d seek. He tickled and chuckled all
the afternoon as he thought about it. Of course Reddy had been "it."
He had been "it" all the time, for never once had he caught Danny
Meadow Mouse. If he had--well, there wouldn't have been any more
stories about Danny Meadow Mouse, because there wouldn't have been
any Danny Meadow Mouse any more.

But Danny never let himself think about this. He had enjoyed the
game all the more because it had been such a dangerous game. It had
been such fun to dive into one of his little round doorways in the
snow, run along one of his own little tunnels, and then peep out at
another doorway and watch Reddy Fox digging as fast as ever he could
at the doorway Danny had just left. Finally Reddy had given up in
disgust and gone off muttering angrily to try to find something else
for dinner. Danny had sat up on the snow and watched him go. In his
funny little squeaky voice Danny shouted:

"Though Reddy Fox is smart and sly,
Hi-hum-diddle-de-o!
I'm just as smart and twice as spry.
Hi-hum-diddle-de-o!"

That night Reddy Fox told old Granny Fox all about how he had tried
to catch Danny Meadow Mouse. Granny listened with her head cocked on
one side. When Reddy told how fat Danny Meadow Mouse was, her mouth
watered. You see now that snow covered the Green Meadows and the
Green Forest, Granny and Reddy Fox had hard work to get enough to
eat, and they were hungry most of the time.

"I'll go with you down on the meadows to-morrow morning, and then
we'll see if Danny Meadow Mouse is as smart as he thinks he is,"
said Granny Fox.

So, bright and early the next morning, old Granny Fox and Reddy Fox
went down on the meadows where Danny Meadow Mouse lives. Danny had
felt in his bones that Reddy would come back, so he was watching,
and he saw them as soon as they came out of the Green Forest. When
he saw old Granny Fox, Danny's heart beat a little faster than
before, for he knew that Granny Fox is very smart and very wise and
has learned most of the tricks of all the other little meadow and
forest people.

"This is going to be a more exciting game than the other," said
Danny to himself, and scurried down out of sight to see that all his
little tunnels were clear so that he could run fast through them if
he had to. Then he peeped out of one of his little doorways hidden
in a clump of tall grass.

Old Granny Fox set Reddy to hunting for Danny's little round
doorways, and as fast as he found the