Latest / Three Little Kittens Who Lost Their Mittens / Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox-Richard Barnum

Transcript

Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox-Richard Barnum · Three Little Kittens Who Lost Their Mittens

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Chapter one of Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox. This is
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domone.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Recording by Adrian Stephens. Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox by
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Richard Barnum. Chapter one, Sharp Eyes Sees something away. In
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: the north woods lived a family of foxes. They had big,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: bushy tails, like a dust brush, and they wore furry coats.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Some of these fairy coats were of a reddish yellow color,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: and some of them a sort of gray. The foxes
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: had long, sharp noses and sharp teeth, and they were
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: very sly and cunning, as they had to be, for
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: a fox is not strong like a lion or a tiger,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: and to get his food he must be quick and
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: sly and steal up. No one sees him to get
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: a fat duck or a chicken from the farm yard. Now,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: in this family of foxes, about which I'm going to
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: tell you, there was the father and mother and three
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: little ones. Mister and missus fox were well grown, fleet
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: of foot, and they could both see and smell danger
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: a long way off, just as they could see and
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: smell when they were near some farmer's house where they
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: might get a chicken or a duck. The home of
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: the foxes was in a hollow log in the deepest
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: and darkest part of the north Woods, and in this
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: hollow log the three little foxes lived. They were named
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: sharp Eyes, Twinkle, and Winkle. Sharp Eyes was the oldest
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: of the children, though they were all nearly the same age.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: The reason he was called sharp Eyes was because he
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: had such sharp, sparkling eyes, which seemed to look right
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: through the bushes and trees at anything he wanted to find. Twinkle,
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: who was sharp Eye's brother, was so called because when
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: he ran downhill or up hill, his feet seemed to
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: twinkle in and out like flashes of light. Winkle, who
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: was sharp eyed sister, was so called because she seemed
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: to winkle and blinkle, her eyes sleepy like when she
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: looked at anything. So sharp Eyes, Twinkle and Winkle lived
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: with their father and mother in the hollow log in
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: the big Woods. The little foxes at first stayed very
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: close to the log. In fact, they did not go
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: outside it until they were pretty well grown and about
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: the size of puppy dogs. Each day, their father and
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: mother would crawl out of the log, look carefully around
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: to make sure there were no dogs, hunters, or other
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: dangers near, sniffed the air to see if they could
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: smell anything that might harm them or their little ones,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: And then one or the other would slink slyly away
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: through the woods to look for something to eat, not
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: only for themselves, but to bring home to the little foxes.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: One day, when mister Fox had come home with a
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: plump partridge and the little foxes were having a good dinner,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: sharp Eyes asked, mother, where did my father get this
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: fine meat for us to eat? He caught it in
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: the woods. Of course, the fox family did not speak
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: the same kind of language that you boys and girls use.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: They talked in their own language, which they could understand
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: as well as you can understand one another. But so
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: that you may know what the foxes said among themselves
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: and what they thought, I've put their sayings into your
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: kind of words. Foxes, like other animals, talk with whispers, sniffles, snuffles, wines, barks,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: and howls, and it is very hard to understand them
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: unless you know their language as I do. But once
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: you do, it is as easy to know what they
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: say as if you heard the boy and your next
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: street car come on spin tops. So now you'll understand
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: what I mean when I say a fox says this,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: that or the other. Where did my father get this
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: fine meat, asked sharp Eyes, And when his mother told him,
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: mister fox caught it in the woods. The little fox,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: as he gnawed a bone, smacked his lips and asked,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: but how did he get it? I'll tell you, little
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: sharp eyes, said mister fox. And you listen to twinkle
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: and winkle, for you must soon learn to catch your
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: own dinners and suppers, as well as breakfasts. So the
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: little foxes listened while their father told them how to
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: make a living in the woods, where there are no
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: stores at which animals can buy what they want to eat.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: I was coming along under the trees, said mister Fox,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: and I was looking on both sides of me for
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: something to bring home to your mother and you to eat.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: Up to then I had not caught anything. I sprang
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: after a muskrat, but it jumped into the brook and
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: got away from me. Then I tried to creep softly
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: up behind a young wild turkey in the woods, but
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: he heard me and flew away. So I was beginning
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: to think I'd never get a meal for my family,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: and I knew you were hungry. When all at once
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: I saw this partridge. I walked as softly as I
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: knew how, over the leaves and sticks in the woods,
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: and without his hearing me, I got so close to
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: the bird that I could jump on him, pin him
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: down with my feet, and catch him in my sharp teeth.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Then I brought him home to you. That's how I
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: got your supper, sharp Eyes, and a very good dinner.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: It is too, said missus Fox. You animal children ought
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: to be very glad you have such a smart father.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: It is not every fox that can catch a partridge.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: Oh well, we mustn't be proud, said mister Fox, as
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: with his tail he brushed smooth a place inside the
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: log where he could lie down. Our children will soon
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: be grown. They will learn how to catch wild turkeys, partridges,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: quail and muskrats for themselves. How do you catch wild
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: things in the woods, asked sharp Eyes. Yes, tell us
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: so that we may learn, begged Twinkle, I will, answered
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: mister Fox. It is time you little fox puppies learn
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: to hunt for yourselves. You are old enough. After you
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: have had a nap. We will go outside the log
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: house and your mother and I will give you lessons.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: So the little foxes went to sleep after their meal,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: as nearly all wild animals do, and as even your
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: cat and dog do after they have eaten. They always
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: seem to feel sleepy after eating. When sharp Eyes, Twinkle
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: and Winkle awakened after their nap, they all felt fine
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: and fresh and felt like jumping around. In fact, sharp
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Eyes felt so fresh that he cuffed his brother on
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: the ear with his paw. Ma make sharp Eyes stop,
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: cried Twinkle in fox language. Of course, Oh, I wasn't
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: doing anything, said sharp Eyes. Yes, he was too bucked,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: sister Winkle, and now he's tickling me. I guess it's
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: time I gave you little fox's some lessons in how
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: to catch things, said mister Fox, as he stretched himself,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: for he too had been sleeping. You are so full
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: of life that you are getting into mischief. Come out,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: all of you, and I'll show you how I caught
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: the partridge. Sharp Eyes would have rushed out of the
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: log at once, but his mother held him back with
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: her poor saying, wait, let your father take a look first,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: to see that there is no danger. He must always
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: be careful in going out of your house, whether it
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: is a hole under the rocks, or a hollow log
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: or a stump, to look for danger. Watch your father.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Mister Fox stuck his nose out of the log a
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: little way and sniffed the air. Then he stuck it
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: out a little farther. Next he looked around with his
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: bright eyes. Is everything all right, asked missus Fox. Everything
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: is all right, said mister Fox. So out in front
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: of the hollow log house, where there was a smooth
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: level place. When mister Fox and three little foxes, Missus
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Fox stayed in the log to shake up the dried
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: leaves that made the beds. That was all the housekeeping
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: work she had to do for foxes, like most animals,
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: live a very simple life. Now this is how I
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: crept softly up behind the partridge, said mister Fox, as
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: he went along, almost on his tiptoes, as he might say.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: You must be careful not to step on a stick
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: so it breaks and makes a noise, he told the
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: little foxes. And do not rustle the dried leaves. For
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: partridges and other wild birds and all woodland creatures that
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: we have to eat are very shy and fly off
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: or run away at the least noise. You see, we
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: do not have sharp claws like a cat with which
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: to grasp the things we catch. We have to pin
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: them down with our paws as a dog does, get
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: them in our sharp teeth, and we have to be
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: very close to them before they see us so that
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: we can do that. So mister Fox showed his little
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: ones how to creep along softly over the sticks, stones,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: and leaves. He pretended a piece of wood was the
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: partridge he was after, and when he got close enough,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: he gave a jump and came down on top of it, quickly,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: getting it in his mouth. That's the way I would
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: have done it if it had been a real bird,
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: said mister Fox. Now you try, sharp eyes, let us
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: see how you would do it. So the little fox
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: boy tried, and so did his brother and his sister,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: And for many days after that, their father or their
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: mother gave them hunting lessons outside the hollow log. After
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: a while, sharp eyes, Twinkle and Winkle learned to be
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: very good jumpers, and they could move over a bit
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: of ground covered with sticks, stones and leaves so softly
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: that you know would have heard them now come out
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: in the woods. Let us see if you can be
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: as quiet when there is something real to catch, instead
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: of make believe birds and rats that are really only
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: pieces of wood, said mister Fox. For up to this
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: time he had let the fox children practice on bits
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: of buck, clumps of grass, or a stone, pretending they
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: were grouse or partridges. Through the woods went the family,
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: mister Fox in front, then sharp Eyes, Twinkle and Winkle,
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: and missus Fox behind them. All the two old foxes
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: were looking out for danger. You see all at once
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: mister Fox stopped, and, speaking in an animal whisper, he said,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: here is a mouse just in front of me, Sharp Eyes,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: he does not see me yet. Come and see if
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: you can get it up, came sharp Eyes, fairy fairy softly,
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: He saw a big wood mouse under the roots of
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: a tree. The mouse was gnawing the soft bark. Now
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: go softly, said mister Fox. Sharp Eyes tried to, but
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: alas he stepped on a dried stick, which broke with
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: a crack. The mouse heard it and started to jump
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: down into his burrow under the earth. No you don't,
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: cried mister Fox, and he made a big jump and
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: caught the mouse. Just in time. That's the way to
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: do it, barked missus Fox. The mouse would have gotten
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: away from you. Sharp Eyes. I'm sorry, replied the little
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: fox boy slowly and sadly. Never mind, said his father.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: You'll do better the next time. But it was some
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: days before the little foxes learned to catch anything. Oh
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: shall we ever learn, asked Twinkle. Of course you will,
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: said his mother. When I was a young fox like you,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: I thought i'd never catch my first mouse, but I
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: did so. Mister and Missus Fox had to keep on
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: catching the things the little foxes ate though. Each day
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: Sharp Eyes, Twinkle and Winkle were getting quicker and better.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: But one day mister Fox came home without any dinner.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: What's the matter, asked Missus Fox. Couldn't you catch anything
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: to day? No, answered mister Fox. In fact, I didn't
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: see a thing. I've trampled all over these woods, but
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: not a bird or an animal could I see. Of course,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: I saw cows and horses in the farmer's yards, but
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: they are too big for me to carry off. Couldn't
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: you get a chicken or a duck? I saw some
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: ducks and chickens on one farm, replied mister fox. But
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: the farmer or one of his men was near them
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: all the while with a gun or a club, and
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: I dared not try to catch one. I'd have been
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: caught or hurt myself if I had. I'm sorry, but
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: we'll have no dinner to day. Sharp Eyes and his
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: brother and sister felt sad on hearing this. They were
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: very hungry. Couldn't we all go out hunting together, asked
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: sharp Eyes. After a bit, maybe we could see something
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: you could catch, he said to his father. Well perhaps
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: that would be a good plan, replied mister Fox. Come on,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: we'll all go out and see if we can find
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: a meal. So out into the woods went the firefoxes,
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: the two large ones and the three smaller ones. Slowly
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: and carefully, they went along, looking from side to side
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: and sniffing the air for any sign of something to eat.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: There doesn't seem to be anything, said missus Fox, with
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: a hungry sigh. No, answered mister Fox, there doesn't. I
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: never saw the woods so scarce of food. All of
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: a sudden, sharp Eyes, who had gone a little way ahead,
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: came softly back. I see something, he said, Shall I
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: try to get it for our dinner?
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: What is it?
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: Where is it, asked mister Fox eagerly. I don't see anything,
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: And he looked as hard as he could through the
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: bushes right over there by the old stump, said, sharp Eyes,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: don't you see it's a big chicken. Mister Fox looked.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: Then he said, that isn't a chicken. It's a wild turkey.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: If we get that, it will make a fine meal
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: for all of us. Sharp Eyes, you were rightly named.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: You saw this turkey when neither your mother nor I
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: could see it. It's a good thing you did. Now
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: we'll have a fine meal. End of chapter one chapter
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: two of Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox. This is a
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: Recording by Adrian Stephens. Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox by
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: Richard Barnum. Chapter two. Sharp Eyes catches something slowly and carefully,
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: making not the least sound. Mister Fox began to creep
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: through the woods toward the wild turkey. The big bird
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: was eating some forest berries and had his back toward
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: the fox. Let me catch him, whispered sharp Eyes. I
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: saw him first. Let me creep up and jump on him. No,
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: whispered his mother. It is true you had very keen
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: sight to see the turkey, sharp eyes, And when you
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: grow up you will be a smart fox. But just now,
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: when we are all so hungry, it would not do
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: to let that turkey get away from us. They can
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: fly faster than you can run or jump. Even your
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: father will have hard work getting it, but he can
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: do it better than you. You saw the big bird first,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: sharp eyes. Now let your father get it for us,
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: then we shall all have something to eat. The next
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: wild turkey you see, you may catch for yourself, all right,
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: said sharp Eyes. So he carefully watched his father to
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: see how the old fox would go about it to
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: catch the wild turkey. Nearer and nearer crept mister Fox
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: to the big bird, which was still eating away, not
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: hearing or seeing the danger that was so close to him.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: Missus Fox and the three little foxes waited very anxiously, indeed,
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: for they were very hungry. Oh I hope he gets it,
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: whispered Twinkle, So do, I said, sharp eyes. It was
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: awfully smart of you to see it, murmured Winkle. Hush
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: children softly called missus Fox. Watch your father. Just then
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: mister Fox made a jump for the turkey. Up in
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: the air went sharp Eyes farther and down he came
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: right on the back of the big wild bird. Kummunkummun gomungum,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: cried the turkey, and that was all he said. A
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: little later the Fox family had a fine dinner, and
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: they didn't have to wait for the turkey to be
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: roasted either. They ate it raw. Of course, it was
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: too bad for the turkey, but animals must live, and
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: if one lives on the other, that is the lore
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: of the woods. There is no need of feeling sorry.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: The foxes had to eat the turkey, just as the
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: turkey had to eat grasshoppers. Oh that was a fine meal,
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: cried Twinkle, when the turkey was all gone and nothing
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: but the bones was left. Yes, and if it hadn't
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: been for sharp Eyes, we might not have had it,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: said missus Fox. That's right, said mister Fox. I looked
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: and looked under the tree and through the bushes, but
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: I never saw that turkey. It took sharp eyes to
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: see it for us. His name is the right one,
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: if ever a name was. Of course, sharp Eyes felt
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: very proud and happy on hearing this. Just as you
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: children feel when you do anything that pleases your father
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: and mother. But I wish I could catch something myself,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: said the little fox boy. Oh you will some day,
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: his mother answered, you are young, yet, you have plenty
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: of time to learn. After their turkey dinner, the fox
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: family went back to their home in the hollow log
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: and had a long sleep, and they did not need
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: to hunt anything more until the next day, for the
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: turkey was a large one. Foxes or other wild animals
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: hardly ever save anything over from one meal to the next.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: They have no ice boxes or pantries. When they are hungry,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: they go out and get what they can to eat,
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: and they don't hunt for anything more until they are
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: hungry again. Of course, by the next day, sharp Eyes,
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: his brother and sister, as well as his father and mother,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: were hungry once more. I will go out and see
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: what I can find, said mister Fox. The rest of
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: you stay here. Can't I come with you, asked sharp Eyes.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: Mister Fox seemed to think for a minute, Yes, he answered,
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: I guess it will be a good thing for you
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: to come along. My eyes are getting old and are
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: not as good as they once were. Yours are young
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: and bright, you may see something I can't come with me,
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: sharp Eyes and us. Well, well, no, Twinkle and Winkle,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: this isn't a lesson in hunting. I think if I
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: only take sharp Eyes along, we'll be able to get
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: something to eat sooner. So sharp Eyes went hunting with
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: his father, while missus Fox remained at home in the
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: hollow log with Twinkle and Winkle. I hope we'll see
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: another wild turkey, said sharp Eyes, as he trotted along
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: beside his father across the meadow. Don't expect such good luck,
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: answered the older fox. If we get a couple of
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: wood mice, or perhaps a little duck that has paddled
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: off down stream away from the others, I shall be glad.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: So to the woods they went, looking for mice, which
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: live in hollow stumps or in the ground under the
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: roots of trees. But all the mice seemed to be
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: away that day. Not one could Sharp Eyes or his
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: father see. Now we'll go to the brook, said the
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: old fox. Sometimes there are little ducks there who know
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: no better than to swim too far from the big ones.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: That if I can jump in among them, can make
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: a loud quacking noise and bring the farmer with his gun.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: Maybe we can steal up on a little duck. So
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: down to the brook went sharp Eyes and his father.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: But though there were ducks and geese in the water,
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: for the brook was near a farm, not one of
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: the fowls was off by itself. They all kept together,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: and not far from them was a farmer plowing in
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: a field. He may have a gun near him or
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: a club, said mister Fox, and with either of those
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: he could hurt us very much. We'll not try to
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: get a duck now. We'll have to go somewhere else
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: for our dinner. But where, asked Sharp Eyes. I am hungry,
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: and I know my mother is, and so are the
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: others I know, answered his father, I am also hungry.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: We'll go to the woods once more. Maybe there'll be
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: some mice now. So back to the woods they went
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: on all sides, among the trees and through the bushes,
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: looked mister Fox and sharp Eyes, But no mice could
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: they see, nor did there seem to be any partridges,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: quail or other wild birds. As for wild turkeys, not
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: even the gobble obbil of one could be heard. What
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: shall we do, asked charp Eyes. I'll tell you, his
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: father answered, there are two of us. If we keep together,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: we can only be in one place in the woods.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: But if you go one way and Ei the other,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: we can be in two places. We'll have a much
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: better chance to find something. All right, said sharp Eyes.
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: I'll go this way, and with his poor he sort
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: of pointed down among some trees where the shadows were
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: deep and dark. It looks as though you could catch
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: something there, observed mister Fox. I'll go the other way,
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: and whichever of us first catches anything must barken owl.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Then the other will know. I'll do it, said sharp Eyes.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: So off he trotted by himself. It was the first
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: time he had hunted alone, and he felt a bit
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: queer about it. Still, he was a sly, cunning chap
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: as our all fox creatures, and he wanted to show
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: what he could do. I'll get another turkey, said sharp
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: Eyes to himself. Through the woods, he went very softly
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: and quietly, looking on all sides and sniffing the air
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: to get a smell of something he might catch as
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: a dinner for himself and the rest of the fox family.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: All at once sharp Eyes saw something moving behind a bush.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: It made a rustling sound. I wonder what that is,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: thought the fox boy. Once more, he sniffed the air.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: The wind was blowing toward him from whatever was in
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: the bush, and the wind brought to the nose of
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: the fox boy a wonderful perfume. It smells like something
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: good to eat, thought sharp Eyes. There was another rustling
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: in the bushes. Then the fox boy saw some feathers
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: shining in the sun. He must be another wild turkey,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: said sharp Eyes to himself. Oh, I wonder if I
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: can jump on it as my father did. I'm going
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: to try as softly as he could. The fox boy
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: crept up behind the bush. He heard a scratching sound
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: among the dried leaves. He saw more feathers and something red.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: That's the funny red thing that hangs down under a
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: turkey's chin, said the fox boy to himself. I am
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: having good luck. Oh if I can only jump on
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: that bird before he hears or sees me and flies away.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: Nearer and nearer he crept. He could see the big
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: bird now. It did not look exactly like the wild turkey.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Maybe it's a new and better kind, thought sharp Eyes.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: If I get it, I'll buck for my father to
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: come and see what good hunting can do. Nearer and
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: nearer he crept. The big bird, which was picking up
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: something from the ground under the bush and scratching in
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: the leaves, did not seem to hear. Aha, whispered Sharp
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: Eyes to himself. Now for a good dinner for all
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: of us. Through the air, he jumped, and he landed
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: with his front feet right on the big bird's back.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: By a row, barked Sharp Eyes, almost like a dog
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: cock a doodle doo, crowed the big bird, and then
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: it was very still. End of chapter two, Chapter three
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: of Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: by Adrian Stephens. Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox by Richard Barnum.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: Chapter three, Sharp Eyes, here's something, Aha, criedes in fox talk.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: I have caught you, my fine wild turkey. Then, with
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: the big bird held tightly under his paws, the fox
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: boy lifted his nose high in the air and howled
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: and barked. That was his way of saying, come and
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: see what I have, father, I have caught a fine
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: wild turkey away off in the woods where he was
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: looking for something to eat. Mister Fox heard the call
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: of sharp Eyes.
