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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4670-h.zip b/4670-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d4ab70a --- /dev/null +++ b/4670-h.zip diff --git a/4670-h/4670-h.htm b/4670-h/4670-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b4a1c71 --- /dev/null +++ b/4670-h/4670-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3673 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Lightfoot the Deer, by Thornton W. Burgess +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lightfoot the Deer, by Thornton W. Burgess + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lightfoot the Deer + +Author: Thornton W. Burgess + +Posting Date: August 24, 2009 [EBook #4670] +Release Date: November, 2003 +First Posted: February 26, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIGHTFOOT THE DEER *** + + + + +Produced by Kent Fielden. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +LIGHTFOOT THE DEER +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +THORNTON W. BURGESS +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">Peter Rabbit Meets Lightfoot</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">Lightfoot's New Antlers</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">Lightfoot Tells How His Antlers Grew</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">The Spirit Of Fear</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">Sammy Jay Brings Lightfoot Word</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">A Game Of Hide And Seek</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">The Merry Little Breezes Help Lightfoot</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">Wit Against Wit</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">Lightfoot Becomes Uncertain</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">Lightfoot's Clever Trick</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">The Hunted Watches The Hunter</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">Lightfoot Visits Paddy The Beaver</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">Lightfoot And Paddy Become Partners</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">How Paddy Warned Lightfoot</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">The Three Watchers</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">Visitors To Paddy's Pond</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">Sammy Jay Arrives</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">The Hunter Loses His Temper</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">Sammy Jay Is Modest</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">Lightfoot Hears A Dreadful Sound</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">How Lightfoot Got Rid Of The Hounds</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">Lightfoot's Long Swim</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">Lightfoot Finds A Friend</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">The Hunter Is Disappointed</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">The Hunter Lies In Wait</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVI: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap26">Lightfoot Does The Wise Thing</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVII: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap27">Sammy Jay Worries</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVIII: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap28">The Hunting Season Ends</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIX: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap29">Mr. And Mrs. Quack Are Startled</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXX: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap30">The Mystery Is Solved</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXI: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap31">A Surprising Discovery</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXII: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap32">Lightfoot Sees The Stranger</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIII: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap33">A Different Game Of Hide And Seek</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIV: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap34">A Startling New Footprint</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXV: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap35">Lightfoot Is Reckless</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVI: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap36">Sammy Jay Takes A Hand</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVII: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap37">The Great Fight</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVIII: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap38">An Unseen Watcher</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIX: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap39">Lightfoot Discovers Love</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XL: </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap40">Happy Days In The Green Forest</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I: Peter Rabbit Meets Lightfoot +</H3> + +<P> +Peter Rabbit was on his way back from the pond of Paddy the +Beaver deep in the Green Forest. He had just seen Mr. and +Mrs. Quack start toward the Big River for a brief visit before +leaving on their long, difficult journey to the far-away +Southland. Farewells are always rather sad, and this particular +farewell had left Peter with a lump in his throat,—a queer, +choky feeling. +</P> + +<P> +"If I were sure that they would return next spring, it wouldn't +be so bad," he muttered. "It's those terrible guns. I know what +it is to have to watch out for them. Farmer Brown's boy used to +hunt me with one of them, but he doesn't any more. But even when +he did hunt me it wasn't anything like what the Ducks have to go +through. If I kept my eyes and ears open, I could tell when a +hunter was coming and could hide in a hole if I wanted to. I +never had to worry about my meals. But with the Ducks it is a +thousand times worse. They've got to eat while making that long +journey, and they can eat only where there is the right kind of +food. Hunters with terrible guns know where those places are and +hide there until the Ducks come, and the Ducks have no way of +knowing whether the hunters are waiting for them or not. That +isn't hunting. It's—it's—" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what is it? What are you talking to yourself about, +Peter Rabbit?" +</P> + +<P> +Peter looked up with a start to find the soft, beautiful eyes of +Lightfoot the Deer gazing down at him over the top of a little +hemlock tree. +</P> + +<P> +"It's awful," declared Peter. "It's worse than unfair. +It doesn't give them any chance at all." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose it must be so if you say so," replied Lightfoot, +"but you might tell me what all this awfulness is about." +</P> + +<P> +Peter grinned. Then he began at the beginning and told Lightfoot +all about Mr. and Mrs. Quack and the many dangers they must face +on their long journey to the far-away Southland and back again in +the spring, all because of the heartless hunters with terrible +guns. Lightfoot listened and his great soft eyes were filled with +pity for the Quack family. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope they will get through all right," said he, "and I hope +they will get back in the spring. It is bad enough to be hunted +by men at one time of the year, as no one knows better than I do, +but to be hunted in the spring as well as in the fall is more +than twice as bad. Men are strange creatures. I do not +understand them at all. None of the people of the Green Forest +would think of doing such terrible things. I suppose it is quite +right to hunt others in order to get enough to eat, though I am +thankful to say that I never have had to do that, but to hunt +others just for the fun of hunting is something I cannot +understand at all. And yet that is what men seem to do it for. +I guess the trouble is they never have been hunted themselves and +don't know how it feels. Sometimes I think I'll hunt one some day +just to teach him a lesson. What are you laughing at, Peter?" +</P> + +<P> +"At the idea of you hunting a man," replied Peter. "Your heart +is all right, Lightfoot, but you are too timid and gentle to +frighten any one. Big as you are I wouldn't fear you." +</P> + +<P> +With a single swift bound Lightfoot sprang out in front of +Peter. He stamped his sharp hoofs, lowered his handsome head +until the sharp points of his antlers, which people call horns, +pointed straight at Peter, lifted the hair along the back of +his neck, and made a motion as if to plunge at him. His eyes, +which Peter had always thought so soft and gentle, seemed to +flash fire. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" cried Peter in a faint, frightened-sounding voice and +leaped to one side before it entered his foolish little head that +Lightfoot was just pretending. +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot chuckled. "Did you say I couldn't frighten any one?" +he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I didn't know you could look so terribly fierce," stammered +Peter. "Those antlers look really dangerous when you point them +that way. Why—why—what is that hanging to them? It looks +like bits of old fur. Have you been tearing somebody's coat, +Lightfoot?" Peter's eyes were wide with wonder and suspicion. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II: Lightfoot's New Antlers +</H3> + +<P> +Peter Rabbit was puzzled. He stared at Lightfoot the Deer a wee +bit suspiciously. "Have you been tearing somebody's coat?" he +asked again. He didn't like to think it of Lightfoot, whom he +always had believed quite as gentle, harmless, and timid as +himself. But what else could he think? +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot slowly shook his head. "No," said he, "I haven't torn +anybody's coat." +</P> + +<P> +"Then what are those rags hanging on your antlers?" demanded +Peter. +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot chuckled. "They are what is left of the coverings of my +new antlers," he explained. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that? What do you mean by new antlers?" Peter was sitting +up very straight, with his eyes fixed on Lightfoot's antlers as +though he never had seen them before. +</P> + +<P> +"Just what I said," retorted Lightfoot. "What do you think of +them? I think they are the finest antlers I've ever had. When I +get the rest of those rags off, they will be as handsome a set as +ever was grown in the Green Forest." +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot rubbed his antlers against the trunk of a tree till +some of the rags hanging to them dropped off. +</P> + +<P> +Peter blinked very hard. He was trying to understand and he +couldn't. Finally he said so. +</P> + +<P> +"What kind of a story are you trying to fill me up with?" he +demanded indignantly. "Do you mean to tell me that those are not +the antlers that you have had as long as I've known you? How can +anything hard like those antlers grow? And if those are new +ones, where are the old ones? Show me the old ones, and perhaps +I'll believe that these are new ones. The idea of trying to make +me believe that antlers grow just like plants! I've seen Bossy +the Cow all summer and I know she has got the same horns she had +last summer. New antlers indeed!" +</P> + +<P> +"You are quite right, Peter, quite right about Bossy the Cow. +She never has new horns, but that isn't any reason why I shouldn't +have new antlers, is it?" replied Lightfoot patiently. "Her horns +are quite different from my antlers. I have a new pair every +year. You haven't seen me all summer, have you, Peter?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I don't remember that I have," replied Peter, trying very +hard to remember when he had last seen Lightfoot. +</P> + +<P> +"I KNOW you haven't," retorted Lightfoot. "I know it because I +have been hiding in a place you never visit." +</P> + +<P> +"What have you been hiding for?" demanded Peter. +</P> + +<P> +"For my new antlers to grow," replied Lightfoot. "When my new +antlers are growing, I want to be away by myself. I don't like +to be seen without them or with halfgrown ones. Besides, I am +very uncomfortable while the new antlers are growing and I want +to be alone." Lightfoot spoke as if he really meant every word he +said, but still Peter couldn't, he just COULDN'T believe that +those wonderful great antlers had grown out of Lightfoot's head +in a single summer. "Where did you leave your old ones and when +did they come off?" he asked, and there was doubt in the very +tone of his voice. +</P> + +<P> +"They dropped off last spring, but I don't remember just where," +replied Lightfoot. "I was too glad to be rid of them to notice +where they dropped. You see they were loose and uncomfortable, +and I hadn't any more use for them because I knew that my new +ones would be bigger and better. I've got one more point on each +than I had last year." Lightfoot began once more to rub his +antlers against the tree to get off the queer rags hanging to +them and to polish the points. Peter watched in silence for a +few minutes. Then, all his suspicions returning, he said: +</P> + +<P> +"But you haven't told me anything about those rags hanging to +your antlers." +</P> + +<P> +"And you haven't believed what I have already told you," retorted +Lightfoot. "I don't like telling things to people who won't +believe me." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III: Lightfoot Tells How His Antlers Grew +</H3> + +<P> +It is hard to believe what seems impossible. And yet what seems +impossible to you may be a very commonplace matter to some one +else. So it does not do to say that a thing cannot be possible +just because you cannot understand how it can be. Peter Rabbit +wanted to believe what Lightfoot the Deer had just told him, but +somehow he couldn't. If he had seen those antlers growing, it +would have been another matter. But he hadn't seen Lightfoot +since the very last of winter, and then Lightfoot had worn just +such handsome antlers as he now had. So Peter really couldn't be +blamed for not being able to believe that those old ones had been +lost and in their place new ones had grown in just the few months +of spring and summer. +</P> + +<P> +But Peter didn't blame Lightfoot in the least, because he had +told Peter that he didn't like to tell things to people who +wouldn't believe what he told them when Peter had asked him about +the rags hanging to his antlers. "I'm trying to believe it," he +said, quite humbly. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all true," broke in another voice. +</P> + +<P> +Peter jumped and turned to find his big cousin, Jumper the +Hare. Unseen and unheard, he had stolen up and had overheard what +Peter and Lightfoot had said. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know it is true?" snapped Peter a little crossly, for +Jumper had startled him. +</P> + +<P> +"Because I saw Lightfoot's old antlers after they had fallen off, +and I often saw Lightfoot while his new ones were growing," +retorted Jumper. +</P> + +<P> +"All right! I'll believe anything that Lightfoot tells me if you +say it is true," declared Peter, who greatly admires his cousin, +Jumper. "Now tell me about those rags, Lightfoot. Please do." +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot couldn't resist that "please." "Those rags are what is +left of a kind of covering which protected the antlers while they +were growing, as I told you before," said he. "Very soon after +my old ones dropped off the new ones began to grow. They were +not hard, not at all like they are now. They were soft and very +tender, and the blood ran through them just as it does through +our bodies. They were covered with a sort of skin with hairs on +it like thin fur. The ends were not sharply pointed they now +are, but were big and rounded, like knobs. They were not like +antlers at all, and they made my head hot and were very +uncomfortable. That is why I hid away. They grew very fast, so +fast that every day I could see by looking at my reflection in +water that they were a little longer. It seemed to me sometimes +as if all my strength went into those new antlers. And I had to +be very careful not to hit them against anything. In the first +place it would have hurt, and in the second place it might have +spoiled the shape of them. +</P> + +<P> +"When they had grown to the length you now see, they began to +shrink and grow hard. The knobs on the ends shrank until they +became pointed. As soon as they stopped growing the blood stopped +flowing up in them, and as they became hard they were no longer +tender. The skin which had covered them grew dry and split, and I +rubbed it off on trees and bushes. The little rags you see are +what is left, but I will soon be rid of those. Then I shall be +ready to fight if need be and will fear no one save man, and will +fear him only when he has a terrible gun with him." +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot tossed his head proudly and rattled his wonderful +antlers against the nearest tree. "Isn't he handsome," whispered +Peter to Jumper the Hare; "and did you ever hear of anything so +wonderful as the growing of those new antlers in such a short +time? It is hard to believe, but I suppose it must be true." +</P> + +<P> +"It is," replied Jumper, "and I tell you, Peter, I would hate to +have Lightfoot try those antlers on me, even though I were big as +a man. You've always thought of Lightfoot as timid and afraid, +but you should see him when he is angry. Few people care to face +him then." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV: The Spirit Of Fear +</H3> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + When the days grow cold and the nights are clear,<BR> + There stalks abroad the spirit of fear.<BR> + —Lightfoot the Deer.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +It is sad but true. Autumn is often called the sad time of the +year, and it is the sad time. But it shouldn't be. Old Mother +Nature never intended that it should be. She meant it to be the +GLAD time. It is the time when all the little people of the +Green Forest and the Green Meadows have got over the cares and +worries of bringing up families and teaching their children how +to look out for themselves. It is the season when food is +plentiful, and every one is fat and is, or ought to be, care +free. It is the season when Old Mother Nature intended all her +little people to be happy, to have nothing to worry them for the +little time before the coming of cold weather and the hard times +which cold weather always brings. +</P> + +<P> +But instead of this, a grim, dark figure goes stalking over the +Green Meadows and through the Green Forest, and it is called the +Spirit of Fear. It peers into every hiding-place and wherever it +finds one of the little people it sends little cold chills over +him, little chills which jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun cannot +chase away, though he shine his brightest. All night as well as +all day the Spirit of Fear searches out the little people of the +Green Meadows and the Green Forest. It will not let them sleep. +It will not let them eat in peace. It drives them to seek +new hiding-places and then drives them out of those. It keeps +them ever ready to fly or run at the slightest sound. +</P> + +<P> +Peter Rabbit was thinking of this as he sat at the edge of the +dear Old Briar-patch, looking over to the Green Forest. The Green +Forest was no longer just green; it was of many colors, for Old +Mother Nature had set Jack Frost to painting the leaves of the +maple-trees and the beech-trees, and the birch-trees and the +poplar-trees and the chestnut-trees, and he had done his work well. +Very, very lovely were the reds and yellows and browns against +the dark green of the pines and the spruces and the hemlocks. +The Purple Hills were more softly purple than at any other season +of the year. It was all very, very beautiful. +</P> + +<P> +But Peter had no thought for the beauty of it all, for the Spirit +of Fear had visited even the dear Old Briar-patch, and Peter was +afraid. It wasn't fear of Reddy Fox, or Redtail the Hawk, or +Hooty the Owl, or Old Man Coyote. They were forever trying to +catch him, but they did not strike terror to his heart because he +felt quite smart enough to keep out of their clutches. To be +sure, they gave him sudden frights sometimes, when they happened +to surprise him, but these frights lasted only until he reached +the nearest bramble-tangle or hollow log where they could not get +at him. But the fear that chilled his heart now never left him +even for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +And Peter knew that this same fear was clutching at the hearts of +Bob White, hiding in the brown stubble; of Mrs. Grouse, squatting +in the thickest bramble-tangle in the Green Forest; of Uncle +Billy Possum and Bobby Coon in their hollow trees; of Jerry +Muskrat in the Smiling Pool; of Happy Jack Squirrel, hiding in +the tree tops; of Lightfoot the Deer, lying in the closest +thicket he could find. It was even clutching at the hearts of +Granny and Reddy Fox and of great, big Buster Bear. It seemed to +Peter that no one was so big or so small that this terrible +Spirit of Fear had not searched him out. +</P> + +<P> +Far in the distance sounded a sudden bang. Peter jumped and +shivered. He knew that every one else who had heard that bang +had jumped and shivered just as he had. It was the season of +hunters with terrible guns. It was man who had sent this +terrible Spirit of Fear to chill the hearts of the little meadow +and forest people at this very time when Old Mother Nature had +made all things so beautiful and had intended that they should +be happiest and most free from care and worry. It was man who +had made the autumn a sad time instead of a glad time, the very +saddest time of all the year, when Old Mother Nature had done +her best to make it the most beautiful. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't understand these men creatures," said Peter to little +Mrs. Peter, as they stared fearfully out from the dear Old +Briar-patch. "They seem to find pleasure, actually find pleasure, +in trying to kill us. I don't understand them at all. They +haven't any hearts. That must be the reason; they haven't any +hearts." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V: Sammy Jay Brings Lightfoot Word +</H3> + +<P> +Sammy Jay is one of those who believe in the wisdom of the old +saying, "Early to bed and early to rise." Sammy needs no alarm +clock to get up early in the morning. He is awake as soon as it +is light enough to see and wastes no time wishing he could sleep +a little longer. His stomach wouldn't let him if he wanted +to. Sammy always wakes up hungry. In this he is no different +from all his feathered neighbors. +</P> + +<P> +So the minute Sammy gets his eyes open he makes his toilet, for +Sammy is very neat, and starts out to hunt for his breakfast. +Long ago Sammy discovered that there is no safer time of day to +visit the dooryards of those two-legged creatures called men than +very early in the morning. On this particular morning he had +planned to fly over to Farmer Brown's dooryard, but at the last +minute he changed his mind. Instead, he flew over to the +dooryard of another farm. It was so very early in the morning +that Sammy didn't expect to find anybody stirring, so you can +guess how surprised he was when, just as he came in sight of that +dooryard, he saw the door of the house open and a man step out. +</P> + +<P> +Sammy stopped on the top of the nearest tree. "Now what is that +man doing up as early as this?" muttered Sammy. Then he caught +sight of something under the man's arm. He didn't have to look +twice to know what it was. It was a gun! Yes, sir, it was a gun, +a terrible gun. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha!" exclaimed Sammy, and quite forgot that his stomach was +empty. "Now who can that fellow be after so early in the morning? +I wonder if he is going to the dear Old Briar-patch to look for +Peter Rabbit, or if he is going to the Old Pasture in search of +Reddy Fox, or if it is Mr. and Mrs. Grouse he hopes to kill. +I think I'll sit right here and watch." +</P> + +<P> +So Sammy sat in the top of the tree and watched the hunter with +the terrible gun. He saw him head straight for the Green Forest. +"It's Mr. and Mrs. Grouse after all, I guess," thought Sammy. +"If I knew just where they were I'd go over and warn them." +But Sammy didn't know just where they were and he knew that it +might take him a long time to find them, so he once more began to +think of breakfast and then, right then, another thought popped +into his head. He thought of Lightfoot the Deer. +</P> + +<P> +Sammy watched the hunter enter the Green Forest, then he silently +followed him. From the way the hunter moved, Sammy decided that +he wasn't thinking of Mr. and Mrs. Grouse. "It's Lightfoot the +Deer, sure as I live," muttered Sammy. "He ought to be warned. +He certainly ought to be warned. I know right where he is. +I believe I'll warn him myself." +</P> + +<P> +Sammy found Lightfoot right where he had expected to. "He's +coming!" cried Sammy. "A hunter with a terrible gun is coming!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI: A Game Of Hide And Seek +</H3> + +<P> +There was a game of hide and seek that Danny Meadow Mouse once +played with Buster Bear. It was a very dreadful game for Danny. +But hard as it was for Danny, it didn't begin to be as hard +as the game Lightfoot the Deer was playing with the hunter +in the Green Forest. +</P> + +<P> +In the case of Buster Bear and Danny, the latter had simply to +keep out of reach of Buster. As long as Buster didn't get his +great paws on Danny, the latter was safe. Then, too, Danny is a +very small person. He is so small that he can hide under two or +three leaves. Wherever he is, he is pretty sure to find a +hiding-place of some sort. His small size gives him advantages in +a game of hide and seek. It certainly does. But Lightfoot the +Deer is big. He is one of the largest of the people who live in +the Green Forest. Being so big, it is not easy to hide. +</P> + +<P> +Moreover, a hunter with a terrible gun does not have to get close +in order to kill. Lightfoot knew all this as he waited for the +coming of the hunter of whom Sammy Jay had warned him. He had +learned many lessons in the hunting season of the year before and +he remembered every one of them. He knew that to forget even one +of them might cost him his life. So, standing motionless behind a +tangle of fallen trees, Lightfoot listened and watched. +</P> + +<P> +Presently over in the distance he heard Sammy Jay screaming, +"Thief, thief, thief!" A little sigh of relief escaped +Lightfoot. He knew that that screaming of Sammy Jay's was a +warning to tell him where the hunter was. Knowing just where the +hunter was made it easier for Lightfoot to know what to do. +</P> + +<P> +A Merry Little Breeze came stealing through the Green Forest. +It came from behind Lightfoot and danced on towards the hunter with +the terrible gun. Instantly Lightfoot began to steal softly away +through the Green Forest. He took the greatest care to make no +sound. He went in a half-circle, stopping every few steps to +listen and test the air with his wonderful nose. Can you guess +what Lightfoot was trying to do? He was trying to get behind the +hunter so that the Merry Little Breezes would bring to him the +dreaded man-scent. So long as Lightfoot could get that scent, he +would know where the hunter was, though he could neither see nor +hear him. If he had remained where Sammy Jay had found him, the +hunter might have come within shooting distance before Lightfoot +could have located him. +</P> + +<P> +So the hunter with the terrible gun walked noiselessly through +the Green Forest, stepping with the greatest care to avoid +snapping a stick underfoot, searching with keen eye every thicket +and likely hiding-place for a glimpse of Lightfoot, and studying +the ground for traces to show that Lightfoot had been there. