fox family brought my mind to what Mrs. Bunny and I
have talked over many and many a time, and I couldn't seem to help
telling you about it. Now I'll go on about the fix I found myself in
when I was going up to the club to tell the president that I'd have to
give over being a member because it was making so much trouble for me
at home. And do you know, that very scrape with young Mr. Fox was what
broke up our meetings at Crow's Corner? It's a fact, though perhaps
the same thing might have happened in some other way.

"Well, there I was standing face to face with young Mr. Fox, and he
grinning at me in a way that said just as plain as words could have
done what a good time he'd have eating me. Goodness, I'm trembling
even now to think of what he might have done before I had a chance to
wag my ear if he'd known that I was the one who led his grandfather
into the trap where Mr. Man could get hold of him so easily! When he
didn't even speak after I'd talk