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: Ah.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: I wonder if he is hurt in danger, or if
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: he has something for dinner, said mister Fox to himself.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: Mister Fox listened carefully, and then by the difference in
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: the howl and bark, he could tell what sharp Eyes
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: were saying. It was this, I have caught something. I
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: have caught something.
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: Ah.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: My little fox boy has had good luck, said mister Fox,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: better luck than I have had. I must go and
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: see what he has caught. Not having found anything that
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: he could take home for his familis's dinner, mister Fox
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: turned and ran and quickly through the woods toward charp Eyes.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: He could tell where his little fox son was by
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: noticing the direction from which his howls and barks came.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: What is it, asked mister Fox as he came near.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: I have caught a big wild turkey, answered sharp Eyes,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: still keeping the large bird between his paws. Ah, that
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: is not a turkey, said mister Fox, as he came
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: near and saw what sharp Eyes had No asked the
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: little fox in surprise, what is it? Then? It is
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: a rooster? Said his father, A great big rooster that
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: lives down on the farm where the ducks are, for
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: there were farms near the Northwoods, though there were no cities. Well,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: do I know that rooster, went on, mister Fox. Many
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: a time when I have been creeping up to get
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: a chicken, he has seen me and crowed so loudly
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: that the farmer came out with a gun to drive
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: me away. And so you have caught him, Sharp Eyes. Yes,
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: but I thought he was a wild turkey like the
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: one I saw before. I have never seen a rooster.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: He is as good as a wild turkey to eat,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: went on mister Fox. You have had good luck. You
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: have quick legs as well as sharp eyes. Now we
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: shall not be hungry. So mister Fox carried the big
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: rooster home to the other foxes in the hollow log.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: The bird would have been too heavy for sharp Eyes,
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: who was not yet full grown. Ah, what a fine dinner,
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: said missus Fox when she saw the rooster. Who caught it?
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: Sharp Eyes did, answered his father. We ought to be
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: quite proud of him, I am, said the little boy's mother.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: Then they had a rooster dinner, and Twinkle and Winkle
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: listened as Sharp Eyes told how he had caught the fowl,
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: thinking it was a wild turkey. Though when it said
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: cock a doodle do instead of gobble obble obble, I
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: thought it was funny, said the little fox boy. You
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: are a real fox. Now you can go out and
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: catch things for yourself, said his father. Now, Twinkle and Winkle,
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: it is time you started in to morrow. Let us
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: see what you can do. So the next day the
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: three little foxes started off together on a hunting trip.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: At first they saw nothing, but after a bit they
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: spied some wood mice and each caught one. They're not
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: as big as a rooster or a wild turkey, said
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: sharp Eyes, but they will do for a start. We
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: can't catch big things every day. Twinkle and Winkle were
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: quite delighted with the mice. They were the first things
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: they had caught, except some grasshoppers, and they felt a
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: little bit proud of themselves. From then on, the little
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: foxes hunted every day. Twinkle and Winkle soon learned to
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: do nearly as well as Sharp Eyes, but their brother
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: could always see things in the woods before they could.
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: His eyes seemed to grow sharper and brighter each day,
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: and he could tell a turkey, a partridge, or other
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: wild bird a long way off, so that he even
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: his father used to say, sharp Eyes is the best
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: hunter of us all. He is a fine fox. Not
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: far from where these foxes lived was another family, not
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: quite the same kind, though. One of these foxes named Redtail.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: As he heard sharp Eyes tell of having caught the rooster,
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: said one day, you'd better look out for yourself, sharp Eyes.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: Why had I Redtail? Oh? Because was the answer, And
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: that was all Redtail would say. Just then, pooh. I
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: suppose he means a hunter might shoot me, said sharp Eyes.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: But I'm not afraid. I'm going off in the woods
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: now and see what I can find for dinner. Off
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: went the little fox boy on another hunt. He looked
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: all around and listened and smelled. At last he saw
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: something moving along the ground. Ha, maybe that's another roosta
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: on turkey, thought sharp Eyes, I'll get that for dinner. Softly, softly,
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: he crept up toward the animal on the ground. Sharp
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: Eyes could now see it was an animal and not
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: a bird. And at first you thought it was an
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: extra large wood mouse, for the animal was of the
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: same color, a light gray. But when sharp Eyes saw
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: the big curving bushy tail of the creature. He said, ha,
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: I know him. It's a gray squirrel. Well, they are
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: as good as a rooster or a wild turkey, though
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: not as large. I'll get him. Sharp Eyes crept towards
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: the gray squirrel. But just as the fox was going
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: to jump on it, something happened. With a chatter of
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: his teeth and a frisk of his tail, the squirrel
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: sprang up into a tree and from there safely out
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: of reach. Sitting on a limb with his tail curled
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: up along his back. The squirrel looked at sharp eyes. Ha,
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: you thought you'd get me, didn't you, chattered the squirrel.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: Oh I don't know, I'm not so very hungry, drawled
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: sharp Eyes, pretending he hadn't been fooled when the squirrel
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: jumped away. Now, yes, you did. You try to get me,
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: but I was too quick for you. I got away,
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: laughed and chatted the squirrel. What's your name? In little fox,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: by sharp eyes? What's yours? Oh? I'm called Snickow, the
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: jumping squirrel, and it's because I can jump so well
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: that I got away from you, answered the little gray animal.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: Haven't you heard about me? Heard about you? Asked sharp eyes.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: What do you mean I hear you talking now, and
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: I heard you scrabbling around in the leaves. No, I
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: mean didn't you hear about my having adventures and being
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: put in a book? Asked Slicko. No, answered sharp eyes,
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: looking hungrily up at the squirrel. I didn't, well, I
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: am in a book, went on Slicko, And it tells
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: how I was caught by some boys and put in
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: a cage. But I got away and came back to
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: the woods. I love so well. But if you haven't
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: read the book about me, I don't suppose you know
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: about Blackie the lost cat, nor Don the runaway dog. No,
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: said sharp eyes. I don't know either of them. I
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: don't like dogs. Oh, but you'd like darn, said Slicko.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: He's the nicest dog that ever was. He'sn't a book too.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: I don't know anything about books, said sharp Eyes. All
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: I know about is being hungry. That's why I tried
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: to catch you. I'm glad you didn't, chattered Slicko. So am,
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: I said the fox. I guess I can easily catch
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: a turkey, or a mouse or a rooster. I've caught
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: roosters before, but now I wouldn't like to catch you,
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: as I like to hear you talk. Though I don't
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: know anything about books. Neither do I said Slicko. All
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: I know is I'm in one, and there's a book
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: about Tum Tom the jolly elephant. And I don't s'pose
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: you know about him either, do you? Is an elephant
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: like a wild turkey, asked sharp Eyes. I should say not,
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: laughed Slicko. An elephant looks as if he had two tails,
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: but one is his trunk. Tom Tom was a jolly
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: chap He was in the same circus with Mappo the
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: merry monkey. But excuse me, I have to Oh no,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: I'll see you some other time. I wish you would,
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: said the fox boy. I promise not to catch you.
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: I'd like to hear you talk. Tell me some more
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: about your elephant monkey friends, I will, promised Slicko. And
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: about the book I'm in too. I had a lot
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: of adventures. Maybe you'll have some too and have them
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: put in a book. Oh no, that will never happen
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: to me, said sharp Eyes. But you see how little
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: he knew about it. For here he is in a book,
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: and I have a lot of adventures to tell you
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: about him. So Slicko the jumping squirrel scrambled off among
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: the trees, and the little fox boy went to look
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: for something to eat. Sharp Eyes presently caught a fat
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: duck that had swum too far down the brook away
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: from the farm, and slinging her across his back. Off
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: to the hollow log he trotted, and later that day,
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: when sharp Eyes was telling his friend Redtail about catching
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: the duck, sharp Eyes said, I think I'm getting to
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: a pretty good hunter, don't you. Yes, you are, said Redtail.
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: But you had better look out. You said that the
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: other day, went on sharp Eyes. What do you mean?
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: Do you mean I'd better look out for slicker the squirrel?
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: Oh no, answered Redtail. But did you ever stop to
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: think that your coat of fur is different from those
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: that most of us wear? Why? No, I never took
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: much notice, said sharp Eyes, as he looked at himself
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: as well as he could. What's the matter with my fur?
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: Nothing except that it's very beautiful, said Redtail. Now you
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: are going to hear something that may scare you, though
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: you may not know it. You are a silver fox.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: What's that? Asked sharp Eyes. It means your fur is
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: the color of silver, went on Redtail. That color is
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: very scarce, and hunters like to get a silver fox
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: more than any other. That means they'll hunt you out
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: and try to catch you rather than any of us.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: For our fur is common, but yours is silver shade
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: and can be sold for a lot of money. So
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: you want to look out, look out for what, asked
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: sharp Eyes for Hunters, answered Redtail. I'll tell you how
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: I happened to know. Last year, when I was a
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: tiny little fox, I was caught in a trap. A
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: man who was a trapper of wild animals up in
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: these north woods caught me. He took me home to
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: his cabin, and there I saw the skins of many
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: foxes hung up to dry. Though were many like mine,
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: but only one or two of a silver color. As
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: I was so small, the trapper kept me to tame me,
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: and I stayed in his cabin a long time. There
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: I learned to know a little of the talk that
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: men hunters and trappers speak. Other hunters and trappers used
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: to come to the cabin to buy furs, and they
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: paid more for that of a silver fox than for
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: any other. That is how I know your silver coat
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: would bring a lot of money if a hunter or
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: a trapper caught you. So you want to be careful
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: when you go out in the woods. Thank you, I will,
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: promised Sharp Eyes. I'll be careful. Thank you for telling me, Redtail.
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: The two foxes talked in animal talk a little longer,
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: and Sharp Eyes was just going back to his hollow
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: log when all of a sudden, a loud clap like
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: thunder sounded in the woods. What's that, cried Sharp Eyes.
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: Is it going to rain? No, that was the sound
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: of a gun, cried Redtail. That was a hunter's gun.
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: We had better hide, Sharp Eyes. The hunters even now
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: may be after your silver fire. And away ran Redtail
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: and sharp Eyes. End of chapter three, Chapter four of
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox. This is a LibriVox recording
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: by Adrian Stephens. Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox by Richard Barnum.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: Chapter four, Sharp Eyes is hurt. Sharp Eyes. The silver
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: Fox could run very fast, so could Redtail. And they
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: knew they must run fast to get away from the
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: docks of the hunter. For when men go out to
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: hunt wild animals or to trap them. Dogs generally go
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: with the men, and though a man cannot run as
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: fast as a fox or a deer, dogs can. Redtail
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: told this to Sharp Eyes as they hurried along together.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: Behind them could be heard the rumble and roar of
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: the man's gun, sounding like thunder. Hurry, Sharp Eyes cried, Redtail,
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: don't let the hunter see you. What will he do
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: if he sees me, asked the little fox boy. He'll
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: try to shoot you with his gun, that is, he
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: will if he cannot catch you alive. Why would you
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: want to catch me alive? Asked Sharp Eyes as he
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: trotted along beside the other fox. They slunk down between bushes,
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: ran under fallen trees, crawled beneath old logs, and even
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: ran in brooks of water. He'd like to catch you
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: instead of shooting you, because you are now a small
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: fox and will be bigger some day, answered Redtail. The
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: bigger you are, the more fur you will have, and
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: it is for your fine silver fur that the hunter
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: or trapper would like to get you. He wouldn't like
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: yours too, asked Sharp Eyes. Well, yes, I guess he'd
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: take my fur too if he could get it, answered Redtail,
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: But mine is not so nice as yours. Of course,
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: it keeps me just as warm and all that. But
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: people who want fox furs seem to like your silver
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: color better, though why, I don't know. You are a
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: rare fox, and more hunters or trappers will try to
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: get you than would try to get me. So be careful,
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: I will, promised sharp Eyes. Then he asked, don't you
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: think we can stop running now and take a rest.
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: I'm tired, and indeed the little fox boy was weary.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: His tongue was hanging out of his mouth and his
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: legs ached. No, we can't stop yet, said Redtail. We
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: must run on a little more. Then we can hide
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: in the dark woods, away from the hunter and his
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: dogs and take a long rest. So on the two
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: foxes ran father and father until at last a red Tail,
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: who was older than sharp Eyes, and who had been
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: chased by dogs and hunters before and knew their ways,
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: said it would be safe to rest. They lay down
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: on the leaves under a tree and stayed as quiet
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: as mice. They listened, but could not hear the barking
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: of the dogs nor the bang of the gun. I
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: guess we got safely away, said Redtail, as he crept
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: out a little way and lapped up some water from
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: a brook. Sharp Eyes did the same, for they were
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: both very thirsty from their run. Is it all right
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: to go home now, asked Sharp Eyes, when he had
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: rested till his tongue was no longer hot nor his
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: legs tired. I'd better take a peep around and see,
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: answered his friend. I know more about hunters and dogs
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: than you do. So Redtail peeped out from behind some bushes,
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: ready to skip back again and hide in case he
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: saw danger. But he saw none, and after a little while,
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: he and Sharp Eyes went on to their homes, which
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: were not houses such as you live in, but a
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: hole in a hot low log, or a den under
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: the earth with some rough stones for a front door.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: Well where have you been, sharp Eyes asked his sister Winkle,
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: as he scrambled down inside the hollow log. Oh, I've
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: been chased by a hunter and his dogs, and I
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: heard his gun fired, answered the little fox boy. You
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: tear it, cried his mother, who was listening to what
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: he said. Oh, Sharp Eyes, you must be careful. I will,
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: That's what Redtail told me, And don't go too much
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: with that red tail boy either, said mister Fox. He's
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: a daring sort of chap when he might lead you
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: into danger. Once he went to a farm yard in
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: broad daylight and took a chicken. He ought to have
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: waited until night. He was very daring. Well, he was
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: good to me, said sharp Eyes. He showed me how
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: to run away from the hunter. You must have had
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: a terrible time, said little Winkle. Oh, it was aught
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: of adventure, answered sharp Eyes. What adventure? Twinkle? His brother asked,
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: It's things that happened to you, answered sharp Eyes, And
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: then they are put in a book. That's what happened
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: to Slicko who Slicko asked Winkle. A jumping squirrel, replied
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: sharp Eyes, And he told of the talk the two
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: had had together. For some days after this, nothing much
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: happened to sharp Eyes. He stayed with his father and mother,
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: and brother and sister in their hollow log house, going
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: out now and then to get something to eat or
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: to drink water at the brook. That boy of ours
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: is going to be very smart, said mister Fox to
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: his wife one day. What makes you think so, she asked, Well,
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: when we were out hunting in the woods. To day
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: he saw a big musk rat that I couldn't see,
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: and he caught it. Yes, I think he has the
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: best eyes for seeing things to eat of any foxes
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: in this wood, said missus Fox. I only wish his
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: fur was a different color. Why, because it's too beautiful.
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: If it was red or brown like yours and mine,
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: the hunters and trappers would not be after him so much.
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: But he is a silver fox, and you know how
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: much such skins are prized. There is a big reward
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: for a silver fox skin. Redtail's mother told me, Yes,
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: I suppose there is, said mister Fox. I remember hearing
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: when I was a boy that a silver skin was
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: much sought after by hunters. I was never colored that
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: way myself, But I knew a fox who was a
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: boy when I was He had silver fur, and one
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: day he did not come to play with us. We
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: asked where he was, and his father said a hunter
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: had shot him to get his silver fur. It's too bad,
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: said missus Fox. I wish the hunters would leave us alone.
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: I must tell sharpe Eye to be careful each night.
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: Now that he was big enough, Sharp Eyes went out
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: with his father or mother Twinkle or Winkle, sometimes going
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: with them to hunt for things to eat. When they dared,
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: they went to a farm which was not far from
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: the north Woods where they lived. It's easier to get
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: a chicken or a duck than to hunt for a
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: wild turkey or the wood mice, said mister Fox, we'll
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: eat at the farm yard if we can, and often
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: they did, though sometimes the dogs barked when the foxes
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: came near, or the farmer and his men would come
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: out with guns, and the foxes would have to run away.
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: At such times, they had to hunt for something to
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: eat in the woods, and if they did not find any,
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: they would go hungry. That was no fun. One night,
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: when the whole Fox family had been out hunting and
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: had been frightened away from the farm by barking dogs,
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: they were all very hungry. I wish I had something
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: to eat, sighed Winkle. Well, we can't have anything, so
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: we'll just have to wait, said her mother. Where's sharp eyes,
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: asked mister Fox. Didn't he come back with us? He
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: said he was going back to the farm and try
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: to get a chicken or a duck, returned Twinkle. He
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: said he was terribly hungry. And so am I sharp
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: Eyes may be caught, said missus Fox. You'd better go
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: back and make him come with you. She went on
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: to mister Fox, I will, said he, But just as
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: he started out on the woodland path, Sharp Eyes came
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: running along with a big chicken slung over his back.
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: Look what I've got, he barked, as he laid it
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: in front of his mother. Where did you find it,
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: asked Winkle at that farm yard. I waited until the
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: wind was blowing the other way so the dogs could
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: not smell me coming. Then I crawled in and got
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: this bird. It's a wonder you won't caught yourself, said
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: his father. You're getting as reckless as Redtail. You must
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: look out for danger, I did, answered sharp Eyes. Then
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: they all ate the chicken he had brought, and his
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: mother said he was very clever. But you'll not always
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: be as lucky as that, said Redtail to sharp Eyes.
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: The next day, when the fox boy told what he
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: had done, some day you may be caught in a trap.
