f old Granny Fox.

CHAPTER VII

_Old Granny Fox Tries a New Plan_

Old Granny Fox kept thinking about Danny Meadow Mouse. She knew that
he was fat, and it made her mouth water every time she thought of
him. She made up her mind that she must and would have him. She knew
that Danny had been very, very much frightened when she and Reddy
Fox had tried so hard to catch him by plunging down through the snow
into his little tunnels after him, and she felt pretty sure that he
wouldn't go far away from the old fence-post, in the hollow of which
he was snug and safe.

Old Granny Fox is very smart. "Danny Meadow Mouse won't put his nose
out of that old fence-post for a day or two. Then he'll get tired of
staying inside all the time, and he'll peep out of one of his little
round doorways to see if the way is clear. If he doesn't see any
danger, he'll come out and run around on top of the snow to get some
of the seeds in the tops of the tall grasses that stick out through
the snow. If nothing frightens him, he'll keep going, a little
farther and a little farther from that old fence-post. I must see to
it that Danny Meadow Mouse isn't frightened for a few days." So said
old Granny Fox to herself, as she lay under a hemlock tree, studying
how she could best get the next meal.

Then she called Reddy Fox to her and forbade him to go down on the
meadows until she should tell him he might. Reddy grumbled and
mumbled and didn't see why he shouldn't go where he pleased, but he
didn't dare disobey. You see he had a sore foot. He had hurt it on a
wire barb when he was plunging through the snow after Danny Meadow
Mouse, and now he had to run on three legs. That meant that he must
depend upon Granny Fox to help him get enough to eat. So Reddy
didn't dare to disobey.

It all came out just as Granny Fox had thought it would. Danny
Meadow Mouse _did_ get tired of staying in the old fence-post. He
_did_ peep out first, and then he _did_ run a little way on the
snow, and then a little farther and a little farther. But all the
time he took great care not to get more than a jump or two from one
of his little round doorways leading down to his tunnels under the
snow.

Hidden on the edge of the Green Forest, Granny Fox watched him. She
looked up at the sky, and she knew that it was going to snow again.
"That's good," said she. "Tomorrow morning I'll have fat Meadow
Mouse for breakfast," and she smiled a hungry smile.

The next morni