Tommy wondered where his mother was. She was not at home. And he
wanted to see her, even if he was afraid that she would punish him.
For Tommy did not know exactly what to do. He did not dare go out for
fear Spot might be lying in wait for him. So Tommy stayed there. And
still his mother did not come home. He wondered where she could be.




XII

OLD MR. CROW IS PLEASED


There was a very good reason why Mrs. Fox did not come home that day
when the dog Spot chased Tommy Fox into his house. She had heard old
Spot barking in the field and she had hurried toward home as fast as
she could, to see what was the matter.

To her great dismay, when she leaped up on the stone-wall not far from
her house Mrs. Fox could see Spot scratching at her door. And she
guessed at once that he had driven Tommy inside.

The poor old lady hardly knew what to do. But she hid in the grass,
hoping that Spot would grow tired of his task and go home. But old dog
Spot kept up a great barking. He howled so loudly that they heard him
way off at the farm-house; and Mrs. Fox nearly wept when she saw
Farmer Green and his boy Johnnie come hurrying across the fields.