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: What's a trap, asked sharp Eyes. Is it like a
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: book that Slicko the squirrel had adventures in? No, a
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: trap is something that hurts you, said redtail. A few
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: days after that, the Silver Fox had a chance to
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: see for himself and feel for himself what a trap
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: was like. Sharp Eyes was trotting along through the woods
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: not far from the farmer's yard, and as he was
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: looking toward it, hoping he might catch a stray duck
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: or rooster, all of a sudden he saw a chicken
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: lying on one side of the path. Oh ho, said
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: Sharp Eyes to himself. I'll just get that and take
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: it home for lunch. So he crept softly up on
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: the chicken, which did not seem to know a fox
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: was so near. When he was close enough, sharp Eyes
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: gave a jump and came straight down on top of
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: the fowl, making a grab for it with his teeth.
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: At the same time, there was a sharp click, and
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: Sharp Eyes felt a sudden pain in one paw. It
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: stung and ached. Oh, cried the fox boy, I'm hurt.
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: Something has me fast by the foot. Oh what can
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: it be? Did the chicken bite me? He tried to
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: pull his paw loose, but could not. He was caught
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: and was held fast. End of chapter four Chapter five
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: of Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox. This is a LibriVox
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: Recording by Adrian Stephens. Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox by
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: Richard Barnum, Chapter five, Sharp Eyes meets Don after the
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: first pain felt on being caught, and when he found
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: he could not pull his poor loose, sharp Eyes lay
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: quietly on the ground, partly covering up the chicken. He
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: did not howl, which was his way of crying when
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: he was hurt, though he wanted to do so very much.
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: But foxes and other wild animals do not make much
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: noise in the woods, for they like to keep quiet,
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: so no larger animals or huntermen with their dogs may
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: know where to find them. Something terrible has happened to me,
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: thought sharp Eyes, as once more he tried to pull
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: loose his paw, but he could not, and each time
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: he pulled, the pain was worse. If I make too
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: much noise, thought sharp Eyes. Brewin the bear may hear
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: me and come to bite me, or the hunters may
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: come with their dogs, and I could not get away.
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: There were bears in the northwoods where sharp Eyes lived,
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: and hunters and dogs often came to the forest. And
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: now that I'm caught fast, I can't get away if
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: they should come up close to me, thought the little
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: fox boy. I must keep quiet and not make too
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: much noise, though I would like to call and ask
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: my father or mother to come and help me. Sharp
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: Eyes whined a little from the pain, and then he
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: tried to be brave and not mind it. I wonder
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: what it is that has caught me, said the little
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: fox boy to himself. And why didn't the chicken flutter
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: and try to get away when I jumped on eer?
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: That was very funny. He soon saw the reason the
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: chicken did not move. It was dead, and sharp Eyes
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: knew he had not killed it. She must have been
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: dead when I jumped on her, said the little fox boy.
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: And now to see what has caught me. He could
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: move about a little, and pawing with one of his
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: feet that was not caught, Sharp Eyes brushed the chicken
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: to one side. Then he saw that his left forefoot
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: was caught between two jaws of iron. Oh I'm in
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: a trap, exclaimed sharp Eyes. I never saw a trap before,
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: but this is just what my father said they were like.
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: He told me to keep out of them, but I
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: didn't see this one. The chicken was in the way,
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: or I might have noticed the trap. Oh, dear, I
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: wonder if I will ever get loose. Sharp Eyes pulled
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: some more, but the pain in his foot soon made
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: him stop. If you had only been alive, you could
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: have told me about the trap, and then I wouldn't
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: have been caught in it, said sharp Eyes, speaking to
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: the dead chicken, as though it were alive. If he
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: had only known. The chicken was put there near the trap,
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: partly covering it on purpose. It was bait for the trap,
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: just as mouse traps are baited with cheese, and the
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: trap was set in the woods by a hunter who
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: hoped to catch a fox or some other wild animal
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: in it. The chicken had been killed and put near
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: the trap, for the hunter knew wild animals like such
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: things to eat, and the hunter knew that if a
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: fox came along, the first thing it would do would
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: be to jump for the chicken, thinking it was alive.
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: Underneath the outspread wings of the chicken was the open trap,
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: and as soon as sharp eyes paw touched the spring,
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: snap shut went the jaws of the trap, catching him fast.
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: There it was the jaw of the trap pressing on
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: sharp eyes paw that hurt him. Oh, if I could
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: only get away, said the little fox boy to himself.
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: If I can only get away, I'll never jump at
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: a chicken again without looking first to make sure there's
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: no trap. But it was too late to think of that.
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: Now sharp Eyes was caught, and every time he pulled
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: his leg it hurt him so that he soon stopped.
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: Redtail was right, he whispered to himself. He said, something
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: would happen to me some day, and it has. Oh dear.
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: Sharp Eyes kept quiet as long as he could, and
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: then his paw pained him so that he had to
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: cry out, but he cried very softly. Then he called
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: for his father and mother, using fox language, of course,
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: but they did not answer him, for they were far away.
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: Twinkle Winkle, can't you come and help me out of
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: the trap? Buked the little fox boy, held fast all
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: alone in the woods near the dat chicken, But neither
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: Twinkle nor Winkle answered. They too were far away. They
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: were off hunting with their father and mother, And though
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: they wondered where sharp Eyes was, they thought he was safe.
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: Sharp Eyes can take care of himself, said his mother.
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: But I hope the hunters or trappers don't get him
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: and take his lovely silver fur, said Winkle. If they
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: could only have known what had happened to poor sharp Eyes,
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: they would surely have gone to help him, wouldn't they.
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: But I must get away, thought sharp Eyes. If I
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: stay in this trap much longer, the hunter will come
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: and get me, or his dogs will come and bite me. Oh,
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: I must get loose. So he pulled and tugged away
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: to get out of the trap, but his foot hurt
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: him more and more, and he had to stop. Sharp
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: Eyes was in sight Paine, and so troubled about what
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: might happen to him that he did not even feel
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: like eating some of the chicken. Though he had been
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: hungry a little while before. Now his appetite was all gone.
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: The little fox did not know what to do. He
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: called again for his father and his mother, and for
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: Twinkle and Winkle, but none of them came. Then, all
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: at once there was a noise in the bushes, and
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: something seemed to be coming toward Sharp Eyes, where he
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: was caught fast in the trap. Oh, I hope it's
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: my father or mother, thought the fox.
• 55:38
  Speaker 3: But it was not.
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: Instead, a big dog who was kind looking and not
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: fierce and angry, burst through the bushes. Oh, dear, thought
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: sharp Eyes, this is the hunter's dog. Now I am
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: surely lost. They would take my silver fur. Oh if
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: I had only kept out of the trap once more.
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: Sharp Eye has tried to get loose, but the pain
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: in his leg made him stop. He looked at the
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: dog and got as far away as he could, But
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: the trap was fast to a chain of which one
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: end was wound around a tree and could not be
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: pulled off. Hullo, what's the matter here? Asked the dog,
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: who of course could speak animal talk, though not exactly
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: the same language that Sharp Eyes and his friends used.
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: What's the matter, Oh, you know well enough. What's the matter?
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: Said Sharp Eye? Sadly, I'm caught in a trap your
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: master's set, and I s'pose you and he are coming
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: to get me. Now, what's hurt? A trap? I don't
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: know anything about the trap, answered the dog, And I'm
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: sure my master knows that one. He lives in a
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: big house far away from here. I used to live
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: in a house where there was a nice little girl.
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: I liked her very much, and often I went for
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: walks with her. Once I took her to a park menagerie,
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: and she fell into the tank where Chunky the Happy
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: Hebrew lived. But Chunky lifted her out of the water
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: on his broad back and saved her. Chunky is a
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: friend of mine. My people have taken a bungalow over
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: on the lake off there, and they're staying there for
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: a while. It's a good way off from here, but
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: not so far as our real home where we live
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: all the time to day. I wanted to have some adventures,
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: so I trotted off from my master's bungalow. They don't
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: need me to day, as they have all gone visiting.
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: So I came to the woods. But I never expected
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: to see you. Are you another dog? You don't look
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: like one, Only your nose is sharper than mine, and
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: you are not so large. No, I'm a fox. My
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: name is sharp Eyes, came the answer. And I'm caught
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: in a trap. Please don't bite me. Bite you. Why
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: should I bite you, asked the dog. Well I thought
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: all dogs belong to hunter or trappers, and that they
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: bit us foxes, said sharp Eyes. Well I don't, was
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: the reply. My name is Don and once I was
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: a runaway dog. But I ran back. I am a
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: little like a runaway dog to day, but I'm going
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: to run back home to night as soon as I
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: have had some adventures in the woods. This is the
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: start of one.
• 58:21
  Speaker 2: I guess.
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry you were in the trap? Are you really?
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: Asked sharp Eyes, who had been taught that all dogs
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: were bad and cruel. Of course I am, sharp Eyes,
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: answered don I know what it is to be in pain,
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: and I can see where your paw is caught. It
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: must hurt you. Indeed it does, answered the fox. I
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: tried to get away, but I can't. How did you
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: get in the trap? Asked Don. Oh, I didn't look
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: closely enough before I made a jump for this chicken.
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: It was right over the trap to hide it, and
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: now I am fast. Well, maybe you can get loose,
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: said don I'll help you. This is what my friend Slicko,
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: the jumping squirrel, would call an adventure. Oh do you
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: know Slicko, asked sharp Eyes, and he was so surprised
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: that he forgot his pain for a moment. Of course
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: I know, Slicko, was the answer. I stayed two or
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: three nights in the same woods with Slicko. Now I
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: know who you are. Went on the fox, I met
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: Slicko and we spoke of you, though I never expected
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: to meet you. And who is this Chunky you talked of?
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: Who saved your master's little girl. Chunky is a hippopotamus,
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: or as I call him for short, a hippo, said Don.
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: He lived in a jungle in Africa for a long
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: time and had lots of adventures. Then he was caught
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: in a pit trap and brought to this country. He
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: was in a circus, and I met him in the
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: park mana Cherie. He knew dumb Tom, the Jolly Elephant, Mappo,
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: the Merry Monkey, and other friends of mine. Chunky had
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: a book written about him. I've had a book written
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: about me too, so hat Slicko said, sharp Eyes, My
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: it seems quite fashionable to get in a book nowadays.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: It is fashionable.
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 4: Ha ha ha.
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: Answered Don, almost as fashionable as your silver fur. That's
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: why you were trapped. I presume some hunter wants your fur.
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: I suppose, so, said sharp Eye sadly. Oh I wish
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: I could get out of this trap, Hark cried Don. Suddenly,
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: don't you hear something? Yes, I do, answered sharp Eyes, listening,
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: but I can't see anything, how fast as I am,
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: I'll look, offered Don peeping out between two bushes. What
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: he saw made him cry out in animal talk. Oh,
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: a man is coming with a gun. I guess he's
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: coming to get you, Sharp Eyes. He must have set
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: the trap. Oh dear, what shom I do? Asked Sharp Eyes,
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: end of chapter.
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 3: Five, chapter six of Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox. This
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 3: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 3: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 3: LibriVox dot org. Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox by Richard Barnum.
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 3: Chapter six, Sharp Eyes is captured Dawn. The kind dog,
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 3: as soon as he had seen the hunter coming toward
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 3: the place in the woods where the trap that had
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 3: caught the fox was set, ran back towards sharp Eyes.
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 3: What are you going to do? Asked sharp Eyes. I
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 3: am going to try to help you get loose, was
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 3: the answer. I don't want to see you taken away
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 3: by the hunter and maybe kept until you grow to
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 3: be a big fox so they can take off your
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 3: silver fur. I'm going to try to help you get loose,
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 3: how asked the fox. Well, i'll sort of push you
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 3: and you can sort of pull, and maybe you can
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 3: pull your leg loose from the trap. But it hurts
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 3: when I pull on it, said sharp Eyes. No matter,
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 3: replied Don. It is better to be hurt a little
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 3: on the foot than to be kept a prisoner and
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 3: maybe hurt a lot or even killed when they take
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 3: your silver fur. And he must be quick. The hunter
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 3: will soon be here. Oh, I would like to get away,
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 3: cried Sharp Eyes. Then pull as hard as you can
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 3: on your leg that is caught in the trap, said Don.
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 3: There is a way to open spring traps by stepping
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 3: on them, but I don't know about it. If my
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 3: master were here, he could do it, but he isn't.
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 3: You must help yourself and i'll help you. Come now, poll. Oh,
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 3: but it hurts, whimpered Sharp Eyes, as he pulled a little.
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 3: No matter, it must be done, said, don you pull,
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 3: and I'll push you, Sharp Eyes down. The kind dog
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 3: put his shoulder against that of sharp Eyes. The fox
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 3: pulled on his leg as hard as he could. It
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 3: hurt him very much, but the hunter could be heard
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 3: coming nearer and nearer, and Sharp Eyes did not want
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 3: to be caught. Pull pull softly, barked on, are you pulling?
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 3: I am I am, answered Sharp Eyes. He felt as
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 3: if his leg would come off, and the pain in
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 3: his toes was very bad, but he did not give up,
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 3: and at last, with his pulling and Don's pushing, out
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 3: came the fox boy's foot from the trap. Sharp Eyes.
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 3: His toes were cut, and the skin and fur were
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 3: scraped off, so that he could not put that paw
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 3: to the ground. But don't mind about that, barked down.
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 3: You can run on three legs nearly as well as
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 3: on four. I've done it myself when I've cut my
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 3: foot on a shop stone or a bit of glass.
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 3: Come on, the hunter is very close. Run so Sharp
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 3: Eyes ran, and Don ran with him, the fox limping
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 3: on three legs. The fox and the dog dodged in
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 3: and out among the bushes and trees of the woods,
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 3: for they did not want the hunter to see them there.
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 3: I guess we are far enough away now, said Don
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 3: after a bit. Do you know your way home? Sharp Eyes?
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 4: Oh?
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 3: Yes, thank you. Now that I am out of the trap,
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 3: I can easily find it. Won't you come home with me?
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 5: No, I guess not. I'm looking for adventures. Besides, if
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 5: I went home with you, I might scare your folks.
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 5: They don't like dogs, but I'm not the hunting kind,
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 5: then I'm sure they like you, said sharp Eyes.
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 3: Well maybe some other time I'll come to see you.
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 3: Trot along home now and look out for traps marked
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 3: don I will, promised sharp Eyes as he limped along
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 3: on three legs. The one he had pulled from the
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 3: trap hurt him very much and was bleeding a little.
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 3: But I'm glad I'm loose anyhow, thought sharp Eyes. No
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 3: more traps from me, but you just wait and see
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 3: what happened to him. Next, the hunter, with his dogs
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 3: and gun, came to the place where he had set
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 3: the trap and baited it with a chicken. Something has
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 3: been here, said the man. The trap is sprung, but
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 3: there's nothing here. Now. I wonder what it was and
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 3: how it got away. His dog smelled around the trap
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 3: and then ran off through the woods, barking. The dog
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 3: had smelled the path taken by dawn in sharp Eyes
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 3: and was after them on the trail as the hunters say.
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 3: The hunter looked at the trap more closely. He saw
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 3: some bits of hair on the jaws, most of male
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 3: a fox, said the hunter. While the hairs are silver
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 3: color and not red like most foxes, a silver fox.
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 3: If I could capture him be great. Silver foxings are rare.
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 3: I must set another kind of trap for this fox.
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 3: I wonder how I got away. The hunter could not
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 3: guess that Dawn, the kind dog, had helped the fox
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 3: to get free and was now running with him through
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 3: the woods. The hunter's own particular hunting dog was also
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 3: on the trail of the fox, but pretty soon he
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 3: came to a brook. There the fox smell stopped. The
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 3: dog barked and howled and ran up and down the stream,
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 3: but he could not smell the fox anymore, and that
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 3: is the only way he had a falling by the
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 3: smell or scent. Come on back, said the hunter, as
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 3: he followed on and saw where his dog had stopped.
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 3: The fox crossed running water, and the trail is lost.
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 3: I'll set a better trap for him next time, one
• 1:06:50
  Speaker 3: that will capture him alive. It would be a pity
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 3: to spoil that fine silver pelt in a spring trap
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 3: or by shooting. Come on, the hunter whistled to his dog,
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 3: and they went back through the woods, giving up the
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 3: chase for that day. When running away, Sharp Eyes and
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 3: Don had been cute enough to go into the running
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 3: water and Wighe part way up the brook. The brook
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 3: left no smell of the paws of Dawn or of
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 3: sharp Eyes, and the hunter's hound could not follow. When
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 3: they can, wild animals will always cross a stream or
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 3: weigh up or down it to lose their scent, so
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 3: hunting dogs cannot follow. Well, I'll leave you here, said
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 3: Don to sharp Eyes, when they had run on through
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 3: the woods for some distance after crossing and waiting in
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 3: the brook. I'll go and see if I can have
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 3: any more adventures. Wasn't helping me, one, asked sharp Eyes. Yes,
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 3: it was, answered Don. And if ever a book is
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 3: written about you, I hope that pot is put in.
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 3: Oh but there'll never be a book written about me,
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 3: said sharp Eyes. But that shows how little he knew
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 3: about it, doesn't it. Do you think you'll be all right,
• 1:08:05
  Speaker 3: asked Don. Oh, yes, thank you. I can get home
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 3: all right now, said sharp Eyes. I'll have to limp
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 3: on three legs for a while, but that's nothing. It's
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 3: better than being held fast in the trap, said the dog. Indeed,
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 3: it is agreed the fox. Then sharp Eyes hurried on
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 3: until he reached his home in the hollow long by
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 3: this time his father and mother with Winkle and Twinkle
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 3: had come back from the hunt. They had some partridges
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 3: and wood mice, and there was plenty for all to eat.
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 3: Oh my poor little shop Eyes, said missus Fox when
• 1:08:40
  Speaker 3: she saw him. What hurts you? I got con and trap,
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 3: he answered, And he told all that had happened, and
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 3: how Don had helped him get loose. That dove was
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 3: very kind to you, remarked Twinkle. Yes indeed he was.
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 3: But you must be more careful, said mister Fox gravely.
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 3: The next time you get caught, sharp Eyes, you may
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 3: not get out so easily. A stripe paw is nothing.
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 3: You were very lucky, sharp Eyes thought so himself, And
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 3: the next few days, as he limped around through the woods,
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 3: he kept a careful watch for traps or other signs
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 3: of danger, but he saw none. In about a week
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 3: his foot was well enough for him to use again
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 3: in walking or running, but he still limped a little.
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 3: It was not quite all healed. One morning, very early,
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 3: sharp Eyes got up before any of the others and
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 3: started out of the hall long house. I'm going through
• 1:09:39
  Speaker 3: the woods and down by that farmhouse, said the fox
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 3: to himself. Maybe I can find a fat duck for breakfast.
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 3: Sharp Eyes did not go near the place where he
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 3: had been caught in the trap. He did not like
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 3: to remember it, and he thought perhaps there might be
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 3: another set there to catch them. So he went about
• 1:09:57
  Speaker 3: a mile out of his way and then circled around
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 3: toward the farm before he reached it. A while still
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 3: in the woods, the fox heard a noise which sounded
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 3: like huh, I know what that is, said sharp Eyes.
• 1:10:14
  Speaker 3: That's a rooster, the same sort of bird I once
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 3: thought was a loud turkey. Well, I am pretty good
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 3: at catching things now, and maybe I can catch that rooster.
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna try carefully. Sharp Eyes crept through the woods.