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII: The Merry Little Breezes Help Lightfoot +</H3> + +<P> +Could you have seen the hunter with the terrible gun and Lightfoot +the Deer that morning on which the hunting season opened you might +have thought that Lightfoot was hunting the hunter instead of the +hunter hunting Lightfoot. You see, Lightfoot was behind the hunter +instead of in front of him. He was following the hunter, so as to +keep track of him. As long as he knew just where the hunter was, he +felt reasonably safe. +</P> + +<P> +The Merry Little Breezes are Lightfoot's best friends. They +always bring to him all the different scents they find as they +wander through the Green Forest. And Lightfoot's delicate nose +is so wonderful that he can take these scents, even though they +be very faint, and tell just who or what has made them. So, +though he makes the best possible use of his big ears and his +beautiful eyes, he trusts more to his nose to warn him of danger. +For this reason, during the hunting season when he moves about, +he moves in the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes may +be blowing. He knows that they will bring to him warning of any +danger which may lie in that direction. +</P> + +<P> +Now the hunter with the terrible gun who was looking for +Lightfoot knew all this, for he was wise in the ways of Lightfoot +and of the other little people of the Green Forest. When he had +entered the Green Forest that morning he had first of all made +sure of the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes were +coming. Then he had begun to hunt in that direction, knowing +that thus his scent would be carried behind him. It is more than +likely that he would have reached the hiding-place of Lightfoot +the Deer before the latter would have known that he was in the +Green Forest, had it not been for Sammy Jay's warning. +</P> + +<P> +When he reached the tangle of fallen trees behind which Lightfoot +had been hiding, he worked around it slowly and with the greatest +care, holding his terrible gun ready to use instantly should +Lightfoot leap out. Presently he found Lightfoot's footprints in +the soft ground and studying them he knew that Lightfoot had +known of his coming. +</P> + +<P> +"It was that confounded Jay," muttered the hunter. "Lightfoot +heard him and knew what it meant. I know what he has done; he has +circled round so as to get behind me and get my scent. It is a +clever trick, a very clever trick, but two can play at that +game. I'll just try that little trick myself." +</P> + +<P> +So the hunter in his turn made a wide circle back, and presently +there was none of the dreaded man-smell among the scents which +the Merry Little Breezes brought to Lightfoot. Lightfoot had lost +track of the hunter. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII: Wit Against Wit +</H3> + +<P> +It was a dreadful game the hunter with the terrible gun and +Lightfoot the Deer were playing in the Green Forest. It was a +matching of wit against wit, the hunter seeking to take +Lightfoot's life, and Lightfoot seeking to save it. +The experience of other years had taught Lightfoot much of the +ways of hunters and not one of the things he had learned about +them was forgotten. But the hunter in his turn knew much of +the ways of Deer. So it was that each was trying his best to +outguess the other. +</P> + +<P> +When the hunter found the hiding-place Lightfoot had left at the +warning of Sammy Jay he followed Lightfoot's tracks for a short +distance. It was slow work, and only one whose eyes had been +trained to notice little things could have done it. You see, +there was no snow, and only now and then, when he had stepped on +a bit of soft ground, had Lightfoot left a footprint. But there +were other signs which the hunter knew how to read,—a freshly +upturned leaf here, and here, a bit of moss lightly crushed. +These things told the hunter which way Lightfoot had gone. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly, patiently, watchfully, the hunter followed. After a while +he stopped with a satisfied grin. "I thought as much," he +muttered. "He heard that pesky Jay and circled around so as to +get my scent. I'll just cut across to my old trail and unless I +am greatly mistaken, I'll find his tracks there." +</P> + +<P> +So, swiftly but silently, the hunter cut across to his old trail, +and in a few moments he found just what he expected,—one of +Lightfoot's footprints. Once more he grinned. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, old fellow, I've outguessed you this time," said he to +himself. "I am behind you and the wind is from you to me, so that +you cannot get my scent. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if you're +back right where you started from, behind that old windfall." +He at once began to move forward silently and cautiously, with +eyes and ears alert and his terrible gun ready for instant use. +</P> + +<P> +Now when Lightfoot, following behind the hunter, had lost the +scent of the latter, he guessed right away that the latter had +found his tracks and had started to follow them. Lightfoot stood +still and listened with all his might for some little sound to +tell him where the hunter was. But there was no sound and after a +little Lightfoot began to move on. He didn't dare remain still, +lest the hunter should creep up within shooting distance. There +was only one direction in which it was safe for Lightfoot to +move, and that was the direction from which the Merry Little +Breezes were blowing. So long as they brought him none of the +dreaded man-smell, he knew that he was safe. The hunter might be +behind him—probably he was—but ahead of him, so long as the +Merry Little Breezes were blowing in his face and brought no +man-smell, was safety. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX: Lightfoot Becomes Uncertain +</H3> + +<P> +Lightfoot the Deer traveled on through the Green Forest, straight +ahead in the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes were +blowing. Every few steps he would raise his delicate nose and +test all the scents that the Merry Little Breezes were bringing. +So long as he kept the Merry Little Breezes blowing in his face, +he could be sure whether or not there was danger ahead of him. +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot uses his nose very much as you and I use our eyes. It +tells him the things he wants to know. He knew that Reddy Fox had +been along ahead of him, although he didn't get so much as a +glimpse of Reddy's red coat. Once he caught just the faintest of +scents which caused him to stop abruptly and test the air more +carefully than ever. It was the scent of Buster Bear. But it +was so very faint that Lightfoot knew Buster was not near, so he +went ahead again, but even more carefully than before. After a +little he couldn't smell Buster at all, so he knew then that +Buster had merely passed that way when he was going to some other +part of the Green Forest. +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot knew that he had nothing to fear in that direction so +long as the Merry Little Breezes brought him none of the dreaded +man-scent, and he knew that he could trust the Merry Little +Breezes to bring him that scent if there should be a man +anywhere in front of him. You know the Merry Little Breezes are +Lightfoot's best friends. But Lightfoot didn't want to keep +going in that direction all day. +</P> + +<P> +It would take him far away from that part of the Green Forest +with which he was familiar and which he called home. It might in +time take him out of the Green Forest and that wouldn't do at +all. So after a while Lightfoot became uncertain. He didn't know +just what to do. You see, he couldn't tell whether or not that +hunter with the terrible gun was still following him. +</P> + +<P> +Every once in a while he would stop in a thicket of young trees +or behind a tangle of fallen trees uprooted by the wind. There +he would stand, facing the direction from which he had come, and +watch and listen for some sign that the hunter was still +following. But after a few minutes of this he would grow uneasy +and then bound away in the direction from which the Merry Little +Breezes were blowing, so as to be sure of not running into danger. +</P> + +<P> +"If only I could know if that hunter is still following, I would +know better what to do," thought Lightfoot. "I've got to find out." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X: Lightfoot's Clever Trick +</H3> + +<P> +Lightfoot the Deer is smart. Yes, Sir, Lightfoot the Deer is +smart. He has to be, especially in the hunting season, to save +his life. If he were not smart he would have been killed long +ago. He never makes the foolish mistake of thinking that other +people are not smart. He knew that the hunter who had started out +to follow him early that morning was not one to be easily +discouraged or to be fooled by simple tricks. He had a very great +respect for the smartness of that hunter. He knew that he +couldn't afford to be careless for one little minute. +</P> + +<P> +The certainty of danger is sometimes easier to bear than the +uncertainty of not knowing whether or not there really is any +danger. Lightfoot felt that if he could know just where the +hunter was, he himself would know better what to do. The +hunter might have become discouraged and given up following him. +In that case he could rest and stop worrying. It would be better +to know that he was being followed than not to know. But how was +he to find out? Lightfoot kept turning this over and over in his +mind as he traveled through the Green Forest. Then an idea came +to him. +</P> + +<P> +"I know what I'll do. I know just what I'll do," said Lightfoot +to himself. "I'll find out whether or not that hunter is still +following me and I'll get a little rest. Goodness knows, I need +a rest." +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot bounded away swiftly and ran for some distance, then he +turned and quickly, but very, very quietly, returned in the +direction from which he had just come but a little to one side of +his old trail. After a while he saw what he was looking for, a +pile of branches which woodchoppers had left when they had +trimmed the trees they had cut down. This was near the top of a +little hill. Lightfoot went up the hill and stopped behind the +pile of brush. For a few moments he stood there perfectly still, +looking and listening. Then, with a little sigh of relief, he lay +down, where, without being in any danger of being seen himself, +he could watch his old trail through the hollow at the bottom of +the hill. If the hunter were still following him, he would pass +through that hollow in plain sight. +</P> + +<P> +For a long tune Lightfoot rested comfortably behind the pile of +brush. There was not a suspicious movement or a suspicious sound +to show that danger was abroad in the Green Forest. He saw +Mr. and Mrs. Grouse fly down across the hollow and disappear +among the trees on the other side. He saw Unc' Billy Possum +looking over a hollow tree and guessed that Unc' Billy was +getting ready to go into winter quarters. He saw Jumper the Hare +squat down under a low-hanging branch of a hemlock-tree and +prepare to take a nap. He heard Drummer the Woodpecker at work +drilling after worms in a tree not far away. Little by little +Lightfoot grew easy in his mind. It must be that that hunter had +become discouraged and was no longer following him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI: The Hunted Watches The Hunter +</H3> + +<P> +It was so quiet and peaceful and altogether lovely there in the +Green Forest, where Lightfoot the Deer lay resting behind a pile +of brush near the top of a little hill, that it didn't seem +possible such a thing as sudden death could be anywhere near. +It didn't seem possible that there could be any need for +watchfulness. But Lightfoot long ago had learned that often +danger is nearest when it seems least to be expected. So, +though he would have liked very much to have taken a nap, +Lightfoot was too wise to do anything so foolish. He kept his +beautiful, great, soft eyes fixed in the direction from which +the hunter with the terrible gun would come if he were still +following that trail. He kept his great ears gently moving to +catch every little sound. +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot had about decided that the hunter had given up hunting +for that day, but he didn't let this keep him from being any the +less watchful. It was better to be overwatchful than the least +bit careless. By and by, Lightfoot's keen ears caught the sound +of the snapping of a little stick in the distance. It was so +faint a sound that you or I would have missed it altogether. +But Lightfoot heard it and instantly he was doubly alert, +watching in the direction from which that faint sound had come. +After what seemed a long, long time he saw something moving, and +a moment later a man came into view. It was the hunter and across +one arm he carried the terrible gun. +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot knew now that this hunter had patience and perseverance +and had not yet given up hope of getting near enough to shoot +Lightfoot. He moved forward slowly, setting each foot down with +the greatest care, so as not to snap a stick or rustle the +leaves. He was watching sharply ahead, ready to shoot should he +catch a glimpse of Lightfoot within range. +</P> + +<P> +Right along through the hollow at the foot of the little hill +below Lightfoot the hunter passed. He was no longer studying the +ground for Lightfoot's tracks, because the ground was so hard and +dry down there that Lightfoot had left no tracks. He was simply +hunting in the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes were +blowing because he knew that Lightfoot had gone in that direction, +and he also knew that if Lightfoot were still ahead of him, +his scent could not be carried to Lightfoot. He was doing +what is called "hunting up-wind." +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot kept perfectly still and watched the hunter disappear +among the trees. Then he silently got to his feet, shook himself +lightly, and noiselessly stole away over the hilltop towards +another part of the Green Forest. He felt sure that that hunter +would not find him again that day. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII: Lightfoot Visits Paddy The Beaver +</H3> + +<P> +Deep in the Green Forest is the pond where lives Paddy the +Beaver. It is Paddy's own pond, for he made it himself. He made +it by building a dam across the Laughing Brook. When Lightfoot +bounded away through the Green Forest, after watching the hunter +pass through the hollow below him, he remembered Paddy's pond. +"That's where I'll go," thought Lightfoot. "It is such a +lonesome part of the Green Forest that I do not believe that +hunter will come there. I'll just run over and make Paddy a +friendly call." +</P> + +<P> +So Lightfoot bounded along deeper and deeper into the Green +Forest. Presently through the trees he caught the gleam of water. +It was Paddy's pond. Lightfoot approached it cautiously. +He felt sure he was rid of the hunter who had followed him so +far that day, but he knew that there might be other hunters in the +Green Forest. He knew that he couldn't afford to be careless for +even one little minute. Lightfoot had lived long enough to know +that most of the sad things and dreadful things that happen in +the Green Forest and on the Green Meadows are due to carelessness. +No one who is hunted, be he big or little, can afford ever to +be careless. +</P> + +<P> +Now Lightfoot had known of hunters hiding near water, hoping to +shoot him when he came to drink. That always seemed to Lightfoot +a dreadful thing, an unfair thing. But hunters had done it +before and they might do it again. So Lightfoot was careful to +approach Paddy's pond upwind. That is, he approached the side of +the pond from which the Merry Little Breezes were blowing toward +him, and all the time he kept his nose working. He knew that if +any hunters were hidden there, the Merry Little Breezes would +bring him their scent and thus warn him. +</P> + +<P> +He had almost reached the edge of Paddy's pond when from the +farther shore there came a sudden crash. It startled Lightfoot +terribly for just an instant. Then he guessed what it meant. +That crash was the falling of a tree. There wasn't enough wind to +blow over even the most shaky dead tree. There had been no sound +of axes, so he knew it could not have been chopped down by men. +It must be that Paddy the Beaver had cut it, and if Paddy had been +working in daylight, it was certain that no one had been around +that pond for a long time. +</P> + +<P> +So Lightfoot hurried forward eagerly, cautiously. When he reached +the bank he looked across towards where the sound of that falling +tree had come from; a branch of a tree was moving along in the +water and half hidden by it was a brown head. It was Paddy the +Beaver taking the branch to his food pile. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII: Lightfoot And Paddy Become Partners +</H3> + +<P> +The instant Lightfoot saw Paddy the Beaver he knew that for the +time being, at least, there was no danger. He knew that Paddy is +one of the shyest of all the little people of the Green Forest +and that when he is found working in the daytime it means that he +has been undisturbed for a long time; otherwise he would work +only at night. +</P> + +<P> +Paddy saw Lightfoot almost as soon as he stepped out on the +bank. He kept right on swimming with the branch of a poplar-tree +until he reached his food pile, which, you know, is in the +water. There he forced the branch down until it was held by other +branches already sunken in the pond. This done, he swam over to +where Lightfoot was watching. "Hello, Lightfoot!" he exclaimed. +"You are looking handsomer than ever. How are you feeling +these fine autumn days?" +</P> + +<P> +"Anxious," replied Lightfoot. "I am feeling terribly anxious. +Do you know what day this is?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied Paddy, "I don't know what day it is, and I don't +particularly care. It is enough for me that it is one of the +finest days we've had for a long time." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I could feel that way," said Lightfoot wistfully. "I wish +I could feel that way, Paddy, but I can't. No, Sir, I can't. +You see, this is the first of the most dreadful days in all the year +for me. The hunters started looking for me before Mr. Sun was +really out of bed. At least one hunter did, and I don't doubt +there are others. I fooled that one, but from now to the end of +the hunting season there will not be a single moment of daylight +when I will feel absolutely safe." +</P> + +<P> +Paddy crept out on the bank and chewed a little twig of poplar +thoughtfully. Paddy says he can always think better if he is +chewing something. "That's bad news, Lightfoot. I'm sorry to hear +it. I certainly am sorry to hear it," said Paddy. "Why anybody +wants to hunt such a handsome fellow as you are, I cannot +understand. My, but that's a beautiful set of antlers you have!" +</P> + +<P> +"They are the best I've ever had; but do you know, Paddy, I +suspect that they may be one of the reasons I am hunted so," +replied Lightfoot a little sadly. "Good looks are not always to +be desired. Have you seen any hunters around here lately?" +</P> + +<P> +Paddy shook his Lead. "Not a single hunter," he replied. "I tell +you what it is, Lightfoot, let's be partners for a while. +You stay right around my pond. If I see or hear or smell anything +suspicious, I'll warn you. You do the same for me. Two sets of +eyes, ears and noses are better than one. What do you say, +Lightfoot?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll do it," replied Lightfoot. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV: How Paddy Warned Lightfoot +</H3> + +<P> +It was a queer partnership, that partnership between Lightfoot +and Paddy, but it was a good partnership. They had been the best +of friends for a long time. Paddy had always been glad to have +Lightfoot visit his pond. To tell the truth, he was rather fond +of handsome Lightfoot. You know Paddy is himself not at all +handsome. On land he is a rather clumsy-looking fellow and +really homely. So he admired Lightfoot greatly. That is one +reason why he proposed that they be partners. +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot himself thought the idea a splendid one. He spent that +night browsing not far from Paddy's pond. With the coming of +daylight he lay down in a thicket of young hemlock-trees near the +upper end of the pond. It was a quiet, peaceful day. It was so +quiet and peaceful and beautiful it was hard to believe that +hunters with terrible guns were searching the Green Forest for +beautiful Lightfoot. But they were, and Lightfoot knew that +sooner or later one of them would be sure to visit Paddy's pond. +So, though he rested and took short naps all through that +beautiful day, he was anxious. He couldn't help but be. +</P> + +<P> +The next morning found Lightfoot back in the same place. But this +morning he took no naps. He rested, but all the time he was +watchful and alert. A feeling of uneasiness possessed him. +He felt in his bones that danger in the shape of a hunter with a +terrible gun was not far distant. +</P> + +<P> +But the hours slipped away, and little by little he grew less uneasy. +He began to hope that that day would prove as peaceful as the +previous day had been. Then suddenly there was a sharp report from +the farther end of Paddy's pond. It was almost like a pistol shot. +However, it wasn't a pistol shot. It wasn't a shot at all. +It was the slap of Paddy's broad tail on the surface of the water. +Instantly Lightfoot was on his feet. He knew just what that meant. +He knew that Paddy had seen or heard or smelled a hunter. +</P> + +<P> +It was even so. Paddy had heard a dry stick snap. It was a very +tiny snap, but it was enough to warn Paddy. With only his head +above water he had watched in the direction from which that sound +had come. Presently, stealing quietly along towards the pond, a +hunter had come in view. Instantly Paddy had brought his broad +tail down on the water with all his force. He knew that Lightfoot +would know that that meant danger. Then Paddy had dived, +and swimming under water, had sought the safety of his house. +He had done his part, and there was nothing more he could do. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV: The Three Watchers +</H3> + +<P> +When Paddy the Beaver slapped the water with his broad tail, +making a noise like a pistol shot, Lightfoot understood that this +was meant as a warning of danger. He was on his feet instantly, +with eyes, ears and nose seeking the cause of Paddy's warning. +After a moment or two he stole softly up to the top of a +little ridge some distance back from Paddy's pond, but from the +top of which he could see the whole of the pond. There he hid +among some close-growing young hemlock-trees. It wasn't long +before he saw a hunter with a terrible gun come down to the shore +of the pond. +</P> + +<P> +Now the hunter had heard Paddy slap the water with his broad +tail. Of course. There would have been something very wrong with +his ears had he failed to hear it. +</P> + +<P> +"Confound that Beaver!" muttered the hunter crossly. "If there +was a Deer anywhere around this pond, he probably is on his way now. +I'll have a look around and see if there are any signs." +</P> + +<P> +So the hunter went on to the edge of Paddy's pond and then began +to walk around it, studying the ground as he walked. Presently he +found the footprints of Lightfoot in the mud where Lightfoot had +gone down to the pond to drink. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought as much," muttered the hunter. "Those tracks were made +last night. That Deer probably was lying down somewhere near +here, and I might have had a shot but for that pesky Beaver. +I'll just look the land over, and then I think I'll wait here +awhile. If that Deer isn't too badly scared, he may come back." +</P> + +<P> +So the hunter went quite around the pond, looking into all likely +hiding-places. He found where Lightfoot had been lying, and he +knew that in all probability Lightfoot had been there when Paddy +gave the danger signal. +</P> + +<P> +"It's of no use for me to try to follow him," thought the +hunter. "It is too dry for me to track him. He may not be so +badly scared, after all. I'll just find a good place and wait." +</P> + +<P> +So the hunter found an old log behind some small trees and there +sat down. He could see all around Paddy's pond. He sat +perfectly still. He was a clever hunter and he knew that so long +as he did not move he was not likely to be noticed by any sharp +eyes that might come that way. What he didn't know was that +Lightfoot had been watching him all the time and was even then +standing where he could see him. And another thing he didn't +know was that Paddy the Beaver had come out of his house and, +swimming under water, had reached a hiding-place on the opposite +shore from which he too had seen the hunter sit down on the log. +So the hunter watched for Lightfoot, and Lightfoot and Paddy +watched the hunter. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI: Visitors To Paddy's Pond +</H3> + +<P> +That hunter was a man of patience. Also he was a man who +understood the little people of the Green Forest and the Green +Meadows. He knew that if he would not be seen he must not move. +So he didn't move. He kept as motionless as if he were a part of +the very log on which he was sitting. +</P> + +<P> +For some time there was no sign of any living thing. Then, from +over the tree tops in the direction of the Big River, came the +whistle of swift wings, and Mr. and Mrs. Quack alighted with a +splash in the pond. For a few moments they sat on the water, a +picture of watchful suspicion. They were looking and listening +to make sure that no danger was near. Satisfied at last, they +began to clean their feathers. It was plain that they felt safe. +Paddy the Beaver was tempted to warn them that they were not as +safe as they thought, but as long as the hunter did not move +Paddy decided to wait. +</P> + +<P> +Now the hunter was sorely tempted to shoot these Ducks, but he +knew that if he did he would have no chance that day to get +Lightfoot the Deer, and it was Lightfoot he wanted. So Mr. and +Mrs. Quack swam about within easy range of that terrible gun +without once suspecting that danger was anywhere near. +</P> + +<P> +By and by the hunter's keen eyes caught a movement at one end of +Paddy's dam. An instant later Bobby Coon appeared. It was clear +that Bobby was quite unsuspicious. He carried something, but just +what the hunter could not make out. He took it down to the edge +of the water and there carefully washed it. Then he climbed up on +Paddy's dam and began to eat. You know Bobby Coon is very +particular about his food. Whenever there is water near, Bobby +washes his food before eating. Once more the hunter was tempted, +but did not yield to the temptation, which was a very good thing +for Bobby Coon. +</P> + +<P> +All this Lightfoot saw as he stood among the little hemlock-trees +at the top of the ridge behind the hunter. He saw and he +understood. "It is because he wants to kill me that he doesn't +shoot at Mr. and Mrs. Quack or Bobby Coon," thought Lightfoot a +little bitterly. "What have I ever done that he should be so +anxious to kill me?" +</P> + +<P> +Still the hunter sat without moving. Mr. and Mrs. Quack +contentedly hunted for food in the mud at the bottom of Paddy's +pond. Bobby Coon finished his meal, crossed the dam and +disappeared in the Green Forest. He had gone off to take a nap +somewhere. Time slipped away. The hunter continued to watch +patiently for Lightfoot, and Lightfoot and Paddy the Beaver +watched the hunter. Finally, another visitor appeared at the +upper end of the pond—a visitor in a wonderful coat of red. +It was Reddy Fox. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII: Sammy Jay Arrives +</H3> + +<P> +When Reddy Fox arrived at the pond of Paddy the Beaver, the +hunter who was hiding there saw him instantly. So did Lightfoot. +But no one else did. He approached in that cautious, careful way +that he always uses when he is hunting. The instant he reached +a place where he could see all over Paddy's pond, he stopped +as suddenly as if he had been turned to stone. He stopped +with one foot lifted in the act of taking a step. He had +seen Mr. and Mrs. Quack. +</P> + +<P> +Now you know there is nothing Reddy Fox likes better for a dinner +than a Duck. The instant he saw Mr. and Mrs. Quack, a gleam of +longing crept into his eyes and his mouth began to water. +He stood motionless until both Mr. and Mrs. Quack had their heads +under water as they searched for food in the mud in the bottom of +the pond. Then like a red flash he bounded out of sight behind +the dam of Paddy the Beaver. +</P> + +<P> +Presently the hunter saw Reddy's black nose at the end of the dam +as Reddy peeped around it to watch Mr. and Mrs. Quack. The latter +were slowly moving along in that direction as they fed. Reddy was +quick to see this. If he remained right where he was, and Mr. And +Mrs. Quack kept on feeding in that direction, the chances were +that he would have a dinner of fat Duck. All he need do was to be +patient and wait. So, with his eyes fixed fast on Mr. and +Mrs. Quack, Reddy Fox crouched behind Paddy's dam and waited. +</P> + +<P> +Watching Reddy and the Ducks, the hunter almost forgot Lightfoot +the Deer. Mr. and Mrs. Quack were getting very near to where +Reddy was waiting for them. The hunter was tempted to get up and +frighten those Ducks. He didn't want Reddy Fox to have them, +because he hoped some day to get them himself. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose," thought he, "I was foolish not to shoot them when I +had the chance. They are too far away now, and it looks very much +as if that red rascal will get one of them. I believe I'll spoil +that red scamp's plans by frightening them away. I don't believe +that Deer will be back here to-day anyway, so I may as well save +those Ducks." +</P> + +<P> +But the hunter did nothing of the kind. You see, just as he was +getting ready to step out from his hiding-place, Sammy Jay +arrived. He perched in a tree close to the end of Paddy's dam and +at once he spied Reddy Fox. It didn't take him a second to +discover what Reddy was hiding there for. "Thief, thief, thief!" +screamed Sammy, and then looked down at Reddy with a mischievous +look in his sharp eyes. There is nothing Sammy Jay delights in +more than in upsetting the plans of Reddy Fox. At the sound of +Sammy's voice, Mr. and Mrs. Quack swam hurriedly towards the +middle of the pond. They knew exactly what that warning +meant. Reddy Fox looked up at Sammy Jay and snarled angrily. +Then, knowing it was useless to hide longer, he bounded away +through the Green Forest to hunt elsewhere. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII: The Hunter Loses His Temper +</H3> + +<P> +The hunter, hidden near the pond of Paddy the Beaver, chuckled +silently. That is to say, he laughed without making any +sound. The hunter thought the warning of Mr. and Mrs. Quack by +Sammy Jay was a great joke on Reddy. To tell the truth, he was +very much pleased. As you know, he wanted those Ducks himself. +He suspected that they would stay in that little pond for some days, +and he planned to return there and shoot them after he had got +Lightfoot the Deer. He wanted to get Lightfoot first, and he knew +that to shoot at anything else might spoil his chance of getting +a shot at Lightfoot. +</P> + +<P> +"Sammy Jay did me a good turn," thought the hunter, "although he +doesn't know it. Reddy Fox certainly would have caught one of +those Ducks had Sammy not come along just when he did. It would +have been a shame to have had one of them caught by that Fox. +I mean to get one, and I hope both of them, myself." +</P> + +<P> +Now when you come to think of it, it would have been a far +greater shame for the hunter to have killed Mr. and Mrs. Quack +than for Reddy Fox to have done so. Reddy was hunting them +because he was hungry. The hunter would have shot them for +sport. He didn't need them. He had plenty of other food. +Reddy Fox doesn't kill just for the pleasure of killing. +</P> + +<P> +So the hunter continued to sit in his hiding-place with very +friendly feelings for Sammy Jay. Sammy watched Reddy Fox +disappear and then flew over to that side of the pond where the +hunter was. Mr. and Mrs. Quack called their thanks to Sammy, to +which he replied, that he had done no more for them than he would +do for anybody, or than they would have done for him. +</P> + +<P> +For some time Sammy sat quietly in the top of the tree, but all +the time his sharp eyes were very busy. By and by he spied the +hunter sitting on the log. At first he couldn't make out just +what it was he was looking at. It didn't move, but nevertheless +Sammy was suspicious. Presently he flew over to a tree where he +could see better. Right away he spied the terrible gun, and he +knew just what that was. Once more he began to yell, "Thief! +thief! thief!" at the top of his lungs. It was then that the +hunter lost his temper. He knew that now he had been discovered +by Sammy Jay, and it was useless to remain there longer. He was +angry clear through. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX: Sammy Jay Is Modest +</H3> + +<P> +As soon as the angry hunter with the terrible gun had disappeared +among the trees of the Green Forest, and Lightfoot was sure that +he had gone for good, Lightfoot came out from his hiding-place on +top of the ridge and walked down to the pond of Paddy the Beaver +for a drink. He knew that it was quite safe to do so, for Sammy +Jay had followed the hunter, all the time screaming, "Thief! +thief! thief!" Every one within hearing could tell just where +that hunter was by Sammy's voice. It kept growing fainter and +fainter, and by that Lightfoot knew that the hunter was getting +farther and farther away. +</P> + +<P> +Paddy the Beaver swam out from his hiding-place and climbed out +on the bank near Lightfoot. There was a twinkle in his +eyes. "That blue-coated mischief-maker isn't such a bad fellow at +heart, after all, is he?" said he. +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot lifted his beautiful head and set his ears forward to +catch the sound of Sammy's voice in the distance. +</P> + +<P> +"Sammy Jay may be a mischief-maker, as some people say," said he, +"but you can always count on him to prove a true friend in time +of danger. He brought me warning of the coming of the hunter the +other morning. You saw him save Mr. and Mrs. Quack a little while +ago, and then he actually drove that hunter away. I suppose Sammy +Jay has saved more lives than any one I know of. I wish he would +come back here and let me thank him." +</P> + +<P> +Some time later Sammy Jay did come back. "Well," said he, as he +smoothed his feathers, "I chased that fellow clear to the edge of +the Green Forest, so I guess there will be nothing more to fear +from him today. I'm glad to see he hasn't got you yet, +Lightfoot. I've been a bit worried about you." +</P> + +<P> +"Sammy," said Lightfoot, "you are one of the best friends I +have. I don't know how I can ever thank you for what you have +done for me." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't try," replied Sammy shortly. "I haven't done anything but +what anybody else would have done. Old Mother Nature gave me a +pair of good eyes and a strong voice. I simply make the best use +of them I can. Just to see a hunter with a terrible gun makes me +angry clear through. I'd rather spoil his hunting than eat." +</P> + +<P> +"You want to watch out, Sammy. One of these days a hunter will +lose his temper and shoot you, just to get even with you," +warned Paddy the Beaver. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't worry about me," replied Sammy. "I know just how far +those terrible guns can shoot, and I don't take any chances. +By the way, Lightfoot, the Green Forest is full of hunters looking +for you. I 've seen a lot of them, and I know they are looking +for you because they do not shoot at anybody else even when they +have a chance." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX: Lightfoot Hears A Dreadful Sound +</H3> + +<P> +Day after day, Lightfoot the Deer played hide and seek for his +life with the hunters who were seeking to kill him. He saw them +many times, though not one of them saw him. More than once a +hunter passed close to Lightfoot's hiding-place without once +suspecting it. +</P> + +<P> +But poor Lightfoot was feeling the strain. He was growing thin, +and he was so nervous that the falling of a dead leaf from a tree +would startle him. There is nothing quite so terrible as being +continually hunted. It was getting so that Lightfoot half +expected a hunter to step out from behind every tree. Only when +the Black Shadows wrapped the Green Forest in darkness did he +know a moment of peace. And those hours of safety were filled +with dread of what the next day might bring. +</P> + +<P> +Early one morning a terrible sound rang through the Green Forest +and brought Lightfoot to his feet with a startled jump. It was +the baying of hounds following a trail. At first it did not sound +so terrible. Lightfoot had often heard it before. Many times he +had listened to the baying of Bowser the Hound, as he followed +Reddy Fox. It had not sounded so terrible then because it meant +no danger to Lightfoot. +</P> + +<P> +At first, as he listened early that morning, he took it for +granted that those hounds were after Reddy, and so, though +startled, he was not worried. But suddenly a dreadful suspicion +came to him and he grew more and more anxious as he listened. +In a few minutes there was no longer any doubt in his mind. +Those hounds were following his trail. It was then that the sound +of that baying became terrible. He must run for his life! +Those hounds would give him no rest. And he knew that in running +from them, he would no longer be able to watch so closely for the +hunters with terrible guns. He would no longer be able to hide +in thickets. At any time he might be driven right past one of +those hunters. +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot bounded away with such leaps as only Lightfoot can make. +In a little while the voices of the hounds grew fainter. +Lightfoot stopped to get his breath and stood trembling +as he listened. The baying of the hounds again grew louder and +louder. Those wonderful noses of theirs were following his trail +without the least difficulty. In a panic of fear, Lightfoot +bounded away again. As he crossed an old road, the Green Forest +rang with the roar of a terrible gun. Something tore a strip of +bark from the trunk of a tree just above Lightfoot's back. It was +a bullet and it had just missed Lightfoot. It added to his terror +and this in turn added to his speed. +</P> + +<P> +So Lightfoot ran and ran, and behind him the voices of the hounds +continued to ring through the Green Forest. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI: How Lightfoot Got Rid Of The Hounds +</H3> + +<P> +Poor Lightfoot! It seemed to him that there were no such things +as justice and fair play. Had it been just one hunter at a time +against whom he had to match his wits it would not have been so +bad. But there were many hunters with terrible guns looking for +him, and in dodging one he was likely at any time to meet +another. This in itself seemed terribly unfair and unjust. +But now, added to this was the greater unfairness of being trailed +by hounds. +</P> + +<P> +Do you wonder that Lightfoot thought of men as utterly heartless? +You see, he could not know that those hounds had not been put on +his trail, but had left home to hunt for their own pleasure. +He could not know that it was against the law to hunt him with dogs. +But though none of those hunters looking for him were guilty +of having put the hounds on his trail, each one of them +was willing and eager to take advantage of the fact that the +hounds were on his trail. Already he had been shot at once and he +knew that he would be shot at again if he should be driven where +a hunter was hidden. +</P> + +<P> +The ground was damp and scent always lies best on damp ground. +This made it easy for the hounds to follow him with their +wonderful noses. Lightfoot tried every trick he could think of to +make those hounds lose the scent. +</P> + +<P> +"If only I could make them lose it long enough for me to get a +little rest, it would help," panted Lightfoot, as he paused for +just an instant to listen to the baying of the hounds. +</P> + +<P> +But he couldn't. They allowed him no rest. He was becoming very, +very tired. He could no longer bound lightly over fallen logs or +brush, as he had done at first. His lungs ached as he panted for +breath. He realized that even though he should escape the hunters +he would meet an even more terrible death unless he could get rid +of those hounds. There would come a time when he would have to stop. +Then those hounds would catch up with him and tear him to pieces. +</P> + +<P> +It was then that he remembered the Big River. He turned towards it. +It was his only chance and he knew it. Straight through the +Green Forest, out across the Green Meadows to the bank of the Big +River, Lightfoot ran. For just a second he paused to look behind. +The hounds were almost at his heels. Lightfoot hesitated +no longer but plunged into the Big River and began to swim. +On the banks the hounds stopped and bayed their disappointment, +for they did not dare follow Lightfoot out into the Big River. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII: Lightfoot's Long Swim +</H3> + +<P> +The Big River was very wide. It would have been a long swim for +Lightfoot had he been fresh and at his best. Strange as it may +seem, Lightfoot is a splendid swimmer, despite his small, +delicate feet. He enjoys swimming. +</P> + +<P> +But now Lightfoot was terribly tired from his long run ahead of +the hounds. For a time he swam rapidly, but those weary muscles +grew still more weary, and by the time he reached the middle of +the Big River it seemed to him that he was not getting ahead at all. +At first he had tried to swim towards a clump of trees he +could see on the opposite bank above the point where he had +entered the water, but to do this he had to swim against the +current and he soon found that he hadn't the strength to do this. +Then he turned and headed for a point down the Big River. +This made the swimming easier, for the current helped him +instead of hindering him. +</P> + +<P> +Even then he could feel his strength leaving him. Had he escaped +those hounds and the terrible hunters only to be drowned in the +Big River? This new fear gave him more strength for a little while. +But it did not last long. He was three fourths of the way +across the Big River but still that other shore seemed a long +distance away. Little by little hope died in the heart of +Lightfoot the Deer. He would keep on just as long as he could and +then,—well, it was better to drown than to be torn to pieces +by dogs. +</P> + +<P> +Just as Lightfoot felt that he could not take another stroke and +that the end was at hand, one foot touched something. Then, all +four feet touched. A second later he had found solid footing and +was standing with the water only up to his knees. He had found a +little sand bar out in the Big River. With a little gasp of +returning hope, Lightfoot waded along until the water began to +grow deeper again. He had hoped that he would be able to wade +ashore, but he saw now that he would have to swim again. +</P> + +<P> +So for a long time he remained right where he was. He was so +tired that he trembled all over, and he was as frightened as he +was tired. He knew that standing out there in the water he could +be seen for a long distance, and that made him nervous and +fearful. Supposing a hunter on the shore he was trying to reach +should see him. Then he would have no chance at all, for the +hunter would simply wait for him and shoot him as he came out of +the water. +</P> + +<P> +But rest he must, and so he stood for a long time on the little +sand bar in the Big River. And little by little he felt his +strength returning. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII: Lightfoot Finds A Friend +</H3> + +<P> +As Lightfoot rested, trying to recover his breath, out there on +the little sand bar in the Big River, his great, soft, beautiful +eyes watched first one bank and then the other. On the bank he +had left, he could see two black-and-white specks moving about, +and across the water came the barking of dogs. Those two specks +were the hounds who had driven him into the Big River. They were +barking now, instead of baying. Presently a brown form joined the +black-and-white specks. It was a hunter drawn there by the +barking of the dogs. He was too far away to be dangerous, but the +mere sight of him filled Lightfoot with terror again. He watched +the hunter walk along the bank and disappear in the bushes. +</P> + +<P> +Presently out of the bushes came a boat, and in it was the +hunter. He headed straight towards Lightfoot, and then Lightfoot +knew that his brief rest was at an end. He must once more swim or +be shot by the hunter in the boat. So Lightfoot again struck out +for the shore. His rest had given him new strength, but still he +was very, very tired and swimming was hard work. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly, oh so slowly, he drew nearer to the bank. What new +dangers might be waiting there, he did not know. He had never +been on that side of the Big River. He knew nothing of the +country on that side. But the uncertainty was better than the +certainty behind him. He could hear the sound of the oars as the +hunter in the boat did his best to get to him before he should +reach the shore. +</P> + +<P> +On Lightfoot struggled. At last he felt bottom beneath his +feet. He staggered up through some bushes along the bank and then +for an instant it seemed to him his heart stopped beating. Right +in front of him stood a man. He had come out into the back yard +of the home of that man. It is doubtful which was the more +surprised, Lightfoot or the man. Right then and there Lightfoot +gave up in despair. He couldn't run. It was all he could do to +walk. The long chase by the hounds on the other side of the Big +River and the long swim across the Big River had taken all his +strength. +</P> + +<P> +Not a spark of hope remained to Lightfoot. He simply stood still +and trembled, partly with fear and partly with weariness. Then a +surprising thing happened. The man spoke softly. He advanced, not +threateningly but slowly, and in a friendly way. He walked around +back of Lightfoot and then straight towards him. Lightfoot walked +on a few steps, and the man followed, still talking softly. +Little by little he urged Lightfoot on, driving him towards an +open shed in which was a pile of hay. Without understanding just how, +Lightfoot knew that he had found a friend. So he entered +the open shed and with a long sigh lay down in the soft hay. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV: The Hunter Is Disappointed +</H3> + +<P> +How he knew he was safe, Lightfoot the Deer Couldn't have told you. +He just knew it, that was all. He couldn't understand a word +said by the man in whose yard he found himself when he climbed +the bank after his long swim across the Big River. But he didn't +have to understand words to know that he had found a friend. +So he allowed the man to drive him gently over to an open shed where +there was a pile of soft hay and there he lay down, so tired that +it seemed to him he couldn't move another step. +</P> + +<P> +It was only a few minutes later that the hunter who had followed +Lightfoot across the River reached the bank and scrambled out of +his boat. Lightfoot's friend was waiting just at the top of the +bank. Of course the hunter saw him at once. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello, Friend!" cried the hunter. "Did you see a Deer pass this +way a few minutes ago? He swam across the river, and if I know +anything about it he's too tired to travel far now. I've been +hunting that fellow for several days, and if I have any luck at +all I ought to get him this time." "I'm afraid you won't have any +luck at all," said Lightfoot's friend. "You see, I don't allow +any hunting on my land." +</P> + +<P> +The hunter looked surprised, and then his surprise gave way to +anger. "You mean," said he, "that you intend to get that Deer +yourself." +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot's friend shook his head. "No," said he, "I don't mean +anything of the kind. I mean that that Deer is not to be killed +if I can prevent it, and while it is on my land, I think I can. +The best thing for you to do, my friend, is to get into your +boat and row back where you came from. Are those your hounds +barking over there?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied the hunter promptly. "I know the law just as well +as you do, and it is against the law to hunt Deer with dogs. +I don't even know who owns those two hounds over there." +</P> + +<P> +"That may be true," replied Lightfoot's friend. "I don't doubt +it is true. But you are willing to take advantage of the fact +that the dogs of some one else have broken the law. You knew +that those dogs had driven that Deer into the Big River and you +promptly took advantage of the fact to try to reach that Deer +before he could get across. You are not hunting for the pleasure +of hunting but just to kill. You don't know the meaning of +justice or fairness. Now get off my land. Get back into your +boat and off my land as quick as you can. That Deer is not very +far from here and so tired that he cannot move. Just as long as +he will stay here, he will be safe, and I hope he will stay until +this miserable hunting season is ended. Now go." +</P> + +<P> +Muttering angrily, the hunter got back into his boat and pushed +off, but he didn't row back across the river. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXV: The Hunter Lies In Wait +</H3> + +<P> +If ever there was an angry hunter, it was the one who had +followed Lightfoot the Deer across the Big River. When he was +ordered to get off the land where Lightfoot had climbed out, he +got back into his boat, but he didn't row back to the other side. +Instead, he rowed down the river, finally landing on the +same side but on land which Lightfoot's friend did not own. +</P> + +<P> +"When that Deer has become rested he'll become uneasy," thought +the hunter. "He won't stay on that man's land. He'll start for +the nearest woods. I'll go up there and wait for him. I'll get +that Deer if only to spite that fellow back there who drove me off. +Had it not been for him, I'd have that Deer right now. He was +too tired to have gone far. He's got the handsomest pair of +antlers I've seen for years. I can sell that head of his for a +good price." +</P> + +<P> +So the hunter tied his boat to a tree and once more climbed +out. He climbed up the bank and studied the land. Across a wide +meadow he could see a brushy old pasture and back of that some +thick woods. He grinned. +</P> + +<P> +"That's where that Deer will head for," he decided. "There isn't +any other place for him to go. All I've got to do is be patient +and wait." +</P> + +<P> +So the hunter took his terrible gun and tramped across the meadow +to the brush-grown pasture. There he hid among the bushes where +he could peep out and watch the land of Lightfoot's friend. +He was still angry because he had been prevented from shooting +Lightfoot. At the same time he chuckled, because he thought +himself very smart. Lightfoot couldn't possibly reach the shelter +of the woods without giving him a shot, and he hadn't the least +doubt that Lightfoot would start for the woods just as soon as he +felt able to travel. So he made himself comfortable and prepared +to wait the rest of the day, if necessary. +</P> + +<P> +Now Lightfoot's friend who had driven the hunter off had seen him +row down the river and he had guessed just what was in that +hunter's mind. "We'll fool him," said he, chuckling to himself, +as he walked back towards the shed where poor Lightfoot was +resting. +</P> + +<P> +He did not go too near Lightfoot, for he did not want to alarm him. +He just kept within sight of Lightfoot, paying no attention +to him but going about his work. You see, this man loved and +understood the little people of the Green Forest and the Green +Meadows, and he knew that there was no surer way of winning +Lightfoot's confidence and trust than by appearing to take no +notice of him. Lightfoot, watching him, understood. He knew that +this man was a friend and would do him no harm. Little by little, +the wonderful, blessed feeling of safety crept over Lightfoot. +No hunter could harm him here. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVI: Lightfoot Does The Wise Thing +</H3> + +<P> +All the rest of that day the hunter with the terrible gun lay +hidden in the bushes of the pasture where he could watch for +Lightfoot the Deer to leave the place of safety he had found. +It required a lot of patience on the part of the hunter, but the +hunter had plenty of patience. It sometimes seems as if hunters +have more patience than any other people. +</P> + +<P> +But this hunter waited in vain. Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun sank +down in the west to his bed behind the Purple Hills. The Black +Shadows crept out and grew blacker. One by one the stars began to +twinkle. Still the hunter waited, and still there was no sign of +Lightfoot. At last it became so dark that it was useless for the +hunter to remain longer. Disappointed and once more becoming +angry, he tramped back to the Big River, climbed into his boat +and rowed across to the other side. Then he tramped home and his +thoughts were very bitter. He knew that he could have shot +Lightfoot had it not been for the man who had protected the +Deer. He even began to suspect that this man had himself killed +Lightfoot, for he had been sure that as soon as he had become +rested Lightfoot would start for the woods, and Lightfoot had +done nothing of the kind. In fact, the hunter had not had so much +as another glimpse of Lightfoot. +</P> + +<P> +The reason that the hunter had been so disappointed was that +Lightfoot was smart. He was smart enough to understand that the +man who was saving him from the hunter had done it because he was +a true friend. All the afternoon Lightfoot had rested on a bed of +soft hay in an open shed and had watched this man going about his +work and taking the utmost care to do nothing to frighten Lightfoot. +</P> + +<P> +"He not only will let no one else harm me, but he himself will not +harm me," thought Lightfoot. "As long as he is near, I am safe. +I'll stay right around here until the hunting season is over, then +I'll swim back across the Big River to my home in the dear Green Forest." +</P> + +<P> +So all afternoon Lightfoot rested and did not so much as put his +nose outside that open shed. That is why the hunter got no glimpse +of him. When it became dark, so dark that he knew there was no +longer danger, Lightfoot got up and stepped out under the stars. +He was feeling quite himself again. His splendid strength had returned. +He bounded lightly across the meadow and up into the brushy +pasture where the hunter had been hidden. There and in the woods +back of the pasture he browsed, but at the first hint of the coming +of another day, Lightfoot turned back, and when his friend, the farmer, +came out early in the morning to milk the cows, there was Lightfoot +back in the open shed. The farmer smiled. "You are as wise as you +are handsome, old fellow," said he. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap27"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVII: Sammy Jay Worries +</H3> + +<P> +It isn't often Sammy Jay worries about anybody but himself. +Truth to tell, he doesn't worry about himself very often. You see, +Sammy is smart, and he knows he is smart. Under that pointed cap +of his are some of the cleverest wits in all the Green Forest. +Sammy seldom worries about himself because he feels quite able to +take care of himself. +</P> + +<P> +But Sammy Jay was worrying now. He was worrying about Lightfoot +the Deer. Yes, Sir, Sammy Jay was worrying about Lightfoot the +Deer. For two days he had been unable to find Lightfoot or any +trace of Lightfoot. But he did find plenty of hunters with +terrible guns. It seemed to him that they were everywhere in the +Green Forest. Sammy began to suspect that one of them must have +succeeded in killing Lightfoot the Deer. +</P> + +<P> +Sammy knew all of Lightfoot's hiding-places. He visited every one +of them. Lightfoot wasn't to be found, and no one whom Sammy met +had seen Lightfoot for two days. +</P> + +<P> +Sammy felt badly. You see, he was very fond of Lightfoot. +You remember it was Sammy who warned Lightfoot of the coming of +the hunter on the morning when the dreadful hunting season began. +Ever since the hunting season had opened, Sammy had done his +best to make trouble for the hunters. Whenever he had found +one of them he had screamed at the top of his voice to warn every +one within hearing just where that hunter was. Once a hunter had +lost his temper and shot at Sammy, but Sammy had suspected that +something of the kind might happen, and he had taken care to keep +just out of reach. Sammy had known all about the chasing of +Lightfoot by the hounds. Everybody in the Green Forest had known +about it. You see, everybody had heard the voices of those +hounds. Once, Lightfoot had passed right under the tree in which +Sammy was sitting, and a few moments later the two hounds had +passed with their noses to the ground as they followed Lightfoot's trail. +That was the last Sammy had seen of Lightfoot. He had been able to save +Lightfoot from the hunters, but he couldn't save him from the hounds. +</P> + +<P> +The more Sammy thought things over, the more he worried. "I am +afraid those hounds drove him out where a hunter could get a shot +and kill him, or else that they tired him out and killed him +themselves," thought Sammy. "If he were alive, somebody certainly +would have seen him and nobody has, since the day those hounds +chased him. I declare, I have quite lost my appetite worrying +about him. If Lightfoot is dead, and I am almost sure he is, the +Green Forest will never seem the same." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap28"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVIII: The Hunting Season Ends +</H3> + +<P> +The very worst things come to an end at last. No matter how bad a +thing is, it cannot last forever. So it was with the hunting +season for Lightfoot the Deer. There came a day when the law +protected all Deer,—a day when the hunters could no longer go +searching for Lightfoot. +</P> + +<P> +Usually there was great rejoicing among the little people of the +Green Forest and the Green Meadows when the hunting season ended +and they knew that Lightfoot would be in no more danger until the +next hunting season. But this year there was no rejoicing. You +see, no one could find Lightfoot. The last seen of him was when +he was running for his life with two hounds baying on his trail +and the Green Forest filled with hunters watching for a chance to +shoot him. +</P> + +<P> +Sammy Jay had hunted everywhere through the Green Forest. Blacky +the Crow, whose eyes are quite as sharp as those of Sammy Jay, +had joined in the search. They had found no trace of Lightfoot. +Paddy the Beaver said that for three days Lightfoot had not visited +his pond for a drink. Billy Mink, who travels up and down the +Laughing Brook, had looked for Lightfoot's footprints in the soft +earth along the banks and had found only old ones. Jumper the Hare +had visited Lightfoot's favorite eating places at night, but +Lightfoot had not been in any of them. +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you what it is," said Sammy Jay to Bobby Coon, "something +has happened to Lightfoot. Either those hounds caught him and +killed him, or he was shot by one of those hunters. The Green +Forest will never be the same without him. I don't think I shall +want to come over here very much. There isn't one of all the +other people who live in the Green Forest who would be missed as +Lightfoot will be." +</P> + +<P> +Bobby Coon nodded. "That's true, Sammy," said he. "Without +Lightfoot, the Green Forest will never be the same. He never +harmed anybody. Why those hunters should have been so anxious to +kill one so beautiful is something I can't understand. For that +matter, I don't understand why they want to kill any of us. +If they really needed us for food, it would be a different matter, +but they don't. Have you been up in the Old Pasture and asked +Old Man Coyote if he has seen anything of Lightfoot?" +</P> + +<P> +Sammy nodded. "I've been up there twice," said he. "Old Man +Coyote has been lying very low during the days, but nights he has +done a lot of traveling. You know Old Man Coyote has a mighty +good nose, but not once since the day those hounds chased +Lightfoot has he found so much as a tiny whiff of Lightfoot's +scent. I thought he might have found the place where Lightfoot +was killed, but he hasn't, although he has looked for it. Well, +the hunting season for Lightfoot is over, but I am afraid it has +ended too late." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap29"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIX: Mr. And Mrs. Quack Are Startled +</H3> + +<P> +It was the evening of the day after the closing of the hunting +season for Lightfoot the Deer. Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had gone +to bed behind the Purple Hills, and the Black Shadows had crept +out across the Big River. Mr. and Mrs. Quack were getting their +evening meal among the brown stalks of the wild rice along the +edge of the Big River. They took turns in searching for the rice +grains in the mud. While Mrs. Quack tipped up and seemed to stand +on her head as she searched in the mud for rice, Mr. Quack kept +watch for possible danger. Then Mrs. Quack took her turn at +keeping watch, while Mr. Quack stood on his head and hunted for +rice. +</P> + +<P> +It was wonderfully quiet and peaceful. There was not even a +ripple on the Big River. It was so quiet that they could hear the +barking of a dog at a farmhouse a mile away. They were far enough +out from the bank to have nothing to fear from Reddy Fox or Old +Man Coyote. So they had nothing to fear from any one save Hooty +the Owl. It was for Hooty that they took turns in watching. +It was just the hour when Hooty likes best to hunt. +</P> + +<P> +By and by they heard Booty's hunting call. It was far away in the +Green Forest, Then Mr. and Mrs. Quack felt easier, and they +talked in low, contented voices. They felt that for a while at +least there was nothing to fear. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly a little splash out in the Big River caught Mr. Quack's +quick ear. As Mrs. Quack brought her head up out of the water, +Mr. Quack warned her to keep quiet. Noiselessly they swam among +the brown stalks until they could see out across the Big River. +There was another little splash out there in the middle. It +wasn't the splash made by a fish; it was a splash made by +something much bigger than any fish. Presently they made out a +silver line moving towards them from the Black Shadows. They knew +exactly what it meant. It meant that some one was out there in +the Big River moving towards them. Could it be a boat containing +a hunter? +</P> + +<P> +With their necks stretched high, Mr. and Mrs. Quack watched. +They were ready to take to their strong wings the instant they +discovered danger. But they did not want to fly until they were +sure that it WAS danger approaching. They were startled, very +much startled. +</P> + +<P> +Presently they made out what looked like the branch of a tree +moving over the water towards them. That was queer, very +queer. Mr. Quack said so. Mrs. Quack said so. Both were growing +more and more suspicious. They couldn't understand it at all, and +it is always best to be suspicious of things you cannot +understand. Mr. and Mrs. Quack half lifted their wings to fly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap30"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXX: The Mystery Is Solved +</H3> + +<P> +It was very mysterious. Yes, Sir, it was very mysterious. +Mr. Quack thought so. Mrs. Quack thought so. There, out in the Big +River, in the midst of the Black Shadows, was something which looked +like the branch of a tree. But instead of moving down the river, as +the branch of a tree would if it were floating, this was coming +straight across the river as if it were swimming. But how could the +branch of a tree swim? That was too much for Mr. Quack. It was too +much for Mrs. Quack. +</P> + +<P> +So they sat perfectly still among the brown stalks of the wild +rice along the edge of the Big River, and not for a second did +they take their eyes from that strange thing moving towards +them. They were ready to spring into the air and trust to their +swift wings the instant they should detect danger. But they did +not want to fly unless they had to. Besides, they were +curious. They were very curious indeed. They wanted to find out +what that mysterious thing moving through the water towards them +was. +</P> + +<P> +So Mr. and Mrs. Quack watched that thing that looked like a +swimming branch draw nearer and nearer, and the nearer it drew +the more they were puzzled, and the more curious they felt. If it +had been the pond of Paddy the Beaver instead of the Big River, +they would have thought it was Paddy swimming with a branch for +his winter food pile. But Paddy the Beaver was way back in his +own pond, deep in the Green Forest, and they knew it. So this +thing became more and more of a mystery. The nearer it came, the +more nervous and anxious they grew, and at the same time the +greater became their curiosity. +</P> + +<P> +At last Mr. Quack felt that not even to gratify his curiosity +would it be safe to wait longer. He prepared to spring into the +air, knowing that Mrs. Quack would follow him. It was just then +that a funny little sound reached him. It was half snort, half +cough, as if some one had sniffed some water up his nose. There +was something familiar about that sound. Mr. Quack decided to +wait a few minutes longer. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll wait," thought Mr. Quack, "until that thing, whatever it +is, comes out of those Black Shadows into the moonlight. +Somehow I have a feeling that we are in no danger." +</P> + +<P> +So Mr. and Mrs. Quack waited and watched. In a few minutes the +thing that looked like the branch of a tree came out of the Black +Shadows into the moonlight, and then the mystery was solved. +It was a mystery no longer. They saw that they had mistaken the +antlers of Lightfoot the Deer for the branch of a tree. Lightfoot +was swimming across the Big River on his way back to his home in +the Green Forest. At once Mr. and Mrs. Quack swam out to meet him +and to tell him how glad they were that he was alive and safe. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap31"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXI: A Surprising Discovery +</H3> + +<P> +Probably there was no happier Thanksgiving in all the Great World +than the Thanksgiving of Lightfoot the Deer, when the dreadful +hunting season ended and he was once more back in his beloved +Green Forest with nothing to fear. All his neighbors called on +him to tell him how glad they were that he had escaped and how +the Green Forest would not have been the same if he had not +returned. So Lightfoot roamed about without fear and was +happy. It seemed to him that he could not be happier. There was +plenty to eat and that blessed feeling of nothing to fear. +What more could any one ask? He began to grow sleek and fat and +handsomer than ever. The days were growing colder and the frosty +air made him feel good. +</P> + +<P> +Just at dusk one evening he went down to his favorite drinking +place at the Laughing Brook. As he put down his head to drink he +saw something which so surprised him that he quite forgot he was +thirsty. What do you think it was he saw? It was a footprint in +the soft mud. Yes, Sir, it was a footprint. +</P> + +<P> +For a long time Lightfoot stood staring at that footprint. In his +great, soft eyes was a look of wonder and surprise. You see, that +footprint was exactly like one of his own, only smaller. +To Lightfoot it was a very wonderful footprint. He was quite sure +that never had he seen such a dainty footprint. He forgot to drink. +Instead, he began to search for other footprints, and presently +he found them. Each was as dainty as that first one. +</P> + +<P> +Who could have made them? That is what Lightfoot wanted to know +and what he meant to find out. It was clear to him that there was +a stranger in the Green Forest, and somehow he didn't resent it +in the least. In fact, he was glad. He couldn't have told why, +but it was true. +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot put his nose to the footprints and sniffed of them. +Even had he not known by looking at those prints that they +had been made by a stranger, his nose would have told him this. +A great longing to find the maker of those footprints took +possession of him. He lifted his handsome head and listened for +some slight sound which might show that the stranger was near. +With his delicate nostrils he tested the wandering little Night +Breezes for a stray whiff of scent to tell him which way to go. +But there was no sound and the wandering little Night Breezes told +him nothing. Lightfoot followed the dainty footprints up the bank. +There they disappeared, for the ground was hard. Lightfoot paused, +undecided which way to go. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap32"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXII: Lightfoot Sees The Stranger +</H3> + +<P> +Lightfoot the Deer was unhappy. It was a strange unhappiness, +an unhappiness such as he had never known before. You see, he had +discovered that there was a stranger in the Green Forest, a +stranger of his own kind, another Deer. He knew it by dainty +footprints in the mud along the Laughing Brook and on the edge of +the pond of Paddy the Beaver. He knew it by other signs which he +ran across every now and then. But search as he would, he was +unable to find that newcomer. He had searched everywhere but +always he was just too late. The stranger had been and gone. +</P> + +<P> +Now there was no anger in Lightfoot's desire to find that +stranger. Instead, there was a great longing. For the first time +in his life Lightfoot felt lonely. So he hunted and hunted and +was unhappy. He lost his appetite. He slept little. He roamed +about uneasily, looking, listening, testing every Merry Little +Breeze, but all in vain. +</P> + +<P> +Then, one never-to-be-forgotten night, as he drank at the +Laughing Brook, a strange feeling swept over him. It was the +feeling of being watched. Lightfoot lifted his beautiful head and +a slight movement caught his quick eye and drew it to a thicket +not far away. The silvery light of gentle Mistress Moon fell full +on that thicket, and thrust out from it was the most beautiful +head in all the Great World. At least, that is the way it seemed +to Lightfoot, though to tell the truth it was not as beautiful as +his own, for it was uncrowned by antlers. For a long minute +Lightfoot stood gazing. A pair of wonderful, great, soft eyes +gazed back at him. Then that beautiful head disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +With a mighty bound, Lightfoot cleared the Laughing Brook and +rushed over to the thicket in which that beautiful head had +disappeared. He plunged in, but there was no one there. +Frantically he searched, but that thicket was empty. Then he +stood still and listened. Not a sound reached him. It was as +still as if there were no other living things in all the Green +Forest. The beautiful stranger had slipped away as silently as +a shadow. +</P> + +<P> +All the rest of that night Lightfoot searched through the Green +Forest but his search was in vain. The longing to find that +beautiful stranger had become so great that he fairly ached with it. +It seemed to him that until he found her he could know no happiness. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap33"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXIII: A Different Game Of Hide And Seek +</H3> + +<P> +Once more Lightfoot the Deer was playing hide and seek in the +Green Forest. But it was a very different game from the one he +had played just a short time before. You remember that then it +had been for his life that he had played, and he was the one who +had done all the hiding. Now, he was "it", and some one else was +doing the hiding. Instead of the dreadful fear which had filled +him in that other game, he was now filled with longing,—longing +to find and make friends with the beautiful stranger of +whom he had just once caught a glimpse, but of whom every day he +found tracks. +</P> + +<P> +At times Lightfoot would lose his temper. Yes, Sir, Lightfoot +would lose his temper. That was a foolish thing to do, but it +seemed to him that he just couldn't help it. He would stamp his +feet angrily and thrash the bushes with his great spreading +antlers as if they were an enemy with whom he was fighting. +More than once when he did this a pair of great, soft, gentle eyes +were watching him, though he didn't know it. If he could have +seen them and the look of admiration in them, he would have been +more eager than ever to find that beautiful stranger. +</P> + +<P> +At other times Lightfoot would steal about through the Green +Forest as noiselessly as a shadow. He would peer into thickets +and behind tangles of fallen trees and brush piles, hoping to +surprise the one he sought. He would be very, very patient. +Perhaps he would come to the thicket which he knew from +the signs the stranger had left only a few moments before. +Then his patience would vanish in impatience, and he would dash ahead, +eager to catch up with the shy stranger. But always it was in vain. +He had thought himself very clever but this stranger was proving +herself more clever. +</P> + +<P> +Of course it wasn't long before all the little people in the +Green Forest knew what was going on. They knew all about that +game of hide and seek just as they had known all about that other +game of hide and seek with the hunters. But now, instead of +trying to help Lightfoot as they did then, they gave him no help +at all. The fact is, they were enjoying that game. Mischievous +Sammy Jay even went so far as to warn the stranger several times +when Lightfoot was approaching. Of course Lightfoot knew when +Sammy did this, and each time he lost his temper. For the time +being, he quite forgot all that Sammy had done for him when he +was the one that was being hunted. +</P> + +<P> +Once Lightfoot almost ran smack into Buster Bear and was so +provoked by his own carelessness that instead of bounding away he +actually threatened to fight Buster. But when Buster grinned +good-naturedly at him, Lightfoot thought better of it and bounded +away to continue his search. +</P> + +<P> +Then there were times when Lightfoot would sulk and would declare +over and over to himself, "I don't care anything about that +stranger. I won't spend another minute looking for her." And then +within five minutes he would be watching, listening and seeking +some sign that she was still in the Green Forest. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap34"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXIV: A Startling New Footprint +</H3> + +<P> +The game of hide and seek between Lightfoot the Deer and the +beautiful stranger whose dainty footprints had first started +Lightfoot to seeking her had been going on for several days and +nights when Lightfoot found something which gave him a shock. +He had stolen very softly clown to the Laughing Brook, hoping to +surprise the beautiful stranger drinking there. She wasn't to be +seen. Lightfoot wondered if she had been there, so looked in the +mud at the edge of the Laughing Brook to see if there were any +fresh prints of those dainty feet. Almost at once he discovered +fresh footprints. They were not the prints he was looking for. +No, Sir, they were not the dainty prints he had learned to +know so well. They were prints very near the size of his own big +ones, and they had been made only a short time before. +</P> + +<P> +The finding of those prints was a dreadful shock to Lightfoot. +He understood instantly what they meant. They meant that a second +stranger had come into the Green Forest, one who had antlers like +his own. Jealousy took possession of Lightfoot the Deer; jealousy +that filled his heart with rage. +</P> + +<P> +"He has come here to seek that beautiful stranger I have been +hunting for," thought Lightfoot. "He has come here to try to +steal her away from me. He has no right here in my Green +Forest. He belongs back up on the Great Mountain from which he +must have come, for there is no other place he could have come +from. That is where that beautiful stranger must have come from, +too. I want her to stay, but I must drive this fellow out. +I'll make him fight. That's what I'll do; I'll make him fight! +I'm not afraid of him, but I'll make him fear me." +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot stamped his feet and with his great antlers thrashed +the bushes as if he felt that they were the enemy he sought. Could +you have looked into his great eyes then, you would have found +nothing soft and beautiful about them. They became almost red with +anger. Lightfoot quivered all over with rage. The hair on the back +of his neck stood up. Lightfoot the Deer looked anything but gentle. +</P> + +<P> +After he had vented his spite for a few minutes on the harmless, +helpless bushes, he threw his head high in the air and whistled +angrily. Then he leaped over the Laughing Brook and once more +began to search through the Green Forest. But this time it was +not for the beautiful stranger with the dainty feet. He had no +time to think of her now. He must first find this newcomer and he +meant to waste no time in doing it. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap35"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXV: Lightfoot Is Reckless +</H3> + +<P> +In his search for the new stranger who had come to the Green +Forest, Lightfoot the Deer was wholly reckless. He no longer +stole like a gray shadow from thicket to thicket as he had done +when searching for the beautiful stranger with the dainty +feet. He bounded along, careless of how much noise he made. +From time to time he would stop to whistle a challenge and to clash +his horns against the trees and stamp the ground with his feet. +</P> + +<P> +After such exhibitions of anger he would pause to listen, hoping +to hear some sound which would tell him where the stranger was. +Now and then he found the stranger's tracks, and from them +he knew that this stranger was doing: just what he had been +doing, seeking to find the beautiful newcomer with the dainty +feet. Each time he found these signs Lightfoot's rage increased. +</P> + +<P> +Of course it didn't take Sammy Jay long to discover what was +going on. There is little that escapes those sharp eyes of Sammy +Jay. As you know, he had early discovered the game of hide and +seek Lightfoot had been playing with the beautiful young visitor +who had come down to the Green Forest from the Great Mountain. Then, +by chance, Sammy had visited the Laughing Brook just as the big +stranger had come down there to drink. For once Sammy had kept his +tongue still. "There is going to be excitement here when Lightfoot +discovers this fellow," thought Sammy. "If they ever meet, and I have +a feeling that they will, there is going to be a fight worth seeing. +I must pass the word around." +</P> + +<P> +So Sammy Jay hunted up his cousin, Blacky the Crow, and told him +what he had discovered. Then he hunted up Bobby Coon and told him. +He saw Unc' Billy Possum sitting in the doorway of his hollow +tree and told him. He discovered Jumper the Hare sitting +under a little hemlock-tree and told him. Then he flew over to +the dear Old Briar-patch to tell Peter Rabbit. Of course he told +Drummer the Woodpecker, Tommy Tit the Chickadee, and Yank Yank +the Nuthatch, who were over in the Old Orchard, and they at once +hurried to the Green Forest, for they couldn't think of missing +anything so exciting as would be the meeting between Lightfoot +and the big stranger from the Great Mountain. +</P> + +<P> +Sammy didn't forget to tell Paddy the Beaver, but it was no news +to Paddy. Paddy had seen the big stranger on the edge of his pond +early the night before. +</P> + +<P> +Of course, Lightfoot knew nothing about all this. His one thought +was to find that big stranger and drive him from the Green Forest, +and so he continued his search tirelessly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap36"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXVI: Sammy Jay Takes A Hand +</H3> + +<P> +Sammy Jay was bubbling over with excitement as he flew about through +the Green Forest, following Lightfoot the Deer. He was so excited +he wanted to scream. But he didn't. He kept his tongue still. +You see, he didn't want Lightfoot to know that he was being followed. +Under that pointed cap of Sammy Jay's are quick wits. It didn't +take him long to discover that the big stranger whom Lightfoot +was seeking was doing his best to keep out of Lightfoot's way and +that he was having no difficulty in doing so because of the reckless +way in which Lightfoot was searching for him. Lightfoot made so +much noise that it was quite easy to know just where he was and +so keep out of his sight. +</P> + +<P> +"That stranger is nearly as big as Lightfoot, but it is very +plain that he doesn't want to fight," thought Sammy. "He must be +a coward." +</P> + +<P> +Now the truth is, the stranger was not a coward. He was ready and +willing to fight if he had to, but if he could avoid fighting he +meant to. You see, big as he was, he wasn't quite so big as +Lightfoot, and he knew it. He had seen Lightfoot's big +footprints, and from their size he knew that Lightfoot must be +bigger and heavier than he. Then, too, he knew that he really +had no right to be there in the Green Forest. That was +Lightfoot's home and so he was an intruder. He knew that +Lightfoot would feel this way about it and that this would make +him fight all the harder. So the big stranger wanted to avoid a +fight if possible. But he wanted still more to find that +beautiful young visitor with the dainty feet for whom Lightfoot +had been looking. He wanted to find her just as Lightfoot wanted +to find her, and he hoped that if he did find her, he could take +her away with him back to the Great Mountain. If he had to, he +would fight for her, but until he had to he would keep out of the +fight. So he dodged Lightfoot and at the same time looked for the +beautiful stranger. +</P> + +<P> +All this Sammy Jay guessed, and after a while he grew tired of +following Lightfoot for nothing. "I'll have to take a hand in +this thing myself," muttered Sammy. "At this rate, Lightfoot +never will find that big stranger!" +</P> + +<P> +So Sammy stopped following Lightfoot and began to search through +the Green Forest for the big stranger. It didn't take very long +to find him. He was over near the pond of Paddy the Beaver. +As soon as he saw him, Sammy began to scream at the top of his +lungs. At once he heard the sound of snapping twigs at the top of +a little ridge back of Paddy's pond and knew that Lightfoot had +heard and understood. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap37"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXVII: The Great Fight +</H3> + +<P> +Down from the top of the ridge back of the pond of Paddy the +Beaver plunged Lightfoot the Deer, his eyes blazing with rage. +He had understood the screaming of Sammy Jay. He knew that somewhere +down there was the big stranger he had been looking for. +</P> + +<P> +The big stranger had understood Sammy's screaming quite as well +as Lightfoot. He knew that to run away now would be to prove +himself a coward and forever disgrace himself in the eyes of Miss +Daintyfoot, for that was the name of the beautiful stranger he +had been seeking. He MUST fight. There was no way out of it, he +MUST fight. The hair on the back of his neck stood up with anger +just as did the hair on the neck of Lightfoot. His eyes also +blazed. He bounded out into a little open place by the pond of +Paddy the Beaver and there he waited. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile Sammy Jay was flying about in the greatest excitement, +screaming at the top of his lungs, "A fight! A fight! A fight!" +Blacky the Crow, over in another part of the Green Forest, heard +him and took up the cry and at once hurried over to Paddy's pond. +Everybody who was near enough hurried there. Bobby Coon and +Unc' Billy Possum climbed trees from which they could see and at +the same time be safe. Billy Mink hurried to a safe place on the +dam of Paddy the Beaver. Paddy himself climbed up on the roof of +his house out in the pond. Peter Rabbit and Jumper the Hare, who +happened to be not far away, hurried over where they could peep +out from under some young hemlock-trees. Buster Bear shuffled +down the hill and watched from the other side of the pond. +Reddy and Granny Fox were both there. +</P> + +<P> +For what seemed like the longest time, but which was for only a +minute, Lightfoot and the big stranger stood still, glaring at +each other. Then, snorting with rage, they lowered their heads +and plunged together. Their antlers clashed with a noise that +rang through the Green Forest, and both fell to their knees. +There they pushed and struggled. Then they separated and backed +away, to repeat the movement over again. It was a terrible fight. +Everybody said so. If they had not known before, everybody +knew now what those great antlers were for. Once the big stranger +managed to reach Lightfoot's right shoulder with one of the sharp +points of his antlers and made a long tear in Lightfoot's gray +coat. It only made Lightfoot fight harder. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes they would rear up and strike with their sharp +hoofs. Back and forth they plunged, and the ground was torn up by +their feet. Both were getting out of breath, and from time to +time they had to stop for a moment's rest. Then they would come +together again more fiercely than ever. Never had such a fight +been seen in the Green Forest. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap38"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXVIII: An Unseen Watcher +</H3> + +<P> +As Lightfoot the Deer and the big stranger from the Great +Mountain fought in the little opening near the pond of Paddy the +Beaver, neither knew or cared who saw them. Each was filled fully +with rage and determined to drive the other from the Green Forest. +Each was fighting for the right to win the love of Miss Daintyfoot. +</P> + +<P> +Neither of them knew that Miss Daintyfoot herself was watching +them. But she was. She had heard the clash of their great antlers +as they had come together the first time, and she had known +exactly what it meant. Timidly she had stolen forward to a +thicket where, safely hidden, she could watch that terrible +fight. She knew that they were fighting for her. Of course. +She knew it just as she had known how both had been hunting for her. +What she didn't know for some time was which one she wanted to win +that fight. +</P> + +<P> +Both Lightfoot and the big stranger were handsome. Yes, indeed, +they were very handsome. Lightfoot was just a little bit the +bigger and it seemed to her just a little bit the handsomer. +She almost wanted him to win. Then, when she saw how bravely the +big stranger was fighting and how well he was holding his own, even +though he was a little smaller than Lightfoot, she almost hoped +he would win. +</P> + +<P> +That great fight lasted a long time. To pretty Miss Daintyfoot +it seemed that it never would end. But after a while Lightfoot's +greater size and strength began to tell. Little by little the big +stranger was forced back towards the edge of the open place. +Now he would be thrown to his knees when Lightfoot wasn't. +As Lightfoot saw this, he seemed to gain new strength. At last +he caught the stranger in such a way that he threw him over. +While the stranger struggled to get to his feet again, Lightfoot's +sharp antlers made long tears in his gray coat. The stranger was +beaten and he knew it. The instant he succeeded in getting to his +feet he turned tail and plunged for the shelter of the Green +Forest. With a snort of triumph, Lightfoot plunged after him. +</P> + +<P> +But now that he was beaten, fear took possession of the +stranger. All desire to fight left him. His one thought was to +get away, and fear gave him speed. Straight back towards the +Great Mountain from which he had come the stranger headed. +Lightfoot followed only a short distance. He knew that +that stranger was going for good and would not come back. +Then Lightfoot turned back to the open place where they had +fought. There he threw up his beautiful head, crowned by its +great antlers, and whistled a challenge to all the Green Forest. +As she looked at him, Miss Daintyfoot knew that she had +wanted him to win. She knew that there simply couldn't be anybody +else so handsome and strong and brave in all the Great World. