Reddy certainly had the appetite to make that fat hen the finest dinner a Fox ever ate . So , with pleasant thoughts of the feast to come , Reddy trotted along swiftly . Presently he reached the little swamp in which was the hollow stump . As he drew near it , he moved very carefully . You see , he was not quite sure that all was safe . He knew that the farmer from whom he had stolen that fat hen had seen him run away with it , and he feared that that farmer might be hiding somewhere about with a terrible gun . So Reddy used his eyes and his ears and his nose as only he can use them . All seemed safe . It was as still in that little swamp as if no living creature had ever visited it . Stopping every few steps to look , listen , and sniff , Reddy approached that hollow stump . Quite certain in his own mind that there was no danger , Reddy lightly leaped up on the old stump and peeped into the hollow in the top . Then he blinked his eyes very fast indeed . If ever there has been a surprised Fox in all the Great World that one was Reddy . There was no fat hen in that hollow ! Reddy could n't believe it . He would n't believe it . That fat hen just had to be there . He blinked his eyes some more and looked again . All he saw in that hollow stump was a feather . The fat hen had vanished .
All XXXXX 's dreams of a good dinner vanished too .
Fox Reddy World danger dinner eyes feast gun mind top