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 3: The sound of the rooster's crowing sounded louder now, and
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 3: it seemed to stay in the same place. He doesn't
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 3: hear me coming, or see me, or smell me, thought
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 3: sharp Eyes. Maybe I can get close enough up to
• 1:10:42
  Speaker 3: him to grab him, but I must be careful. Traps
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 3: On and on through the woods crept sharp Eyes softly.
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 3: He came to a little place where the trees had
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 3: been cut down, and in the center of this clearing
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 3: was what seemed to be a box. The crowing of
• 1:10:59
  Speaker 3: the rooster came from inside this box. Oh ho, thought
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 3: sharp eyes. This is a henhouse. The same kind of
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 3: went into down on that farm and brought out a
• 1:11:10
  Speaker 3: fat duck. There is a rooster in this little henhouse,
• 1:11:13
  Speaker 3: and I'll go and get him. Then i'll have a
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 3: fine dinner, crowed the rooster. I'm coming to get you,
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 3: laughed sharp Eyes to himself. Nearer and nearer he went.
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 3: He could look right in the box now and see
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 3: the rooster. The crowing fowl did not come out. But
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 3: I'll soon fetch you out, said sharp Eyes. He looked
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 3: all about on the ground. He could see no traps
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 3: in sight. The fox thought it was all right. Softly
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 3: he went up to the box. He went insigh. At
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 3: the far end he could see the rooster, which was
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 3: tied fast by one leg. That was the reason it
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 3: could not get out. Aha, now I have you, thought
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 3: sharp eyes. He made a spring inside the box after
• 1:12:06
  Speaker 3: the foul, and just then something happened. There was a
• 1:12:10
  Speaker 3: clicking noise behind the fox, and all of a sudden
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 3: it got dark. This is queer, thought sharp eyes. That
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 3: quick sounded just like a trap. But I am not
• 1:12:23
  Speaker 3: caught fast as I was by my paw the other time,
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 3: I feel no pain. Still, maybe this is a trick.
• 1:12:31
  Speaker 3: I guess I had better go out again and look
• 1:12:32
  Speaker 3: around some more. He turned to get out, but found
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 3: he could not. Behind him, a door had sprung shut.
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 3: Sharp Eyes was caught in the dark box with the rooster.
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 3: The little fox was captured. He was in another kind
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 3: of trap.
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 6: End of section six, chapter seven of The Silver Fox.
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 6: This is a liberyvox recording. All liberyvox recordings are in
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 6: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
• 1:13:11
  Speaker 6: visit liberyvox dot org. Recording by Jamon Anod Sharpeys The
• 1:13:16
  Speaker 6: Silver Fox by Richard Barnum, Chapter seven, Sharp Eyes is solid.
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 6: If you have ever been shut up in a dark
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 6: closet and could not open the door to get out,
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 6: you can imagine how bad Sharpey Is felt, just as
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 6: you may have done. He banged against the walls and
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 6: pushed against the door, but it would not open. Oh, dear,
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 6: repered the fox. This is terrible. Here I am caught
• 1:13:42
  Speaker 6: in a trap again, and I said I'd be careful.
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 6: I wonder how I can get out of here. Sharp
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 6: Eyes looked about him. He saw that surely enough he
• 1:13:51
  Speaker 6: was in a trap, though a different kind from the
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 6: one that had hurt his foot and had made him
• 1:13:56
  Speaker 6: walk lame. This one did not pinch him. The fox
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 6: looked at the rooster, whose crowing had brought him to
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 6: the trap. The rooster was not crowing now, I suppose
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 6: he was too badly frightened at having the fox so
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 6: near him. But when sharp Eyes looked again, he saw
• 1:14:13
  Speaker 6: that he could not get the rooster, even though they
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 6: were both in the trap. For the rooster was in
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 6: the back part, behind a screen of wire netting, and
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 6: though sharp Eyes had very keen teeth, they could not
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 6: gnaw through the wire anyhow. I don't feel like eating
• 1:14:27
  Speaker 6: a rooster now, said the fox to himself. I want
• 1:14:30
  Speaker 6: to get out of here. Once more, he looked around
• 1:14:33
  Speaker 6: the trap in which he was caught. The fox did
• 1:14:36
  Speaker 6: not know much about traps, but he could easily see
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 6: that this one was not going to be easy to
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 6: get out from. It was like a big box open
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 6: at one end, and it was through this open end
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 6: that sharp Eyes had walked in. As soon as he
• 1:14:50
  Speaker 6: was inside, the open end of the box closed with
• 1:14:53
  Speaker 6: a wooden door, which snap shut, just as might the
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 6: door of a closet in which you had gone to play.
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 6: I didn't go seek it. Sharpies pushed hard against this endor.
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 6: He pushed against the sides of the box, and he
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 6: pushed against the wire screen behind which the rooster stood.
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 6: But the fox could not get out. Neither could the rooster,
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 6: and the fowl fluttered about every time the fox moved, thinking,
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 6: I suppose that something dreadful was going to happen. But
• 1:15:21
  Speaker 6: nothing did happen, at least for a while. The fox
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 6: was shut up and trapped, and all his trying could
• 1:15:27
  Speaker 6: not get him out. Maybe if I called for my
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 6: mother or father, or for Dawn, the nice dog, who
• 1:15:32
  Speaker 6: will helped me before, they will come and save me,
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 6: thought sharp eyes. So he howled softly and barked a little,
• 1:15:39
  Speaker 6: almost like a dog for a fox, as a really
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 6: sort of wild dog. No one answered his calls for help, however,
• 1:15:46
  Speaker 6: and then the fox, feeling very sad, curled himself up
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 6: in one corner of the box trap and tried to
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 6: think what was best to do. For Foxes and other
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 6: wild animals do think in a way, and foxes especially
• 1:15:59
  Speaker 6: are very smart at keeping out of traps or getting
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 6: loose when they're caught, but there seemed to be no
• 1:16:05
  Speaker 6: way out for sharp Eyes this time. It was silly
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 6: of me to come here and here after this rooster,
• 1:16:11
  Speaker 6: thought the fox boy. I thought this box was a
• 1:16:14
  Speaker 6: little chicken coop, but it was nothing but a trap,
• 1:16:17
  Speaker 6: Oh dear. All of a sudden, sharp Eyes sat up.
• 1:16:21
  Speaker 6: He heard someone coming through the woods. He could hear
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 6: the rustle of dried leaves and the crackling of little
• 1:16:27
  Speaker 6: sticks as they were stepped on and broken. At first,
• 1:16:31
  Speaker 6: sharp Eyes thought perhaps his father or mother or some
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 6: other foxes might be coming to help him, But as
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 6: the noise grew louder, the fox said, that can't be
• 1:16:39
  Speaker 6: any of my friends. They would never make as much
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 6: noise as that, For you know, while the animals go
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 6: through the woods very softly. Indeed, maybe it's Dawn come
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 6: to help me again, thought sharp Eyes. I'll call to him,
• 1:16:53
  Speaker 6: so an animal talk. Sharp Eyes called Dawn, Dawn, is
• 1:16:57
  Speaker 6: that you I'm in another trap? Please help me out.
• 1:17:01
  Speaker 6: Sharp Eyes listened, but he did not hear Don's voice
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 6: in an answer. Instead, he heard man talk, whereas afterward
• 1:17:08
  Speaker 6: it turned out to be boy talk. Hark cried, one boy,
• 1:17:11
  Speaker 6: did you hear that? Yes, I did, answered another. It
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 6: sounded like a dog barking. It's in my trap. Whatever
• 1:17:18
  Speaker 6: it is, said the first boy. But I don't believe
• 1:17:21
  Speaker 6: it's a dog. Of course, sharp Eyes did not understand
• 1:17:24
  Speaker 6: what the boys are talking about, for he could not
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 6: talk to them, nor could they speak to him. But
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 6: very shortly sharp Eye saw four eyes looking down at
• 1:17:33
  Speaker 6: him from the top of the cage. Oh, something's in
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 6: your trap, cried a boy whose name was Jack. Yes,
• 1:17:40
  Speaker 6: it's a fox, a silver fox, said he A boy
• 1:17:43
  Speaker 6: whose name was Tom, Say this is a fine catch.
• 1:17:46
  Speaker 6: I can get some money for his fur. You can,
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 6: asked Jack. I surely can. Silver foxes are worth a
• 1:17:54
  Speaker 6: lot of money. I never thought i'd get one when
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 6: I said my trap here, but I have. I've caught
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 6: a damn silver fox without old rooster for bait. Didn't
• 1:18:03
  Speaker 6: the fox eat the rooster, asked Jack. No, he couldn't,
• 1:18:06
  Speaker 6: replied Tom. I put the rooster behind a wire screen
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 6: in one part of my box strap and left the
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 6: other end open for a fox to come in. As
• 1:18:13
  Speaker 6: soon as he did, he knocked down a stick that
• 1:18:15
  Speaker 6: held the spring door open and the door shut, and
• 1:18:18
  Speaker 6: caught the fox. What are you gonna do? With him,
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 6: asked Jack, Well, I'll take him home and then I'll
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 6: have my father take off his skin and sell it.
• 1:18:26
  Speaker 6: Come on, help me carry the fox own. But won't
• 1:18:29
  Speaker 6: he bite, asked Jack. We won't let him out of
• 1:18:32
  Speaker 6: the trap. He can't get out. We'll carry him home,
• 1:18:34
  Speaker 6: trap and all. And the rooster too, Yes, the rooster true,
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 6: he was good bait. I thought a fox would come
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 6: to my trap if you heard the rooster crow. And
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 6: that is just what happened, you know, thought those sharp
• 1:18:46
  Speaker 6: eyes did not understand all. The boys were talking about.
• 1:18:51
  Speaker 6: Through the woods for mile after a mile, Tom and
• 1:18:54
  Speaker 6: Jack carried sharp eyes in the trap. At last they
• 1:18:57
  Speaker 6: came to some fields, and crossing days, they reached the
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 6: house where Tom lived. His father was chopping wood, and
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 6: another man was standing near. This man had a gun,
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 6: and beside him lay a hunting dog. Hello, Tom, what
• 1:19:10
  Speaker 6: have you caught there, asked his father. I caught a
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 6: fox in my trap, answered the boy. It's a silver
• 1:19:16
  Speaker 6: fox too, A silver fox, cried the man with a gun.
• 1:19:20
  Speaker 6: Did you see a fox with silver collared fur? That's
• 1:19:23
  Speaker 6: what he is, answered Tom a bit proudly. At the
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 6: same time, the dog jumped up and sniffing at the box,
• 1:19:29
  Speaker 6: trap began to bark. Poor sharp Eyes was much frightened
• 1:19:32
  Speaker 6: and scrambled around in his cage, trying it hard to
• 1:19:35
  Speaker 6: get out, but he could not be quiet. Skip called
• 1:19:39
  Speaker 6: the hunter to his dog. You won't have to taste
• 1:19:41
  Speaker 6: this fox. He is safely caught. What are you going
• 1:19:44
  Speaker 6: to do with him, the hunter asked, Tom. Sell his fur.
• 1:19:48
  Speaker 6: I've heard that silver fox skins brings a big price
• 1:19:51
  Speaker 6: down in the city. That's right, they do, said the hunter.
• 1:19:55
  Speaker 6: Let me take a look at this one. Tom opened
• 1:19:57
  Speaker 6: a little slide in the top of the trap. It
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 6: was not large enough for sharp Eyes to jump out of,
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 6: but it gave a good view of him. The hunter
• 1:20:04
  Speaker 6: looked down at the fox. He saw that one pot
• 1:20:07
  Speaker 6: had been hurt and was only just healed. Well, I
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 6: do declare, exclaimed hunter. I believe this is the same
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 6: fox that got out of my trap. Tom, you are
• 1:20:16
  Speaker 6: very lucky. A silver fox skin is valuable, But you
• 1:20:20
  Speaker 6: will not get much for this one. Why not, asked Tom?
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 6: Because it is too small. You will have to wait
• 1:20:26
  Speaker 6: for the fox to grow. Then his skin will be
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 6: worth twice as much. But if you don't want to wait, Tom,
• 1:20:31
  Speaker 6: I'll buy this fox from you alive, and I'll keep
• 1:20:34
  Speaker 6: him until he's big that I can sell the skin.
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 6: Tom thought about it. He wanted money now and did
• 1:20:40
  Speaker 6: not like to have to wait perhaps a year for
• 1:20:43
  Speaker 6: sharp Eyes to grow. Yes, said Tom to the man,
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 6: I'll sell you the silver fox. So Sharp Eyes was
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 6: sold to the very hunter from whose trap downed and
• 1:20:52
  Speaker 6: helped him escape. So the fox did not know this
• 1:20:55
  Speaker 6: was the same man and the dog who had chased him.
• 1:20:58
  Speaker 6: The dog was sniffing and snuffing around the trap. Come
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 6: away from there, Skip, ordered his master. You can't chase
• 1:21:05
  Speaker 6: that fox. I've got him safe now. So the hunter
• 1:21:08
  Speaker 6: paid Tom a goodly sum of money for the silver
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 6: fox and took him away in his box, into which
• 1:21:13
  Speaker 6: he was turned from the trap. The rooster was led
• 1:21:16
  Speaker 6: out of his side of the trap, being no longer
• 1:21:20
  Speaker 6: needed for bait. And my, how gladly that rooster crowed.
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 6: He must have felt all the while that he is
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 6: going to be eaten by the fox. As for sharp Eyes,
• 1:21:29
  Speaker 6: the hunter carried him away through the woods to his
• 1:21:32
  Speaker 6: own log cabin, putting him in a strong box on
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 6: a wagon drawn by a horse. Well, I wonder what
• 1:21:37
  Speaker 6: will happen to me, next thought the silver Fox. I
• 1:21:40
  Speaker 6: seem to have gone from one trap to another, But
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 6: this one is larger than the one where the rooster was.
• 1:21:46
  Speaker 6: This was not really a trap. It was a box,
• 1:21:49
  Speaker 6: and it had some soft straw in it on which
• 1:21:51
  Speaker 6: sharp Eyes could lie down. And he was so tired
• 1:21:54
  Speaker 6: and lonesome for his own folks that he stretched out
• 1:21:56
  Speaker 6: and tried to sleep. But it was hard work for
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 6: the wagon jill over the rough roads of the forest.
• 1:22:02
  Speaker 6: Sharpeyes had been sold and was going to have some
• 1:22:04
  Speaker 6: new adventures, but just what the kind he did not know.
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 6: End of chapter seven.
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 4: Chapter eight of Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox. This is
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 4: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 1:22:24
  Speaker 4: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 1:22:29
  Speaker 4: Recording by Sarah Cole Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox by
• 1:22:34
  Speaker 4: Richard Barnum. Chapter eight, Sharp Eyes gohoes traveling for many days, weeks,
• 1:22:40
  Speaker 4: and months, Sharpeyes was kept shut up in a box
• 1:22:43
  Speaker 4: at the cabin of the hunter who had bought him
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 4: from Tom. The Silver Fox was not kept in the
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 4: same small cage in which he had traveled through the woods.
• 1:22:52
  Speaker 4: The hunter knew better than to do that, for he
• 1:22:54
  Speaker 4: wanted the fox to be well and strong, so his
• 1:22:57
  Speaker 4: fur would grow thicker and longer and more fluffy as
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 4: sharp Eyes grew. We must make a nice cage for
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 4: you and tame you a bit, so you will eat
• 1:23:05
  Speaker 4: well and be happy, said the hunter when he got
• 1:23:08
  Speaker 4: sharp Eyes safely to his cabin. I think I can
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 4: soon make you so tame you will not fret and
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 4: always want to get out. So the hunter made near
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 4: his cabin in the woods a nice, large cage for
• 1:23:21
  Speaker 4: sharp Eyes, the silver fox. There were two parts to
• 1:23:24
  Speaker 4: the cage, one a dark one with cool earth for
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 4: the floor, but with tin underneath the earth, so sharp
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 4: Eyes could not dig his way out, for foxes are
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 4: almost as good diggers as our dogs. When dogs bury bones.
• 1:23:38
  Speaker 4: In this dark part of his cage, sharp Eyes could
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 4: sleep and rest at night, away from all danger. The
• 1:23:45
  Speaker 4: other part of his cage was made of strong wire
• 1:23:47
  Speaker 4: and was open on all sides and the top, so
• 1:23:50
  Speaker 4: plenty of fresh air and sunshine and even rain could
• 1:23:53
  Speaker 4: come in. Foxes and other animals must have fresh air
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 4: and sunshine, and they do not being wet in the rain,
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 4: for it all helps him to grow big and strong,
• 1:24:04
  Speaker 4: and the hunter wanted sharp Eyes to become a big
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 4: fox with a fine shiny coat of fur. I'll make
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 4: his cage as near like the woods as I can,
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 4: the hunter said. So he put bits of stumps, rocks,
• 1:24:16
  Speaker 4: and branches of trees in the open part, so that
• 1:24:19
  Speaker 4: it looked a little like the woods. There was also clean,
• 1:24:22
  Speaker 4: cool water to drink. But it isn't the woods at all,
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 4: thought the unhappy sharp Eyes as he roved about in
• 1:24:30
  Speaker 4: the wire part of his new cage in the woods.
• 1:24:33
  Speaker 4: I can run as far as I like, but here,
• 1:24:36
  Speaker 4: when I go a little way, I bump my nose
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 4: against the wooden or the wire walls, I cannot get out.
• 1:24:43
  Speaker 4: I'm as much in a trap as ever, even if
• 1:24:46
  Speaker 4: it is a larger one. Oh dear, I wish I
• 1:24:49
  Speaker 4: could get loose. Sharp Eyes tried all the ways he
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 4: knew of getting out of his cage near the cabin
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 4: in the woods, but the cage was made too strong
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 4: for him. The hunter well knew how to do such things.
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 4: For a time, sharp Eyes felt so bad about being
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 4: caught that he would not eat. Even when the hunter
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 4: put bits of wild turkey in the cage, sharp Eyes
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 4: would not look at them. But wild animals cannot very
• 1:25:14
  Speaker 4: long stand being hungry anymore than can boys and girls.
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 4: Sharp Eyes sniffed the good things the hunter put in
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 4: to make him eat, and at last, after he had
• 1:25:24
  Speaker 4: taken a cool drink of water, he felt that he
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 4: must chew something with his sharp teeth. He went over
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 4: nibbled at a bit of partridge the hunter had tossed in,
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 4: and tasted it so good that sharp Eyes said to himself, Oh,
• 1:25:39
  Speaker 4: I might as well eat. I don't believe that I'll
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 4: ever get out of here. I may as well make
• 1:25:43
  Speaker 4: the best of it. So he ate and felt better.
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 4: The hunter came and looked at sharp Eyes. Aha, exclaimed
• 1:25:51
  Speaker 4: the man you are eating. I see. I am glad
• 1:25:54
  Speaker 4: of it. Now you will grow big, and your silver
• 1:25:57
  Speaker 4: coat of fur will grow big on you, and I
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 4: can take it off and sell it. Get big and fat,
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 4: little fox. Of course, sharp Eyes did not know what
• 1:26:05
  Speaker 4: this meant, but he ate just the same and felt better.