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap39"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXIX: Lightfoot Discovers Love +</H3> + +<P> +Wonderfully handsome was Lightfoot the Deer as he stood in the +little opening by the pond of Paddy the Beaver, his head thrown +back proudly, as he received the congratulations of his neighbors +of the Green Forest who had seen him win the great fight with +the big stranger who had come down from the Great Mountain. +To beautiful Miss Daintyfoot, peeping out from the thicket where +she had hidden to watch the great fight, Lightfoot was the most +wonderful person in all the Great World. She adored him, which +means that she loved him just as much as it was possible for her +to love. +</P> + +<P> +But Lightfoot didn't know this. In fact, he didn't know that Miss +Daintyfoot was there. His one thought had been to drive out of +the Green Forest the big stranger who had come down from the +Great Mountain. He had been jealous of that big stranger, +though he hadn't known that he was jealous. The real cause of his +anger and desire to fight had been the fear that the big stranger +would find Miss Daintyfoot and take her away. Of course this was +nothing but jealousy. +</P> + +<P> +Now that the great fight was over, and he knew that the big +stranger was hurrying back to the Great Mountain, all Lightfoot's +anger melted away. In its place was a great longing to find Miss +Daintyfoot. His great eyes became once more soft and beautiful. +In them was a look of wistfulness. Lightfoot walked down to the edge +of the water and drank, for he was very, very thirsty. Then he +turned, intending to take up once more his search for beautiful Miss +Daintyfoot. +</P> + +<P> +When he turned he faced the thicket in which Miss Daintyfoot was +hiding. His keen eyes caught a little movement of the branches. A +beautiful head was slowly thrust out, and Lightfoot gazed again +into a pair of soft eyes which he was sure were the most +beautiful eyes in all the Great World. He wondered if she would +disappear and run away as she had the last time he saw her. +</P> + +<P> +He took a step or two forward. The beautiful head was +withdrawn. Lightfoot's heart sank. Then he bounded forward into +that thicket. He more than half expected to find no one there, +but when he entered that thicket he received the most wonderful +surprise in all his life. There stood Miss Daintyfoot, timid, +bashful, but with a look in her eyes which Lightfoot could not +mistake. In that instant Light-foot understood the meaning of +that longing which had kept him hunting for her and of the rage +which had filled him when he had discovered the presence of the +big stranger from the Great Mountain. It was love. Lightfoot knew +that he loved Miss Daintyfoot and, looking into her soft, gentle +eyes, he knew that Miss Daintyfoot loved him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap40"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XL: Happy Days In The Green Forest +</H3> + +<P> +These were happy days in the Green Forest. At least, they were +happy for Lightfoot the Deer. They were the happiest days he had +ever known. You see, he had won beautiful, slender, young Miss +Daintyfoot, and now she was no longer Miss Daintyfoot but +Mrs. Lightfoot. Lightfoot was sure that there was no one anywhere +so beautiful as she, and Mrs. Lightfoot knew that there was no +one so handsome and brave as he. +</P> + +<P> +Wherever Lightfoot went, Mrs. Lightfoot went. He showed her all +his favorite hiding-places. He led her to his favorite +eating-places. She did not tell him that she was already +acquainted with every one of them, that she knew the Green Forest +quite as well as he did. If he had stopped to think how day after +day she had managed to keep out of his sight while he hunted for +her, he would have realized that there was little he could show +her which she did not already know. But he didn't stop to think +and proudly led her from place to place. And Mrs. Lightfoot wisely +expressed delight with all she saw quite as if it were all new. +</P> + +<P> +Of course, all the little people of the Green Forest hurried to +pay their respects to Mrs. Lightfoot and to tell Lightfoot how +glad they felt for him. And they really did feel glad. You see, +they all loved Lightfoot and they knew that now he would be +happier than ever, and that there would be no danger of his +leaving the Green Forest because of loneliness. The Green Forest +would not be the same at all without Lightfoot the Deer. +</P> + +<P> +Lightfoot told Mrs. Lightfoot all about the terrible days of the +hunting season and how glad he was that she had not been in the +Green Forest then. He told her how the hunters with terrible guns +had given him no rest and how he had had to swim the Big River to +get away from the hounds. +</P> + +<P> +"I know," replied Mrs. Lightfoot softly. "I know all about +it. You see, there were hunters on the Great Mountain. In fact, +that is how I happened to come down to the Green Forest. They +hunted me so up there that I did not dare stay, and I came down +here thinking that there might be fewer hunters. I wouldn't have +believed that I could ever be thankful to hunters for anything, +but I am, truly I am." +</P> + +<P> +There was a puzzled look on Lightfoot's face. "What for?" he +demanded. "I can't imagine anybody being thankful to hunters for +anything." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you stupid," cried Mrs. Lightfoot. "Don't you see that if I +hadn't been driven down from the Great Mountain, I never would +have found YOU?" +</P> + +<P> +"You mean, I never would have found YOU," retorted Lightfoot. +"I guess I owe these hunters more than you do. I owe them the +greatest happiness I have ever known, but I never would have +thought of it myself. Isn't it queer how things which seem the +very worst possible sometimes turn out to be the very best +possible?" +</P> + +<P> +Blacky the Crow is one of Lightfoot's friends, but sometimes even +friends are envious. It is so with Blacky. He insists that he is +quite as important in the Green Forest as is Lightfoot and that +his doings are quite as interesting. Therefore just to please him +the next book is to be Blacky the Crow. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Lightfoot the Deer, by Thornton W. Burgess + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIGHTFOOT THE DEER *** + +***** This file should be named 4670-h.htm or 4670-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/6/7/4670/ + +Produced by Kent Fielden. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lightfoot the Deer + +Author: Thornton W. Burgess + +Posting Date: August 24, 2009 [EBook #4670] +Release Date: November, 2003 +First Posted: February 26, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIGHTFOOT THE DEER *** + + + + +Produced by Kent Fielden. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + +LIGHTFOOT THE DEER + + +BY + +THORNTON W. BURGESS + + + +CONTENTS + + I: Peter Rabbit Meets Lightfoot + II: Lightfoot's New Antlers + III: Lightfoot Tells How His Antlers Grew + IV: The Spirit Of Fear + V: Sammy Jay Brings Lightfoot Word + VI: A Game Of Hide And Seek + VII: The Merry Little Breezes Help Lightfoot + VIII: Wit Against Wit + IX: Lightfoot Becomes Uncertain + X: Lightfoot's Clever Trick + XI: The Hunted Watches The Hunter + XII: Lightfoot Visits Paddy The Beaver + XIII: Lightfoot And Paddy Become Partners + XIV: How Paddy Warned Lightfoot + XV: The Three Watchers + XVI: Visitors To Paddy's Pond + XVII: Sammy Jay Arrives + XVIII: The Hunter Loses His Temper + XIX: Sammy Jay Is Modest + XX: Lightfoot Hears A Dreadful Sound + XXI: How Lightfoot Got Rid Of The Hounds + XXII: Lightfoot's Long Swim + XXIII: Lightfoot Finds A Friend + XXIV: The Hunter Is Disappointed + XXV: The Hunter Lies In Wait + XXVI: Lightfoot Does The Wise Thing + XXVII: Sammy Jay Worries + XXVIII: The Hunting Season Ends + XXIX: Mr. And Mrs. Quack Are Startled + XXX: The Mystery Is Solved + XXXI: A Surprising Discovery + XXXII: Lightfoot Sees The Stranger + XXXIII: A Different Game Of Hide And Seek + XXXIV: A Startling New Footprint + XXXV: Lightfoot Is Reckless + XXXVI: Sammy Jay Takes A Hand + XXXVII: The Great Fight + XXXVIII: An Unseen Watcher + XXXIX: Lightfoot Discovers Love + XL: Happy Days In The Green Forest + + + + +CHAPTER I: Peter Rabbit Meets Lightfoot + + +Peter Rabbit was on his way back from the pond of Paddy the +Beaver deep in the Green Forest. He had just seen Mr. and +Mrs. Quack start toward the Big River for a brief visit before +leaving on their long, difficult journey to the far-away +Southland. Farewells are always rather sad, and this particular +farewell had left Peter with a lump in his throat,--a queer, +choky feeling. + +"If I were sure that they would return next spring, it wouldn't +be so bad," he muttered. "It's those terrible guns. I know what +it is to have to watch out for them. Farmer Brown's boy used to +hunt me with one of them, but he doesn't any more. But even when +he did hunt me it wasn't anything like what the Ducks have to go +through. If I kept my eyes and ears open, I could tell when a +hunter was coming and could hide in a hole if I wanted to. I +never had to worry about my meals. But with the Ducks it is a +thousand times worse. They've got to eat while making that long +journey, and they can eat only where there is the right kind of +food. Hunters with terrible guns know where those places are and +hide there until the Ducks come, and the Ducks have no way of +knowing whether the hunters are waiting for them or not. That +isn't hunting. It's--it's--" + +"Well, what is it? What are you talking to yourself about, +Peter Rabbit?" + +Peter looked up with a start to find the soft, beautiful eyes of +Lightfoot the Deer gazing down at him over the top of a little +hemlock tree. + +"It's awful," declared Peter. "It's worse than unfair. +It doesn't give them any chance at all." + +"I suppose it must be so if you say so," replied Lightfoot, +"but you might tell me what all this awfulness is about." + +Peter grinned. Then he began at the beginning and told Lightfoot +all about Mr. and Mrs. Quack and the many dangers they must face +on their long journey to the far-away Southland and back again in +the spring, all because of the heartless hunters with terrible +guns. Lightfoot listened and his great soft eyes were filled with +pity for the Quack family. + +"I hope they will get through all right," said he, "and I hope +they will get back in the spring. It is bad enough to be hunted +by men at one time of the year, as no one knows better than I do, +but to be hunted in the spring as well as in the fall is more +than twice as bad. Men are strange creatures. I do not +understand them at all. None of the people of the Green Forest +would think of doing such terrible things. I suppose it is quite +right to hunt others in order to get enough to eat, though I am +thankful to say that I never have had to do that, but to hunt +others just for the fun of hunting is something I cannot +understand at all. And yet that is what men seem to do it for. +I guess the trouble is they never have been hunted themselves and +don't know how it feels. Sometimes I think I'll hunt one some day +just to teach him a lesson. What are you laughing at, Peter?" + +"At the idea of you hunting a man," replied Peter. "Your heart +is all right, Lightfoot, but you are too timid and gentle to +frighten any one. Big as you are I wouldn't fear you." + +With a single swift bound Lightfoot sprang out in front of +Peter. He stamped his sharp hoofs, lowered his handsome head +until the sharp points of his antlers, which people call horns, +pointed straight at Peter, lifted the hair along the back of +his neck, and made a motion as if to plunge at him. His eyes, +which Peter had always thought so soft and gentle, seemed to +flash fire. + +"Oh!" cried Peter in a faint, frightened-sounding voice and +leaped to one side before it entered his foolish little head that +Lightfoot was just pretending. + +Lightfoot chuckled. "Did you say I couldn't frighten any one?" +he demanded. + +"I--I didn't know you could look so terribly fierce," stammered +Peter. "Those antlers look really dangerous when you point them +that way. Why--why--what is that hanging to them? It looks +like bits of old fur. Have you been tearing somebody's coat, +Lightfoot?" Peter's eyes were wide with wonder and suspicion. + + + + +CHAPTER II: Lightfoot's New Antlers + + +Peter Rabbit was puzzled. He stared at Lightfoot the Deer a wee +bit suspiciously. "Have you been tearing somebody's coat?" he +asked again. He didn't like to think it of Lightfoot, whom he +always had believed quite as gentle, harmless, and timid as +himself. But what else could he think? + +Lightfoot slowly shook his head. "No," said he, "I haven't torn +anybody's coat." + +"Then what are those rags hanging on your antlers?" demanded +Peter. + +Lightfoot chuckled. "They are what is left of the coverings of my +new antlers," he explained. + +"What's that? What do you mean by new antlers?" Peter was sitting +up very straight, with his eyes fixed on Lightfoot's antlers as +though he never had seen them before. + +"Just what I said," retorted Lightfoot. "What do you think of +them? I think they are the finest antlers I've ever had. When I +get the rest of those rags off, they will be as handsome a set as +ever was grown in the Green Forest." + +Lightfoot rubbed his antlers against the trunk of a tree till +some of the rags hanging to them dropped off. + +Peter blinked very hard. He was trying to understand and he +couldn't. Finally he said so. + +"What kind of a story are you trying to fill me up with?" he +demanded indignantly. "Do you mean to tell me that those are not +the antlers that you have had as long as I've known you? How can +anything hard like those antlers grow? And if those are new +ones, where are the old ones? Show me the old ones, and perhaps +I'll believe that these are new ones. The idea of trying to make +me believe that antlers grow just like plants! I've seen Bossy +the Cow all summer and I know she has got the same horns she had +last summer. New antlers indeed!" + +"You are quite right, Peter, quite right about Bossy the Cow. +She never has new horns, but that isn't any reason why I shouldn't +have new antlers, is it?" replied Lightfoot patiently. "Her horns +are quite different from my antlers. I have a new pair every +year. You haven't seen me all summer, have you, Peter?" + +"No, I don't remember that I have," replied Peter, trying very +hard to remember when he had last seen Lightfoot. + +"I KNOW you haven't," retorted Lightfoot. "I know it because I +have been hiding in a place you never visit." + +"What have you been hiding for?" demanded Peter. + +"For my new antlers to grow," replied Lightfoot. "When my new +antlers are growing, I want to be away by myself. I don't like +to be seen without them or with halfgrown ones. Besides, I am +very uncomfortable while the new antlers are growing and I want +to be alone." Lightfoot spoke as if he really meant every word he +said, but still Peter couldn't, he just COULDN'T believe that +those wonderful great antlers had grown out of Lightfoot's head +in a single summer. "Where did you leave your old ones and when +did they come off?" he asked, and there was doubt in the very +tone of his voice. + +"They dropped off last spring, but I don't remember just where," +replied Lightfoot. "I was too glad to be rid of them to notice +where they dropped. You see they were loose and uncomfortable, +and I hadn't any more use for them because I knew that my new +ones would be bigger and better. I've got one more point on each +than I had last year." Lightfoot began once more to rub his +antlers against the tree to get off the queer rags hanging to +them and to polish the points. Peter watched in silence for a +few minutes. Then, all his suspicions returning, he said: + +"But you haven't told me anything about those rags hanging to +your antlers." + +"And you haven't believed what I have already told you," retorted +Lightfoot. "I don't like telling things to people who won't +believe me." + + + + +CHAPTER III: Lightfoot Tells How His Antlers Grew + + +It is hard to believe what seems impossible. And yet what seems +impossible to you may be a very commonplace matter to some one +else. So it does not do to say that a thing cannot be possible +just because you cannot understand how it can be. Peter Rabbit +wanted to believe what Lightfoot the Deer had just told him, but +somehow he couldn't. If he had seen those antlers growing, it +would have been another matter. But he hadn't seen Lightfoot +since the very last of winter, and then Lightfoot had worn just +such handsome antlers as he now had. So Peter really couldn't be +blamed for not being able to believe that those old ones had been +lost and in their place new ones had grown in just the few months +of spring and summer. + +But Peter didn't blame Lightfoot in the least, because he had +told Peter that he didn't like to tell things to people who +wouldn't believe what he told them when Peter had asked him about +the rags hanging to his antlers. "I'm trying to believe it," he +said, quite humbly. + +"It's all true," broke in another voice. + +Peter jumped and turned to find his big cousin, Jumper the +Hare. Unseen and unheard, he had stolen up and had overheard what +Peter and Lightfoot had said. + +"How do you know it is true?" snapped Peter a little crossly, for +Jumper had startled him. + +"Because I saw Lightfoot's old antlers after they had fallen off, +and I often saw Lightfoot while his new ones were growing," +retorted Jumper. + +"All right! I'll believe anything that Lightfoot tells me if you +say it is true," declared Peter, who greatly admires his cousin, +Jumper. "Now tell me about those rags, Lightfoot. Please do." + +Lightfoot couldn't resist that "please." "Those rags are what is +left of a kind of covering which protected the antlers while they +were growing, as I told you before," said he. "Very soon after +my old ones dropped off the new ones began to grow. They were +not hard, not at all like they are now. They were soft and very +tender, and the blood ran through them just as it does through +our bodies. They were covered with a sort of skin with hairs on +it like thin fur. The ends were not sharply pointed they now +are, but were big and rounded, like knobs. They were not like +antlers at all, and they made my head hot and were very +uncomfortable. That is why I hid away. They grew very fast, so +fast that every day I could see by looking at my reflection in +water that they were a little longer. It seemed to me sometimes +as if all my strength went into those new antlers. And I had to +be very careful not to hit them against anything. In the first +place it would have hurt, and in the second place it might have +spoiled the shape of them. + +"When they had grown to the length you now see, they began to +shrink and grow hard. The knobs on the ends shrank until they +became pointed. As soon as they stopped growing the blood stopped +flowing up in them, and as they became hard they were no longer +tender. The skin which had covered them grew dry and split, and I +rubbed it off on trees and bushes. The little rags you see are +what is left, but I will soon be rid of those. Then I shall be +ready to fight if need be and will fear no one save man, and will +fear him only when he has a terrible gun with him." + +Lightfoot tossed his head proudly and rattled his wonderful +antlers against the nearest tree. "Isn't he handsome," whispered +Peter to Jumper the Hare; "and did you ever hear of anything so +wonderful as the growing of those new antlers in such a short +time? It is hard to believe, but I suppose it must be true." + +"It is," replied Jumper, "and I tell you, Peter, I would hate to +have Lightfoot try those antlers on me, even though I were big as +a man. You've always thought of Lightfoot as timid and afraid, +but you should see him when he is angry. Few people care to face +him then." + + + + +CHAPTER IV: The Spirit Of Fear + + When the days grow cold and the nights are clear, + There stalks abroad the spirit of fear. + --Lightfoot the Deer. + + +It is sad but true. Autumn is often called the sad time of the +year, and it is the sad time. But it shouldn't be. Old Mother +Nature never intended that it should be. She meant it to be the +GLAD time. It is the time when all the little people of the +Green Forest and the Green Meadows have got over the cares and +worries of bringing up families and teaching their children how +to look out for themselves. It is the season when food is +plentiful, and every one is fat and is, or ought to be, care +free. It is the season when Old Mother Nature intended all her +little people to be happy, to have nothing to worry them for the +little time before the coming of cold weather and the hard times +which cold weather always brings. + +But instead of this, a grim, dark figure goes stalking over the +Green Meadows and through the Green Forest, and it is called the +Spirit of Fear. It peers into every hiding-place and wherever it +finds one of the little people it sends little cold chills over +him, little chills which jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun cannot +chase away, though he shine his brightest. All night as well as +all day the Spirit of Fear searches out the little people of the +Green Meadows and the Green Forest. It will not let them sleep. +It will not let them eat in peace. It drives them to seek +new hiding-places and then drives them out of those. It keeps +them ever ready to fly or run at the slightest sound. + +Peter Rabbit was thinking of this as he sat at the edge of the +dear Old Briar-patch, looking over to the Green Forest. The Green +Forest was no longer just green; it was of many colors, for Old +Mother Nature had set Jack Frost to painting the leaves of the +maple-trees and the beech-trees, and the birch-trees and the +poplar-trees and the chestnut-trees, and he had done his work well. +Very, very lovely were the reds and yellows and browns against +the dark green of the pines and the spruces and the hemlocks. +The Purple Hills were more softly purple than at any other season +of the year. It was all very, very beautiful. + +But Peter had no thought for the beauty of it all, for the Spirit +of Fear had visited even the dear Old Briar-patch, and Peter was +afraid. It wasn't fear of Reddy Fox, or Redtail the Hawk, or +Hooty the Owl, or Old Man Coyote. They were forever trying to +catch him, but they did not strike terror to his heart because he +felt quite smart enough to keep out of their clutches. To be +sure, they gave him sudden frights sometimes, when they happened +to surprise him, but these frights lasted only until he reached +the nearest bramble-tangle or hollow log where they could not get +at him. But the fear that chilled his heart now never left him +even for a moment. + +And Peter knew that this same fear was clutching at the hearts of +Bob White, hiding in the brown stubble; of Mrs. Grouse, squatting +in the thickest bramble-tangle in the Green Forest; of Uncle +Billy Possum and Bobby Coon in their hollow trees; of Jerry +Muskrat in the Smiling Pool; of Happy Jack Squirrel, hiding in +the tree tops; of Lightfoot the Deer, lying in the closest +thicket he could find. It was even clutching at the hearts of +Granny and Reddy Fox and of great, big Buster Bear. It seemed to +Peter that no one was so big or so small that this terrible +Spirit of Fear had not searched him out. + +Far in the distance sounded a sudden bang. Peter jumped and +shivered. He knew that every one else who had heard that bang +had jumped and shivered just as he had. It was the season of +hunters with terrible guns. It was man who had sent this +terrible Spirit of Fear to chill the hearts of the little meadow +and forest people at this very time when Old Mother Nature had +made all things so beautiful and had intended that they should +be happiest and most free from care and worry. It was man who +had made the autumn a sad time instead of a glad time, the very +saddest time of all the year, when Old Mother Nature had done +her best to make it the most beautiful. + +"I don't understand these men creatures," said Peter to little +Mrs. Peter, as they stared fearfully out from the dear Old +Briar-patch. "They seem to find pleasure, actually find pleasure, +in trying to kill us. I don't understand them at all. They +haven't any hearts. That must be the reason; they haven't any +hearts." + + + + +CHAPTER V: Sammy Jay Brings Lightfoot Word + + +Sammy Jay is one of those who believe in the wisdom of the old +saying, "Early to bed and early to rise." Sammy needs no alarm +clock to get up early in the morning. He is awake as soon as it +is light enough to see and wastes no time wishing he could sleep +a little longer. His stomach wouldn't let him if he wanted +to. Sammy always wakes up hungry. In this he is no different +from all his feathered neighbors. + +So the minute Sammy gets his eyes open he makes his toilet, for +Sammy is very neat, and starts out to hunt for his breakfast. +Long ago Sammy discovered that there is no safer time of day to +visit the dooryards of those two-legged creatures called men than +very early in the morning. On this particular morning he had +planned to fly over to Farmer Brown's dooryard, but at the last +minute he changed his mind. Instead, he flew over to the +dooryard of another farm. It was so very early in the morning +that Sammy didn't expect to find anybody stirring, so you can +guess how surprised he was when, just as he came in sight of that +dooryard, he saw the door of the house open and a man step out. + +Sammy stopped on the top of the nearest tree. "Now what is that +man doing up as early as this?" muttered Sammy. Then he caught +sight of something under the man's arm. He didn't have to look +twice to know what it was. It was a gun! Yes, sir, it was a gun, +a terrible gun. + +"Ha!" exclaimed Sammy, and quite forgot that his stomach was +empty. "Now who can that fellow be after so early in the morning? +I wonder if he is going to the dear Old Briar-patch to look for +Peter Rabbit, or if he is going to the Old Pasture in search of +Reddy Fox, or if it is Mr. and Mrs. Grouse he hopes to kill. +I think I'll sit right here and watch." + +So Sammy sat in the top of the tree and watched the hunter with +the terrible gun. He saw him head straight for the Green Forest. +"It's Mr. and Mrs. Grouse after all, I guess," thought Sammy. +"If I knew just where they were I'd go over and warn them." +But Sammy didn't know just where they were and he knew that it +might take him a long time to find them, so he once more began to +think of breakfast and then, right then, another thought popped +into his head. He thought of Lightfoot the Deer. + +Sammy watched the hunter enter the Green Forest, then he silently +followed him. From the way the hunter moved, Sammy decided that +he wasn't thinking of Mr. and Mrs. Grouse. "It's Lightfoot the +Deer, sure as I live," muttered Sammy. "He ought to be warned. +He certainly ought to be warned. I know right where he is. +I believe I'll warn him myself." + +Sammy found Lightfoot right where he had expected to. "He's +coming!" cried Sammy. "A hunter with a terrible gun is coming!