XVIII

THE WORLD TURNS WHITE


After he outwitted the strange dog, Tommy Fox became more of a
braggart than ever. He thought that he knew just about all there was
to know. But with the coming of winter Tommy found that he had many
things to learn. It was almost like living in a different world, for
the ground was white everywhere. And though Tommy Fox loved to play in
the snow, he discovered one thing about it that he did not like at
all. It frightened him when he saw how plainly his footprints showed
after a fresh snow-fall. And he wondered how he would ever be able to
escape being caught, should any strange dog chase him.

As the winter days passed, Tommy learned that it was very hard for him
to run fast in a light, dry snow--that through such snow a dog could
run much faster than he could. But when there was a thin crust he
could go skipping along like the wind, while dogs, being heavier,
broke through the crust and floundered about in the softer snow
beneath.

One day Tommy and his mother were out hunting. The snow was very deep
everywhere, for it was mid-winter. And it had thawed and frozen so
often that the snow was quite hard, except for just about an inch of
fresh snow which had fallen during the night. Tommy and his mother
could see rabbit tracks all around them; and they had very good luck
hunting. But something happened that wasn't exactly lucky. They had