Scouting for Boys

(Excerpt)

Hi! Stop Thief!” shouted old Blenkinsopp as he rushed out of his little store near the village. “He’s stolen my sugar. Stop him.”

Stop whom? There was nobody in sight running away, “Who stole it?” asked the policeman.

“I don’t know, but a whole bag of sugar is missing. It was there only a few minutes ago.” The policeman tried to track the thief but it looked a pretty impossible job for him to single out the tracks of the thief from among dozens of other footprints about the store. However, he presently started off hopefully, at a jog-trot, away out into the bush. In some places, he went over hard stony ground but he never checked his pace, although no footmarks could be seen. People wondered how he could possibly find the trail. Still he trotted on. Old Blenkinsopp was feeling the heat and the pace .
At length, he suddenly stopped and cast around having evidently lost the trail. Then a grin came on his face as he pointed with his thumb over his shoulder up the tree near which he was standing. There, concealed among the branches, they saw a young man with the missing bag of sugar.

How had the policeman spotted him? His sharp eyes had described some grains of sugar sparkling in the dust. The bag leaked, leaving a slight trail of these grains. He followed that trail and when it came to an end in the bush he noticed a string of ants going up a tree. They were after the sugar, and so was he, and between them they brought about the capture of the thief.
Old Blenkinsopp was so pleased that he promptly opened the bag and spilled a lot of the sugar on the ground as a reward to the ants.

He also appreciated the policeman for his cleverness in using his eyes to see the grains of sugar and the ants, and in using his wits to see why the ants were climbing the tree.

Why could the policeman not find the footprints from among the others in the shop?

Tryouts

For years, Sam had dreamed of being the best tennis player in the world. He went to tennis practice every single morning, and every single night. He spent every summer at tennis camp, and he gave up long weekends at the beach to work on his game. Now, it seemed his hard work was finally paying off: He was invited to try out for the state tennis team!

Still, there was something that was bothering Sam. The tryouts for the tennis team were on the same day as his mom’s birthday, and he knew his family was planning a huge surprise party for her. He didn’t want to hurt his mom’s feelings by missing the party, but he also didn’t want to miss his one shot at being a champion tennis player. He was in a quandary; he didn’t know what to do.

For days, Sam went to bed worrying about the decision. If he went to the tryout, he worried he would seem selfish. If he stayed home, he would miss his one big shot at making the state team. In fact, despite the honor of being invited to try out, he hadn’t even told his family about the opportunity. He was so stressed about deciding whether to go or not that he couldn’t even think about sharing the news.

Weeks went by, and Sam was making no progress. Every day his coach asked him if he was ready for the tryout, and Sam couldn’t even respond. Finally, Sam couldn’t bear the stress any longer. He decided to talk to his grandfather about his predicament.

“You know, your mom wants you to be happy,” he told Sam. “It would be a great birthday present for her to know you are making your dream come true.”

Sam had never thought of it that way before, and after talking to his grandfather, he knew what he had to do. He immediately went home and sat down with his parents to let them know about the opportunity to try out for the state team. When Sam apologetically told his parents what day the tryouts were, they were so busy shrieking with excitement that he thought maybe they hadn’t heard.

“But Mom, that means I’m going to miss your birthday,” Sam said. “I am happy you are so nice about it, but I still feel really bad.”

“Are you kidding?” his mom asked? “This is the best present I could ask for!”

In this passage, who helps Sam make his choice?

Fairy Tales by A Brothers' Grimm

What trick did the fool plan to cure the king?