"Catch him, Yappy, catch him!" shouted Farmer Roe. "He'll steal all my
hens if you don't."

Away they all ran after Brushtail the Fox--Farmer Roe and his boy
yelling, and both hounds barking.

"My!" exclaimed Doctor Rabbit as he sat on the fallen tree, "I
certainly do hope they'll catch him!"

And just at that moment it looked as if they _would_ catch Brushtail.
He was in such a great hurry that in trying to jump across a wide
ditch in the woods he fell right into it. And Yappy was almost upon
him.

"Yappy's got him!" shouted Farmer Roe's boy. "Yappy's got him!"

But Brushtail was not to be caught so easily. He sprang out of that
hole in a flash, and away he ran like the wind.

As Doctor Rabbit watched, Brushtail ran out of sight in the woods, and
the barking of the hounds and the voices of Farmer Roe and his boy
sounded farther and farther away. Doctor Rabbit sat and waited, for he
thought they might turn Brushtail back and run him past the fallen
tree. But after a while they seemed farther away than ever, and he
could just barely hear Yappy barking on the trail. Doctor Rabbit just
sat still and waited. He knew that Brushtail the Fox was one of the
slyest creatures in the woods, and he was pretty sure now that he
would get away for this time at least.

"I should not be surprised if he came sneaking back right around here.