As soon as Mr. Longtooth Rat had finished his supper he went over to the Henhouse. You see, he was going to keep his promise to Danny Fox to gnaw off the wooden latch.

Mr. Longtooth Rat was not a very nice sort of a person, although he was going to do a favor for Danny Fox. The truth of the matter is that Mr. Longtooth Rat was very willing to have Danny Fox steal the chickens, for then more corn would be left for Mrs. Rat and himself. So you see he wasn’t really doing Danny Fox a favor at all.

But when Mr. Longtooth Rat reached the Henhouse, to his surprise he found that instead of the old wooden latch there was a bright new iron one on the door.

“Who could have put it there?” he asked himself. “I don’t understand it at all. It wasn’t on yesterday.”

There was nothing to do about it, so Mr. Longtooth Rat went back to the barn. Perhaps he might think of a way to get into the Henhouse before Danny Fox came the next evening.

Of course, Henny Penny and Cocky Doodle knew nothing of all this. Oh, my, no! If they had they would have been dreadfully worried. But the next morning while standing in the sun close to the High Haystack the Kind Farmer gave a loud whistle.

“Whew! There’s been a fox around here. Look at his footprints!”

“Dear me,” clucked little Henny Penny.

“We must all be careful,” crowed Cocky Doodle.

Just then the Farmer’s Wife came out of the kitchen door.

“Sure enough,” she said, walking around to the rear of the Big Red Barn where Danny Fox had been the night before.

“He tried to get in there,” said the Farmer, pointing to the hole in the boards which led to Mr. Longtooth’s house. “I guess I’ll nail a board over it,” and he went over to the Toolhouse for a hammer and nails.

“I wish Danny Fox had stayed away,” said Mr. Longtooth Rat when he heard what the Farmer meant to do. “I won’t have any front door in a few minutes just on account of that thieving old fox.”

Then Mr. Longtooth Rat scowled and grumbled some more, forgetting what a thief he was and how willing he had been to open the Henhouse door for Danny Fox.

Yes, sir! When people are willing to help others steal it is because they are stealing things for themselves.