Mouser Cat laughed as she replied:

"It would have shamed almost any cat; but it didn't seem to make a bit
of difference with young Thomas. He was just as pert as ever the next
day, and went around telling about the prize he would have taken if the
judge hadn't discovered the fraud. It would have served him right if he
had been punished as was Mr. Fox."




WHEN MR. FOX WAS TOO CUNNING.


"Is that another story?" your Aunt Amy asked.

"Yes, it is," Mrs. Mouser said reflectively, "and it shows that there
are times when even a fox can be too cunning. One day while Mr. Fox, who
used to live down in the swamp, was sneaking around behind the barn on
this farm, he saw a bag hanging on the limb of a tree just over the
water barrel.

"'Now I wonder what that is?' he said to himself, as he stopped and
looked first at the bag and then at the barrel. 'It smells good, and I
believe there's meat somewhere around here.'

[Illustration: Mr. Fox Hits Upon a Plan.]

"Then he climbed upon the barrel, and saw that it was half full of
water, so he began to wonder what the meaning of it was.