owser
lose her trail. Then she would hurry straight to that knoll to rest and
grin at her own smartness.

It happened that she did this one day when there was fresh snow on the
ground. Of course, every time she put a foot down she left a print in
the snow. And where she curled up in the sun she left the print of her
body. They were very plain to see, were these prints, and Farmer Brown's
boy saw them.

He had been tramping through the Green Forest late in the afternoon
and just by chance happened across Granny's footprints. Just for fun he
followed them and so came to the sunny knoll. Granny had left some time
before, but of course she couldn't take the print of her body with
her. That remained in the snow, and Farmer Brown's boy saw it and knew
instantly what it meant. He grinned, and could Granny Fox have seen that
grin, she would have been uncomfortable. You see, he knew that he had
found the place where Granny was in the habit of taking a sun-nap.

"So," said he, "this is the place where you rest, Old Mrs. Fox, after
running Bowser almost off his feet. I think we will give you a surprise
one of these days. Yes, indeed, I think we will give you a surprise. You
have fooled us many times, and now it is our turn."

The next day Farmer Brown's boy shouldered his terrible gun and sent
Bowser the Hound to hunt for the trail of Old Granny Fox. It wasn't long
before Bowser's great voice told all the Great World that he had found
Granny's tracks. Farmer Brown's boy grinned just as he had the day
before. Then with his terrible gun he went over to the Green Forest and
hid under some pine boughs right on the edge of that sunny knoll.

He waited patiently a long, long time. He heard Bowser's great voice
growing more and more excited as he followed Old Granny Fox. By and by
Bowser stopped baying and began to yelp impatiently. Farmer Brown's boy
knew exactly what that meant. It meant that Granny had played one of her
smart tricks and Bowser had lost her trail.

A few minutes later out of the Green Forest came Old Granny Fox, and
she was grinning, for once more she had fooled Bowser the Hound and
now could take a nap in peace. Still grinning, she turned around two
or three times to make herself comfortable and then, with a sigh of
contentment, curled up for a sun-nap, and in a few minutes was asleep.
And just a little way off behind the pine boughs sat Farmer Brown's boy
holding his terrible gun and grinning. At last he had ca