• 1:26:10
  Speaker 4: Then he ran around his cage looking for some way
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 4: of getting out, but there seemed none. The wooden and
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 4: wire walls were as strong as ever, so the days
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 4: and nights passed. Often in the night when the hunter
• 1:26:22
  Speaker 4: was fast asleep. Sharp Eyes would call in animal language
• 1:26:26
  Speaker 4: for some of the dwellers of the woods to come
• 1:26:29
  Speaker 4: to him and help him get out, Help me get loose.
• 1:26:32
  Speaker 4: The fox boy would softly whine, but none came near
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 4: him who could help him. Not many wild animals, and
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 4: no foxes would come close to the clearing in which
• 1:26:42
  Speaker 4: the hunter's cabin stood. Now and then a night bird
• 1:26:46
  Speaker 4: flying in the trees overhead heard the call of sharp
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 4: Eyes and asked him, what is the matter? Oh, I
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 4: want to get out of here, would answer the fox.
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 4: Can't you fly and tell my mother or father to
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 4: get me out of this cage. I'll try, the bird
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 4: would promise, just as some of the friends of Chunky
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 4: the Happy hippo had promised to go to get Tom
• 1:27:06
  Speaker 4: Tom the elephant to help him out of the pit trap.
• 1:27:10
  Speaker 4: But Tom Tom could not be found then, nor could
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 4: the birds find mister or missus Fox. The father and
• 1:27:16
  Speaker 4: mother of sharp Eyes were deep in the north woods.
• 1:27:19
  Speaker 4: Sometimes at night, sharp Eyes would cry for Don the
• 1:27:22
  Speaker 4: dog to come to help him get out of the cage,
• 1:27:25
  Speaker 4: as Don had helped the fox pull loose from the
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 4: spring trap, and one night, Don, who was roving in
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 4: the woods, far away from his master's house, as he
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 4: had done once before, passed near the hunter's cabin. What
• 1:27:39
  Speaker 4: are you here, sharp Eyes asked the dog in surprise. Yes,
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 4: answered the wild creature. Can't you help me get out?
• 1:27:47
  Speaker 4: I'll try, answered Don, But sharp Eye's cage was made
• 1:27:51
  Speaker 4: strong to keep animals from getting in, as well as
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 4: to keep sharp Eyes from getting out, and Don could
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 4: do nothing. I'm sorry, he said to sharp Eyes. It
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 4: needs someone stronger than I am to break open your cage.
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 4: If I could only get Chunky, the happy hippo here,
• 1:28:07
  Speaker 4: he could open your cage with one shove of his
• 1:28:10
  Speaker 4: big head. Can't you get him here, asked sharp Eyes eagerly.
• 1:28:15
  Speaker 4: I'm afraid not, answered the dog. He is in the
• 1:28:18
  Speaker 4: park menagerie far away. You'll never see Chunky, But just
• 1:28:23
  Speaker 4: you wait and see what happens. So sharp Eyes was
• 1:28:27
  Speaker 4: kept in the hunter's cage for nearly a year, and
• 1:28:29
  Speaker 4: in that time the silver fox grew quite tame. He
• 1:28:33
  Speaker 4: saw that the hunter was not going to hurt him,
• 1:28:35
  Speaker 4: at least for a while, and the man brought good
• 1:28:38
  Speaker 4: things for the fox to eat and nice water to drink.
• 1:28:42
  Speaker 4: After a while, sharp Eyes let the man put his
• 1:28:44
  Speaker 4: hand through a hole in the wire, and the fox
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 4: did not try to bite as he had done it first.
• 1:28:49
  Speaker 4: Then a little later sharp Eyes let the man pat
• 1:28:52
  Speaker 4: him on the head, and the fox rather liked it.
• 1:28:56
  Speaker 4: Hunters are not so bad, as I thought, said sharp
• 1:28:59
  Speaker 4: Eyed to himself. This one doesn't shoot me anyhow. And
• 1:29:04
  Speaker 4: even the hunter's dog did not bark or growl at
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 4: the fox as much as it had at first. The
• 1:29:09
  Speaker 4: two never were very good friends, but they did not
• 1:29:12
  Speaker 4: snap at one another as they had done her in
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 4: the first days. After sharp Eyes was brought to the
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 4: cabin in the woods, i'd chased after you once, said
• 1:29:21
  Speaker 4: the hunter's dog to sharp Eyes. Yes I know you did, skip,
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 4: replied the fox in animal language. But Redtail and I
• 1:29:29
  Speaker 4: waited in a brook of water, and then you could
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 4: not smell us to come after us. Yes, you fooled me,
• 1:29:35
  Speaker 4: said the dog, with sort of a barking laugh. I
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 4: was mad at the time, but I've gotten over it now.
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 4: Would you chase me again if you had the chance,
• 1:29:44
  Speaker 4: asked sharp Eyes. Yes, I guess I would, answered the dog.
• 1:29:49
  Speaker 4: You see, I'm used to hunting, and I can't get
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 4: over it so soon, Even if you are a tamer
• 1:29:55
  Speaker 4: fox than you were at first. If you get out
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 4: of the cage, I'll have to bring you back, but
• 1:30:00
  Speaker 4: I'll try not to hurt you. Then I guess i'd
• 1:30:03
  Speaker 4: better be careful how I get out of this cage,
• 1:30:06
  Speaker 4: thought sharp Eyes to himself. I must not do it
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 4: when Skip the dog is near, but I would like
• 1:30:11
  Speaker 4: to get away. More days passed, sharp Eyes kept on
• 1:30:15
  Speaker 4: getting big and strong, until he was nearly as large
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 4: as Skip. Then one day a strange man came to
• 1:30:22
  Speaker 4: the cabin in the woods where the hunter lived. This
• 1:30:25
  Speaker 4: man looked like a hunter, but he carried no gun. Instead,
• 1:30:29
  Speaker 4: over his back, slung on a strap was a black box.
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 4: I suppose that as some other kind of trap, thought
• 1:30:36
  Speaker 4: sharp Eyes as he saw it. These men seemed never
• 1:30:40
  Speaker 4: to let us animals alone. But sharp Eyes was mistaken.
• 1:30:44
  Speaker 4: What the new man had on his back was not
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 4: a trap, but a camera for taking pictures of wild
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 4: animals and birds. He had come to the woods to
• 1:30:52
  Speaker 4: do this. He was hunting animals in a new way.
• 1:30:55
  Speaker 4: But sharp Eyes did not know that. What have you
• 1:30:58
  Speaker 4: in this cage, asked the cameraman of the hunter. That
• 1:31:02
  Speaker 4: is a silver fox? Was the answer. I am letting
• 1:31:05
  Speaker 4: him grow big, so his fur will be larger. It
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 4: will make a nice muff and neck piece for some woman. Oh,
• 1:31:12
  Speaker 4: it would be a shame to kill that fox just
• 1:31:15
  Speaker 4: for his fur, said the cameraman. Why not keep him alive.
• 1:31:19
  Speaker 4: I paid money for him, said the hunter, and I
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 4: need to get back more money for him. Then I
• 1:31:24
  Speaker 4: will buy him of you alive, said the cameraman. I'll
• 1:31:28
  Speaker 4: pay you. What will you do with him, asked the hunter.
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 4: I'll not kill him, answered the other. That would be
• 1:31:35
  Speaker 4: too bad. I think I will put him in a
• 1:31:38
  Speaker 4: place where many people can come to look at him.
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 4: He is a handsome fox, and I'd like to have
• 1:31:43
  Speaker 4: the boys and girls, as well as grown up see him.
• 1:31:46
  Speaker 4: Sell him to me alive, I will, said the hunter,
• 1:31:49
  Speaker 4: and he did. By this time, sharp Eyes was quite tame,
• 1:31:54
  Speaker 4: but he could not be allowed to run around loose.
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 4: He was let out of his cage sometimes, but there
• 1:31:59
  Speaker 4: was a collar around his neck, such as some dogs wear,
• 1:32:02
  Speaker 4: and a chain was fast to the collar, so sharp
• 1:32:06
  Speaker 4: Eyes could only go as far as the chain let him.
• 1:32:09
  Speaker 4: But this was better than being shut in the wire cage.
• 1:32:12
  Speaker 4: Sharp Eyes liked it outside. The cameraman bought sharp Eyes
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 4: and put him in a large box. Then the box
• 1:32:19
  Speaker 4: was put on a wagon, and once more the silver
• 1:32:21
  Speaker 4: Fox was traveling, only this time he went a long
• 1:32:25
  Speaker 4: way from the wagon. The box with a silver fox
• 1:32:29
  Speaker 4: in it was put on a train, though sharp Eyes
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 4: did not know what that was, and taken farther and
• 1:32:35
  Speaker 4: farther away from the woods. Sharp Eyes rode on the
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 4: train in his wooden cage. He was a little frightened,
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 4: but not very much, for he was used to having
• 1:32:44
  Speaker 4: men around him now, and some of the train men
• 1:32:47
  Speaker 4: gave him bits of meat to eat and water to drink. Finally,
• 1:32:52
  Speaker 4: after he had been traveling on the train for a
• 1:32:54
  Speaker 4: long long while, sharp Eyes looked out of an open
• 1:32:57
  Speaker 4: door and through the bars of his cage. The train
• 1:33:00
  Speaker 4: had stopped, and not far away, sharp Eyes could see
• 1:33:03
  Speaker 4: what looked like a big white house with gayly colored
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 4: flags floating from poles and ropes on it.
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 3: Oh, what is that?
• 1:33:12
  Speaker 4: Asked sharp Eyes aloud in animal talk, before he remembered
• 1:33:16
  Speaker 4: that there was no one in the railroad car to answer.
• 1:33:20
  Speaker 4: But just then the silver Fox saw standing on the
• 1:33:23
  Speaker 4: ground outside his car a great, big animal that seemed
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 4: to have two tails. Ha, So you want to know
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 4: what that white house is do you, asked the big
• 1:33:33
  Speaker 4: animal of sharp Eyes, Well, that is a circus tent,
• 1:33:37
  Speaker 4: and I belonged to the circus end of chapter eight.
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 4: Recording by Sarah.
• 1:33:44
  Speaker 3: Cole, Chapter nine of Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox. This
• 1:33:53
  Speaker 3: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
• 1:33:57
  Speaker 3: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 3: LibriVox dot org. Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox by Richard Barnum,
• 1:34:11
  Speaker 3: Chapter nine, Sharp Eyes in the Zoo. The train in
• 1:34:18
  Speaker 3: which Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox was writing had stopped
• 1:34:22
  Speaker 3: so the engine could get a drink of water, and
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 3: it happened to stop near the circus tent, which was
• 1:34:28
  Speaker 3: the white thing sharp Eyes had thought was the large house.
• 1:34:32
  Speaker 3: So the fox had time to talk to the big animal,
• 1:34:35
  Speaker 3: who had spoken in such a friendly way. Oh so
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 3: that is a circus, is it, asked sharp Eyes. Seems
• 1:34:43
  Speaker 3: to me I have heard that name before. I wonder
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 3: where it was. But who are you, may I ask?
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 3: And why have you two tales? There it goes again,
• 1:34:54
  Speaker 3: cried the big creature. Everyone who sees me for the
• 1:34:58
  Speaker 3: first time thinks I have two tails. Even Chunky, the
• 1:35:03
  Speaker 3: happy hippo thought that, Oh, Chunky that's where I heard
• 1:35:07
  Speaker 3: the words circus before. Don the Dog told me that
• 1:35:11
  Speaker 3: Chunky was once in a circus before it was put
• 1:35:14
  Speaker 3: in a park menagerie. Oh ho, so you know Don
• 1:35:20
  Speaker 3: the Dog, do you, asked the big animal who belonged
• 1:35:24
  Speaker 3: to the circus, Yes, answered sharp Eyes, I do. Don
• 1:35:29
  Speaker 3: once helped me to get out of pinching trap, but
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 3: no one helped me out of the trap when the
• 1:35:34
  Speaker 3: rooster was That's why I'm here. Now, what is your name?
• 1:35:39
  Speaker 3: Asked the big animal. The fox told and then inquired,
• 1:35:43
  Speaker 3: and what is your name? If you please? And why
• 1:35:46
  Speaker 3: have you two tails? I haven't was the answer. That's
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 3: a mistake. I am dumb, dumb the jolly elephant, and
• 1:35:56
  Speaker 3: one of the dingle dangle down things is my trunk
• 1:36:00
  Speaker 3: in which I pick up peanuts. The other is my tail.
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 3: Oh I see, exclaimed sharp Eyes. So you are Tum Tum.
• 1:36:10
  Speaker 3: I think I heard Slicko, a squirrel speak of you. Yes,
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 3: we are good friends. And Don often mentioned you went
• 1:36:19
  Speaker 3: on the silver Fox, but it seems to me he
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 3: said you had left a circus and had gone back
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 3: to the jungle to help catch and train wild elephants.
• 1:36:30
  Speaker 3: I did, answered Tum Tum. I was there for a while,
• 1:36:35
  Speaker 3: but now I am back in the circus again. It
• 1:36:38
  Speaker 3: was while I was on a sort of visit to
• 1:36:41
  Speaker 3: the jungle that I met Chunky the happy hippo and
• 1:36:45
  Speaker 3: pulled him out of a mudhole. And where it is
• 1:36:48
  Speaker 3: Chunky now, asked sharp Eyes. I would like to see
• 1:36:52
  Speaker 3: him he was with this circus, answered Tom Tum the elephant,
• 1:36:58
  Speaker 3: But now he is in the park, zoo or menagerie
• 1:37:03
  Speaker 3: as they call it to be stylish. Did Dawn tell
• 1:37:07
  Speaker 3: you how Chunky saved a little girl who fell into
• 1:37:10
  Speaker 3: his tank? Yes, answered sharp Eyes, he did. Chunky must
• 1:37:15
  Speaker 3: be real smart, well, not as smart as a fox,
• 1:37:19
  Speaker 3: for I have heard that they are very smart and cutting,
• 1:37:23
  Speaker 3: returned the elephant. But Chunky still does very well. He
• 1:37:28
  Speaker 3: can do tricks, and he has had a book written
• 1:37:32
  Speaker 3: about him. There it goes again, cried sharp Eyes. Everyone
• 1:37:37
  Speaker 3: seems to be in a book, but I'm not. Maybe
• 1:37:40
  Speaker 3: you will be some day, said Tum Tum. You are
• 1:37:44
  Speaker 3: young yet, But tell me why did they catch you
• 1:37:49
  Speaker 3: and put you in a box on a train? Can
• 1:37:51
  Speaker 3: you do circus tricks? No, replied the fox. But they
• 1:37:57
  Speaker 3: think my silver fur is worth much money. That's why
• 1:38:00
  Speaker 3: they caught me. I wish I was red or brown,
• 1:38:04
  Speaker 3: and then they wouldn't bother me. So, but silver foxes
• 1:38:07
  Speaker 3: are rare, they say, I believe they are, went on
• 1:38:12
  Speaker 3: the elephant. I've been in a circus a long while,
• 1:38:16
  Speaker 3: and I never saw a silver fox before, Nor are
• 1:38:20
  Speaker 3: there any in the zoological park where Chunky lives. But
• 1:38:25
  Speaker 3: I must be going, went on Tom Tom, the jolly elephant.
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 3: I have to push some of the heavy wagons around
• 1:38:32
  Speaker 3: the circus long. They always call on me for that,
• 1:38:36
  Speaker 3: as I am so strong. I hope you'll have a
• 1:38:41
  Speaker 3: nice time where you are going. I don't expect to have,
• 1:38:45
  Speaker 3: answered Sharpeyes, it is no fun to be shut up
• 1:38:49
  Speaker 3: in a cage. I wish I could walk around loose
• 1:38:52
  Speaker 3: like you. I guess I'm too big to be in
• 1:38:55
  Speaker 3: a cage, said Tom Tom. Though they have sort of
• 1:38:59
  Speaker 3: cake for elephants in the parks. Well, goodbye, Maybe I'll
• 1:39:05
  Speaker 3: see you again, I hope, so replied Sharp Eyes, who
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 3: liked the big jolly chap So the elephant went to
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 3: push the circus wagons, and the train puffed away with
• 1:39:18
  Speaker 3: the silver fox all the while. As the train rumbled on,
• 1:39:23
  Speaker 3: sharp Eyes wondered where he was being taken. If my
• 1:39:27
  Speaker 3: silver fur is worth so much, thought Sharp Eyes. I
• 1:39:31
  Speaker 3: suppose they're carrying me at someplace where they can take
• 1:39:34
  Speaker 3: it off. I shall not like that. I want my
• 1:39:37
  Speaker 3: fur left on. I'll be cold in the winter without
• 1:39:41
  Speaker 3: my nice fur coat. Sometimes hunting dogs were brought into
• 1:39:46
  Speaker 3: the same car with Sharp Eyes. The dogs became very
• 1:39:50
  Speaker 3: much excited when they saw the fox in his cage
• 1:39:53
  Speaker 3: and barked at him, but they could not get at him,
• 1:39:56
  Speaker 3: for the cage was made of heavy wire. Still, Sharp
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 3: Eyes do not like to be barked at. Why don't
• 1:40:03
  Speaker 3: you be quiet and let me alone, he asked the
• 1:40:06
  Speaker 3: dogs in animal talk. Oh, we are hunting dogs and
• 1:40:11
  Speaker 3: we always bark at a fox, said one of the dogs.
• 1:40:14
  Speaker 3: Well I have a dog friend named Don, and he
• 1:40:17
  Speaker 3: doesn't bark at me, went on the sober fox. We
• 1:40:21
  Speaker 3: don't know Don, said the hunting dogs, and they barked
• 1:40:25
  Speaker 3: louder than ever. Once a monkey in a cage was
• 1:40:29
  Speaker 3: brought into the same car with Sharp Eyes. The monkey
• 1:40:32
  Speaker 3: did not seem happy, but crouched in a corner. Who
• 1:40:36
  Speaker 3: are you, where are you going? And what's the matter?
• 1:40:40
  Speaker 3: Asked Sharp Eyes. My name is, Chako, answered the monkey,
• 1:40:45
  Speaker 3: and I am being taken to a zoological park. Well,
• 1:40:50
  Speaker 3: don't feel sad about that, advised sharp Eyes. I have
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 3: heard of a hippo named Chunky who is in a
• 1:40:56
  Speaker 3: zoo and he is very happy. Has he that toothache?
• 1:41:01
  Speaker 3: Asked Chaco. I don't believe he has, answered sharp Eyes.
• 1:41:06
  Speaker 3: No wonder he is happy, then went on the monkey.
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 3: I have the toothache very bad. I'm sorry, said sharp Eyes.
