cker keep on right up to the shore? Nearer and nearer and nearer he
came. Reddy squirmed uneasily. He couldn't see as well as he wanted to.
The bushes behind which he was lying were in his way. He wanted to see
Granny make that jump which would mean a dinner for both.

Forgetting what Granny had charged him, Reddy eagerly raised his head to
look over the edge of the bank. Now it just happened that at that very
minute Quacker chanced to look that way. His quick eyes caught the
movement of Reddy's head and in an instant all his curiosity vanished.
That sharp face peering at him over the edge of the bank could mean but
one thing--danger! It was all a trick! He saw through it now. Like a
flash he turned. There was the whistle of stiff wings beating the air
and the patter of feet striking the water as he got under way. Then he
flew out to the safety of the open water. Granny sprang, but she was
just too late and succeeded in doing no more than wet her feet.

Of course, Granny didn't know what had frightened Quacker, not at first,
anyway. But she had her suspicions. She turned and looked up at the
place where Reddy had been hiding. She couldn't see him. Then she
bounded up the bank. There was no Reddy there, but far away across the
snow-covered Green Meadows was a red spot growing smaller and smaller.
Reddy was running away. Then she knew. At first Granny was very angry.
You know it is a dreadful thing to be hungry and have a good dinner
disappear just as it is almost within reach.

"I'll teach that young scamp a lesson he won't soon forget when I get
home," she muttered, as she watched him. Then she went back to the edge
of the Big River and there she found a dead fish which had been washed
ashore. It was a very good fish, and when she had eaten it Granny felt
better.

"Anyway," thought she, "I have taught him a new trick and one he is n't
likely to forget. He knows now that Granny still knows a few tricks that
he doesn't, and next time he won't feel so sure he knows it all. I guess
it was worth while even if I didn't catch Quacker. My, but he would have
tasted good!" Granny smacked her lips and started for home.

But Reddy, with a guilty conscience, was afraid to go home. And so,
miserable and hungry, he hunted through the Green Forest all the long
night and wished and wished that he had heeded what old Granny Fox had
told him.

CHAPTER VI: Old Granny Fox Is Caught Napping

The wisest folks will make mistakes,