for he was certain his life and the lives of Stubby Woodchuck, Chatty
Red Squirrel and all his other friends were in great danger. But he
had never seen such an animal before, so of course he did not know
what it was.

While Doctor Rabbit and Cheepy Chipmunk looked, the strange animal
walked along just as if he were not interested in anything. He did not
even look toward Doctor Rabbit and Cheepy Chipmunk. This fooled
innocent Cheepy, and he whispered to Doctor Rabbit, "He has not seen
us; let's slip into your house! I don't want him to catch sight of
us."

"Keep right still!" Doctor Rabbit whispered in reply. "Just sit still.
Yes, he has seen us--don't you fool yourself about that. But he knows
well enough he can't catch us now. He's made up his mind he'll wait
until he gets a better chance. But we won't let him know we see him.
We'll have to try to deceive him at every turn. Yes, sir, Cheepy,
we've got to watch out every minute now; we certainly have. He's one
of the most cunning animals there is. I'm sorry he's come into our
woods."

Cheepy Chipmunk was so frightened that his teeth were chattering as he
asked, "Who is he?"

"He's Brushtail the Fox," Doctor Rabbit said. "I saw him a number of
times in the woods up along the Deep River where I used to live. We'll
see more of him--we can count on that. And now, Friend Cheepy, you
must stay right here at my house until we are sure Brushtail has
stopped watching us out of the corner of his eye."