• 1:41:16
  Speaker 3: I wish I could help you, but I can't get
• 1:41:18
  Speaker 3: out of my cage. Did you ever hear of Mapo,
• 1:41:22
  Speaker 3: a merry monkey? Has she the toothache? Asked Chacko. I
• 1:41:28
  Speaker 3: hardly think he has, the fox answered, Well, then I
• 1:41:32
  Speaker 3: don't know him, said the other, holding his paw up
• 1:41:36
  Speaker 3: to his jaw. I have never heard of Mapo, Tom Tom,
• 1:41:42
  Speaker 3: or some of the animal friends I have met spoke
• 1:41:44
  Speaker 3: of him, said sharp eyes. He likes coconuts, I believe, Oh,
• 1:41:50
  Speaker 3: we monkeys all do, said Jacko. But I couldn't need
• 1:41:54
  Speaker 3: any now on account of my tooth However, I don't
• 1:41:58
  Speaker 3: know Mapo. Sharp Eyes talked a little while longer the
• 1:42:02
  Speaker 3: Chacko to try to make the little furry chap forget
• 1:42:06
  Speaker 3: his troubles, and the monkey did for a time. Then
• 1:42:10
  Speaker 3: sharp Eyes went to sleep. Sharp Eyes was suddenly awakened
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 3: by feeling his cage lifted up and set down again.
• 1:42:18
  Speaker 3: The fox could feel the wind blowing on him, and
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 3: he knew he must be outside the train, but he
• 1:42:24
  Speaker 3: liked the fresh air. I wonder where I am, he inquired,
• 1:42:29
  Speaker 3: partly aloud. We're on a wagon being ridden through the
• 1:42:32
  Speaker 3: streets of a big city, answered Chacko, the monkey, who
• 1:42:37
  Speaker 3: was on the same wagon as Sharp Eyes, but in
• 1:42:39
  Speaker 3: a different cage. The monkey's toothache was better. Now, what's
• 1:42:44
  Speaker 3: a city, asked sharp Eyes. Oh, answered the monkey. It's
• 1:42:49
  Speaker 3: a place where they have more houses than there are
• 1:42:52
  Speaker 3: trees in the woods. But I don't like it. Once
• 1:42:56
  Speaker 3: I was in a city park menagerie, and I never
• 1:42:59
  Speaker 3: got ha enough peanuts. I don't like the noise either.
• 1:43:04
  Speaker 3: There was a great deal of noise as the wagon,
• 1:43:07
  Speaker 3: with the cages of Sharp Eyes and Chacko on it,
• 1:43:10
  Speaker 3: rattled through the streets. At last, the wagon turned into
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 3: a quieter place where there was much green grass and
• 1:43:18
  Speaker 3: many trees. Oh are they taking me back home again?
• 1:43:22
  Speaker 3: Asked Sharp Eyes aloud. As they saw the trees this
• 1:43:26
  Speaker 3: looks a little like my home, and he looked down
• 1:43:29
  Speaker 3: from the wagon, hoping to see a hollow tree. No,
• 1:43:33
  Speaker 3: this is not the forest, said Chacko the monkey. This
• 1:43:37
  Speaker 3: is a menagerie or zoo. I remember the place I
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 3: lived here a number of years ago. I am glad
• 1:43:45
  Speaker 3: to be back. For here the children give you many peanuts,
• 1:43:49
  Speaker 3: they don't feed them all to the squirrels. And so
• 1:43:52
  Speaker 3: this is a zoo, is it, asked sharp Eyes. Yes,
• 1:43:56
  Speaker 3: that's what it is, answered the monkey. We'll soon be
• 1:44:00
  Speaker 3: put into larger cages where the boys and girls can
• 1:44:03
  Speaker 3: see us. You'll like it in the zoo, sharp Eyes.
• 1:44:07
  Speaker 3: I hope I shall return the Silver Fox. Oh there
• 1:44:11
  Speaker 3: is my friend Tom, Tom, he cried as he caught
• 1:44:14
  Speaker 3: sight of an elephant. End of chapter nine, Chapter ten
• 1:44:26
  Speaker 3: of Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox. This is the LibriVox recording.
• 1:44:31
  Speaker 3: All libervox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 1:44:35
  Speaker 3: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Sharp
• 1:44:42
  Speaker 3: Eyes the Silver Fox by Richard Barnum, Chapter ten, Sharp
• 1:44:48
  Speaker 3: Eyes meets Chunky. Sharp Eyes's cage was being lifted down
• 1:44:53
  Speaker 3: from the wagon on which it had been brought to
• 1:44:56
  Speaker 3: the park from the train when the silver fox called
• 1:44:59
  Speaker 3: out the elephant. His cage was set down on the
• 1:45:03
  Speaker 3: ground near where some of the big animals with trunks
• 1:45:07
  Speaker 3: and tails were swaying to and fro behind big strong bars.
• 1:45:13
  Speaker 3: Who did you say? It was, asked Chaco, as his
• 1:45:16
  Speaker 3: cage was placed beside that of Sharp Eyes. Tum Tum,
• 1:45:20
  Speaker 3: the jolly elephant, answered the silver fox. I see him
• 1:45:24
  Speaker 3: over there. My name is not tum Tum, said the elephant,
• 1:45:29
  Speaker 3: for he had heard what sharp Eyes said. Not tum Tum,
• 1:45:34
  Speaker 3: exclaimed the fox. Then what is it. My name is Bunga,
• 1:45:39
  Speaker 3: was the answer. But I have heard of your friend
• 1:45:43
  Speaker 3: Tum Tum. He is in a circus, is he not, yes,
• 1:45:48
  Speaker 3: answered sharp Eyes. I met him not long ago. He
• 1:45:51
  Speaker 3: had been on a sort of vacation in the jungle,
• 1:45:55
  Speaker 3: But now he is back in the circus. I thought
• 1:45:58
  Speaker 3: at first that you were he no, But all we
• 1:46:03
  Speaker 3: elephants look pretty much alike, said Bunga. So I don't
• 1:46:08
  Speaker 3: wonder you made a mistake. How is Tom Tom very
• 1:46:13
  Speaker 3: well and jolly answered sharp eyes. Oh he always was,
• 1:46:17
  Speaker 3: that said another elephant. Tom Dum never was cross or unhappy.
• 1:46:23
  Speaker 3: I was unhappy when my paw was caught in a
• 1:46:25
  Speaker 3: pinching trap, said sharp Eyes. I hope I shall be
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 3: happy here. We'll try to make you so, put in
• 1:46:34
  Speaker 3: a long neck draft, looking over the tops of the
• 1:46:37
  Speaker 3: walls of his cage in which he was kept next
• 1:46:41
  Speaker 3: to the elephants. We are always glad to see new
• 1:46:44
  Speaker 3: animals come in, went on the giraffe. We get sort
• 1:46:48
  Speaker 3: of lonesome just among ourselves. Tell us, have you had
• 1:46:53
  Speaker 3: any adventures? No, not any, I'm sorry to say. Oh yes,
• 1:46:59
  Speaker 3: you have chattered Chako, the monkey, to whom the fox
• 1:47:03
  Speaker 3: talked in the train. You've had lots of adventures. You've
• 1:47:07
  Speaker 3: found a wild turkey, and you got out of one
• 1:47:10
  Speaker 3: trap and into another, and you were chased by a dog.
• 1:47:13
  Speaker 3: Are those adventures, asked sharp Eyes in surprise, of course,
• 1:47:19
  Speaker 3: answered Bunga. The elephant, please tell us about them. So
• 1:47:24
  Speaker 3: sharp Eyes told the zoo animals all that had happened
• 1:47:28
  Speaker 3: to him. And now you are here, said Bunga, when
• 1:47:32
  Speaker 3: the fox had finished. Yes, I'm here, agreed the fox,
• 1:47:37
  Speaker 3: and I expect the next thing they'll do will be
• 1:47:39
  Speaker 3: to take off my silver skin and sell it. He added, sadly,
• 1:47:45
  Speaker 3: take off your skin and sell it. Well, I guess
• 1:47:48
  Speaker 3: not growled a tiger in the next cage. They would
• 1:47:52
  Speaker 3: no more skin you than they would meet. They keep
• 1:47:56
  Speaker 3: us for people to look at. Make your mind easy.
• 1:48:00
  Speaker 3: You will not be hurt while you are in the zoo.
• 1:48:03
  Speaker 3: You cannot get away, it is true, but you will
• 1:48:06
  Speaker 3: have a good place to stay and all you want
• 1:48:09
  Speaker 3: to eat. I used to think when I first came
• 1:48:12
  Speaker 3: here that I would like to go back to the jungle.
• 1:48:16
  Speaker 3: But there I had to sneak out at night to
• 1:48:18
  Speaker 3: get something to eat or water to drink. Here they
• 1:48:21
  Speaker 3: bring it to me. Of course, I'm shut up in
• 1:48:25
  Speaker 3: a cage, but it is not so bad. Really. They
• 1:48:29
  Speaker 3: won't take off my fur, no, indeed, said the elephant.
• 1:48:34
  Speaker 3: Then I'm glad went on the fox. I'll try to
• 1:48:38
  Speaker 3: like it here in the zoo, though I'll miss the
• 1:48:41
  Speaker 3: north Woods and my father, mother, my sister Winkle and
• 1:48:45
  Speaker 3: my brother Twinkle. Oh you'll like it here after you
• 1:48:50
  Speaker 3: get used to being stared at by the crowd of
• 1:48:52
  Speaker 3: boys and girls, and the men and a woman who
• 1:48:55
  Speaker 3: come in, said a lion in a cage next the tiger.
• 1:49:00
  Speaker 3: So the animals talked among themselves, trying to make sharp
• 1:49:04
  Speaker 3: eyes feel at home. For an animal gets almost as
• 1:49:07
  Speaker 3: lonesome and homesick in a strange place as you boys
• 1:49:11
  Speaker 3: and girls might do. After a while, some men came
• 1:49:15
  Speaker 3: and lifted up the cage of the silver Fox from
• 1:49:18
  Speaker 3: where it had been placed when taken off the wagon,
• 1:49:22
  Speaker 3: and carried it to a large building. Along the walls
• 1:49:26
  Speaker 3: were many other cages, and at one end was a
• 1:49:29
  Speaker 3: very large one. The bars of the big cage were
• 1:49:33
  Speaker 3: set very far apart, and when the fox saw them,
• 1:49:36
  Speaker 3: he said to himself, Huh, if they put me in
• 1:49:40
  Speaker 3: that cage with such wide apart bars in front, I
• 1:49:44
  Speaker 3: can easily slip out between them and go back to
• 1:49:46
  Speaker 3: where my father and mother live in the hall a
• 1:49:49
  Speaker 3: long I must try to run away. Sharp eyes looked
• 1:49:53
  Speaker 3: a little closer and noticed that there was a big
• 1:49:56
  Speaker 3: pool of water about a hundred bathtubs foward. I guess
• 1:50:01
  Speaker 3: at one end of the big cage. Huh, I'd like
• 1:50:04
  Speaker 3: to get a drink there, thought the silver fox. I
• 1:50:08
  Speaker 3: am very thirsty. Just then, all of a sudden, one
• 1:50:13
  Speaker 3: of the men carrying the cage in which the fox
• 1:50:16
  Speaker 3: was still locked, let his end of the box fall.
• 1:50:19
  Speaker 3: Then the other man dropped his end, and down the
• 1:50:22
  Speaker 3: fox cage crashed to the stone floor in the animal house.
• 1:50:26
  Speaker 3: Look Out, cried one of the men. The cage will
• 1:50:29
  Speaker 3: break and that super fox will get out. That is
• 1:50:33
  Speaker 3: just what happened. The cage crashed to the floor, one
• 1:50:37
  Speaker 3: end burst open, and the next minute sharp Eyes found
• 1:50:40
  Speaker 3: himself free. Oh at last, I can run away, he
• 1:50:44
  Speaker 3: thought to himself. But first I'll go and get a
• 1:50:47
  Speaker 3: drink of water in that pool beside the big barred cage.
• 1:50:51
  Speaker 3: Then I'll run away before any of the men could
• 1:50:55
  Speaker 3: grab him. Sharp Eyes made a dash toward the big pool.
• 1:50:59
  Speaker 3: Down to it ran a sloping walk, or a little
• 1:51:03
  Speaker 3: hill of stone. Down this, sharp Eyes walked until he
• 1:51:07
  Speaker 3: could put his nose in the water. Sharp Eyes was
• 1:51:11
  Speaker 3: just going to take a drink, when all at once
• 1:51:14
  Speaker 3: he noticed that the water in the pool was moving.
• 1:51:17
  Speaker 3: Then suddenly, something big and dark brown rose up as
• 1:51:23
  Speaker 3: if from the bottom. Sharp Eyes saw a big mouth
• 1:51:26
  Speaker 3: open right in front of him. It was a mouth
• 1:51:29
  Speaker 3: so big that it looked like the front door of
• 1:51:32
  Speaker 3: a real house, and inside it was lined with something
• 1:51:35
  Speaker 3: that seemed to be red flannel. And then out of
• 1:51:38
  Speaker 3: the mouth came a puffing sound, and the big animal
• 1:51:42
  Speaker 3: who belonged to the big mouth, made a grunting noise
• 1:51:46
  Speaker 3: as though gaping and stretching after a sleep. Oh my,
• 1:51:52
  Speaker 3: cried sharp Eyes as he saw the big mouth. Who
• 1:51:55
  Speaker 3: are you? If you please, I might ask the same
• 1:52:00
  Speaker 3: thing of you, went on the big animal as he
• 1:52:03
  Speaker 3: walked up the stone hill, water dripping off him. I
• 1:52:08
  Speaker 3: am called sharp Eyes, the silver fox, was the answer.
• 1:52:12
  Speaker 3: And I have had many adventures, but they have not
• 1:52:14
  Speaker 3: been put into a book as yet. You see, sharp
• 1:52:18
  Speaker 3: Eyes didn't know about this book. Just then I've had
• 1:52:22
  Speaker 3: adventures also, and they have been put into a book.
• 1:52:27
  Speaker 3: Went on the big creature. What is your name, asked
• 1:52:31
  Speaker 3: sharp Eyes. I am Chunky, the happy hippo. And oh,
• 1:52:37
  Speaker 3: I've heard about you, interrupted sharp Eyes. You have, asked Chunky.
• 1:52:44
  Speaker 3: Perhaps you read a copy of the book in which
• 1:52:47
  Speaker 3: I am spoken of. No, I can't read, said sharp Eyes.
• 1:52:52
  Speaker 3: But I heard Don the dog telling about you. I
• 1:52:56
  Speaker 3: like to hear about you. That's very nice, you said Chunky. Yes,
• 1:53:03
  Speaker 3: Don and I were great friends. Did down tell you
• 1:53:06
  Speaker 3: always save the little girl who fell into my pool? Yes,
• 1:53:11
  Speaker 3: answered sharp Eyes. He did. It was very nice of
• 1:53:15
  Speaker 3: you to save her. Wooh, that was nothing, said Chunky.
• 1:53:20
  Speaker 3: When I saw you standing on the edge of my pool.
• 1:53:23
  Speaker 3: I thought it was some one else who had fallen in,
• 1:53:26
  Speaker 3: and I came up to see about it. But I
• 1:53:29
  Speaker 3: am glad to meet you, and I'm glad to meet you,
• 1:53:33
  Speaker 3: said sharp Eyes. Very glad indeed to meet you, Chunky.
• 1:53:38
  Speaker 3: Now I wonder what I had better do. Run away
• 1:53:41
  Speaker 3: now that I am out of my cage, or stay
• 1:53:44
  Speaker 3: and let them put me in another. What would you do, Chunky?
• 1:53:48
  Speaker 3: I'd stay here in the zoo, said the happy hibbo.
• 1:53:52
  Speaker 3: They will give you nice things to eat and clean
• 1:53:55
  Speaker 3: water to drink. It is better than the jungle or
• 1:53:58
  Speaker 3: the woods. Stay here and be happy. I guess I will,
• 1:54:04
  Speaker 3: said sharp Eyes. By this time, the menagerie men had
• 1:54:08
  Speaker 3: run toward the hippo's cage. They saw Sharp Eyes standing
• 1:54:12
  Speaker 3: by the big squatty creature. Don't let him get away,
• 1:54:17
  Speaker 3: cried a tall man with a long, sharp hook in
• 1:54:20
  Speaker 3: his hand. Catch the silver fox. Don't let him escape.
• 1:54:25
  Speaker 3: So the men with ropes and long poles ran to
• 1:54:29
  Speaker 3: catch Sharp Eyes before he could get out of the
• 1:54:31
  Speaker 3: hippos cage. But Sharp Eyes was not going to run away.
• 1:54:36
  Speaker 3: Get him, Get him, cried the men, one to the other.
• 1:54:40
  Speaker 3: Get the silver fox. End of chapter ten, Chapter eleven
• 1:54:51
  Speaker 3: of Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 1:54:56
  Speaker 3: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 1:55:00
  Speaker 3: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Sharp
• 1:55:07
  Speaker 3: Eyes the Silver Fox by Richard Barnum, Chapter eleven, Sharp
• 1:55:13
  Speaker 3: Eyes gets away for a time. There was much excitement
• 1:55:18
  Speaker 3: in the animal house of the park, where Sharp Eyes
• 1:55:21
  Speaker 3: had gotten out of his cage. At first, the men
• 1:55:23
  Speaker 3: did not see where he had run to inside the
• 1:55:27
  Speaker 3: hippo's cage, but when they found him, they were very
• 1:55:30
  Speaker 3: anxious to get sharp Eyes back. People who had come
• 1:55:33
  Speaker 3: into the park to look at the animals heard the
• 1:55:36
  Speaker 3: shouts and saw men running about. What is the matter,
• 1:55:40
  Speaker 3: asked several Oh, one of the animals is loose, answered
• 1:55:45
  Speaker 3: a policeman. Maybe it's a lion or a tiger, cried
• 1:55:49
  Speaker 3: a woman with a baby in her arms. Come on, children,
• 1:55:52
  Speaker 3: and she caught the hand of her little boy, who
• 1:55:55
  Speaker 3: in turn held the hand of his sister, and they
• 1:55:58
  Speaker 3: all ran out. Some of the other men, women and
• 1:56:02
  Speaker 3: children also ran out when they heard that a lion
• 1:56:05
  Speaker 3: was loose. But this was not so. It was only
• 1:56:09
  Speaker 3: sharp Eyes, and he was so tame now that he
• 1:56:12
  Speaker 3: would have bidden. No one get him. There he is.
• 1:56:16
  Speaker 3: There's the fox, cried the head animal man as he
• 1:56:19
  Speaker 3: pointed the Sharp Eyes inside the hippo's cage. Bring up
• 1:56:23
  Speaker 3: one of the small dens on wheels and will drive
• 1:56:26
  Speaker 3: the fox into that. The men stood in front of
• 1:56:29
  Speaker 3: Chunky's cage with sticks and ropes to drive Sharp Eyes
• 1:56:33
  Speaker 3: back if he should try to run out, but the
• 1:56:36
  Speaker 3: fox was not going to do anything like that. I
• 1:56:39
  Speaker 3: said I'd stay here, and I will, he explained the
• 1:56:42
  Speaker 3: chunky an animal talk. Of course, they needn't make so
• 1:56:46
  Speaker 3: much fuss about me going to run away. I'm not,
• 1:56:50
  Speaker 3: and Sharp Eyes did not. He stayed quietly in Chunky's cage,
• 1:56:55
  Speaker 3: talking to the hippo and animal language until the park
• 1:56:59
  Speaker 3: men brought up a sort of traveling cage and opened it.
