REDDY FOX had boasted that he was not afraid of the unknown stranger who had frightened Peter Rabbit so, and whose voice in the night had brought the great fear to the Green Meadows and the Green Forest. But Reddy Fox is always boasting, and a boaster is seldom very brave. Right down deep in his heart Reddy was afraid. What he was afraid of, he didn't know. That is one reason that he was afraid. He is always afraid of things that he doesn't know about. Old Granny Fox had taught Reddy that.
 
“If you are afraid of things you don't know all about, and just keep away from them, they never will hurt you,” said wise old Granny Fox, and that is one reason that Farmer Brown's boy had never been able to catch her in a trap. But Granny was too smart to boast that she wasn't afraid when she was, while Reddy was forever bragging¹ of how brave he was, when all the time he was one of the greatest cowards among all the little meadow and forest people.
 
When he had first heard that strange voice, little cold chills had chased each other up and down his backbone², just as they had with nearly all the others who had heard it, and Reddy had not gone hunting that night. But Reddy has a big appetite, and a hungry stomach doesn't let one think of much else. So after a day or two, Reddy grew brave enough to go hunting. Somehow he had a feeling that it was safer to hunt during the day instead of during the night. You see, it was only after jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had gone to bed behind the Purple Hills that that strange voice was heard, and Reddy guessed that perhaps the stranger slept during the day.
 
So Reddy started out very early in the morning, stepping as softly as he knew how, looking behind every bush and tree, and with his sharp little ears wide open to catch every sound. Every few feet he stopped and sniffed⁴ the wind very carefully, for Reddy's nose can tell him of things which his eyes do not see and his ears do not hear. And all the time he was ready to run at the first sign of danger. He had left the Green Forest and was out on the Green Meadows, hoping to catch Danny Meadow Mouse, when that sharp little nose of his was tickled⁵ by one of the Merry Little Breezes with a smell that Reddy knew. Reddy turned and went in the direction from which the Merry Little Breeze had come. Just a few steps he went, and then he stopped and sniffed.
 
“Um-m-m,” said Reddy to himself, “that smells to me like chicken. It certainly does smell like chicken!”
 
Very, very slowly and carefully Reddy moved forward in the direction from which that delicious smell came. Every few steps he stopped and sniffed. Sniff³, sniff, sniff! Yes, it certainly was chicken. Reddy's mouth watered. A few more steps and there, a little way in front of him, partly hidden in a clump⁶ of tall grass and bushes, lay a half-eaten chicken. Reddy stopped short and sat down to look at it. Then he looked all around it to see if there was any one about. Then he walked clear around it in a circle, but he was very careful not to go too near. Finally he sat down again where he could smell the chicken. His tongue hung out with longing⁷, and water dripped from the corners of his mouth. His stomach said, “Go get it;” but his head said, “Don't go any nearer; it may be some sort of a trap.”
 
Then Reddy remembered one of the sayings of wise old Granny Fox:
 
 
“When you are tempted⁸ very much
 
Just turn your back and go away.
 
Temptation then can harm you not,
 
But only those who choose to stay.”
 
 
“I hate to do it, but I guess it's the best way,” said Reddy Fox and turned his back on the chicken and trotted⁹ away.