d so black and cold
that it made him shiver just to see it. Back and forth with his nose
to the ground he ran. Suddenly he stopped and sniffed. Then he sniffed
again. Then he followed his nose straight to the very edge of the Big
River. There, floating in the black water, was a dead fish! By wading in
he could get it.

Reddy shivered at the touch of the cold water, but what were wet feet
compared with such an empty stomach as his? In a minute he had that fish
and was back on the shore. It wasn't a very big fish, but it would stop
the ache in his stomach until he could get something more. With a sigh
of pure happiness he sank his teeth into it and then--well, then he
remembered poor Old Granny Fox. Reddy swallowed a mouthful and tried to
forget Granny. But he couldn't. He swallowed another mouthful. Poor
old Granny was back there at home as hungry as he was and too stiff and
tired to hunt. Reddy choked. Then he began a battle with himself. His
stomach demanded that fish. If he ate it, no one would be the wiser.
But Granny needed it even more than he did. For a long time Reddy fought
with himself. In the end he picked up the fish and started for home.

CHAPTER XVI: Reddy Is Made Truly Happy

It's what you do for others,
Not what they do for you,
That makes you feel so happy
All through and through and through.
--Old Granny Fox.

Reddy Fox ran all the way home from the Big River just as fast as he
could go. In his mouth he carried the fish he had found and from which
he had taken just two bites. You remember he had had a battle with
himself over that fish, and now he was running away from himself. That
sounds funny, doesn't it? But it was true. Yes, Sir, Reddy Fox was
running away from himself. He was afraid that if he didn't get home to
Old Granny Fox with that fish very soon, he would eat every last bit of
it himself. So he was running his very hardest so as to get there before
this could happen. So really he was running away from himself, from his
selfish self.

Old Granny Fox was on the doorstep watching for him, and he saw just how
her hungry old eyes brightened when she saw him and what he had.

"I've brought you something to eat, Granny," he panted, as he laid the
fish at her feet. He was quite out of breath with running. "It isn't
much, but it is something. It is all I could find for you."

Granny looked at the fish and then she looked sharply at Reddy, and into
those keen yellow eyes