Evening star., 1942-02-20
Bedtime Stories
BY THORNTON w. BURGESS


No on had enjoyed the joke on
Reddy Fox more than had Jumper
the Hare. 1t had tickled Jumper
almost to pieces to think that he
who was accounted the most timid Of
all the little people in the Green
Forest should have been able to
frighten Reddy Fox. OF course, 1t
was Buster Bear who had given
Reddy his first fright and made him
put his tail between his legs and
start for home as fast as he could
run, but it was Jumper who had
started after Reddy right at his
heels and had made Reddy think
that he was Buster Bear and so
frightened him still more, so that he
didn't dare stop long enough to
turn and see who it was behind
him. OF course, to ali who saw
them it looked just as If Reddy was
running away from Jumper the
Hare, and every one pretended to
believe that he was. Then they
tormented Reddy and made his life
miserable for him by calling him
coward, afraid of Jumper the Hare,
and things like that.
Reddy had fallen into a terrible
rage at first and had tried his very
best to catch his tormentors. But
after while he saw that the angrier
he grew the better pleased were his
tormentors. 1t was just what they
wanted-to make him angry. Only
Jumper the Hare took care not to
have anything to do with Reddy.
He kept out of Reddy's way. He had
no mind to make Reddy any angrier
than he already was. You see,
Jumper never goes looking for
trouble. No, indeed! He tries his
very hardest to keep out of trouble.
And so he kept away from Reddy
Fox.
Now Reddy Fox is. as you all know,
very, very sly and smart. After a
little while he began to realize how
foolish it was for him to get so
angry, or anyway to show that he
was so angry, every time his neigh
borS plagued him about running
away from Jumper the Hare. So no
matter how anger might fill his
heart he would pretend not to mind
in the least and would try to laugh
at the jokes, but all the time would
be Just boiling inside. Now at first
his anger had been all against those
who called him names and made
fun of him, but as he thought 1t
over little by little his anger turned
against Jumper the Hare. If Jumper
hadn't run after him no one would
have laughed at him, for nearly
every one had been just as much
afraid of Buster as he. Therefore
it was all the fault of Jumper. The
more he was teased the greater grew
his hate of Jumper, until at last he
made up his mind that he would
catch Jumper.
Now, of course, the other little
people didn't know this. They
thought that they were making life
very miserable for just Reddy Fox
alone. Not one of them ever stopped
to think that when trouble is made
for one it always hurts some one else.
They thought that they were making
Reddy Fox very miserable, as indeed
they were, but it never entered their
heads that they were also making
life very miserable for Jumper the
Hare. But they were. Yes, sir, they
were. If they had let Reddy alone
he would have let Jumper alone.
But as it was, he just grew more
and more determined that he would
catch Jumper. So he spent all his
spare time trying to think of some
plan whereby he could catch Peter
Rabbits big cousin. And Jumper,
who. always was very, very timid.
grew more timid than ever and
wished and wished with all his heart
that he had not played that joke on
Reddy Fox which had made Reddy
the laughing stock of the Green
Meadows and the Green Forest.