Evening star., 1943-05-01
Bedtime Stories
BY THORNTON W. BURGESS.
Fitting here and fitting there,
Silently the livelong day,
Peering, prying. Shrewdly spying,
L. AZ m u

Peering, prying. shrewdly spying,
Is the way of Sammy jay.
OF course, I do not mean that he
Is doing this all the time. But that
Is Sammy's way when he wants to
find out something that no one will
tell him. There isn't a cleverer spy
In all the Green Forest. And there
isn't any one who knows more
about the affairs of other people.
So when Sammy made up his mind
that Reddy Fox and Mrs. Reddy
had managed to dig a new house
and keep it a secret, and when he
noticed that Reddy was doing a
great deal more hunting than there
seemed any good reason for If he
had only one stomach to keep full,
he promptly decided that he would
do a little spying just to satisfy his
own curiosity. He had a feeling
that he might discover something
very interesting.
So the next time Sammy saw
Reddy hunting on the Green
Meadows he kept Reddy in sight
all the time pretending to be very
busy hunting himself. He kept his
tongue still and he kept as much
out of sight as possible. but he
managed to keep Reddy always in
view Reddy had very good luck
that morning. Sammy was too far
away to see what Reddy had caught,
but presently Reddy started off as
II bound straight for some par
ticular place. Sammy chuckled to
himself and followed, taking great
care to keep Just as far behind
Reddy as possible and still keep him
in sight Reddy trotted along swiftly
to the edge of the Green Forest
This surprised Sammy because
Sammy had hunted and hunted
through the Green Forest for
Reddy's new home and hadn't found
a sign of it.
When Reddy reached the edge of
the Green Forest he followed it to
where 1t joined the Old Pasture.
Then he looked this way and that
way to make sure that no one was
watching him. He was very crafty.
was Reddy, as he always is. Sure
that no one was watching. for he
couldn't see Sammy Jay in the thick
top of tall hemlock tree. he turned
into an old cowpath among the
bushes of the Old Pasture and
trotted on as swiftly as before But
even then the claver rascal didn't
go straight to his new home. He
was far too smart for that. He
followed the old cowpath a short
distance and then leaped lightly to
one side among the bushes and
jumped up on big rock, where he
sat for few minutes looking back
the way he had come to make sure
that no one was following him.
1t was we'll for Sammy Jay that
he knew the ways of Reddy Fox. He
had expected Reddy to do some such
smart trick as this. so he was not
caught. Instead of following Reddy
he had at once made up his mind
that Reddys home was somewhere
in the Old Pasture and so he had
flown swiftly by a roundabout way
to a certain tree in the Old Pasture
beyond where Reddy was watching
and from which he could see much
of the Old Pasture. There he sat
perfectly still.
Presently Reddy came trotting
along right under the tree in which
Sammy sat. Reddy didn't once think
of looking up. He was quite sure
that no one was watching him and
he trotted on with an eager look in
his eyes which puzzled Sammy
From bush to bush Sammy followed
and in little while came to a place
where he could see a heap of yellow
sand in front of great rock and
back of the yellow sand an opening
In the ground
Hal" said Sammy, butsnot aloud.
His eyes snapped joyfully He knew
that he had found Reddy's new
home. Then he hid in bush close
by, where he could watch, for he was
not yet satisfied.
There is something here worth
eeeing,' said he to himself. And
Sammy was right.
@eleased By the Associated Newspapers.)