• 1:57:03
  Speaker 3: Then Sharp Eyes said to the hippo, well, I'll go
• 1:57:07
  Speaker 3: in there, as they seemed to want me to. Anyhow,
• 1:57:10
  Speaker 3: it's a nicer cage than the one I was in.
• 1:57:13
  Speaker 3: I'll see you again, Chunky, my boy, I hope, so
• 1:57:18
  Speaker 3: said the happy hippo, who always seemed to be smiling.
• 1:57:22
  Speaker 3: Next time I see you, Sharp Eyes, remind me to
• 1:57:26
  Speaker 3: tell you a funny story about dumb, dumb, I will,
• 1:57:30
  Speaker 3: said sharp Eyes. Then the animal man wheeled the cage
• 1:57:34
  Speaker 3: with the fox in it away. Say, said one of
• 1:57:38
  Speaker 3: the men to the others, that silver fox didn't give
• 1:57:41
  Speaker 3: us any trouble. No, was the answer. I thought, sure,
• 1:57:45
  Speaker 3: we'd have to chase him all over the grounds. But
• 1:57:48
  Speaker 3: he was as quiet as could be. I guess he
• 1:57:50
  Speaker 3: isn't as wild as we imagined. And sharp Eyes was
• 1:57:54
  Speaker 3: not the kindness of the hunter who bought him from
• 1:57:58
  Speaker 3: the boy was beginning to tell the silver fox knew
• 1:58:01
  Speaker 3: that not all men were unkind. Some, such as those
• 1:58:06
  Speaker 3: in the zoo and the camera men, were good to
• 1:58:08
  Speaker 3: wild animals. For the first few days, sharp Eyes was
• 1:58:13
  Speaker 3: kept by himself in the small cage into which he
• 1:58:16
  Speaker 3: had been put when the first one broke, Nor was
• 1:58:19
  Speaker 3: he allowed to stay near the other animals. He was
• 1:58:22
  Speaker 3: put by himself in a dark corner of an animal house.
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 3: They'll be quieter there and we'll get a feeling at home,
• 1:58:30
  Speaker 3: said one of the park animal keepers. When you quiet
• 1:58:33
  Speaker 3: down a bit, we'll put you in with the other foxes,
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 3: for we have a lot of red and black ones
• 1:58:39
  Speaker 3: in the park. Of course, sharp Eyes did not know
• 1:58:43
  Speaker 3: just what the man was saying, but it sounded kind
• 1:58:46
  Speaker 3: and kind and gentle. Tones to wild animals mean more
• 1:58:49
  Speaker 3: than just what the words themselves express. Sharp Eyes did
• 1:58:53
  Speaker 3: not like to be left alone, but he could not
• 1:58:56
  Speaker 3: help himself. He was given plenty to eat and to drink,
• 1:59:00
  Speaker 3: but he did not think the zoo a nice place.
• 1:59:03
  Speaker 3: He was too lonesome in it. Then came a day
• 1:59:07
  Speaker 3: when he was taken from the traveling cage and placed
• 1:59:09
  Speaker 3: in a den with other foxes. Here he thought he
• 1:59:12
  Speaker 3: would have a good time, But when the red, brown,
• 1:59:15
  Speaker 3: and black foxes saw him in his fine silver coat,
• 1:59:19
  Speaker 3: they sort of turned up their noses, and one said,
• 1:59:23
  Speaker 3: oh ho, a silver fox. Well, I suppose he'll be
• 1:59:27
  Speaker 3: too proud to speak to us common chaps. Oh no,
• 1:59:31
  Speaker 3: I won't, said sharp Eyes quickly. I'm a fox just
• 1:59:35
  Speaker 3: like you, and I'll tell you some of my adventures
• 1:59:38
  Speaker 3: if you'd like to hear them. There he goes, proud
• 1:59:42
  Speaker 3: of his adventures, sniffed a red fox. Sharp Eyes wasn't
• 1:59:47
  Speaker 3: proud at all, as we know. He only wanted to
• 1:59:50
  Speaker 3: be friendly, But the other foxes would not be and
• 1:59:53
  Speaker 3: kept to themselves, leaving sharp Eyes on one side of
• 1:59:57
  Speaker 3: the cage. One yellow fox tried to bite Sharp Eyes
• 2:00:01
  Speaker 3: when our friend was eating some meat in the den.
• 2:00:03
  Speaker 3: But sharp Eyes soon showed that he had as keen
• 2:00:06
  Speaker 3: teeth as any of them, and then they were glad
• 2:00:09
  Speaker 3: to let him alone. But Sharp Eyes did not have
• 2:00:13
  Speaker 3: a happy time in the first place. He was lonesome.
• 2:00:17
  Speaker 3: He wanted to make friends with the other foxes, but
• 2:00:20
  Speaker 3: they would not. Many many times he wished he was
• 2:00:24
  Speaker 3: back in the woods with Winkle and Twinkle, playing in
• 2:00:27
  Speaker 3: the bushes or running in and out of the hollow log.
• 2:00:31
  Speaker 3: After a while, sharp Eyes grew so lonesome and unhappy
• 2:00:35
  Speaker 3: that he did not eat as much as he ought.
• 2:00:38
  Speaker 3: Instead of keeping fat and growing nicely, he became thin.
• 2:00:43
  Speaker 3: This will never do, said one of the park animal
• 2:00:46
  Speaker 3: men one day, when he stopped to look in the
• 2:00:49
  Speaker 3: fox den. That silver chap isn't doing well at all.
• 2:00:53
  Speaker 3: What's the matter with him? I guess he and the
• 2:00:56
  Speaker 3: other foxes don't get along well together, answered the key
• 2:01:00
  Speaker 3: who had charge of feeding the foxes. A silver one
• 2:01:03
  Speaker 3: keeps to himself all the while. That isn't good, said
• 2:01:07
  Speaker 3: the animal man, who was a person like the one
• 2:01:10
  Speaker 3: with the camera who had first taken a liking to
• 2:01:13
  Speaker 3: sharp Eyes. We must put this silver fox where he
• 2:01:17
  Speaker 3: will be happier and will make friends with other animals.
• 2:01:21
  Speaker 3: Now I think he'd like to be near Chunky, a
• 2:01:23
  Speaker 3: happy hippo, said the keeper. What makes you think that,
• 2:01:28
  Speaker 3: because when Sharpeys first came to our park and his
• 2:01:31
  Speaker 3: cage broke, he went in the hippo's cage, and they
• 2:01:34
  Speaker 3: seemed to like each other. Huh. Well, maybe it would
• 2:01:38
  Speaker 3: be a good thing to move this silver fox back
• 2:01:40
  Speaker 3: near the hippo, said the animal man. Sharp Eyes is
• 2:01:44
  Speaker 3: not the same as sword as these red or black foxes.
• 2:01:48
  Speaker 3: His coat of fur is much better. He is a
• 2:01:51
  Speaker 3: different kind of fox. And if we put him in
• 2:01:53
  Speaker 3: a cage by himself, but people will look at him more.
• 2:01:57
  Speaker 3: Sharp Eye is aught to like that. It will keep
• 2:01:59
  Speaker 3: him from getting lonesome and homesick for the woods from
• 2:02:02
  Speaker 3: which he came. So a few days later they took
• 2:02:05
  Speaker 3: sharp Eyes out of the main fox den and put
• 2:02:08
  Speaker 3: him in a cage by himself, not far from where
• 2:02:11
  Speaker 3: Chunky the happy hippo lived. Oh I am glad to
• 2:02:16
  Speaker 3: see you again, cried the animal with a big mouth,
• 2:02:19
  Speaker 3: which looked like a piano lined with red flannel. So
• 2:02:23
  Speaker 3: you have come to see me, yes, and I didn't
• 2:02:28
  Speaker 3: like it with the other foxes, answered sharp Eyes, I
• 2:02:31
  Speaker 3: am glad they brought me here. Soon he and the
• 2:02:34
  Speaker 3: hippo were talking away to one another at a great rate,
• 2:02:38
  Speaker 3: though if you had stood in front of their cages,
• 2:02:40
  Speaker 3: you would not have thought that they were doing anything
• 2:02:42
  Speaker 3: more than grunting or barking. But that was their way
• 2:02:45
  Speaker 3: of talking. You said you were going to tell me
• 2:02:48
  Speaker 3: a funny story of Tom Tom the jolly elephant, said
• 2:02:52
  Speaker 3: sharp Eyes to Chunky one day. Oh, yes, so I did. Well.
• 2:02:57
  Speaker 3: It was Mappo the monkey who told me. It seems
• 2:03:01
  Speaker 3: that once upon a time Tom Tum was in the
• 2:03:05
  Speaker 3: jungle looking for something to eat. He was very hungry,
• 2:03:09
  Speaker 3: and he was looking for what they call apples in
• 2:03:12
  Speaker 3: this country, though we called him something else in Africa,
• 2:03:16
  Speaker 3: where the jungle is. Tom Tum was in our jungle once,
• 2:03:20
  Speaker 3: you know, yes, said sharp Eyes. I remember, he told
• 2:03:26
  Speaker 3: me when I met him near the circus ground. Well,
• 2:03:29
  Speaker 3: tom Tum went all over our jungle looking for an apple,
• 2:03:34
  Speaker 3: but he could not find any. Finally, however, he saw
• 2:03:38
  Speaker 3: a little monkey pick something that looked like an apple
• 2:03:41
  Speaker 3: from a tree. Here give me that, cried Dum, Tum.
• 2:03:46
  Speaker 3: I haven't had an apple in ever so long. Give
• 2:03:49
  Speaker 3: me that apple, little monkey, and I'll give you a
• 2:03:51
  Speaker 3: ride on my back. All right, said the monkey, But
• 2:03:56
  Speaker 3: give me the ride first. So Tom Tum gave the
• 2:03:59
  Speaker 3: monkey ride all over the jungle, and then he asked
• 2:04:03
  Speaker 3: for the apple. Here it is, cried the monkey, and
• 2:04:07
  Speaker 3: he handed something to Tum. Dumb our elephant friend quickly
• 2:04:12
  Speaker 3: took it in his trunk, and, not stopping to look
• 2:04:15
  Speaker 3: at it, popped it into his mouth and gave it
• 2:04:18
  Speaker 3: a big hard bite. But what do you suppose it was,
• 2:04:23
  Speaker 3: asked Chunky as he told sharp Eyes the story. I
• 2:04:27
  Speaker 3: can't guess, said the fox. It was a hard cocaanut,
• 2:04:32
  Speaker 3: laughed the hippo, and Tum Tum nearly broke his teeth
• 2:04:36
  Speaker 3: on it. After that, he always looked at what he
• 2:04:39
  Speaker 3: ate before putting it in his mouth. That was a
• 2:04:43
  Speaker 3: funny story, said sharp Eyes. Then he and the hippo
• 2:04:47
  Speaker 3: talked for a long time, and the fox watched the
• 2:04:50
  Speaker 3: big animal go into his tank and sink away down
• 2:04:54
  Speaker 3: under the water. Days and weeks went by, and many
• 2:04:58
  Speaker 3: people came to the park to look the animals. Many
• 2:05:01
  Speaker 3: of them stopped in front of the cage where the
• 2:05:03
  Speaker 3: silver fox was. Sharp Eyes was bigger than ever and
• 2:05:08
  Speaker 3: very beautiful, but still sharp Eyes was not happy. He
• 2:05:12
  Speaker 3: missed the long runs he used to have in the woods,
• 2:05:15
  Speaker 3: and he missed the fun with his brother and sister,
• 2:05:18
  Speaker 3: Twinkle and Winkle. Sharp Eyes, you are not happy, said
• 2:05:23
  Speaker 3: Chunky one day. No, I am not, answered the fox.
• 2:05:29
  Speaker 3: What is the matter, asked the happy hippo. Well, I
• 2:05:33
  Speaker 3: don't like it here, the silver fox replied, I want
• 2:05:37
  Speaker 3: to go back to my woods and live in the
• 2:05:39
  Speaker 3: hollow long. Well, perhaps you are right, said the hippo,
• 2:05:44
  Speaker 3: after thinking about it and opening his mouth to catch
• 2:05:47
  Speaker 3: a loaf of bread his keeper threw in. Some animals
• 2:05:52
  Speaker 3: like it here in the zoo, and others do not.
• 2:05:55
  Speaker 3: For them, there is one of two things to do,
• 2:05:58
  Speaker 3: die or get out. I don't want to see you die,
• 2:06:03
  Speaker 3: sharp Eyes, so I will help you get out? How
• 2:06:08
  Speaker 3: asked sharp Eyes? Eagerly? This way, said the hippo. They
• 2:06:13
  Speaker 3: often let me out in the yard to walk around,
• 2:06:16
  Speaker 3: for I am quite tame. Now the next time I
• 2:06:20
  Speaker 3: am out, I will bump into your cage, as if
• 2:06:23
  Speaker 3: by accident. I am so big and strong, and your
• 2:06:27
  Speaker 3: cage is so weak that it will not take a
• 2:06:30
  Speaker 3: very hard bump to break it. When I break it,
• 2:06:34
  Speaker 3: and I'll do it without hurting you, you can run
• 2:06:37
  Speaker 3: out and go back to your woods. Oh thank you,
• 2:06:42
  Speaker 3: barked sharp Eyes. I'll do that. Please break open my
• 2:06:46
  Speaker 3: cage and let me out as soon as you can,
• 2:06:49
  Speaker 3: and Chunky did. A few days later, when he was
• 2:06:52
  Speaker 3: in the yard back of his cage, wandering about and
• 2:06:55
  Speaker 3: eating hay, he strolled over to the cage of the fox.
• 2:07:00
  Speaker 3: Show no Sharp Eyes, said the hippo. I am going
• 2:07:03
  Speaker 3: to bump against you. Goodbye, and when you get out,
• 2:07:08
  Speaker 3: think of me sometimes and give my love to Tom
• 2:07:11
  Speaker 3: tum Down or any of my friends. You see, I will,
• 2:07:16
  Speaker 3: said the fox. The next minute, the big hippo bumped
• 2:07:20
  Speaker 3: sharply against the fox cage. There was a crash, a
• 2:07:24
  Speaker 3: splintering of wood, and Sharp Eyes sprang out. The silver
• 2:07:28
  Speaker 3: fox was running away. End of chapter.
• 2:07:32
  Speaker 2: Eleven Chapter twelve of Sharp Eyes the Silver Fox. This
• 2:07:43
  Speaker 2: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
• 2:07:47
  Speaker 2: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
• 2:07:51
  Speaker 2: LibriVox dot org. Recording by Chad Jackson. Sharp Eyes the
• 2:07:57
  Speaker 2: Silver Fox by Richard Barney chapter twelve, Sharp Eyes gets home.
• 2:08:04
  Speaker 2: How good it is to be free? Thought Sharp Eyes
• 2:08:06
  Speaker 2: the silver fox, as he bounded out of the broken
• 2:08:09
  Speaker 2: cage and ran quickly to hide under some bushes that
• 2:08:12
  Speaker 2: grew near the place in the zoological park where Chunky,
• 2:08:15
  Speaker 2: the happy hippo lived. How good it is to be free. Goodbye, Chunky,
• 2:08:20
  Speaker 2: he called softly to his friend from where he was
• 2:08:22
  Speaker 2: hidden under the bush. Good Bye. I wish you were
• 2:08:25
  Speaker 2: coming with me. No, thank you, said the hippo. I
• 2:08:28
  Speaker 2: am better off in the park. I need to be warm,
• 2:08:30
  Speaker 2: for I come from jungle land. As for you, with
• 2:08:33
  Speaker 2: your warm coat of silver fur, you do not mind
• 2:08:36
  Speaker 2: winter and snow. Good Bye and good luck to you.
• 2:08:39
  Speaker 2: Then the hippo went to take a swim in the
• 2:08:41
  Speaker 2: pool of his cage, and Sharp Eyes, remembering the hiding
• 2:08:45
  Speaker 2: tricks his father and mother had taught him when he
• 2:08:47
  Speaker 2: lived in the woods, made ready to get as far
• 2:08:49
  Speaker 2: away as he could. The silver fox kept very quiet
• 2:08:53
  Speaker 2: under the bush, waiting to see what would happen. Soon
• 2:08:56
  Speaker 2: he knew the animal keepers would find out he was gone,
• 2:08:59
  Speaker 2: and they would hunt for him. Sharpys did not want
• 2:09:02
  Speaker 2: them to find him. I must creep away as carefully
• 2:09:05
  Speaker 2: as if I was hunting a chicken at the farm
• 2:09:08
  Speaker 2: near the north Woods where I used to live, said
• 2:09:10
  Speaker 2: Sharp Eyes to himself. But no more chickens for me
• 2:09:13
  Speaker 2: unless I can be sure there is no trap near by.
• 2:09:16
  Speaker 2: I must be very careful, carefully and slyly. He looked around.
• 2:09:21
  Speaker 2: He saw no one, and he thought it would be
• 2:09:23
  Speaker 2: a good thing to run a little farther away from
• 2:09:25
  Speaker 2: the park. He was too close to his broken cage,
• 2:09:29
  Speaker 2: trailing his big bushy tail along behind him. Sharp Eyes
• 2:09:32
  Speaker 2: crept out from under the bush and ran across the path.
• 2:09:35
  Speaker 2: A little distance farther on were some trees, and the
• 2:09:38
  Speaker 2: silver fox hoped they would prove to be a wood
• 2:09:41
  Speaker 2: in which he might hide. But just as he was
• 2:09:43
  Speaker 2: going in among the trees, which were not a wood
• 2:09:46
  Speaker 2: but only a part of the park, one of the
• 2:09:48
  Speaker 2: keepers saw him. Oh, the silver foxes out of his cage,
• 2:09:52
  Speaker 2: cried this man, We must get the silver fox. He
• 2:09:55
  Speaker 2: ran towards Sharp Eyes, and so did some of the
• 2:09:58
  Speaker 2: other men who heard the cry. If they had had
• 2:10:00
  Speaker 2: some dogs to help them, then they might have caught
• 2:10:03
  Speaker 2: the fox. But Sharp Eyes could run faster than the
• 2:10:05
  Speaker 2: fastest man, and he was in among the farthest trees
• 2:10:09
  Speaker 2: before the keepers had reached the first ones. Now I
• 2:10:11
  Speaker 2: must hide, said sharp Eyes to himself. If I can
• 2:10:14
  Speaker 2: find a hollow log, I'll crawl in that. But the
• 2:10:17
  Speaker 2: woods of the park were not like those of the
• 2:10:20
  Speaker 2: north where the fox had lived. There were no fallen
• 2:10:23
  Speaker 2: trees or hollow logs. Sharp Eyes heard the men running
• 2:10:26
  Speaker 2: after him and shouting. They were getting nearer and nearer.
• 2:10:30
  Speaker 2: He must find some place to hide. He looked all
• 2:10:33
  Speaker 2: about him, and at last saw a little hollow place
• 2:10:36
  Speaker 2: filled with dried leaves beneath the roots of a tree.
