Evening star., 1933-02-13
A Mistake.
level head he must possess
Who holds 1t steady through success.
Old Mother Nature.

~ EDDY FOX and Mrs. Reddy
- hal, as you know, moved to
IN section of country some dis
i tAnce from their old home. For
| long time there had bS>n no
FcXes living there and for this reason
Reddy and Mrs. Reddy had hoped that
there they would find it easier to get
enough to cat through the hard times
of Winter. Their hopes had been real
lied. They had been living well. very
well indeed, for they had found that
the hens on the surrounding farms
were not so well protected and carefully
watched as around their old home.
They hadn't intended to visit the
focks of hens save when they felt that
they must, but to get their living by
hunting in the pastures, woodland and
meadows, and to visit the hen hen
yards and farmyards cnly when forced
to by starvation. Their success In their
first raids on the hens had turned
their heads, as the saying Is. They
made the mistake that smart people
often make, the mistake CT thinking
themselves too smart ever to get in
real trouble. It was SO much easier
to get fat hen than to spend hours
hunting for Mice and Rabbits that
whenever they were hungry their tirst
thought was Of fat hens. So they raid
ed the flocks of hens and ducks on all
the surrounding farms.
They were clever enough not to visit
any one farm too often. Having caught
dinner at one farm, they would not
return there the next time they were
hungry, but would go to distant
farm. And they were bold. With each
success they became bolder. So it was
that after a time all the farmers in
that section knew Of them and began
to talk about them and say that some
thing must be done to get rid of them.
They had made the mistake of draw
ing attention to themselves, the very
thing they had intended not to do.
They had been too successful. It had
turned their heads.
Reddy and Mrs. Reddy continued to
live under the old barn on deserted
farm. At first they had taken the
greatest care in going to 1t and leaving
1t, but In this matter they had Glso
grown careless At first they had left
1t and returned to it only after or be-
fore daylight. II they happened to be
away when daylight came they rested
in some sheltered place far from the
old barn. But of late they had grown
careless in their seeming security and
often returned to it in broad daylight
| and sometimes left it before the Black
| Shadows had crept over the landscape
| for the night.
So it happened that a man hunting
Rabbits on the old farm caught
glimpse Of Reddy leaving the old barn.
"Ha" exclaimed the hunter. so that
Is where those red robbers are living.
| It ought to be an easy matter to get
them now. I'll get some of the neigh
bors and well have a Fox hunt and
rid the neighborhood of these red
thieves"
Then the hunter made a mistake,
He went over to that barn to lock
around. He should have kept away
You see, MRS. Reddy had not gone cut
with Reddy. She was still there in
their snug home under the floor she
heard the hunter enter the barn She
heard his footsteps over her head. She
heard his exclamation as he found sew
eral red hairs on the edge of the hole
in the aoor OF course she didn't know
that he had seen Reddy leave the barn
and she didn't know that he had found
those tell-tale red hairs, but there was
something in his voice that made her
suspicious that all IVES not well. The
mere fact that one OF those dreaded