Tommy Tilkinin Hikayesi - The Tale of Tommy Fox

Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the

Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

[Illustration: "Run Along, Tommy Fox," the Squirrel Said]

SLEEPY-TIME TALES

THE TALE OF TOMMY FOX

BY

ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

ILLUSTRATED BY

HARRY L. SMITH

CHAPTER

I TOMMY ENJOYS HIMSELF II JOHNNIE GREEN GOES HUNTING III TOMMY FOX LEARNS TO HUNT IV MOTHER GROUSE'S CHILDREN V TOMMY FOX IS HUNGRY VI MR. GRAY SQUIRREL'S MISTAKE VII TOMMY CHASES MR. WOODCHUCK VIII SOMETHING MAKES TOMMY VERY PROUD IX TOMMY FOX IN TROUBLE X MRS. FOX OUTWITS DOG SPOT XI TOMMY GROWS TOO CARELESS XII OLD MR. CROW IS PLEASED XIII JOHNNIE GREEN AND HIS NEW PET XIV TOMMY FOX MAKES A STRANGE FRIEND XV JOHNNIE GREEN FEELS SAD XVI TOMMY BECOMES BOASTFUL XVII PAYING A CALL ON A FRIENDXVIII THE WORLD TURNS WHITE XIX TOMMY FOX LEARNS A NEW TRICK XX THE DRUMMER OF THE WOODS XXI THE BIGGEST SURPRISE OF ALL

ILLUSTRATIONS

"RUN ALONG, TOMMY FOX," THE SQUIRREL SAID…… Frontispiece

A CLOUD OF FEATHERS FLOATED DOWN FROM THE LIMB

MR. WOODCHUCK WHISKED DOWN OUT OF SIGHT

TOMMY DASHED FOR THE LITTLE DOOR

TOMMY THOUGHT IT WAS HIS MOTHER'S VOICE

MRS. FOX AND TOMMY STARTED TO RUN

I

TOMMY ENJOYS HIMSELF

Tommy Fox was having a delightful time. If you could have come uponhim in the woods you would have been astonished at his antics. Heleaped high off the ground, and struck out with his paws. He openedhis mouth and thrust his nose out and then clapped his jaws shutagain, with a snap. Tommy burrowed his sharp face into the dead leavesat his feet and tossed his head into the air. And then he jumped upand barked just like a puppy.

If you could have hid behind a tree and watched Tommy Fox you wouldhave said that he was playing with something. But you never could havetold what it was, because you couldn't have seen it. And you may havethree guesses now, before I tell you what it was that Tommy Fox wasplaying with. … It was a feather! Yes—Tommy had found a downy,brownish feather in the woods, which old Mother Grouse had dropped inone of her flights. And Tommy was having great sport with it, tossingit up in the air, and slapping and snapping at it, as it driftedslowly down to the ground again.

He grew quite excited, did Tommy Fox. For he just couldn't help makingbelieve that it was old Mother Grouse herself—and not merely one ofher smallest feathers that he had found. And he leaped and bounded andjumped and tumbled about and made a great fuss over nothing but thatlittle, soft, brownish feather.

There was something about that feather that made Tommy's nose twitchand wrinkle and tremble. Tommy sniffed and sniffed at the bit of down,for he liked the smell of it. It made him feel very hungry. And atlast he felt so hungry that he decided he would go home and see if hismother had brought him something to eat. So he started homewards.

I must explain that Tommy lived with his mother and that their housewas right in the middle of one of Farmer Gre

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