With the weight of that fat hen off his shoulders, and the worry about
it off his mind, Reddy could give all his attention to getting rid of
Bowser the Hound. He had no intention of running any farther than he
must. In the first place he had traveled so far that he did not feel
like running. In the second place he wanted to get back to that hollow
stump and the fat hen just as soon as possible.

It wasn't long before Reddy realized that it was not going to be so easy
to fool Bowser the Hound. Bowser was too wise to be fooled by common
tricks such as breaking the trail by jumping far to one side after
running back on his own tracks a little way; or by running along a
fallen tree and jumping from the end of it as far as he could. Of course
he tried these tricks, but each time Bowser simply made a big circle
with his nose to the ground and picked up Reddy's new trail.

Reddy didn't know that country about there at all, and little by little
he began to realize how much this meant. At home he knew every foot of
the ground for a long distance in every direction. This made all the
difference in the world, because he knew just how to play all kinds of
tricks. But here it was different. It seemed to him that all he could do
was to run and run.




CHAPTER XXXVII

FARMER BROWN'S BOY HAS A GLAD SURPRISE