‘We do indeed!’ said Badger. ‘I’ve seen ’em!’
‘And you know what this means?’ said Mr Fox. ‘It means that none of us need ever go out into the open again!’
There was a buzz of excitement around the table.
‘I therefore invite you all,’ Mr Fox went on, ‘to stay here with me for ever.’
‘For ever!’ they cried. ‘My goodness! How marvellous!’ And Rabbit said to Mrs Rabbit, ‘My dear, just think! We’re never going to be shot at again in our lives!’
‘We will make,’ said Mr Fox, ‘a little underground village, with streets and houses on each side – separate houses for Badgers and Moles and Rabbits and Weasels and Foxes. And every day I will go shopping for you all. And every day we will eat like kings.’
The cheering that followed this speech went on for many minutes.
18 Still Waiting
Outside the fox’s hole, Boggis and Bunce and Bean sat beside their tents with their guns on their laps. It was beginning to rain. Water was trickling down the necks of the three men and into their shoes.
‘He won’t stay down there much longer now,’ Boggis said.
‘The brute must be famished,’ Bunce said.
‘That’s right,’ Bean said. ‘He’ll be making a dash for it any moment. Keep your guns handy.’
They sat there by the hole, waiting for the fox to come out.
And so far as I know, they are still waiting.