Evening star., 1942-02-21
Bedtime Stories
BY THORNTON w. BURGESS.

Jumper the Hare was growing
thin. Yes, sir, he was growing thin.
He never had been very fat, but now
he was thinner than ever and get
ting more so every day. What was
making him? Why, just worry. That
is adjust worry. Here is was the
beautiful springtime and plenty to
eat, yet Jumper was growing thin.
Very few people have a good appe-
tite when they are worried. 1t was
that way with Jumper. He Just
couldn't eat much, and what was
almost as bad, he couldn't sleep
much. Now eating anc sleeping are
what make people fat, and whoever
cannot eat and cannot sleep is
bound to grow thin. And so Jumper
grew thinner and thinner, while
almost everybody else grew fat.
1t was all because OF Reddy Fox.
Reddy had made up his mind that
he was going to catch Jumper the
Hare and Jumper knew it. Now
Jumper can outrun Reddy Fox, and
when 1t comes to q race he isn't
the least bit afraid. But Reddy is
sly, very sly. He knew better than
to try to catch Jumper by chasing
him. He knew that he would have
to catch him by surprising him when
he was asleep, or by hiding close
to some place where Jumper was In
the habit of eating.
Jumper knew that, too, Of course,
he did. He knew just as we'll as
Reddy did that Reddy couldn't
catch him in a race. He felt per-
fectly safe as long as he could see
Reddy or knew exactly where he
was. But at all other times he
worried. You see, he didn't know
but Reddy might jump out from
behind any bush or tree, and so he
had to be on watch every minute
he was awake. That was bad
enough, but what was worse was
the fact that he didn't dare sleep.
OF course. he had to sleep some, but
1t was in little maps from which the
mereSt rustic Of q leaf would waken
him all ready to jump and run for
his life. Now you know little maps
like that give very little rest. And
1t Is dreadful to close your eyes
wondering If you will ever open them
again. 1t was no wonder that jump
er grew thin.
1t would not have been 50 bad II
Reddy had been content to hunt
him in the daytime only. But he
wasn't. You know Reddy can see
in the night. And so he hunted by
day or night, whenever he felt
like 1t, and so, of course, poor
Jumper never knew when he might
safely sleep. He kept to the deepest
part OF the Green Forest, hoping that
Reddy would not hunt for him there.
You know Reddy is more fond of the
edge Of the Green Forest than he is
of the deep, dark, lonesome parts.
But he had made up his mind to
catch Jumper, and so now he fol-
lowed Jumper to his most lonely
hiding places.
1t really was quite dreadful for
Jumper, and yet 1t would have been
worse for some others had they
been in his place. You see, bad as
it was, it wasn't quite as bad as
things had been in the Great Woods,
where Jumper had lived before COM
ing down to the Green Forest.
There he had had to watch out
every minute for Tufty the Lynx
and Howler the Wolf and Mr.. Fisher
and Mr.. Wolverine, which was, of
course, much worse than having
just Reddy Fox to watch out for. So
he had grown used to being always
in danger. But since he had come
to live in the Green Forest he had
felt so much safer and life had
been so much easier that now it
came very hard to 60 back to the
old way Of living.
So Jumper the Hare lost his ap-
petite and couldn't sleep and grew
thinner and thinner in the beauti-
full springtime. And SO it was that
the fun that his friends and neigh
bors were having in teasing and
making fun of Reddy Fox was really
the cause of all the trouble that had
come to Jumper the Hare, and he
was too polite to tell them 80.