• 2:10:40
  Speaker 2: Quickly scraping the ground away with his forepaws, the silver
• 2:10:43
  Speaker 2: fox made the hole a little larger. Then he crawled
• 2:10:46
  Speaker 2: down into it, and managed to scatter some leaves about
• 2:10:49
  Speaker 2: on top of the hole so that it did not
• 2:10:51
  Speaker 2: show very plainly. Sharp Eyes was hidden in this hole
• 2:10:55
  Speaker 2: when the men from the park rushed into the patch
• 2:10:57
  Speaker 2: of woods. Do you see that fox? Asked one man. No,
• 2:11:00
  Speaker 2: he must have run right on, answered another. Even while
• 2:11:03
  Speaker 2: they said this, the men stood near the hole in
• 2:11:06
  Speaker 2: which Sharp Eyes was hidden, but they could not see
• 2:11:08
  Speaker 2: him on account of the leaves he had brushed over himself.
• 2:11:12
  Speaker 2: Dogs could have smelled the fox, but the noses of
• 2:11:14
  Speaker 2: the men were not keen enough for this, nor were
• 2:11:17
  Speaker 2: they hunters or trappers who might have seen the marks
• 2:11:20
  Speaker 2: left by Sharp Eye's feet in the soft dirt. So
• 2:11:22
  Speaker 2: the animal keepers passed right on, leaving the silver Fox
• 2:11:25
  Speaker 2: in the hole. And then his heart stopped beating so fast,
• 2:11:29
  Speaker 2: for he felt that he was safe, at least for
• 2:11:31
  Speaker 2: a time, and might at last get far far away.
• 2:11:34
  Speaker 2: I'll wait a bit until the men get out of
• 2:11:36
  Speaker 2: the woods, thought the silver Fox. Then I'll run as
• 2:11:39
  Speaker 2: far as I can. But I guess I'll wait until
• 2:11:42
  Speaker 2: after dark. Then they can't see me too. Plainly, Sharp
• 2:11:46
  Speaker 2: Eyes was not hungry, for he had been well fed
• 2:11:48
  Speaker 2: in the zoo, but he was thirsty, and he dared
• 2:11:50
  Speaker 2: not go out for a drink. How he wished he
• 2:11:53
  Speaker 2: could lap up some water from the pool in which Chunky,
• 2:11:56
  Speaker 2: the happy hippo swam, but that could not be done,
• 2:11:59
  Speaker 2: so Sharp remained hidden under the roots of the tree.
• 2:12:02
  Speaker 2: The animal keepers hunted all over the woods but could
• 2:12:05
  Speaker 2: not find the silver Fox. They came back to his
• 2:12:08
  Speaker 2: broken cage, and the head keepers said, well, it is
• 2:12:11
  Speaker 2: too bad that silver fox got away, for he was
• 2:12:14
  Speaker 2: a beautiful animal, and the boys and the girls and
• 2:12:16
  Speaker 2: their fathers and mothers like to look at him. But
• 2:12:19
  Speaker 2: maybe he will be happier if he gets back to
• 2:12:21
  Speaker 2: his own woods. I wonder how he could break out
• 2:12:24
  Speaker 2: of his cage. The man did not know the trick
• 2:12:26
  Speaker 2: Chunky had played, and you may be sure the happy
• 2:12:29
  Speaker 2: hippo did not tell he missed sharp Eyes. Chunky did,
• 2:12:32
  Speaker 2: But there were other animals in the zoo for the
• 2:12:34
  Speaker 2: hippo to talk to, though I liked to talk to
• 2:12:37
  Speaker 2: that fox about Tom Tom and our other friends, said
• 2:12:40
  Speaker 2: Chunky to himself. However, maybe sharp Eyes is better off
• 2:12:44
  Speaker 2: out of his cage. I hope so. The silver fox
• 2:12:47
  Speaker 2: waited until night before coming out of his hiding place.
• 2:12:50
  Speaker 2: Even then, he looked around very carefully to make sure
• 2:12:53
  Speaker 2: there was no danger. Foxes can see in the dark
• 2:12:56
  Speaker 2: almost as well as cats, and our friend had eyes
• 2:12:59
  Speaker 2: that were brighter and better than those of most foxes.
• 2:13:02
  Speaker 2: I guess no one is around to catch me, thought
• 2:13:05
  Speaker 2: the silver fox to himself as he came out of
• 2:13:07
  Speaker 2: his hole. I don't smell any dogs to chase me. Oh,
• 2:13:11
  Speaker 2: how good it is to be free and not shut
• 2:13:13
  Speaker 2: up in a cage. Now I am going back to
• 2:13:15
  Speaker 2: the north Woods to buy father and mother and to
• 2:13:18
  Speaker 2: twinkle and winkle. Sharp Eyes did not know how far
• 2:13:21
  Speaker 2: it was to the north Woods where he used to live.
• 2:13:23
  Speaker 2: Perhaps it was just as well he did not, or
• 2:13:26
  Speaker 2: he might never have tried to go there. As it was,
• 2:13:29
  Speaker 2: he set off in the dark. No one visited the
• 2:13:32
  Speaker 2: zoo after dark, and even the watchmen and animal keepers
• 2:13:35
  Speaker 2: went to bed. So did the animals, except maybe the elephants,
• 2:13:39
  Speaker 2: and they sleep standing up. Thus no one saw sharp
• 2:13:42
  Speaker 2: Eyes as he ran through the park in the darkness
• 2:13:44
  Speaker 2: of the night. From tree to bush, and from bush
• 2:13:47
  Speaker 2: to tree. He ran until he came to a stone wall.
• 2:13:50
  Speaker 2: This was one end of the park, and to get out,
• 2:13:53
  Speaker 2: the fox had to jump over this wall, but that
• 2:13:55
  Speaker 2: was easy for him. Often he had jumped over high bushes,
• 2:13:59
  Speaker 2: fallen trees in the woods, or fences around a farm
• 2:14:02
  Speaker 2: when he wanted to get a fat chicken. So they
• 2:14:05
  Speaker 2: bound and a leap. Sharp Eyes went over the wall,
• 2:14:08
  Speaker 2: and to his surprise he found himself in a queer place.
• 2:14:11
  Speaker 2: It was a very light place and noisy. Big yellow
• 2:14:14
  Speaker 2: things like railroad cars were running up and down. They
• 2:14:18
  Speaker 2: were the trolleys, though the fox did not know that
• 2:14:21
  Speaker 2: then too, he saw black things like big bugs, making
• 2:14:24
  Speaker 2: no noise with their wheels, but puffing white smoke out
• 2:14:27
  Speaker 2: of the back, also running up and down, in and
• 2:14:30
  Speaker 2: out among the yellow things. These were automobiles and Sharpeyes
• 2:14:34
  Speaker 2: also saw many people in the street, for it was
• 2:14:37
  Speaker 2: into a city street he had leaped. After jumping over
• 2:14:40
  Speaker 2: the park wall. For a few seconds, sharp eyes stove
• 2:14:43
  Speaker 2: very still. After landing in the street, he crouched back
• 2:14:47
  Speaker 2: against the stone wall, and then he heard a sudden shout.
• 2:14:50
  Speaker 2: Oh look, what a beautiful silver dog, cried a lady.
• 2:14:53
  Speaker 2: Of course, sharp Eyes did not know just what she said,
• 2:14:56
  Speaker 2: But that was it a dog. That isn't a dog,
• 2:15:00
  Speaker 2: said a man with the lady. That's a silver fox,
• 2:15:02
  Speaker 2: and it must have gotten away from the zoo. I
• 2:15:05
  Speaker 2: wonder if it's tame enough for me to catch. Oh
• 2:15:07
  Speaker 2: don't he might bite you, said the lady. But the
• 2:15:10
  Speaker 2: man ran toward the fox. However, sharp Eyes did not
• 2:15:13
  Speaker 2: wait for the man to come very close. With a
• 2:15:16
  Speaker 2: little bark, the silver fox bounded to one side and
• 2:15:19
  Speaker 2: ran along the street. By this time several other men
• 2:15:22
  Speaker 2: and boys had seen him, and they ran after him,
• 2:15:25
  Speaker 2: some thinking he was a dog. The heart of sharp
• 2:15:27
  Speaker 2: Eyes beat very fast, and he hardly knew what to do.
• 2:15:31
  Speaker 2: At last, he saw a dark place which he thought
• 2:15:33
  Speaker 2: was a cave in which he might hide. It was
• 2:15:35
  Speaker 2: really underneath the high front steps of a house on
• 2:15:38
  Speaker 2: the street, and the silver fox crawled back into the
• 2:15:41
  Speaker 2: darkest corner. He was delighted when the men and boys
• 2:15:45
  Speaker 2: ran past his new hiding place, for that told him
• 2:15:47
  Speaker 2: he had not been seen. I hope they don't get me,
• 2:15:50
  Speaker 2: thought the silver fox, and the men and boys did not.
• 2:15:53
  Speaker 2: They knew nothing about hunting foxes, even in the streets
• 2:15:56
  Speaker 2: of a big city, and they soon gave up the chase.
• 2:15:59
  Speaker 2: Sharp Eyes stayed under the steps in the darkness until
• 2:16:02
  Speaker 2: the streets grew quiet late at night, or rather very
• 2:16:05
  Speaker 2: early in the morning. The trolley cars and automobiles stopped running.
• 2:16:09
  Speaker 2: The streets had no one in them, and then it
• 2:16:12
  Speaker 2: was that the fox came quietly out and ran along.
• 2:16:15
  Speaker 2: He did not know just where he was going. He
• 2:16:17
  Speaker 2: wanted to get to the country, into the woods. He
• 2:16:20
  Speaker 2: wanted to get back home. On and on he ran,
• 2:16:23
  Speaker 2: and if anyone in the city saw him in those
• 2:16:25
  Speaker 2: early hours of the morning, they must have thought him
• 2:16:27
  Speaker 2: a stray dog. For they did not chase him. The
• 2:16:30
  Speaker 2: silver fox was tired and hungry. He managed to find
• 2:16:33
  Speaker 2: a bit of meat in an ash box, and once
• 2:16:35
  Speaker 2: he came to a fountain where horses were watered, and
• 2:16:38
  Speaker 2: he got a drink. Then he felt better. It would
• 2:16:41
  Speaker 2: take another book almost as large as this to tell
• 2:16:44
  Speaker 2: all the adventures of sharp Eyes as he ran through
• 2:16:47
  Speaker 2: the city and at last got to the country where
• 2:16:49
  Speaker 2: there were some woods. At times boys and men saw
• 2:16:52
  Speaker 2: him and chased him, and more than once dogs ran
• 2:16:55
  Speaker 2: after him, barking. But sharp Eyes was a smart fox.
• 2:16:59
  Speaker 2: He had the smartness of a wild animal and the
• 2:17:01
  Speaker 2: cunning of a partly tamed one, so he knew how
• 2:17:04
  Speaker 2: to hide and how to get away. On and on
• 2:17:06
  Speaker 2: he traveled. It was quite different from being carried in
• 2:17:09
  Speaker 2: a cage by the hunter or riding in the railroad train.
• 2:17:13
  Speaker 2: It was hard work. The feet of sharp Eyes became sore,
• 2:17:16
  Speaker 2: especially the one which had been hurt in the trap.
• 2:17:19
  Speaker 2: Often the silver fox was hungry and thirsty, but he
• 2:17:22
  Speaker 2: kept on and on. He did not go near cities,
• 2:17:25
  Speaker 2: but kept to the country and the woods. Often he
• 2:17:28
  Speaker 2: would take a chicken or a duck from a farm
• 2:17:30
  Speaker 2: at night. He did not know it was wrong, for
• 2:17:32
  Speaker 2: he had to live and this was the only way
• 2:17:35
  Speaker 2: he had of getting food. On and on he went.
• 2:17:38
  Speaker 2: Sometimes he had to wade across brooks, and more than
• 2:17:41
  Speaker 2: once he swam rivers. All the while he was looking
• 2:17:44
  Speaker 2: for his old home in the north woods, not knowing
• 2:17:47
  Speaker 2: how far away it was. When he met any animals
• 2:17:49
  Speaker 2: who seemed kind, horses, dogs, or cats, Sharp Eyes would
• 2:17:53
  Speaker 2: ask them, do you know where my hollow log home is?
• 2:17:57
  Speaker 2: Or do you know my father or mother, or my
• 2:17:59
  Speaker 2: brother Twinkle or my sister Winkle. No would be the answer,
• 2:18:03
  Speaker 2: We don't know. Then I must go on further, said
• 2:18:06
  Speaker 2: sharp Eyes. By this time his silver coat was tattered
• 2:18:10
  Speaker 2: and tangled in it were burrs and briars. The feet
• 2:18:14
  Speaker 2: of the silver fox were cut and sore, but he
• 2:18:16
  Speaker 2: kept on. Once a hunter shot at him, hoping to
• 2:18:20
  Speaker 2: get the silver fur, but the bullet whistled over sharp
• 2:18:23
  Speaker 2: Eyes back. Once a savage dog chased him, and he
• 2:18:27
  Speaker 2: had to run very fast, turning many ways, and finally
• 2:18:30
  Speaker 2: waited a long distance in a brook before the dog
• 2:18:33
  Speaker 2: lost the scent and gave up. Oh, dear, thought sharp Eyes,
• 2:18:37
  Speaker 2: I wonder if I shall ever get home again. He
• 2:18:39
  Speaker 2: was very tired, but he would not give up. One evening,
• 2:18:43
  Speaker 2: after a day of hard travel, the silver fox felt
• 2:18:45
  Speaker 2: that he could go no further. He saw a stream
• 2:18:48
  Speaker 2: of water just ahead of him, and slowly he limped
• 2:18:51
  Speaker 2: to it to get a drink. As he was lapping
• 2:18:53
  Speaker 2: up the cool drops, he heard behind him a voice.
• 2:18:56
  Speaker 2: He seemed to know it was animal talk, and some
• 2:18:58
  Speaker 2: one said, oh, mother, look there is a strange fox. Yes,
• 2:19:03
  Speaker 2: so it is. Another voice answered, well, don't bother him.
• 2:19:06
  Speaker 2: He looks tired and weary. Let him drink, and when
• 2:19:09
  Speaker 2: he is rested, we can give him some of the
• 2:19:11
  Speaker 2: chicken ew and Twinkle caught to day. What's that, Twinkle
• 2:19:15
  Speaker 2: cried sharp eyes, stopping his drinking and turning quickly around.
• 2:19:18
  Speaker 2: Who is Twinkle, he asked in fox talk. That is
• 2:19:21
  Speaker 2: the name of my brother, said the smaller of the
• 2:19:24
  Speaker 2: two foxes, who were near a hole in the bank
• 2:19:26
  Speaker 2: of the stream. I am Winkle. Then you must be
• 2:19:29
  Speaker 2: my sister, cried sharp eyes. Your sister, exclaimed the other fox.
• 2:19:34
  Speaker 2: Why why? But suddenly the larger fox sprang forward with
• 2:19:37
  Speaker 2: the eager eyes. She looked at the silver animal, sharp eyes,
• 2:19:41
  Speaker 2: sharp eyes, she cried, don't you know me? I am
• 2:19:44
  Speaker 2: your mother. Oh, how glad I am to have you back,
• 2:19:47
  Speaker 2: And she rubbed her cold nose against his and kissed
• 2:19:50
  Speaker 2: him with her tongue. Sharp eyes, who is talking of
• 2:19:53
  Speaker 2: sharp eyes, asked another fox, coming to the opening of
• 2:19:56
  Speaker 2: the hole in the side of the stream bank. Sharp
• 2:19:58
  Speaker 2: Eyes has been gone a long time, but he is
• 2:20:01
  Speaker 2: back now, cried the mother fox. See here he is.
• 2:20:05
  Speaker 2: He has grown to be a big fox, and his
• 2:20:07
  Speaker 2: silver coat is all ragged and torn. But he is
• 2:20:09
  Speaker 2: our sharp eyes just the same. The other big fox
• 2:20:13
  Speaker 2: came down to the edge of the stream. He looked
• 2:20:15
  Speaker 2: carefully at the silver fox, so did a smaller animal,
• 2:20:18
  Speaker 2: and to him sharp Eyes said. Don't you know me,
• 2:20:21
  Speaker 2: brother twinkle? Why it is sharp eyes, cried the other
• 2:20:24
  Speaker 2: I can tell him by the scar on his foot
• 2:20:26
  Speaker 2: where he was caught in the trap. Yes I am
• 2:20:29
  Speaker 2: sharp Eyes, said the silver fox. And oh, how glad
• 2:20:32
  Speaker 2: I am to get back home again. I am so
• 2:20:34
  Speaker 2: glad to see you, father and mother, and you Twinkle
• 2:20:37
  Speaker 2: and Winkle. I thought I should never get to the
• 2:20:39
  Speaker 2: north woods again. These are not the north woods, said
• 2:20:42
  Speaker 2: the father fox. These woods are far far away. We
• 2:20:46
  Speaker 2: left them long ago. Soon after you are missing, we
• 2:20:49
  Speaker 2: came to these woods to live. How did you find us?
• 2:20:52
  Speaker 2: And where have you been? I have been in many places,
• 2:20:55
  Speaker 2: answered the silver Fox, and I have had many adventures.
• 2:20:58
  Speaker 2: I don't know how I happened to find you. I
• 2:21:01
  Speaker 2: guess it was just an accident, such as Chunky, the
• 2:21:04
  Speaker 2: happy hippo said he would make believe happen to my
• 2:21:07
  Speaker 2: cage when he leaned against it and set me free.
• 2:21:09
  Speaker 2: But at last I am home again, yes, said his mother,
• 2:21:13
  Speaker 2: in our new home. Are you hungry? Sharp Eyes? Am
• 2:21:16
  Speaker 2: I hungry? He cried? Well, I should say I am.
• 2:21:19
  Speaker 2: I'll bring you some of the chicken that brother Twinkle
• 2:21:21
  Speaker 2: and I caught to day, said Winkle. We are good
• 2:21:24
  Speaker 2: hunters now, sharp Eyes, Yes, indeed they are good hunters,
• 2:21:28
  Speaker 2: said mister Fox. Well, sharp Eyes, I guess you have
• 2:21:31
  Speaker 2: had enough of adventures, haven't you. Indeed, I have, answered
• 2:21:34
  Speaker 2: the silver Fox, as he ate some chicken in the
• 2:21:37
  Speaker 2: new cave house. I am never going away again. Tell
• 2:21:40
  Speaker 2: us your adventures, said Twinkle, when his brother had rested
• 2:21:43
  Speaker 2: in the cave. There were so many it will take
• 2:21:46
  Speaker 2: me quite a while, answered the silver Fox. I met
• 2:21:49
  Speaker 2: many animal friends, and they had their adventures put into books.
• 2:21:53
  Speaker 2: Maybe that will happen to me.
• 2:21:55
  Speaker 3: And it did.
• 2:21:56
  Speaker 2: And here's the very book, as you can see for yourself.
• 2:21:59
  Speaker 2: And now as we have brought these adventures of Sharp
• 2:22:01
  Speaker 2: Eyes to an end, we will say good bye to him.
• 2:22:04
  Speaker 2: The end end of chapter twelve, end of Sharp Eyes
• 2:22:11
  Speaker 2: The Silver Fox by Richard Barnum