Tommy Fox was hunting crickets in the him for a little while. Tommy was feeling quite
field near his mother’s house. Being a young proud of his skill.
fox, not much more than half-grown, Tommy “I can hunt—can’t I, Mother?” he ex-
knew very little of hunting. In fact, crickets claimed. “Watch me! I get them almost every
were about the only thing he could hunt and time!” he boasted.
catch. Of course, any one can hunt . The hard Mrs. Fox did not answer. She was thinking
part of it is to catch what you are hunting. deeply. She knew that there were a great many
Tommy was glad that he knew how to things she must teach her son, because he was
capture crickets, for he was very fond of them. growing up; and some day he would be leaving
To be sure, it took a great many crickets to home to go out into the world and take care
satisfy his hunger. But they were good when of himself. And Mrs. Fox knew that Tommy
he wanted a light lunch; and there was fun, would have to learn to catch bigger things than
too, in hunting them. crickets in order to keep from starving.
This is the way Tommy Fox caught crick- Pretty soon Mrs. Fox started across the field.
ets. He would stand very still in the tall grass She was gone rather a long time. But she came
and watch sharply. Wherever he saw the grass back at last, carrying something that squirmed
moving, Tommy would pounce upon that and twisted and wriggled. Whatever it was that
spot, bringing his two front paws down tight Mrs. Fox was bringing home, it was furry, and
against the ground. And in the bunch of grass quite big and heavy. When Tommy saw it he
that lay beneath his paws Tommy almost al- stopped hunting crickets at once. He knew
ways found a fat cricket. what his mother had. It was a woodchuck!
There was just one drawback about that “Hurrah!” he shouted. “I’m hungry! May I
kind of hunting. He could catch crickets only eat all of him I want?” You might think that he
upon still days, when there was no wind; be- had swallowed so many crickets that he wouldn’t
cause when the wind blew, the grass waved want anything more to eat just then. But to tell
everywhere, and Tommy couldn’t tell wheth- the truth, it was very seldom that Tommy Fox
er it was crickets or whether it was wind that wasn’t hungry as a bear.
made the grass move. “Not so fast!” Mrs. Fox said. “I’m going
Well, upon this very day when Tommy to teach you to hunt. And you’re to begin with
Fox was amusing himself, and swallowing this woodchuck. Now I’m going to let him go,
crickets as fast as he could grab them, his and you must catch him.” So Mrs. Fox let the
mother came out of her house and watched woodchuck slip away; and off he scampered,
——
Created for Lit2Go on the web at fcit.usf.edu
Chapter 3: Tommy Fox Learns To Hunt By Arthur Scott Bailey
with Tommy after him. Mrs. Fox followed But Mrs. Fox bounded after Mr. Wood-
close behind. And soon she saw Tommy give chuck and brought him back again. She made
a great spring and land right on top of the Tommy stop crying. And he had to begin his
woodchuck. lesson all over again.
Tommy was greatly excited. But he was When Mrs. Fox thought that Tommy
hungry, too, “May I eat him now?” he asked. had learned enough for that day they both
“No! Let him go again,” his mother com- sat down and made a meal of that unfortu-
manded. “And see if you can catch him more nate Mr. Woodchuck. And Tommy felt that
quickly next time.” he had already become a mighty hunter. He
Tommy obeyed. And though he overtook hadn’t the least doubt that he could go into
the woodchuck sooner, he was not so careful the woods and catch almost anything he saw.
to avoid the ‘chuck’s sharp teeth, and he got a We shall see later whether Tommy Fox
savage nip right on his nose. knew as much as he thought he did.
Tommy was surprised. He was so sur-
prised that he dropped the woodchuck. And
you may believe that Mr. Woodchuck lost no
time. He scurried away as fast as his legs would
carry him.
Tommy began to whimper. His nose hurt;
and he thought he had lost his dinner, too.
——
Created for Lit2Go on the web at fcit.usf.edu