"No!"
"Yes! But that is nothing to where we arc going now. You have come just at the right moment, my dear Badger. You can help us dig. And in the meanwhile, your small son can run back to Mrs. Badger and all the others and spread the good news." Mr. Fox turned to the Small Badger and said. "Tell them they are invited to a Fox's Feast. Then bring them all down here and follow this tunnel back until you find my home!"
"Yes, Mr. Fox!" said the Small Badger. "Yes, sir! Right away, sir! Oh, thank you, sir!" and he scrambled quickly back through the hole in the roof of the tunnel and disappeared.
13
Bunce's Giant Storehouse
"My dear Foxy!" cried Badger. "What in the world has happened to your tail?"
"Don't talk about it, please," said Mr. Fox. "It's a painful subject."
They were digging the new tunnel. They dug on in silence. Badger was a great digger and the tunnel went forward at a terrific pace now that he was lending a paw. Soon they were crouching underneath yet another wooden floor.
Mr. Fox grinned slyly, showing sharp white teeth. "If I am not mistaken, my dear Badger," he said, "we are now underneath the farm which belongs to that nasty little pot-bellied dwarf, Bunce. We are, in fact, directly underneath the most interesting part of that farm."
"Ducks and geese!" cried the Small Foxes, licking their lips. "Juicy tender ducks and big fat geese!"
"Ex-actly!" said Mr. Fox.
"But how in the world can you know where we are?" asked Badger.
Mr. Fox grinned again, showing even more white teeth. "Look," he said, "I know my way around these farms blindfold. For me it's just as easy below ground as it is above it." He reached high and pushed up one wooden floorboard, then another. He poked his head through the gap.
"Yes!" he shouted, jumping up into the room above. "I've done it again! I've hit it smack on the nose! Right in the bull's-eye! Come and look!"