before heard of such a creature. If there were one, I'd have seen it
before now. You go back into the house and stay there. You are a
disgrace to the Fox family. I am going to have a look about and find
out what is going on. If this is some trick, they'll find that old
Granny Fox isn't so easily fooled."




XV

OLD GRANNY FOX INVESTIGATES


In-vest-i-gate is a great big word, but its meaning is very simple. To
in-vest-i-gate is to look into and try to find out all about
something. That is what old Granny Fox started to do after Reddy had
told her about the terrible fright he had had at the hill where
Prickly Porky lives.

Now old Granny Fox is very sly and smart and clever, as you all know.
Compared with her, Reddy Fox is almost stupid. He may be as sly and
smart and clever some day, but he has got a lot to learn before then.
Now if it had been Reddy who was going to investigate, he would have
gone straight over to Prickly Porky's hill and looked around and
asked sly questions, and everybody whom he met would have known that
he was trying to find out something.

But old Granny Fox did nothing of the kind. Oh, my, no! She went about
hunting her dinner just as usual and didn't appear to be paying the