a little tale which isn't true,

and eager ears to heed it,

means trouble starts right there to brew

with tattle-tales to feed it.

no one knows how true this is better than does old granny-fox. and no one knows better than she how to make trouble for other people by starting little untrue stories. you see, she learned long ago how fast a mean little tale will travel once it has been started, and so when there is some one with whom she is afraid to fight honestly, she uses these little untrue tales instead of claws and teeth, and often they hurt a great deal worse than claws or teeth ever could.

now you would think that by this time all the little meadow and forest people would have found old granny fox out, and that they wouldn't believe her stories. but the truth is most people are very apt to believe unpleasant things about other people without taking the trouble to find out if they are true, and old granny fox knows this. besides, she is smart enough to tell these little trouble-making, untrue stories as if she had heard them from some one else. so, of course, some one else gets the blame for starting them. oh, granny fox is smart and sly! yes, siree! she certainly is smart and sly.

it was one of her plans to make trouble that was taking her over to see prickly porky the porcupine. she found him as usual in the top of a poplar tree, filling his stomach with tender young bark. granny strolled along as if she had just happened to pass that way and not as if she had come purposely. she pretended to be very much surprised when she looked up and saw prickly porky.

“good morning, prickly porky,” she said in her pleasantest voice. “how big and fine and strong and brave you are looking this morning!”

prickly porky stopped eating and looked down at her suspiciously, but just the same he felt pleased.

“huh!” he grunted, then once more he began to eat.

granny pox went right on talking. “i said when i heard that story this morning that i didn't believe a word of it. i—”

“what story?” prickly porky broke in.

“why, haven't you heard it?” granny spoke in a tone of great surprise. “billy mink told it to me. he said that this stranger, old man coyote, who has come to the green meadows and the green forest, has been boasting that he is afraid of nobody, but everybody is afraid of him. when somebody asked him if you were afraid of him, he said that you climbed the highest tree you could find if you but saw his shadow. of course, i didn't believe it, because i know that you are not afraid of anybody. but other people believe it, and they do say that old man coyote is bragging that the first time he meets you on the ground he is going to have porcupine for dinner.”

prickly porky had started down the tree before granny finished speaking, and his usually dull eyes actually looked bright. the fact is, they were bright with anger. prickly porky looked positively fierce.

“what are you going to do?” asked granny fox, backing away a little.

“going to give that boaster a chance to try to get his porcupine dinner,” grunted prickly porky.

granny turned aside to grin. “i don't believe you will find him now,” said she, “but i heard that he is planning to get you when you go down to the laughing brook for a drink this evening.”

“then i'll wait,” grunted prickly porky.

so granny fox bade him good-by and started on with a wicked chuckle to think how prickly porky had believed the story which she had made up.