But all the time he was storing up in his mind all these hateful things , and he meant , if ever he got free again , to make life very uncomfortable for those whose foolish tongues were trying to make him more miserable than he already felt . But these little people with the foolish tongues did n't stop to think of what might happen . They just took it for granted that Shadow never again would run wild and free in the Green Forest , and so they just let their tongues run and enjoyed doing it . Perhaps they would n't have , if they could have known just what was going on in the mind of Farmer Brown 's boy . Ever since he had found Shadow in the trap which he had set for him in the henhouse , Farmer Brown 's boy had been puzzling over what he should do with his prisoner . At first he had thought he would keep him in a cage the rest of his life . But somehow , whenever he looked into Shadow 's fierce little eyes and saw how unafraid they looked , he got to thinking of how terrible it must be to be shut up in a little narrow cage when one has had all the Green Forest in which to go and come . Then he thought that he would kill Shadow and put him out of his misery at once . `` He killed my pullets , and he is always hunting the harmless little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows , so he deserves to be killed , '' thought Farmer Brown 's boy . `` He 's a pest . '' Then he remembered that after all Shadow was one of Old Mother Nature 's little people , and that he must serve some purpose in Mother Nature 's great plan . Bad as he seemed , she must have some use for him . Perhaps it was to teach others through fear of him how to be smarter and take better care of themselves and so be better fitted to do their parts . The more he thought of this , the harder it was for Farmer Brown 's boy to make up his mind to kill him . But if he could n't keep him a prisoner and he could n't kill him , what could he do ? He was scowling down at Shadow one morning and puzzling over this when a happy idea came to him . `` I know what I 'll do ! '' he exclaimed . Without another word he picked up the cage with Shadow in it and started off across the Green Meadows , which now , you know , were not green at all but covered with snow . Happy Jack watched him out of sight .
He had gone XXXXX the direction of the Old Pasture .
Without as if in into of since than that to