," he said, hopping up on the log that he might the better be
seen. "Now she has got it in her head that Mr. Weasel has found his
way to our home, and ran all this distance up here to warn me about
being careful when I came to supper. She's old enough to know that I'm
keeping my eye out for that murdering villain, and the first time I
heard of his coming around where we live I'd move.

"I suppose it seems kind of queer to you that all us wood folk are so
afraid of Mr. Weasel; but if you were to see him out on one of his
killings, you'd understand it very readily. It would seem just a
little bit different if he picked us small people up for dinner or
breakfast; but he does nothing of the kind. He commits murder just to
please his wicked self, and oftentimes doesn't stop to suck a single
drop of blood from his victim. A desperately wicked old fellow is Mr.
Weasel, and even the 'Squire and the Professor are afraid of him.

"Yes, yes, I'm going to tell you how much trouble I got poor little
Sonny Bunny into, through trying to help Cheeko Squirrel after he had
so needlessly poked his nose into danger. I couldn't help saying just
a word about that miserable weasel, because of all the fright my wife
had on his account, and now for the story I began so long ago:

"You'll remember that my wife sent the poor little fellow to Cheeko
with some herb tea, and when I got back with the things for dinner she
was terribly worried because he hadn't come home. I'm willing to
confess that I didn't feel really easy in mind myself, for he was too
young to be out in the woods alone after dark, never having been
taught to take care of himself in the night, and off I scuttled the
best I knew how, which wasn't slow; but trying to make myself believe
that Sonny stayed to cheer Cheeko.

"I was hopping along mighty fast when whom should I see just ahead of
me on the path but Mr. Fox, standing with his head cocked over on one
side as he always holds it when he's up to some mischief. I was in a
terrible hurry, but it seemed safer to stop a bit till I'd found out
what he was up to, and lucky it was that I did.

"Old Mr. Fox had his mind so taken up with the business on hand that
he didn't hear me when I crept under the ferns where I could see all
that was going on. He stood looking down sideways, as if trying to
make up his mind just what to do, and then, suddenly, he began to
scratch the dirt at a terrible rate. Of course, I knew he wasn't
buildi