THE WORLD TURNS WHITE

: The Tale Of Tommy Fox

After he outwitted the strange dog, Tommy Fox became more of a

braggart than ever. He thought that he knew just about all there was

to know. But with the coming of winter Tommy found that he had many

things to learn. It was almost like living in a different world, for

the ground was white everywhere. And though Tommy Fox loved to play in

the snow, he discovered one thing about it that he did not like at

all. It frighte
ed him when he saw how plainly his footprints showed

after a fresh snow-fall. And he wondered how he would ever be able to

escape being caught, should any strange dog chase him.



As the winter days passed, Tommy learned that it was very hard for him

to run fast in a light, dry snow--that through such snow a dog could

run much faster than he could. But when there was a thin crust he

could go skipping along like the wind, while dogs, being heavier,

broke through the crust and floundered about in the softer snow

beneath.



One day Tommy and his mother were out hunting. The snow was very deep

everywhere, for it was mid-winter. And it had thawed and frozen so

often that the snow was quite hard, except for just about an inch of

fresh snow which had fallen during the night. Tommy and his mother

could see rabbit tracks all around them; and they had very good luck

hunting. But something happened that wasn't exactly lucky. They had

turned toward home, when a dog bayed somewhere behind them, and pretty

soon Mrs. Fox saw that they were being followed.



She and Tommy started to run. And Tommy saw that there was one more

bad thing about winter. Swift River, and all the little brooks, were

covered with thick ice and there was no chance at all for him and his

mother to run through shallow water and throw the dog off their scent.



It was that strange dog that was chasing them--the one that belonged

to Farmer Green's hired man. He was a very fast runner, and in spite

of the usual tricks that foxes know, Mrs. Fox and Tommy could not lose

him.



Tommy began to be frightened. And old Mrs. Fox herself was somewhat

worried. But she still had a few tricks up her sleeve. She didn't

intend to let that dog catch them if she could help it.





"Oh, Mother! whatever shall we do?" Tommy said. "Do you think we can

get away from him?"



"Of course," Mrs. Fox answered. "But you must do just as I tell you.

Now, follow right in my tracks, and don't be frightened, I'm going to

show you a new trick--one that my own mother taught me when I was no

older than you are."



Mrs. Fox turned to the right and started back across the valley. She

was going straight toward Swift River.



"Oh, dear!" Tommy cried. "Don't you know that the river is frozen

solid, Mother? The dog can follow us across it, as easy as anything."



"Stop fussing!" Mrs. Fox said, looking over her shoulder at Tommy.

"We're not going to the river. You just mind me and you'll see, in a

few minutes, that we can fool that dog." And she kept on running, with

Tommy right at her heels.



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