ONCE upon a time there lived in the Land of Fourlegs a gray old Fox who had a large family and a hard heart. He had little enough to eat, and did not wish to share it with his fourteen children, so he turned the whole tribe out of doors, and told them to go and get their own living the best way they could.

Now these fourteen Foxes were sharp set for a good meal of victuals, and, what is more, they did not know where to look for one; but —

“Come along,” said Sharpnose, the youngest of the family; “as we are all thieves, let us go to the Lion — he has most to lose.”

“Very well,” said the twelve, all in a breath; but Redlegs, the eldest, was a fool, so he said nothing.

Off they trudged to find the Lion, and many a mile they had to go; but on they walked, and on and on, all the day long, till they were very tired and dusty, as you may suppose. They walked on and on, till they reached

and there they found the Lion’s castle, and the Lion standing at his castle gate.

As you must know, the Lion is King in the  Land   of   Fourlegs,  and  there  he stood with his paws behind him, on the lookout for good men and true.

“Hullo!” he grumbled, not over pleased. “You look dusty enough. Pray where have you come from?”

“From the other end of the world, where the gold grows,” said Sharpnose, “and we are all very tired and hungry.”

“We are all very tired and hungry,” groaned the twelve at once; but Redlegs, he said nothing.

“Are you honest men and true?” said the Lion.

“As true as true,” said Sharpnose and his twelve brothers.

“And what are you?” said the Lion of the eldest.

“Oh, I am a thief,” said Redlegs.

“Then I must look after you,” said the Lion.

So he took the thirteen Foxes  in and gave them a good supper of roast goose; and after that a nice swan’s-down bed to lie on.

“But as for you,” said the Lion to Redlegs, when he came out to him after sunset, and found him shivering in the cold, “as for you, whom I have to look after, go off and clean the pigsties directly, that you may not be idle.”

The next morning, before breakfast time, he called on the thirteen Foxes and set them to watch his great money-box, in which he always kept his gold — for the Lion was very rich, you must know, and had a great deal to lose. Now when, a day or two after, the Lion went in state to see his old friend Bruin the Bear, he took all his servants with him — all except the fourteen Foxes: thirteen he left guarding the gold in his great money-box, and the fourteenth just finishing off the pigsties.

As soon as King Lion with all his servants were fairly out of sight, said Sharpnose:

“I say, let us steal all this gold out of the great money-box, and bury it in the wood in case we should want to travel. King Lion is sure not to suspect us — he thinks we are honest and true.”

So they stole all the Lion’s gold (except one bit, which they left for luck at the bottom of the great money-box), and buried it in

Back came the Lion with all his servants, and he soon found out that his gold was gone, I can tell you. So he called the fourteen Foxes at once, that he might know who amongst them had stolen it; and when they came he stood them all in a row before him.

“Are you honest and true?” asked the Lion.

 “As true as true,” replied Sharp-nose.

“As true as true,” said twelve of his brothers.

“And what are you?” asked the Lion of Redlegs.

“Oh, I am a thief,” said he.

 “Ah! so you told me before. I must look after you,” growled the Lion in a great rage. “Put him in prison directly, and cut his right ear off.”

Well, they put him in prison for ever so long, and cut his right ear off; but Sharpnose and the other twelve were kept to guard the one bit of gold, till such time as the Lion could get some more which was not very long, as you may suppose.