by the
roadside and bowed his head, looking out of the corners of his eyes for
the stranger.

At last he saw the stranger coming around a bend in the road. The sun
shown upon a gold ax which he carried in his hand. He stopped in front
of the woodman. "Why do you grieve, my friend?" he asked.

"I have lost my ax with which I earned my living," the woodman replied.

"Cheer up," said the stranger. "I have an ax here. Is it yours?"

"That is the very one," said the woodman. "Thank you, stranger," and he
reached out his hand to take the gold ax.

But the stranger drew back, and put the ax behind him. "It is not your
ax. It is my own, and you wish to claim it. You are both dishonest and
untruthful;" and he turned away.

THE FOX WITH HIS TAIL CUT OFF

Reynard lost his tail in a trap. Now a fox is proud of two things--his
cunning and his tail. He had allowed himself to be trapped. This showed
his lack of cunning, and he had lost his tail.

He was so ashamed of himself that he could not bear to meet another
fox. He slunk off to his den and came out only when driven by hunger.
When out hunting, he kept out of the way of all his neighbors. He did
not mean that any of them should know of his bad luck.

At last he grew tired of living by himself. He wanted to gossip with
his friends.

He wondered whether old Rufus was still running on top of the great
meadow fence to throw the hounds off the track.

He longed to hear of the latest tricks of Fleetfoot's cubs. They were
three of the brightest little foxes that ever lived. He wished that he
could see them at their play.

He wished to know if the men were still cutting down trees near
White-ear's den. If this went on, White-ear would have to find a new
home. It would be hard for her after living in that beautiful spot so
long.

If he were to hear the news at all, he must meet his comrades. "How can
I bear to listen to their laugh!" he moaned.

He had not lost all of his cunning, as you will see. He lay for a long
time with his head between his paws. His eyes were wide open, but he
was not watching for game. He was thinking.

After a while he jumped up. He said to himself:

"I shall invite all of my friends to come to my home to-morrow evening.
I shall tell them when they reach here that I can not get up to meet
them for I have been very sick. They will all gather about me here. I
shall sit upon my haunches so that no one will ever find out that my
tail is mi