It was quite true that if he had been one jump farther from that hole, Reddy Fox would have caught him. As it was, the hairs on Ryder's funny white tail actually had tickled Reddy's back as Ryder plunged frantically through the root-bound entrance to that hole. It had been the narrowest escape Ryder had had for a long, long time. You see, Reddy Fox had surprised Ryder nibbling sweet clover on the bank of the Smiling Pond, and it had been a lucky thing for Ryder that that hole, dug long ago by Johnny Chuck's grandfather, had been right where it was.