big knobby stone,
As large as a lump of coal,
And heaved and pushed, and pushed and heaved,
'Till she got it through the hole.

And then she scuttled panting home
As fast as her legs would go,
Not walking picketty-pecketty
This time,--oh dear no!

[Illustration]

She scuttered and fluttered down the hill,
And scampered through her door.
"Thank goodness!" she said, all out of breath,
"I'm safe at home once more!"

But when the Wicked Old Fox woke up,
It was getting dark and late.
He shouldered the sack, and found it now
A most remarkable weight.

[Illustration]

"Dear me!" he said, "she weighs like a goose!
I thought she'd be light as a wren;
What a splendid supper we'll have to-night
Off the Little Small Red Hen!"

[Illustration]

So heavily, wearily trudged he home,
And kept shifting the sack about;
And when at last he came to his door,
There was old Mother Fox looking out.

She said to him, "You look tired, my dear,"
And he answered, "Ah, she's caught!"
And he puffed and licked his lips and said
"She's twice as fat as I thought!"

He asked, "My love, is the pot on the boil?"
"It's boiling fast," she replied.
He said, "Then take the lid off, my dear,
And we'll pop her plump inside!"

So Old Mother Fox took off the lid,
Hot and steaming and black,
While the Wicked Old Fox, with hurry and haste,
Untied the mouth of the sack.

And--SPLASH! went in the great big stone,
It _was_ a splash! my word!
I don't suppose a splash so loud
Has ever before been heard.

The bees and birds and bunnies all,
Who had gone to bed for the night,
For miles around, woke up with a jump
In a most tremendous fright.

[Illustration]

And the boiling water in the pot
Splashed out on every side,
And terribly scalded the Wicked Old Fox,
And Old Mother Fox, and they died.

There they lay, all still and stark,
Up in the house on the hill;
There they lay, and, for all I know,
There they are lying still.

But the Hen lived happily, just as before,
In her dear little house by the wood,
Walking picketty-pecketty,
Working as hard as she could.

"I've had a great many troubles!
I hope they won't happen again;
Anything for a quiet life!"
Said the Little Small Red Hen.

The End

End of Project Gutenberg's All About the Little