quite proud of his skill.

"I can hunt--can't I, Mother?" he exclaimed. "Watch me! I get them
almost every time!" he boasted.

Mrs. Fox did not answer. She was thinking deeply. She knew that there
were a great many things she must teach her son, because he was
growing up; and some day he would be leaving home to go out into the
world and take care of himself. And Mrs. Fox knew that Tommy would
have to learn to catch bigger things than crickets in order to keep
from starving.

Pretty soon Mrs. Fox started across the field. She was gone rather a
long time. But she came back at last, carrying something that squirmed
and twisted and wriggled. Whatever it was that Mrs. Fox was bringing
home, it was furry, and quite big and heavy. When Tommy saw it he
stopped hunting crickets at once. He knew what his mother had. It was
a woodchuck!

"Hurrah!" he shouted. "I'm hungry! May I eat all of him I want?" You
might think that he had swallowed so many crickets that he wouldn't
want anything more to eat just then. But to tell the truth, it was
very seldom that Tommy Fox wasn't hungry as a bear.

"Not so fast!" Mrs. Fox said. "I'm going to teach you to hunt. And
you're to begin with this woodchuck. Now I'm going to let him go, and
you must catch him." So Mrs. Fox let the woodchuck slip away; and off
he scampered, with Tommy after him. Mrs. Fox followed close behind.
And soon she saw Tommy give a great spring and land right on top of
the woodchuck.