Danny Fox

"Danny Fox" by David Cory is a charming children's story that follows the adventures of a clever and mischievous young fox named Danny. Set in a whimsical forest, Danny's escapades highlight themes of curiosity, friendship, and the importance of being true to oneself. The narrative unfolds with delightful illustrations and engaging prose, capturing the imaginations of young readers while conveying valuable life lessons. Through his adventures, Danny Fox learns about the joys and challenges of life in the wild, making it a delightful read for children and parents alike.

• Children

								
    “Wake up, wake up, it’s breakfast time!
     The Old Red Rooster is crowing a rime,
     The doves on the roof are cooing away
     And Bobbie Redvest is singing his lay,”

sang the musical alarm clock.

Out of bed hopped Little Jack Rabbit and parting his hair down the
middle of his back with a little chip, picked up his knapsack and
hurried down to the breakfast table.

Lady Love’s carrot coffee and lollypop porridge soon made the little
bunny lose his appetite. Wasn’t that too bad? Well, I don’t know. I’d
gladly lose my appetite for lollypop stew.

“Where’s father?” he asked, wiping his lips on a nice clean lettuce
leaf napkin.

“Down at the Post Office,” answered his pretty mother. “He said for
you to stay near the Old Bramble Patch until he got back.”

“All right,” answered the good little bunny. “May I go now, mother
dear?”

“Have you polished the front doorknob and fed the canary and filled
the woodbox?” she asked, with a smile. I guess she knew the little
rabbit had forgotten all about his daily morning duties.

“Dear, dear, I forgot,” cried the little bunny and, picking up the
box of brass polish and a rag, he set to work on the doorknob. Pretty
soon it looked like a golden ball under the bright beams of Mr. Merry
Sun. Perhaps he thought he’d help the little rabbit. Who knows!

Next the bunny boy fed the pretty canary in her little gold cage,
which hung in the kitchen during the winter, but when the days grew
warm and bright, on the front porch. After her tiny cup was filled
with birdseed the little bunny hopped out to the woodpile.

“Hello, there,” said the Old Red Rooster, whom Uncle Lucky had sent
over to spade the kitchen garden and plant the vegetables, “how’s
Little Jack Rabbit this morning?”

“Oh, I’m all right,” answered the little bunny, picking up the hoe
which the old fowl had left by the flower-bed. “I’m all right and I’m
all glad and I’m fond of my mother and my dad.”

“Whoa, there, Mr. Rabbit Poet!” cried the Old Red Rooster. “How do
you get that way?”

“I’ve been reading a poetry book,” answered the little bunny, handing
a rose to Lady Love, who at that moment hopped out to the garden.
Pretty soon she went back in the kitchen. It’s mighty lucky that she
did, for just then, all of a sudden, something happened. And it would
have been quite dreadful if the Old Red Rooster hadn’t given a timely
warning. Yes, sir, if, right then he hadn’t hollered “Look out!”
there would be little use in my putting it in now.

The moment the little bunny heard the warning he hopped through the
window, quick as a wink. And it was mighty lucky that he did, for
right there under the trees stood Danny Fox.

“Good morning,” he said, with a smile. But it didn’t look like a
smile to Little Jack Rabbit. Oh, dear, no! It looked like a great big
white-toothed grin. That’s what it did, and I guess the little bunny
was right.

“I think it’s a bad morning,” replied Little Jack Rabbit. “You’ve
changed everything.”

“Don’t say that,” whined Danny Fox. “What makes you so unfriendly?”

“Never you mind, you old robber,” shouted the Old Red Rooster from
the top of the woodshed, on which he had taken refuge.

“Oh, you’re around,” snarled Danny Fox. “I thought you were working
for Uncle Lucky Lefthindfoot, the old gentleman rabbit.”

“Well, you’ve got another think,” replied the Old Red Rooster, “and
if you don’t get out of here I’ll send a wireless message to the
Policeman Dog to put you in jail.”

“Yes, you will,” sneered the old fox. “How are you going to send a
message, I’d like to know.”

“Ha, ha!” laughed the Old Red Rooster, with a jump and a big flap of
his wings. And, would you believe it! he flew from the woodshed right
over to the roof of the cowshed next the Little Red Barn! Then up he
jumped to the little window overhead. That’s what he did, the wise
old fowl.

“I wonder what he’s going to do?” thought Danny Fox, beginning to
grow uneasy. “I wonder what he’s up to?” and again the old fox looked
here and there, fearing some trick was to be sprung upon him.

“Cock-a-doodle do!” all of a sudden shouted the Old Red Rooster.

“What do you want?” asked Lady Love, looking out of the attic window.
But on seeing Danny Fox she almost fainted.

“Don’t worry, mother,” cried Little Jack Rabbit. “I’m safe in the
kitchen. I won’t hop out till Danny Fox goes home.”

“Ha, ha!” laughed that old robber, “maybe I’ll wait here till the 4th
of July.”

“Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” cried the little rabbit’s mother, anxiously,
“please go away, Danny Fox.”

“No, siree!” answered that wicked animal. “I shall stay right here
for a year and a day, and maybe I’ll never go away.”

Now wasn’t that a dreadful thing to hear? Well, I guess it was. But
just you wait a minute. I think the Old Red Rooster up in the loft of
the Little Red Barn will do something, and do it mighty quick, let me
tell you.

“Hello, hello!” he shouted, all of a sudden, just like that, from the
tiny window of the Little Red Barn.

“I’m listening,” answered Lady Love from the attic.

“I hear you,” called out Little Jack Rabbit from the kitchen. But
Danny Fox didn’t say a word.

“Something’s going to happen in a minute,” shouted the Old Red
Rooster. “Yes, sireebus, something’s going to happen!”

“I wonder what?” thought Danny Fox, looking this way and that way and
every other way. But he saw nothing, except the grass waving in the
Sunny Meadow and the treetops bending in the Shady Forest.

Pretty soon he looked up at Lady Love, then at the Old Red Rooster.
What were they doing? And why was the Old Red Rooster waving his
pocket handkerchief? And why was Lady Love nodding her head?

“Dear, dear!” thought the old fox, “are they crazy?”

Just then, all of a sudden, just like that, quicker than bills on
the first of the month, over the Old Rail Fence jumped the Policeman
Dog, the Yellow Dog Tramp, the Stagecoach Dog Driver, the Billy Goat
Ferryman, the Big Brown Bear and dear Uncle Lucky, the old gentleman
rabbit.

“O-o-o-o!” whined Danny Fox, looking for a way to escape. By the
woodpile stood the Policeman Dog, a few feet away the Yellow Dog
Tramp, over by the Little Red Barn the Stagecoach Dog; by the kitchen
door the Billy Goat Ferryman, at the Old Rail Fence the Big Brown
Bear and a few hops away, dear Uncle Lucky.

“O-o-o-o,” again whined Danny Fox. He felt something was going to
happen to him. He knew the Policeman Dog, the Yellow Dog Tramp, the
Stagecoach Dog Driver, the Billy Goat Ferryman, the Big Brown Bear
and dear Uncle Lucky, the old gentleman bunny, hadn’t jumped over the
Old Rail Fence for fun, but he didn’t know that the Old Red Rooster
had sent for them on the radio.

Yes, siree, something was, and is, going to happen to that dreadful
fox, for, quick as a wink, they all closed in on him and before he
could say a word or two or three, but no more, the Policeman Dog
snapped a pair of handcuffs over his front paws.

								Rate this book:0.0 / 0 votes