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI: A Game Of Hide And Seek + + +There was a game of hide and seek that Danny Meadow Mouse once +played with Buster Bear. It was a very dreadful game for Danny. +But hard as it was for Danny, it didn't begin to be as hard +as the game Lightfoot the Deer was playing with the hunter +in the Green Forest. + +In the case of Buster Bear and Danny, the latter had simply to +keep out of reach of Buster. As long as Buster didn't get his +great paws on Danny, the latter was safe. Then, too, Danny is a +very small person. He is so small that he can hide under two or +three leaves. Wherever he is, he is pretty sure to find a +hiding-place of some sort. His small size gives him advantages in +a game of hide and seek. It certainly does. But Lightfoot the +Deer is big. He is one of the largest of the people who live in +the Green Forest. Being so big, it is not easy to hide. + +Moreover, a hunter with a terrible gun does not have to get close +in order to kill. Lightfoot knew all this as he waited for the +coming of the hunter of whom Sammy Jay had warned him. He had +learned many lessons in the hunting season of the year before and +he remembered every one of them. He knew that to forget even one +of them might cost him his life. So, standing motionless behind a +tangle of fallen trees, Lightfoot listened and watched. + +Presently over in the distance he heard Sammy Jay screaming, +"Thief, thief, thief!" A little sigh of relief escaped +Lightfoot. He knew that that screaming of Sammy Jay's was a +warning to tell him where the hunter was. Knowing just where the +hunter was made it easier for Lightfoot to know what to do. + +A Merry Little Breeze came stealing through the Green Forest. +It came from behind Lightfoot and danced on towards the hunter with +the terrible gun. Instantly Lightfoot began to steal softly away +through the Green Forest. He took the greatest care to make no +sound. He went in a half-circle, stopping every few steps to +listen and test the air with his wonderful nose. Can you guess +what Lightfoot was trying to do? He was trying to get behind the +hunter so that the Merry Little Breezes would bring to him the +dreaded man-scent. So long as Lightfoot could get that scent, he +would know where the hunter was, though he could neither see nor +hear him. If he had remained where Sammy Jay had found him, the +hunter might have come within shooting distance before Lightfoot +could have located him. + +So the hunter with the terrible gun walked noiselessly through +the Green Forest, stepping with the greatest care to avoid +snapping a stick underfoot, searching with keen eye every thicket +and likely hiding-place for a glimpse of Lightfoot, and studying +the ground for traces to show that Lightfoot had been there. + + + + +CHAPTER VII: The Merry Little Breezes Help Lightfoot + + +Could you have seen the hunter with the terrible gun and Lightfoot +the Deer that morning on which the hunting season opened you might +have thought that Lightfoot was hunting the hunter instead of the +hunter hunting Lightfoot. You see, Lightfoot was behind the hunter +instead of in front of him. He was following the hunter, so as to +keep track of him. As long as he knew just where the hunter was, he +felt reasonably safe. + +The Merry Little Breezes are Lightfoot's best friends. They +always bring to him all the different scents they find as they +wander through the Green Forest. And Lightfoot's delicate nose +is so wonderful that he can take these scents, even though they +be very faint, and tell just who or what has made them. So, +though he makes the best possible use of his big ears and his +beautiful eyes, he trusts more to his nose to warn him of danger. +For this reason, during the hunting season when he moves about, +he moves in the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes may +be blowing. He knows that they will bring to him warning of any +danger which may lie in that direction. + +Now the hunter with the terrible gun who was looking for +Lightfoot knew all this, for he was wise in the ways of Lightfoot +and of the other little people of the Green Forest. When he had +entered the Green Forest that morning he had first of all made +sure of the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes were +coming. Then he had begun to hunt in that direction, knowing +that thus his scent would be carried behind him. It is more than +likely that he would have reached the hiding-place of Lightfoot +the Deer before the latter would have known that he was in the +Green Forest, had it not been for Sammy Jay's warning. + +When he reached the tangle of fallen trees behind which Lightfoot +had been hiding, he worked around it slowly and with the greatest +care, holding his terrible gun ready to use instantly should +Lightfoot leap out. Presently he found Lightfoot's footprints in +the soft ground and studying them he knew that Lightfoot had +known of his coming. + +"It was that confounded Jay," muttered the hunter. "Lightfoot +heard him and knew what it meant. I know what he has done; he has +circled round so as to get behind me and get my scent. It is a +clever trick, a very clever trick, but two can play at that +game. I'll just try that little trick myself." + +So the hunter in his turn made a wide circle back, and presently +there was none of the dreaded man-smell among the scents which +the Merry Little Breezes brought to Lightfoot. Lightfoot had lost +track of the hunter. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII: Wit Against Wit + + +It was a dreadful game the hunter with the terrible gun and +Lightfoot the Deer were playing in the Green Forest. It was a +matching of wit against wit, the hunter seeking to take +Lightfoot's life, and Lightfoot seeking to save it. +The experience of other years had taught Lightfoot much of the +ways of hunters and not one of the things he had learned about +them was forgotten. But the hunter in his turn knew much of +the ways of Deer. So it was that each was trying his best to +outguess the other. + +When the hunter found the hiding-place Lightfoot had left at the +warning of Sammy Jay he followed Lightfoot's tracks for a short +distance. It was slow work, and only one whose eyes had been +trained to notice little things could have done it. You see, +there was no snow, and only now and then, when he had stepped on +a bit of soft ground, had Lightfoot left a footprint. But there +were other signs which the hunter knew how to read,--a freshly +upturned leaf here, and here, a bit of moss lightly crushed. +These things told the hunter which way Lightfoot had gone. + +Slowly, patiently, watchfully, the hunter followed. After a while +he stopped with a satisfied grin. "I thought as much," he +muttered. "He heard that pesky Jay and circled around so as to +get my scent. I'll just cut across to my old trail and unless I +am greatly mistaken, I'll find his tracks there." + +So, swiftly but silently, the hunter cut across to his old trail, +and in a few moments he found just what he expected,--one of +Lightfoot's footprints. Once more he grinned. + +"Well, old fellow, I've outguessed you this time," said he to +himself. "I am behind you and the wind is from you to me, so that +you cannot get my scent. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if you're +back right where you started from, behind that old windfall." +He at once began to move forward silently and cautiously, with +eyes and ears alert and his terrible gun ready for instant use. + +Now when Lightfoot, following behind the hunter, had lost the +scent of the latter, he guessed right away that the latter had +found his tracks and had started to follow them. Lightfoot stood +still and listened with all his might for some little sound to +tell him where the hunter was. But there was no sound and after a +little Lightfoot began to move on. He didn't dare remain still, +lest the hunter should creep up within shooting distance. There +was only one direction in which it was safe for Lightfoot to +move, and that was the direction from which the Merry Little +Breezes were blowing. So long as they brought him none of the +dreaded man-smell, he knew that he was safe. The hunter might be +behind him--probably he was--but ahead of him, so long as the +Merry Little Breezes were blowing in his face and brought no +man-smell, was safety. + + + + +CHAPTER IX: Lightfoot Becomes Uncertain + + +Lightfoot the Deer traveled on through the Green Forest, straight +ahead in the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes were +blowing. Every few steps he would raise his delicate nose and +test all the scents that the Merry Little Breezes were bringing. +So long as he kept the Merry Little Breezes blowing in his face, +he could be sure whether or not there was danger ahead of him. + +Lightfoot uses his nose very much as you and I use our eyes. It +tells him the things he wants to know. He knew that Reddy Fox had +been along ahead of him, although he didn't get so much as a +glimpse of Reddy's red coat. Once he caught just the faintest of +scents which caused him to stop abruptly and test the air more +carefully than ever. It was the scent of Buster Bear. But it +was so very faint that Lightfoot knew Buster was not near, so he +went ahead again, but even more carefully than before. After a +little he couldn't smell Buster at all, so he knew then that +Buster had merely passed that way when he was going to some other +part of the Green Forest. + +Lightfoot knew that he had nothing to fear in that direction so +long as the Merry Little Breezes brought him none of the dreaded +man-scent, and he knew that he could trust the Merry Little +Breezes to bring him that scent if there should be a man +anywhere in front of him. You know the Merry Little Breezes are +Lightfoot's best friends. But Lightfoot didn't want to keep +going in that direction all day. + +It would take him far away from that part of the Green Forest +with which he was familiar and which he called home. It might in +time take him out of the Green Forest and that wouldn't do at +all. So after a while Lightfoot became uncertain. He didn't know +just what to do. You see, he couldn't tell whether or not that +hunter with the terrible gun was still following him. + +Every once in a while he would stop in a thicket of young trees +or behind a tangle of fallen trees uprooted by the wind. There +he would stand, facing the direction from which he had come, and +watch and listen for some sign that the hunter was still +following. But after a few minutes of this he would grow uneasy +and then bound away in the direction from which the Merry Little +Breezes were blowing, so as to be sure of not running into danger. + +"If only I could know if that hunter is still following, I would +know better what to do," thought Lightfoot. "I've got to find out." + + + + +CHAPTER X: Lightfoot's Clever Trick + + +Lightfoot the Deer is smart. Yes, Sir, Lightfoot the Deer is +smart. He has to be, especially in the hunting season, to save +his life. If he were not smart he would have been killed long +ago. He never makes the foolish mistake of thinking that other +people are not smart. He knew that the hunter who had started out +to follow him early that morning was not one to be easily +discouraged or to be fooled by simple tricks. He had a very great +respect for the smartness of that hunter. He knew that he +couldn't afford to be careless for one little minute. + +The certainty of danger is sometimes easier to bear than the +uncertainty of not knowing whether or not there really is any +danger. Lightfoot felt that if he could know just where the +hunter was, he himself would know better what to do. The +hunter might have become discouraged and given up following him. +In that case he could rest and stop worrying. It would be better +to know that he was being followed than not to know. But how was +he to find out? Lightfoot kept turning this over and over in his +mind as he traveled through the Green Forest. Then an idea came +to him. + +"I know what I'll do. I know just what I'll do," said Lightfoot +to himself. "I'll find out whether or not that hunter is still +following me and I'll get a little rest. Goodness knows, I need +a rest." + +Lightfoot bounded away swiftly and ran for some distance, then he +turned and quickly, but very, very quietly, returned in the +direction from which he had just come but a little to one side of +his old trail. After a while he saw what he was looking for, a +pile of branches which woodchoppers had left when they had +trimmed the trees they had cut down. This was near the top of a +little hill. Lightfoot went up the hill and stopped behind the +pile of brush. For a few moments he stood there perfectly still, +looking and listening. Then, with a little sigh of relief, he lay +down, where, without being in any danger of being seen himself, +he could watch his old trail through the hollow at the bottom of +the hill. If the hunter were still following him, he would pass +through that hollow in plain sight. + +For a long tune Lightfoot rested comfortably behind the pile of +brush. There was not a suspicious movement or a suspicious sound +to show that danger was abroad in the Green Forest. He saw +Mr. and Mrs. Grouse fly down across the hollow and disappear +among the trees on the other side. He saw Unc' Billy Possum +looking over a hollow tree and guessed that Unc' Billy was +getting ready to go into winter quarters. He saw Jumper the Hare +squat down under a low-hanging branch of a hemlock-tree and +prepare to take a nap. He heard Drummer the Woodpecker at work +drilling after worms in a tree not far away. Little by little +Lightfoot grew easy in his mind. It must be that that hunter had +become discouraged and was no longer following him. + + + + +CHAPTER XI: The Hunted Watches The Hunter + + +It was so quiet and peaceful and altogether lovely there in the +Green Forest, where Lightfoot the Deer lay resting behind a pile +of brush near the top of a little hill, that it didn't seem +possible such a thing as sudden death could be anywhere near. +It didn't seem possible that there could be any need for +watchfulness. But Lightfoot long ago had learned that often +danger is nearest when it seems least to be expected. So, +though he would have liked very much to have taken a nap, +Lightfoot was too wise to do anything so foolish. He kept his +beautiful, great, soft eyes fixed in the direction from which +the hunter with the terrible gun would come if he were still +following that trail. He kept his great ears gently moving to +catch every little sound. + +Lightfoot had about decided that the hunter had given up hunting +for that day, but he didn't let this keep him from being any the +less watchful. It was better to be overwatchful than the least +bit careless. By and by, Lightfoot's keen ears caught the sound +of the snapping of a little stick in the distance. It was so +faint a sound that you or I would have missed it altogether. +But Lightfoot heard it and instantly he was doubly alert, +watching in the direction from which that faint sound had come. +After what seemed a long, long time he saw something moving, and +a moment later a man came into view. It was the hunter and across +one arm he carried the terrible gun. + +Lightfoot knew now that this hunter had patience and perseverance +and had not yet given up hope of getting near enough to shoot +Lightfoot. He moved forward slowly, setting each foot down with +the greatest care, so as not to snap a stick or rustle the +leaves. He was watching sharply ahead, ready to shoot should he +catch a glimpse of Lightfoot within range. + +Right along through the hollow at the foot of the little hill +below Lightfoot the hunter passed. He was no longer studying the +ground for Lightfoot's tracks, because the ground was so hard and +dry down there that Lightfoot had left no tracks. He was simply +hunting in the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes were +blowing because he knew that Lightfoot had gone in that direction, +and he also knew that if Lightfoot were still ahead of him, +his scent could not be carried to Lightfoot. He was doing +what is called "hunting up-wind." + +Lightfoot kept perfectly still and watched the hunter disappear +among the trees. Then he silently got to his feet, shook himself +lightly, and noiselessly stole away over the hilltop towards +another part of the Green Forest. He felt sure that that hunter +would not find him again that day. + + + + +CHAPTER XII: Lightfoot Visits Paddy The Beaver + + +Deep in the Green Forest is the pond where lives Paddy the +Beaver. It is Paddy's own pond, for he made it himself. He made +it by building a dam across the Laughing Brook. When Lightfoot +bounded away through the Green Forest, after watching the hunter +pass through the hollow below him, he remembered Paddy's pond. +"That's where I'll go," thought Lightfoot. "It is such a +lonesome part of the Green Forest that I do not believe that +hunter will come there. I'll just run over and make Paddy a +friendly call." + +So Lightfoot bounded along deeper and deeper into the Green +Forest. Presently through the trees he caught the gleam of water. +It was Paddy's pond. Lightfoot approached it cautiously. +He felt sure he was rid of the hunter who had followed him so +far that day, but he knew that there might be other hunters in the +Green Forest. He knew that he couldn't afford to be careless for +even one little minute. Lightfoot had lived long enough to know +that most of the sad things and dreadful things that happen in +the Green Forest and on the Green Meadows are due to carelessness. +No one who is hunted, be he big or little, can afford ever to +be careless. + +Now Lightfoot had known of hunters hiding near water, hoping to +shoot him when he came to drink. That always seemed to Lightfoot +a dreadful thing, an unfair thing. But hunters had done it +before and they might do it again. So Lightfoot was careful to +approach Paddy's pond upwind. That is, he approached the side of +the pond from which the Merry Little Breezes were blowing toward +him, and all the time he kept his nose working. He knew that if +any hunters were hidden there, the Merry Little Breezes would +bring him their scent and thus warn him. + +He had almost reached the edge of Paddy's pond when from the +farther shore there came a sudden crash. It startled Lightfoot +terribly for just an instant. Then he guessed what it meant. +That crash was the falling of a tree. There wasn't enough wind to +blow over even the most shaky dead tree. There had been no sound +of axes, so he knew it could not have been chopped down by men. +It must be that Paddy the Beaver had cut it, and if Paddy had been +working in daylight, it was certain that no one had been around +that pond for a long time. + +So Lightfoot hurried forward eagerly, cautiously. When he reached +the bank he looked across towards where the sound of that falling +tree had come from; a branch of a tree was moving along in the +water and half hidden by it was a brown head. It was Paddy the +Beaver taking the branch to his food pile. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII: Lightfoot And Paddy Become Partners + + +The instant Lightfoot saw Paddy the Beaver he knew that for the +time being, at least, there was no danger. He knew that Paddy is +one of the shyest of all the little people of the Green Forest +and that when he is found working in the daytime it means that he +has been undisturbed for a long time; otherwise he would work +only at night. + +Paddy saw Lightfoot almost as soon as he stepped out on the +bank. He kept right on swimming with the branch of a poplar-tree +until he reached his food pile, which, you know, is in the +water. There he forced the branch down until it was held by other +branches already sunken in the pond. This done, he swam over to +where Lightfoot was watching. "Hello, Lightfoot!" he exclaimed. +"You are looking handsomer than ever. How are you feeling +these fine autumn days?" + +"Anxious," replied Lightfoot. "I am feeling terribly anxious. +Do you know what day this is?" + +"No," replied Paddy, "I don't know what day it is, and I don't +particularly care. It is enough for me that it is one of the +finest days we've had for a long time." + +"I wish I could feel that way," said Lightfoot wistfully. "I wish +I could feel that way, Paddy, but I can't. No, Sir, I can't. +You see, this is the first of the most dreadful days in all the year +for me. The hunters started looking for me before Mr. Sun was +really out of bed. At least one hunter did, and I don't doubt +there are others. I fooled that one, but from now to the end of +the hunting season there will not be a single moment of daylight +when I will feel absolutely safe." + +Paddy crept out on the bank and chewed a little twig of poplar +thoughtfully. Paddy says he can always think better if he is +chewing something. "That's bad news, Lightfoot. I'm sorry to hear +it. I certainly am sorry to hear it," said Paddy. "Why anybody +wants to hunt such a handsome fellow as you are, I cannot +understand. My, but that's a beautiful set of antlers you have!" + +"They are the best I've ever had; but do you know, Paddy, I +suspect that they may be one of the reasons I am hunted so," +replied Lightfoot a little sadly. "Good looks are not always to +be desired. Have you seen any hunters around here lately?" + +Paddy shook his Lead. "Not a single hunter," he replied. "I tell +you what it is, Lightfoot, let's be partners for a while. +You stay right around my pond. If I see or hear or smell anything +suspicious, I'll warn you. You do the same for me. Two sets of +eyes, ears and noses are better than one. What do you say, +Lightfoot?" + +"I'll do it," replied Lightfoot. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV: How Paddy Warned Lightfoot + + +It was a queer partnership, that partnership between Lightfoot +and Paddy, but it was a good partnership. They had been the best +of friends for a long time. Paddy had always been glad to have +Lightfoot visit his pond. To tell the truth, he was rather fond +of handsome Lightfoot. You know Paddy is himself not at all +handsome. On land he is a rather clumsy-looking fellow and +really homely. So he admired Lightfoot greatly. That is one +reason why he proposed that they be partners. + +Lightfoot himself thought the idea a splendid one. He spent that +night browsing not far from Paddy's pond. With the coming of +daylight he lay down in a thicket of young hemlock-trees near the +upper end of the pond. It was a quiet, peaceful day. It was so +quiet and peaceful and beautiful it was hard to believe that +hunters with terrible guns were searching the Green Forest for +beautiful Lightfoot. But they were, and Lightfoot knew that +sooner or later one of them would be sure to visit Paddy's pond. +So, though he rested and took short naps all through that +beautiful day, he was anxious. He couldn't help but be. + +The next morning found Lightfoot back in the same place. But this +morning he took no naps. He rested, but all the time he was +watchful and alert. A feeling of uneasiness possessed him. +He felt in his bones that danger in the shape of a hunter with a +terrible gun was not far distant. + +But the hours slipped away, and little by little he grew less uneasy. +He began to hope that that day would prove as peaceful as the +previous day had been. Then suddenly there was a sharp report from +the farther end of Paddy's pond. It was almost like a pistol shot. +However, it wasn't a pistol shot. It wasn't a shot at all. +It was the slap of Paddy's broad tail on the surface of the water. +Instantly Lightfoot was on his feet. He knew just what that meant. +He knew that Paddy had seen or heard or smelled a hunter. + +It was even so. Paddy had heard a dry stick snap. It was a very +tiny snap, but it was enough to warn Paddy. With only his head +above water he had watched in the direction from which that sound +had come. Presently, stealing quietly along towards the pond, a +hunter had come in view. Instantly Paddy had brought his broad +tail down on the water with all his force. He knew that Lightfoot +would know that that meant danger. Then Paddy had dived, +and swimming under water, had sought the safety of his house. +He had done his part, and there was nothing more he could do. + + + + +CHAPTER XV: The Three Watchers + + +When Paddy the Beaver slapped the water with his broad tail, +making a noise like a pistol shot, Lightfoot understood that this +was meant as a warning of danger. He was on his feet instantly, +with eyes, ears and nose seeking the cause of Paddy's warning. +After a moment or two he stole softly up to the top of a +little ridge some distance back from Paddy's pond, but from the +top of which he could see the whole of the pond. There he hid +among some close-growing young hemlock-trees. It wasn't long +before he saw a hunter with a terrible gun come down to the shore +of the pond. + +Now the hunter had heard Paddy slap the water with his broad +tail. Of course. There would have been something very wrong with +his ears had he failed to hear it. + +"Confound that Beaver!" muttered the hunter crossly. "If there +was a Deer anywhere around this pond, he probably is on his way now. +I'll have a look around and see if there are any signs." + +So the hunter went on to the edge of Paddy's pond and then began +to walk around it, studying the ground as he walked. Presently he +found the footprints of Lightfoot in the mud where Lightfoot had +gone down to the pond to drink. + +"I thought as much," muttered the hunter. "Those tracks were made +last night. That Deer probably was lying down somewhere near +here, and I might have had a shot but for that pesky Beaver. +I'll just look the land over, and then I think I'll wait here +awhile. If that Deer isn't too badly scared, he may come back." + +So the hunter went quite around the pond, looking into all likely +hiding-places. He found where Lightfoot had been lying, and he +knew that in all probability Lightfoot had been there when Paddy +gave the danger signal. + +"It's of no use for me to try to follow him," thought the +hunter. "It is too dry for me to track him. He may not be so +badly scared, after all. I'll just find a good place and wait." + +So the hunter found an old log behind some small trees and there +sat down. He could see all around Paddy's pond. He sat +perfectly still. He was a clever hunter and he knew that so long +as he did not move he was not likely to be noticed by any sharp +eyes that might come that way. What he didn't know was that +Lightfoot had been watching him all the time and was even then +standing where he could see him. And another thing he didn't +know was that Paddy the Beaver had come out of his house and, +swimming under water, had reached a hiding-place on the opposite +shore from which he too had seen the hunter sit down on the log. +So the hunter watched for Lightfoot, and Lightfoot and Paddy +watched the hunter. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI: Visitors To Paddy's Pond + + +That hunter was a man of patience. Also he was a man who +understood the little people of the Green Forest and the Green +Meadows. He knew that if he would not be seen he must not move. +So he didn't move. He kept as motionless as if he were a part of +the very log on which he was sitting. + +For some time there was no sign of any living thing. Then, from +over the tree tops in the direction of the Big River, came the +whistle of swift wings, and Mr. and Mrs. Quack alighted with a +splash in the pond. For a few moments they sat on the water, a +picture of watchful suspicion. They were looking and listening +to make sure that no danger was near. Satisfied at last, they +began to clean their feathers. It was plain that they felt safe. +Paddy the Beaver was tempted to warn them that they were not as +safe as they thought, but as long as the hunter did not move +Paddy decided to wait. + +Now the hunter was sorely tempted to shoot these Ducks, but he +knew that if he did he would have no chance that day to get +Lightfoot the Deer, and it was Lightfoot he wanted. So Mr. and +Mrs. Quack swam about within easy range of that terrible gun +without once suspecting that danger was anywhere near. + +By and by the hunter's keen eyes caught a movement at one end of +Paddy's dam. An instant later Bobby Coon appeared. It was clear +that Bobby was quite unsuspicious. He carried something, but just +what the hunter could not make out. He took it down to the edge +of the water and there carefully washed it. Then he climbed up on +Paddy's dam and began to eat. You know Bobby Coon is very +particular about his food. Whenever there is water near, Bobby +washes his food before eating. Once more the hunter was tempted, +but did not yield to the temptation, which was a very good thing +for Bobby Coon. + +All this Lightfoot saw as he stood among the little hemlock-trees +at the top of the ridge behind the hunter. He saw and he +understood. "It is because he wants to kill me that he doesn't +shoot at Mr. and Mrs. Quack or Bobby Coon," thought Lightfoot a +little bitterly. "What have I ever done that he should be so +anxious to kill me?" + +Still the hunter sat without moving. Mr. and Mrs. Quack +contentedly hunted for food in the mud at the bottom of Paddy's +pond. Bobby Coon finished his meal, crossed the dam and +disappeared in the Green Forest. He had gone off to take a nap +somewhere. Time slipped away. The hunter continued to watch +patiently for Lightfoot, and Lightfoot and Paddy the Beaver +watched the hunter. Finally, another visitor appeared at the +upper end of the pond--a visitor in a wonderful coat of red. +It was Reddy Fox. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII: Sammy Jay Arrives + + +When Reddy Fox arrived at the pond of Paddy the Beaver, the +hunter who was hiding there saw him instantly. So did Lightfoot. +But no one else did. He approached in that cautious, careful way +that he always uses when he is hunting. The instant he reached +a place where he could see all over Paddy's pond, he stopped +as suddenly as if he had been turned to stone. He stopped +with one foot lifted in the act of taking a step. He had +seen Mr. and Mrs. Quack. + +Now you know there is nothing Reddy Fox likes better for a dinner +than a Duck. The instant he saw Mr. and Mrs. Quack, a gleam of +longing crept into his eyes and his mouth began to water. +He stood motionless until both Mr. and Mrs. Quack had their heads +under water as they searched for food in the mud in the bottom of +the pond. Then like a red flash he bounded out of sight behind +the dam of Paddy the Beaver. + +Presently the hunter saw Reddy's black nose at the end of the dam +as Reddy peeped around it to watch Mr. and Mrs. Quack. The latter +were slowly moving along in that direction as they fed. Reddy was +quick to see this. If he remained right where he was, and Mr. And +Mrs. Quack kept on feeding in that direction, the chances were +that he would have a dinner of fat Duck. All he need do was to be +patient and wait. So, with his eyes fixed fast on Mr. and +Mrs. Quack, Reddy Fox crouched behind Paddy's dam and waited. + +Watching Reddy and the Ducks, the hunter almost forgot Lightfoot +the Deer. Mr. and Mrs. Quack were getting very near to where +Reddy was waiting for them. The hunter was tempted to get up and +frighten those Ducks. He didn't want Reddy Fox to have them, +because he hoped some day to get them himself. + +"I suppose," thought he, "I was foolish not to shoot them when I +had the chance. They are too far away now, and it looks very much +as if that red rascal will get one of them. I believe I'll spoil +that red scamp's plans by frightening them away. I don't believe +that Deer will be back here to-day anyway, so I may as well save +those Ducks." + +But the hunter did nothing of the kind. You see, just as he was +getting ready to step out from his hiding-place, Sammy Jay +arrived. He perched in a tree close to the end of Paddy's dam and +at once he spied Reddy Fox. It didn't take him a second to +discover what Reddy was hiding there for. "Thief, thief, thief!" +screamed Sammy, and then looked down at Reddy with a mischievous +look in his sharp eyes. There is nothing Sammy Jay delights in +more than in upsetting the plans of Reddy Fox. At the sound of +Sammy's voice, Mr. and Mrs. Quack swam hurriedly towards the +middle of the pond. They knew exactly what that warning +meant. Reddy Fox looked up at Sammy Jay and snarled angrily. +Then, knowing it was useless to hide longer, he bounded away +through the Green Forest to hunt elsewhere. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII: The Hunter Loses His Temper + + +The hunter, hidden near the pond of Paddy the Beaver, chuckled +silently. That is to say, he laughed without making any +sound. The hunter thought the warning of Mr. and Mrs. Quack by +Sammy Jay was a great joke on Reddy. To tell the truth, he was +very much pleased. As you know, he wanted those Ducks himself. +He suspected that they would stay in that little pond for some days, +and he planned to return there and shoot them after he had got +Lightfoot the Deer. He wanted to get Lightfoot first, and he knew +that to shoot at anything else might spoil his chance of getting +a shot at Lightfoot. + +"Sammy Jay did me a good turn," thought the hunter, "although he +doesn't know it. Reddy Fox certainly would have caught one of +those Ducks had Sammy not come along just when he did. It would +have been a shame to have had one of them caught by that Fox. +I mean to get one, and I hope both of them, myself." + +Now when you come to think of it, it would have been a far +greater shame for the hunter to have killed Mr. and Mrs. Quack +than for Reddy Fox to have done so. Reddy was hunting them +because he was hungry. The hunter would have shot them for +sport. He didn't need them. He had plenty of other food. +Reddy Fox doesn't kill just for the pleasure of killing. + +So the hunter continued to sit in his hiding-place with very +friendly feelings for Sammy Jay. Sammy watched Reddy Fox +disappear and then flew over to that side of the pond where the +hunter was. Mr. and Mrs. Quack called their thanks to Sammy, to +which he replied, that he had done no more for them than he would +do for anybody, or than they would have done for him. + +For some time Sammy sat quietly in the top of the tree, but all +the time his sharp eyes were very busy. By and by he spied the +hunter sitting on the log. At first he couldn't make out just +what it was he was looking at. It didn't move, but nevertheless +Sammy was suspicious. Presently he flew over to a tree where he +could see better. Right away he spied the terrible gun, and he +knew just what that was. Once more he began to yell, "Thief! +thief! thief!" at the top of his lungs. It was then that the +hunter lost his temper. He knew that now he had been discovered +by Sammy Jay, and it was useless to remain there longer. He was +angry clear through. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX: Sammy Jay Is Modest + + +As soon as the angry hunter with the terrible gun had disappeared +among the trees of the Green Forest, and Lightfoot was sure that +he had gone for good, Lightfoot came out from his hiding-place on +top of the ridge and walked down to the pond of Paddy the Beaver +for a drink. He knew that it was quite safe to do so, for Sammy +Jay had followed the hunter, all the time screaming, "Thief! +thief! thief!" Every one within hearing could tell just where +that hunter was by Sammy's voice. It kept growing fainter and +fainter, and by that Lightfoot knew that the hunter was getting +farther and farther away. + +Paddy the Beaver swam out from his hiding-place and climbed out +on the bank near Lightfoot. There was a twinkle in his +eyes. "That blue-coated mischief-maker isn't such a bad fellow at +heart, after all, is he?" said he. + +Lightfoot lifted his beautiful head and set his ears forward to +catch the sound of Sammy's voice in the distance. + +"Sammy Jay may be a mischief-maker, as some people say," said he, +"but you can always count on him to prove a true friend in time +of danger. He brought me warning of the coming of the hunter the +other morning. You saw him save Mr. and Mrs. Quack a little while +ago, and then he actually drove that hunter away. I suppose Sammy +Jay has saved more lives than any one I know of. I wish he would +come back here and let me thank him." + +Some time later Sammy Jay did come back. "Well," said he, as he +smoothed his feathers, "I chased that fellow clear to the edge of +the Green Forest, so I guess there will be nothing more to fear +from him today. I'm glad to see he hasn't got you yet, +Lightfoot. I've been a bit worried about you." + +"Sammy," said Lightfoot, "you are one of the best friends I +have. I don't know how I can ever thank you for what you have +done for me." + +"Don't try," replied Sammy shortly. "I haven't done anything but +what anybody else would have done. Old Mother Nature gave me a +pair of good eyes and a strong voice. I simply make the best use +of them I can. Just to see a hunter with a terrible gun makes me +angry clear through. I'd rather spoil his hunting than eat." + +"You want to watch out, Sammy. One of these days a hunter will +lose his temper and shoot you, just to get even with you," +warned Paddy the Beaver. + +"Don't worry about me," replied Sammy. "I know just how far +those terrible guns can shoot, and I don't take any chances. +By the way, Lightfoot, the Green Forest is full of hunters looking +for you. I 've seen a lot of them, and I know they are looking +for you because they do not shoot at anybody else even when they +have a chance." + + + + +CHAPTER XX: Lightfoot Hears A Dreadful Sound + + +Day after day, Lightfoot the Deer played hide and seek for his +life with the hunters who were seeking to kill him. He saw them +many times, though not one of them saw him. More than once a +hunter passed close to Lightfoot's hiding-place without once +suspecting it. + +But poor Lightfoot was feeling the strain. He was growing thin, +and he was so nervous that the falling of a dead leaf from a tree +would startle him. There is nothing quite so terrible as being +continually hunted. It was getting so that Lightfoot half +expected a hunter to step out from behind every tree. Only when +the Black Shadows wrapped the Green Forest in darkness did he +know a moment of peace. And those hours of safety were filled +with dread of what the next day might bring. + +Early one morning a terrible sound rang through the Green Forest +and brought Lightfoot to his feet with a startled jump. It was +the baying of hounds following a trail. At first it did not sound +so terrible. Lightfoot had often heard it before. Many times he +had listened to the baying of Bowser the Hound, as he followed +Reddy Fox. It had not sounded so terrible then because it meant +no danger to Lightfoot. + +At first, as he listened early that morning, he took it for +granted that those hounds were after Reddy, and so, though +startled, he was not worried. But suddenly a dreadful suspicion +came to him and he grew more and more anxious as he listened. +In a few minutes there was no longer any doubt in his mind. +Those hounds were following his trail. It was then that the sound +of that baying became terrible. He must run for his life! +Those hounds would give him no rest. And he knew that in running +from them, he would no longer be able to watch so closely for the +hunters with terrible guns. He would no longer be able to hide +in thickets. At any time he might be driven right past one of +those hunters. + +Lightfoot bounded away with such leaps as only Lightfoot can make. +In a little while the voices of the hounds grew fainter. +Lightfoot stopped to get his breath and stood trembling +as he listened. The baying of the hounds again grew louder and +louder. Those wonderful noses of theirs were following his trail +without the least difficulty. In a panic of fear, Lightfoot +bounded away again. As he crossed an old road, the Green Forest +rang with the roar of a terrible gun. Something tore a strip of +bark from the trunk of a tree just above Lightfoot's back. It was +a bullet and it had just missed Lightfoot. It added to his terror +and this in turn added to his speed. + +So Lightfoot ran and ran, and behind him the voices of the hounds +continued to ring through the Green Forest. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI: How Lightfoot Got Rid Of The Hounds + + +Poor Lightfoot! It seemed to him that there were no such things +as justice and fair play. Had it been just one hunter at a time +against whom he had to match his wits it would not have been so +bad. But there were many hunters with terrible guns looking for +him, and in dodging one he was likely at any time to meet +another. This in itself seemed terribly unfair and unjust. +But now, added to this was the greater unfairness of being trailed +by hounds. + +Do you wonder that Lightfoot thought of men as utterly heartless? +You see, he could not know that those hounds had not been put on +his trail, but had left home to hunt for their own pleasure. +He could not know that it was against the law to hunt him with dogs. +But though none of those hunters looking for him were guilty +of having put the hounds on his trail, each one of them +was willing and eager to take advantage of the fact that the +hounds were on his trail. Already he had been shot at once and he +knew that he would be shot at again if he should be driven where +a hunter was hidden. + +The ground was damp and scent always lies best on damp ground. +This made it easy for the hounds to follow him with their +wonderful noses. Lightfoot tried every trick he could think of to +make those hounds lose the scent. + +"If only I could make them lose it long enough for me to get a +little rest, it would help," panted Lightfoot, as he paused for +just an instant to listen to the baying of the hounds. + +But he couldn't. They allowed him no rest. He was becoming very, +very tired. He could no longer bound lightly over fallen logs or +brush, as he had done at first. His lungs ached as he panted for +breath. He realized that even though he should escape the hunters +he would meet an even more terrible death unless he could get rid +of those hounds. There would come a time when he would have to stop. +Then those hounds would catch up with him and tear him to pieces. + +It was then that he remembered the Big River. He turned towards it. +It was his only chance and he knew it. Straight through the +Green Forest, out across the Green Meadows to the bank of the Big +River, Lightfoot ran. For just a second he paused to look behind. +The hounds were almost at his heels. Lightfoot hesitated +no longer but plunged into the Big River and began to swim. +On the banks the hounds stopped and bayed their disappointment, +for they did not dare follow Lightfoot out into the Big River. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII: Lightfoot's Long Swim + + +The Big River was very wide. It would have been a long swim for +Lightfoot had he been fresh and at his best. Strange as it may +seem, Lightfoot is a splendid swimmer, despite his small, +delicate feet. He enjoys swimming. + +But now Lightfoot was terribly tired from his long run ahead of +the hounds. For a time he swam rapidly, but those weary muscles +grew still more weary, and by the time he reached the middle of +the Big River it seemed to him that he was not getting ahead at all. +At first he had tried to swim towards a clump of trees he +could see on the opposite bank above the point where he had +entered the water, but to do this he had to swim against the +current and he soon found that he hadn't the strength to do this. +Then he turned and headed for a point down the Big River. +This made the swimming easier, for the current helped him +instead of hindering him. + +Even then he could feel his strength leaving him. Had he escaped +those hounds and the terrible hunters only to be drowned in the +Big River? This new fear gave him more strength for a little while. +But it did not last long. He was three fourths of the way +across the Big River but still that other shore seemed a long +distance away. Little by little hope died in the heart of +Lightfoot the Deer. He would keep on just as long as he could and +then,--well, it was better to drown than to be torn to pieces +by dogs. + +Just as Lightfoot felt that he could not take another stroke and +that the end was at hand, one foot touched something. Then, all +four feet touched. A second later he had found solid footing and +was standing with the water only up to his knees. He had found a +little sand bar out in the Big River. With a little gasp of +returning hope, Lightfoot waded along until the water began to +grow deeper again. He had hoped that he would be able to wade +ashore, but he saw now that he would have to swim again. + +So for a long time he remained right where he was. He was so +tired that he trembled all over, and he was as frightened as he +was tired. He knew that standing out there in the water he could +be seen for a long distance, and that made him nervous and +fearful. Supposing a hunter on the shore he was trying to reach +should see him. Then he would have no chance at all, for the +hunter would simply wait for him and shoot him as he came out of +the water. + +But rest he must, and so he stood for a long time on the little +sand bar in the Big River. And little by little he felt his +strength returning. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII: Lightfoot Finds A Friend + + +As Lightfoot rested, trying to recover his breath, out there on +the little sand bar in the Big River, his great, soft, beautiful +eyes watched first one bank and then the other. On the bank he +had left, he could see two black-and-white specks moving about, +and across the water came the barking of dogs. Those two specks +were the hounds who had driven him into the Big River. They were +barking now, instead of baying. Presently a brown form joined the +black-and-white specks. It was a hunter drawn there by the +barking of the dogs. He was too far away to be dangerous, but the +mere sight of him filled Lightfoot with terror again. He watched +the hunter walk along the bank and disappear in the bushes. + +Presently out of the bushes came a boat, and in it was the +hunter. He headed straight towards Lightfoot, and then Lightfoot +knew that his brief rest was at an end. He must once more swim or +be shot by the hunter in the boat. So Lightfoot again struck out +for the shore. His rest had given him new strength, but still he +was very, very tired and swimming was hard work. + +Slowly, oh so slowly, he drew nearer to the bank. What new +dangers might be waiting there, he did not know. He had never +been on that side of the Big River. He knew nothing of the +country on that side. But the uncertainty was better than the +certainty behind him. He could hear the sound of the oars as the +hunter in the boat did his best to get to him before he should +reach the shore. + +On Lightfoot struggled. At last he felt bottom beneath his +feet. He staggered up through some bushes along the bank and then +for an instant it seemed to him his heart stopped beating. Right +in front of him stood a man. He had come out into the back yard +of the home of that man. It is doubtful which was the more +surprised, Lightfoot or the man. Right then and there Lightfoot +gave up in despair. He couldn't run. It was all he could do to +walk. The long chase by the hounds on the other side of the Big +River and the long swim across the Big River had taken all his +strength. + +Not a spark of hope remained to Lightfoot. He simply stood still +and trembled, partly with fear and partly with weariness. Then a +surprising thing happened. The man spoke softly. He advanced, not +threateningly but slowly, and in a friendly way. He walked around +back of Lightfoot and then straight towards him. Lightfoot walked +on a few steps, and the man followed, still talking softly. +Little by little he urged Lightfoot on, driving him towards an +open shed in which was a pile of hay. Without understanding just how, +Lightfoot knew that he had found a friend. So he entered +the open shed and with a long sigh lay down in the soft hay. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV: The Hunter Is Disappointed + + +How he knew he was safe, Lightfoot the Deer Couldn't have told you. +He just knew it, that was all. He couldn't understand a word +said by the man in whose yard he found himself when he climbed +the bank after his long swim across the Big River. But he didn't +have to understand words to know that he had found a friend. +So he allowed the man to drive him gently over to an open shed where +there was a pile of soft hay and there he lay down, so tired that +it seemed to him he couldn't move another step. + +It was only a few minutes later that the hunter who had followed +Lightfoot across the River reached the bank and scrambled out of +his boat. Lightfoot's friend was waiting just at the top of the +bank. Of course the hunter saw him at once. + +"Hello, Friend!" cried the hunter. "Did you see a Deer pass this +way a few minutes ago? He swam across the river, and if I know +anything about it he's too tired to travel far now. I've been +hunting that fellow for several days, and if I have any luck at +all I ought to get him this time." "I'm afraid you won't have any +luck at all," said Lightfoot's friend. "You see, I don't allow +any hunting on my land." + +The hunter looked surprised, and then his surprise gave way to +anger. "You mean," said he, "that you intend to get that Deer +yourself." + +Lightfoot's friend shook his head. "No," said he, "I don't mean +anything of the kind. I mean that that Deer is not to be killed +if I can prevent it, and while it is on my land, I think I can. +The best thing for you to do, my friend, is to get into your +boat and row back where you came from. Are those your hounds +barking over there?" + +"No," replied the hunter promptly. "I know the law just as well +as you do, and it is against the law to hunt Deer with dogs. +I don't even know who owns those two hounds over there." + +"That may be true," replied Lightfoot's friend. "I don't doubt +it is true. But you are willing to take advantage of the fact +that the dogs of some one else have broken the law. You knew +that those dogs had driven that Deer into the Big River and you +promptly took advantage of the fact to try to reach that Deer +before he could get across. You are not hunting for the pleasure +of hunting but just to kill. You don't know the meaning of +justice or fairness. Now get off my land. Get back into your +boat and off my land as quick as you can. That Deer is not very +far from here and so tired that he cannot move. Just as long as +he will stay here, he will be safe, and I hope he will stay until +this miserable hunting season is ended. Now go." + +Muttering angrily, the hunter got back into his boat and pushed +off, but he didn't row back across the river. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV: The Hunter Lies In Wait + + +If ever there was an angry hunter, it was the one who had +followed Lightfoot the Deer across the Big River. When he was +ordered to get off the land where Lightfoot had climbed out, he +got back into his boat, but he didn't row back to the other side. +Instead, he rowed down the river, finally landing on the +same side but on land which Lightfoot's friend did not own. + +"When that Deer has become rested he'll become uneasy," thought +the hunter. "He won't stay on that man's land. He'll start for +the nearest woods. I'll go up there and wait for him. I'll get +that Deer if only to spite that fellow back there who drove me off. +Had it not been for him, I'd have that Deer right now. He was +too tired to have gone far. He's got the handsomest pair of +antlers I've seen for years. I can sell that head of his for a +good price." + +So the hunter tied his boat to a tree and once more climbed +out. He climbed up the bank and studied the land. Across a wide +meadow he could see a brushy old pasture and back of that some +thick woods. He grinned. + +"That's where that Deer will head for," he decided. "There isn't +any other place for him to go. All I've got to do is be patient +and wait." + +So the hunter took his terrible gun and tramped across the meadow +to the brush-grown pasture. There he hid among the bushes where +he could peep out and watch the land of Lightfoot's friend. +He was still angry because he had been prevented from shooting +Lightfoot. At the same time he chuckled, because he thought +himself very smart. Lightfoot couldn't possibly reach the shelter +of the woods without giving him a shot, and he hadn't the least +doubt that Lightfoot would start for the woods just as soon as he +felt able to travel. So he made himself comfortable and prepared +to wait the rest of the day, if necessary. + +Now Lightfoot's friend who had driven the hunter off had seen him +row down the river and he had guessed just what was in that +hunter's mind. "We'll fool him," said he, chuckling to himself, +as he walked back towards the shed where poor Lightfoot was +resting. + +He did not go too near Lightfoot, for he did not want to alarm him. +He just kept within sight of Lightfoot, paying no attention +to him but going about his work. You see, this man loved and +understood the little people of the Green Forest and the Green +Meadows, and he knew that there was no surer way of winning +Lightfoot's confidence and trust than by appearing to take no +notice of him. Lightfoot, watching him, understood. He knew that +this man was a friend and would do him no harm. Little by little, +the wonderful, blessed feeling of safety crept over Lightfoot. +No hunter could harm him here. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI: Lightfoot Does The Wise Thing + + +All the rest of that day the hunter with the terrible gun lay +hidden in the bushes of the pasture where he could watch for +Lightfoot the Deer to leave the place of safety he had found. +It required a lot of patience on the part of the hunter, but the +hunter had plenty of patience. It sometimes seems as if hunters +have more patience than any other people. + +But this hunter waited in vain. Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun sank +down in the west to his bed behind the Purple Hills. The Black +Shadows crept out and grew blacker. One by one the stars began to +twinkle. Still the hunter waited, and still there was no sign of +Lightfoot. At last it became so dark that it was useless for the +hunter to remain longer. Disappointed and once more becoming +angry, he tramped back to the Big River, climbed into his boat +and rowed across to the other side. Then he tramped home and his +thoughts were very bitter. He knew that he could have shot +Lightfoot had it not been for the man who had protected the +Deer. He even began to suspect that this man had himself killed +Lightfoot, for he had been sure that as soon as he had become +rested Lightfoot would start for the woods, and Lightfoot had +done nothing of the kind. In fact, the hunter had not had so much +as another glimpse of Lightfoot. + +The reason that the hunter had been so disappointed was that +Lightfoot was smart. He was smart enough to understand that the +man who was saving him from the hunter had done it because he was +a true friend. All the afternoon Lightfoot had rested on a bed of +soft hay in an open shed and had watched this man going about his +work and taking the utmost care to do nothing to frighten Lightfoot. + +"He not only will let no one else harm me, but he himself will not +harm me," thought Lightfoot. "As long as he is near, I am safe. +I'll stay right around here until the hunting season is over, then +I'll swim back across the Big River to my home in the dear Green Forest." + +So all afternoon Lightfoot rested and did not so much as put his +nose outside that open shed. That is why the hunter got no glimpse +of him. When it became dark, so dark that he knew there was no +longer danger, Lightfoot got up and stepped out under the stars. +He was feeling quite himself again. His splendid strength had returned. +He bounded lightly across the meadow and up into the brushy +pasture where the hunter had been hidden. There and in the woods +back of the pasture he browsed, but at the first hint of the coming +of another day, Lightfoot turned back, and when his friend, the farmer, +came out early in the morning to milk the cows, there was Lightfoot +back in the open shed. The farmer smiled. "You are as wise as you +are handsome, old fellow," said he. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII: Sammy Jay Worries + + +It isn't often Sammy Jay worries about anybody but himself. +Truth to tell, he doesn't worry about himself very often. You see, +Sammy is smart, and he knows he is smart. Under that pointed cap +of his are some of the cleverest wits in all the Green Forest. +Sammy seldom worries about himself because he feels quite able to +take care of himself. + +But Sammy Jay was worrying now. He was worrying about Lightfoot +the Deer. Yes, Sir, Sammy Jay was worrying about Lightfoot the +Deer. For two days he had been unable to find Lightfoot or any +trace of Lightfoot. But he did find plenty of hunters with +terrible guns. It seemed to him that they were everywhere in the +Green Forest. Sammy began to suspect that one of them must have +succeeded in killing Lightfoot the Deer. + +Sammy knew all of Lightfoot's hiding-places. He visited every one +of them. Lightfoot wasn't to be found, and no one whom Sammy met +had seen Lightfoot for two days. + +Sammy felt badly. You see, he was very fond of Lightfoot. +You remember it was Sammy who warned Lightfoot of the coming of +the hunter on the morning when the dreadful hunting season began. +Ever since the hunting season had opened, Sammy had done his +best to make trouble for the hunters. Whenever he had found +one of them he had screamed at the top of his voice to warn every +one within hearing just where that hunter was. Once a hunter had +lost his temper and shot at Sammy, but Sammy had suspected that +something of the kind might happen, and he had taken care to keep +just out of reach. Sammy had known all about the chasing of +Lightfoot by the hounds. Everybody in the Green Forest had known +about it. You see, everybody had heard the voices of those +hounds. Once, Lightfoot had passed right under the tree in which +Sammy was sitting, and a few moments later the two hounds had +passed with their noses to the ground as they followed Lightfoot's trail. +That was the last Sammy had seen of Lightfoot. He had been able to save +Lightfoot from the hunters, but he couldn't save him from the hounds. + +The more Sammy thought things over, the more he worried. "I am +afraid those hounds drove him out where a hunter could get a shot +and kill him, or else that they tired him out and killed him +themselves," thought Sammy. "If he were alive, somebody certainly +would have seen him and nobody has, since the day those hounds +chased him. I declare, I have quite lost my appetite worrying +about him. If Lightfoot is dead, and I am almost sure he is, the +Green Forest will never seem the same." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII: The Hunting Season Ends + + +The very worst things come to an end at last. No matter how bad a +thing is, it cannot last forever. So it was with the hunting +season for Lightfoot the Deer. There came a day when the law +protected all Deer,--a day when the hunters could no longer go +searching for Lightfoot. + +Usually there was great rejoicing among the little people of the +Green Forest and the Green Meadows when the hunting season ended +and they knew that Lightfoot would be in no more danger until the +next hunting season. But this year there was no rejoicing. You +see, no one could find Lightfoot. The last seen of him was when +he was running for his life with two hounds baying on his trail +and the Green Forest filled with hunters watching for a chance to +shoot him. + +Sammy Jay had hunted everywhere through the Green Forest. Blacky +the Crow, whose eyes are quite as sharp as those of Sammy Jay, +had joined in the search. They had found no trace of Lightfoot. +Paddy the Beaver said that for three days Lightfoot had not visited +his pond for a drink. Billy Mink, who travels up and down the +Laughing Brook, had looked for Lightfoot's footprints in the soft +earth along the banks and had found only old ones. Jumper the Hare +had visited Lightfoot's favorite eating places at night, but +Lightfoot had not been in any of them. + +"I tell you what it is," said Sammy Jay to Bobby Coon, "something +has happened to Lightfoot. Either those hounds caught him and +killed him, or he was shot by one of those hunters. The Green +Forest will never be the same without him. I don't think I shall +want to come over here very much. There isn't one of all the +other people who live in the Green Forest who would be missed as +Lightfoot will be." + +Bobby Coon nodded. "That's true, Sammy," said he. "Without +Lightfoot, the Green Forest will never be the same. He never +harmed anybody. Why those hunters should have been so anxious to +kill one so beautiful is something I can't understand. For that +matter, I don't understand why they want to kill any of us. +If they really needed us for food, it would be a different matter, +but they don't. Have you been up in the Old Pasture and asked +Old Man Coyote if he has seen anything of Lightfoot?" + +Sammy nodded. "I've been up there twice," said he. "Old Man +Coyote has been lying very low during the days, but nights he has +done a lot of traveling. You know Old Man Coyote has a mighty +good nose, but not once since the day those hounds chased +Lightfoot has he found so much as a tiny whiff of Lightfoot's +scent. I thought he might have found the place where Lightfoot +was killed, but he hasn't, although he has looked for it. Well, +the hunting season for Lightfoot is over, but I am afraid it has +ended too late." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX: Mr. And Mrs. Quack Are Startled + + +It was the evening of the day after the closing of the hunting +season for Lightfoot the Deer. Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had gone +to bed behind the Purple Hills, and the Black Shadows had crept +out across the Big River. Mr. and Mrs. Quack were getting their +evening meal among the brown stalks of the wild rice along the +edge of the Big River. They took turns in searching for the rice +grains in the mud. While Mrs. Quack tipped up and seemed to stand +on her head as she searched in the mud for rice, Mr. Quack kept +watch for possible danger. Then Mrs. Quack took her turn at +keeping watch, while Mr. Quack stood on his head and hunted for +rice. + +It was wonderfully quiet and peaceful. There was not even a +ripple on the Big River. It was so quiet that they could hear the +barking of a dog at a farmhouse a mile away. They were far enough +out from the bank to have nothing to fear from Reddy Fox or Old +Man Coyote. So they had nothing to fear from any one save Hooty +the Owl. It was for Hooty that they took turns in watching. +It was just the hour when Hooty likes best to hunt. + +By and by they heard Booty's hunting call. It was far away in the +Green Forest, Then Mr. and Mrs. Quack felt easier, and they +talked in low, contented voices. They felt that for a while at +least there was nothing to fear. + +Suddenly a little splash out in the Big River caught Mr. Quack's +quick ear. As Mrs. Quack brought her head up out of the water, +Mr. Quack warned her to keep quiet. Noiselessly they swam among +the brown stalks until they could see out across the Big River. +There was another little splash out there in the middle. It +wasn't the splash made by a fish; it was a splash made by +something much bigger than any fish. Presently they made out a +silver line moving towards them from the Black Shadows. They knew +exactly what it meant. It meant that some one was out there in +the Big River moving towards them. Could it be a boat containing +a hunter? + +With their necks stretched high, Mr. and Mrs. Quack watched. +They were ready to take to their strong wings the instant they +discovered danger. But they did not want to fly until they were +sure that it WAS danger approaching. They were startled, very +much startled. + +Presently they made out what looked like the branch of a tree +moving over the water towards them. That was queer, very +queer. Mr. Quack said so. Mrs. Quack said so. Both were growing +more and more suspicious. They couldn't understand it at all, and +it is always best to be suspicious of things you cannot +understand. Mr. and Mrs. Quack half lifted their wings to fly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX: The Mystery Is Solved + + +It was very mysterious. Yes, Sir, it was very mysterious. +Mr. Quack thought so. Mrs. Quack thought so. There, out in the Big +River, in the midst of the Black Shadows, was something which looked +like the branch of a tree. But instead of moving down the river, as +the branch of a tree would if it were floating, this was coming +straight across the river as if it were swimming. But how could the +branch of a tree swim? That was too much for Mr. Quack. It was too +much for Mrs. Quack. + +So they sat perfectly still among the brown stalks of the wild +rice along the edge of the Big River, and not for a second did +they take their eyes from that strange thing moving towards +them. They were ready to spring into the air and trust to their +swift wings the instant they should detect danger. But they did +not want to fly unless they had to. Besides, they were +curious. They were very curious indeed. They wanted to find out +what that mysterious thing moving through the water towards them +was. + +So Mr. and Mrs. Quack watched that thing that looked like a +swimming branch draw nearer and nearer, and the nearer it drew +the more they were puzzled, and the more curious they felt. If it +had been the pond of Paddy the Beaver instead of the Big River, +they would have thought it was Paddy swimming with a branch for +his winter food pile. But Paddy the Beaver was way back in his +own pond, deep in the Green Forest, and they knew it. So this +thing became more and more of a mystery. The nearer it came, the +more nervous and anxious they grew, and at the same time the +greater became their curiosity. + +At last Mr. Quack felt that not even to gratify his curiosity +would it be safe to wait longer. He prepared to spring into the +air, knowing that Mrs. Quack would follow him. It was just then +that a funny little sound reached him. It was half snort, half +cough, as if some one had sniffed some water up his nose. There +was something familiar about that sound. Mr. Quack decided to +wait a few minutes longer. + +"I'll wait," thought Mr. Quack, "until that thing, whatever it +is, comes out of those Black Shadows into the moonlight. +Somehow I have a feeling that we are in no danger." + +So Mr. and Mrs. Quack waited and watched. In a few minutes the +thing that looked like the branch of a tree came out of the Black +Shadows into the moonlight, and then the mystery was solved. +It was a mystery no longer. They saw that they had mistaken the +antlers of Lightfoot the Deer for the branch of a tree. Lightfoot +was swimming across the Big River on his way back to his home in +the Green Forest. At once Mr. and Mrs. Quack swam out to meet him +and to tell him how glad they were that he was alive and safe. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI: A Surprising Discovery + + +Probably there was no happier Thanksgiving in all the Great World +than the Thanksgiving of Lightfoot the Deer, when the dreadful +hunting season ended and he was once more back in his beloved +Green Forest with nothing to fear. All his neighbors called on +him to tell him how glad they were that he had escaped and how +the Green Forest would not have been the same if he had not +returned. So Lightfoot roamed about without fear and was +happy. It seemed to him that he could not be happier. There was +plenty to eat and that blessed feeling of nothing to fear. +What more could any one ask? He began to grow sleek and fat and +handsomer than ever. The days were growing colder and the frosty +air made him feel good. + +Just at dusk one evening he went down to his favorite drinking +place at the Laughing Brook. As he put down his head to drink he +saw something which so surprised him that he quite forgot he was +thirsty. What do you think it was he saw? It was a footprint in +the soft mud. Yes, Sir, it was a footprint. + +For a long time Lightfoot stood staring at that footprint. In his +great, soft eyes was a look of wonder and surprise. You see, that +footprint was exactly like one of his own, only smaller. +To Lightfoot it was a very wonderful footprint. He was quite sure +that never had he seen such a dainty footprint. He forgot to drink. +Instead, he began to search for other footprints, and presently +he found them. Each was as dainty as that first one. + +Who could have made them? That is what Lightfoot wanted to know +and what he meant to find out. It was clear to him that there was +a stranger in the Green Forest, and somehow he didn't resent it +in the least. In fact, he was glad. He couldn't have told why, +but it was true. + +Lightfoot put his nose to the footprints and sniffed of them. +Even had he not known by looking at those prints that they +had been made by a stranger, his nose would have told him this. +A great longing to find the maker of those footprints took +possession of him. He lifted his handsome head and listened for +some slight sound which might show that the stranger was near. +With his delicate nostrils he tested the wandering little Night +Breezes for a stray whiff of scent to tell him which way to go. +But there was no sound and the wandering little Night Breezes told +him nothing. Lightfoot followed the dainty footprints up the bank. +There they disappeared, for the ground was hard. Lightfoot paused, +undecided which way to go. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII: Lightfoot Sees The Stranger + + +Lightfoot the Deer was unhappy. It was a strange unhappiness, +an unhappiness such as he had never known before. You see, he had +discovered that there was a stranger in the Green Forest, a +stranger of his own kind, another Deer. He knew it by dainty +footprints in the mud along the Laughing Brook and on the edge of +the pond of Paddy the Beaver. He knew it by other signs which he +ran across every now and then. But search as he would, he was +unable to find that newcomer. He had searched everywhere but +always he was just too late. The stranger had been and gone. + +Now there was no anger in Lightfoot's desire to find that +stranger. Instead, there was a great longing. For the first time +in his life Lightfoot felt lonely. So he hunted and hunted and +was unhappy. He lost his appetite. He slept little. He roamed +about uneasily, looking, listening, testing every Merry Little +Breeze, but all in vain. + +Then, one never-to-be-forgotten night, as he drank at the +Laughing Brook, a strange feeling swept over him. It was the +feeling of being watched. Lightfoot lifted his beautiful head and +a slight movement caught his quick eye and drew it to a thicket +not far away. The silvery light of gentle Mistress Moon fell full +on that thicket, and thrust out from it was the most beautiful +head in all the Great World. At least, that is the way it seemed +to Lightfoot, though to tell the truth it was not as beautiful as +his own, for it was uncrowned by antlers. For a long minute +Lightfoot stood gazing. A pair of wonderful, great, soft eyes +gazed back at him. Then that beautiful head disappeared. + +With a mighty bound, Lightfoot cleared the Laughing Brook and +rushed over to the thicket in which that beautiful head had +disappeared. He plunged in, but there was no one there. +Frantically he searched, but that thicket was empty. Then he +stood still and listened. Not a sound reached him. It was as +still as if there were no other living things in all the Green +Forest. The beautiful stranger had slipped away as silently as +a shadow. + +All the rest of that night Lightfoot searched through the Green +Forest but his search was in vain. The longing to find that +beautiful stranger had become so great that he fairly ached with it. +It seemed to him that until he found her he could know no happiness. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII: A Different Game Of Hide And Seek + + +Once more Lightfoot the Deer was playing hide and seek in the +Green Forest. But it was a very different game from the one he +had played just a short time before. You remember that then it +had been for his life that he had played, and he was the one who +had done all the hiding. Now, he was "it", and some one else was +doing the hiding. Instead of the dreadful fear which had filled +him in that other game, he was now filled with longing,--longing +to find and make friends with the beautiful stranger of +whom he had just once caught a glimpse, but of whom every day he +found tracks. + +At times Lightfoot would lose his temper. Yes, Sir, Lightfoot +would lose his temper. That was a foolish thing to do, but it +seemed to him that he just couldn't help it. He would stamp his +feet angrily and thrash the bushes with his great spreading +antlers as if they were an enemy with whom he was fighting. +More than once when he did this a pair of great, soft, gentle eyes +were watching him, though he didn't know it. If he could have +seen them and the look of admiration in them, he would have been +more eager than ever to find that beautiful stranger. + +At other times Lightfoot would steal about through the Green +Forest as noiselessly as a shadow. He would peer into thickets +and behind tangles of fallen trees and brush piles, hoping to +surprise the one he sought. He would be very, very patient. +Perhaps he would come to the thicket which he knew from +the signs the stranger had left only a few moments before. +Then his patience would vanish in impatience, and he would dash ahead, +eager to catch up with the shy stranger. But always it was in vain. +He had thought himself very clever but this stranger was proving +herself more clever. + +Of course it wasn't long before all the little people in the +Green Forest knew what was going on. They knew all about that +game of hide and seek just as they had known all about that other +game of hide and seek with the hunters. But now, instead of +trying to help Lightfoot as they did then, they gave him no help +at all. The fact is, they were enjoying that game. Mischievous +Sammy Jay even went so far as to warn the stranger several times +when Lightfoot was approaching. Of course Lightfoot knew when +Sammy did this, and each time he lost his temper. For the time +being, he quite forgot all that Sammy had done for him when he +was the one that was being hunted. + +Once Lightfoot almost ran smack into Buster Bear and was so +provoked by his own carelessness that instead of bounding away he +actually threatened to fight Buster. But when Buster grinned +good-naturedly at him, Lightfoot thought better of it and bounded +away to continue his search. + +Then there were times when Lightfoot would sulk and would declare +over and over to himself, "I don't care anything about that +stranger. I won't spend another minute looking for her." And then +within five minutes he would be watching, listening and seeking +some sign that she was still in the Green Forest. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV: A Startling New Footprint + + +The game of hide and seek between Lightfoot the Deer and the +beautiful stranger whose dainty footprints had first started +Lightfoot to seeking her had been going on for several days and +nights when Lightfoot found something which gave him a shock. +He had stolen very softly clown to the Laughing Brook, hoping to +surprise the beautiful stranger drinking there. She wasn't to be +seen. Lightfoot wondered if she had been there, so looked in the +mud at the edge of the Laughing Brook to see if there were any +fresh prints of those dainty feet. Almost at once he discovered +fresh footprints. They were not the prints he was looking for. +No, Sir, they were not the dainty prints he had learned to +know so well. They were prints very near the size of his own big +ones, and they had been made only a short time before. + +The finding of those prints was a dreadful shock to Lightfoot. +He understood instantly what they meant. They meant that a second +stranger had come into the Green Forest, one who had antlers like +his own. Jealousy took possession of Lightfoot the Deer; jealousy +that filled his heart with rage. + +"He has come here to seek that beautiful stranger I have been +hunting for," thought Lightfoot. "He has come here to try to +steal her away from me. He has no right here in my Green +Forest. He belongs back up on the Great Mountain from which he +must have come, for there is no other place he could have come +from. That is where that beautiful stranger must have come from, +too. I want her to stay, but I must drive this fellow out. +I'll make him fight. That's what I'll do; I'll make him fight! +I'm not afraid of him, but I'll make him fear me." + +Lightfoot stamped his feet and with his great antlers thrashed +the bushes as if he felt that they were the enemy he sought. Could +you have looked into his great eyes then, you would have found +nothing soft and beautiful about them. They became almost red with +anger. Lightfoot quivered all over with rage. The hair on the back +of his neck stood up. Lightfoot the Deer looked anything but gentle. + +After he had vented his spite for a few minutes on the harmless, +helpless bushes, he threw his head high in the air and whistled +angrily. Then he leaped over the Laughing Brook and once more +began to search through the Green Forest. But this time it was +not for the beautiful stranger with the dainty feet. He had no +time to think of her now. He must first find this newcomer and he +meant to waste no time in doing it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV: Lightfoot Is Reckless + + +In his search for the new stranger who had come to the Green +Forest, Lightfoot the Deer was wholly reckless. He no longer +stole like a gray shadow from thicket to thicket as he had done +when searching for the beautiful stranger with the dainty +feet. He bounded along, careless of how much noise he made. +From time to time he would stop to whistle a challenge and to clash +his horns against the trees and stamp the ground with his feet. + +After such exhibitions of anger he would pause to listen, hoping +to hear some sound which would tell him where the stranger was. +Now and then he found the stranger's tracks, and from them +he knew that this stranger was doing: just what he had been +doing, seeking to find the beautiful newcomer with the dainty +feet. Each time he found these signs Lightfoot's rage increased. + +Of course it didn't take Sammy Jay long to discover what was +going on. There is little that escapes those sharp eyes of Sammy +Jay. As you know, he had early discovered the game of hide and +seek Lightfoot had been playing with the beautiful young visitor +who had come down to the Green Forest from the Great Mountain. Then, +by chance, Sammy had visited the Laughing Brook just as the big +stranger had come down there to drink. For once Sammy had kept his +tongue still. "There is going to be excitement here when Lightfoot +discovers this fellow," thought Sammy. "If they ever meet, and I have +a feeling that they will, there is going to be a fight worth seeing. +I must pass the word around." + +So Sammy Jay hunted up his cousin, Blacky the Crow, and told him +what he had discovered. Then he hunted up Bobby Coon and told him. +He saw Unc' Billy Possum sitting in the doorway of his hollow +tree and told him. He discovered Jumper the Hare sitting +under a little hemlock-tree and told him. Then he flew over to +the dear Old Briar-patch to tell Peter Rabbit. Of course he told +Drummer the Woodpecker, Tommy Tit the Chickadee, and Yank Yank +the Nuthatch, who were over in the Old Orchard, and they at once +hurried to the Green Forest, for they couldn't think of missing +anything so exciting as would be the meeting between Lightfoot +and the big stranger from the Great Mountain. + +Sammy didn't forget to tell Paddy the Beaver, but it was no news +to Paddy. Paddy had seen the big stranger on the edge of his pond +early the night before. + +Of course, Lightfoot knew nothing about all this. His one thought +was to find that big stranger and drive him from the Green Forest, +and so he continued his search tirelessly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI: Sammy Jay Takes A Hand + + +Sammy Jay was bubbling over with excitement as he flew about through +the Green Forest, following Lightfoot the Deer. He was so excited +he wanted to scream. But he didn't. He kept his tongue still. +You see, he didn't want Lightfoot to know that he was being followed. +Under that pointed cap of Sammy Jay's are quick wits. It didn't +take him long to discover that the big stranger whom Lightfoot +was seeking was doing his best to keep out of Lightfoot's way and +that he was having no difficulty in doing so because of the reckless +way in which Lightfoot was searching for him. Lightfoot made so +much noise that it was quite easy to know just where he was and +so keep out of his sight. + +"That stranger is nearly as big as Lightfoot, but it is very +plain that he doesn't want to fight," thought Sammy. "He must be +a coward." + +Now the truth is, the stranger was not a coward. He was ready and +willing to fight if he had to, but if he could avoid fighting he +meant to. You see, big as he was, he wasn't quite so big as +Lightfoot, and he knew it. He had seen Lightfoot's big +footprints, and from their size he knew that Lightfoot must be +bigger and heavier than he. Then, too, he knew that he really +had no right to be there in the Green Forest. That was +Lightfoot's home and so he was an intruder. He knew that +Lightfoot would feel this way about it and that this would make +him fight all the harder. So the big stranger wanted to avoid a +fight if possible. But he wanted still more to find that +beautiful young visitor with the dainty feet for whom Lightfoot +had been looking. He wanted to find her just as Lightfoot wanted +to find her, and he hoped that if he did find her, he could take +her away with him back to the Great Mountain. If he had to, he +would fight for her, but until he had to he would keep out of the +fight. So he dodged Lightfoot and at the same time looked for the +beautiful stranger. + +All this Sammy Jay guessed, and after a while he grew tired of +following Lightfoot for nothing. "I'll have to take a hand in +this thing myself," muttered Sammy. "At this rate, Lightfoot +never will find that big stranger!" + +So Sammy stopped following Lightfoot and began to search through +the Green Forest for the big stranger. It didn't take very long +to find him. He was over near the pond of Paddy the Beaver. +As soon as he saw him, Sammy began to scream at the top of his +lungs. At once he heard the sound of snapping twigs at the top of +a little ridge back of Paddy's pond and knew that Lightfoot had +heard and understood. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII: The Great Fight + + +Down from the top of the ridge back of the pond of Paddy the +Beaver plunged Lightfoot the Deer, his eyes blazing with rage. +He had understood the screaming of Sammy Jay. He knew that somewhere +down there was the big stranger he had been looking for. + +The big stranger had understood Sammy's screaming quite as well +as Lightfoot. He knew that to run away now would be to prove +himself a coward and forever disgrace himself in the eyes of Miss +Daintyfoot, for that was the name of the beautiful stranger he +had been seeking. He MUST fight. There was no way out of it, he +MUST fight. The hair on the back of his neck stood up with anger +just as did the hair on the neck of Lightfoot. His eyes also +blazed. He bounded out into a little open place by the pond of +Paddy the Beaver and there he waited. + +Meanwhile Sammy Jay was flying about in the greatest excitement, +screaming at the top of his lungs, "A fight! A fight! A fight!" +Blacky the Crow, over in another part of the Green Forest, heard +him and took up the cry and at once hurried over to Paddy's pond. +Everybody who was near enough hurried there. Bobby Coon and +Unc' Billy Possum climbed trees from which they could see and at +the same time be safe. Billy Mink hurried to a safe place on the +dam of Paddy the Beaver. Paddy himself climbed up on the roof of +his house out in the pond. Peter Rabbit and Jumper the Hare, who +happened to be not far away, hurried over where they could peep +out from under some young hemlock-trees. Buster Bear shuffled +down the hill and watched from the other side of the pond. +Reddy and Granny Fox were both there. + +For what seemed like the longest time, but which was for only a +minute, Lightfoot and the big stranger stood still, glaring at +each other. Then, snorting with rage, they lowered their heads +and plunged together. Their antlers clashed with a noise that +rang through the Green Forest, and both fell to their knees. +There they pushed and struggled. Then they separated and backed +away, to repeat the movement over again. It was a terrible fight. +Everybody said so. If they had not known before, everybody +knew now what those great antlers were for. Once the big stranger +managed to reach Lightfoot's right shoulder with one of the sharp +points of his antlers and made a long tear in Lightfoot's gray +coat. It only made Lightfoot fight harder. + +Sometimes they would rear up and strike with their sharp +hoofs. Back and forth they plunged, and the ground was torn up by +their feet. Both were getting out of breath, and from time to +time they had to stop for a moment's rest. Then they would come +together again more fiercely than ever. Never had such a fight +been seen in the Green Forest. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII: An Unseen Watcher + + +As Lightfoot the Deer and the big stranger from the Great +Mountain fought in the little opening near the pond of Paddy the +Beaver, neither knew or cared who saw them. Each was filled fully +with rage and determined to drive the other from the Green Forest. +Each was fighting for the right to win the love of Miss Daintyfoot. + +Neither of them knew that Miss Daintyfoot herself was watching +them. But she was. She had heard the clash of their great antlers +as they had come together the first time, and she had known +exactly what it meant. Timidly she had stolen forward to a +thicket where, safely hidden, she could watch that terrible +fight. She knew that they were fighting for her. Of course. +She knew it just as she had known how both had been hunting for her. +What she didn't know for some time was which one she wanted to win +that fight. + +Both Lightfoot and the big stranger were handsome. Yes, indeed, +they were very handsome. Lightfoot was just a little bit the +bigger and it seemed to her just a little bit the handsomer. +She almost wanted him to win. Then, when she saw how bravely the +big stranger was fighting and how well he was holding his own, even +though he was a little smaller than Lightfoot, she almost hoped +he would win. + +That great fight lasted a long time. To pretty Miss Daintyfoot +it seemed that it never would end. But after a while Lightfoot's +greater size and strength began to tell. Little by little the big +stranger was forced back towards the edge of the open place. +Now he would be thrown to his knees when Lightfoot wasn't. +As Lightfoot saw this, he seemed to gain new strength. At last +he caught the stranger in such a way that he threw him over. +While the stranger struggled to get to his feet again, Lightfoot's +sharp antlers made long tears in his gray coat. The stranger was +beaten and he knew it. The instant he succeeded in getting to his +feet he turned tail and plunged for the shelter of the Green +Forest. With a snort of triumph, Lightfoot plunged after him. + +But now that he was beaten, fear took possession of the +stranger. All desire to fight left him. His one thought was to +get away, and fear gave him speed. Straight back towards the +Great Mountain from which he had come the stranger headed. +Lightfoot followed only a short distance. He knew that +that stranger was going for good and would not come back. +Then Lightfoot turned back to the open place where they had +fought. There he threw up his beautiful head, crowned by its +great antlers, and whistled a challenge to all the Green Forest. +As she looked at him, Miss Daintyfoot knew that she had +wanted him to win. She knew that there simply couldn't be anybody +else so handsome and strong and brave in all the Great World. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX: Lightfoot Discovers Love + + +Wonderfully handsome was Lightfoot the Deer as he stood in the +little opening by the pond of Paddy the Beaver, his head thrown +back proudly, as he received the congratulations of his neighbors +of the Green Forest who had seen him win the great fight with +the big stranger who had come down from the Great Mountain. +To beautiful Miss Daintyfoot, peeping out from the thicket where +she had hidden to watch the great fight, Lightfoot was the most +wonderful person in all the Great World. She adored him, which +means that she loved him just as much as it was possible for her +to love. + +But Lightfoot didn't know this. In fact, he didn't know that Miss +Daintyfoot was there. His one thought had been to drive out of +the Green Forest the big stranger who had come down from the +Great Mountain. He had been jealous of that big stranger, +though he hadn't known that he was jealous. The real cause of his +anger and desire to fight had been the fear that the big stranger +would find Miss Daintyfoot and take her away. Of course this was +nothing but jealousy. + +Now that the great fight was over, and he knew that the big +stranger was hurrying back to the Great Mountain, all Lightfoot's +anger melted away. In its place was a great longing to find Miss +Daintyfoot. His great eyes became once more soft and beautiful. +In them was a look of wistfulness. Lightfoot walked down to the edge +of the water and drank, for he was very, very thirsty. Then he +turned, intending to take up once more his search for beautiful Miss +Daintyfoot. + +When he turned he faced the thicket in which Miss Daintyfoot was +hiding. His keen eyes caught a little movement of the branches. A +beautiful head was slowly thrust out, and Lightfoot gazed again +into a pair of soft eyes which he was sure were the most +beautiful eyes in all the Great World. He wondered if she would +disappear and run away as she had the last time he saw her. + +He took a step or two forward. The beautiful head was +withdrawn. Lightfoot's heart sank. Then he bounded forward into +that thicket. He more than half expected to find no one there, +but when he entered that thicket he received the most wonderful +surprise in all his life. There stood Miss Daintyfoot, timid, +bashful, but with a look in her eyes which Lightfoot could not +mistake. In that instant Light-foot understood the meaning of +that longing which had kept him hunting for her and of the rage +which had filled him when he had discovered the presence of the +big stranger from the Great Mountain. It was love. Lightfoot knew +that he loved Miss Daintyfoot and, looking into her soft, gentle +eyes, he knew that Miss Daintyfoot loved him. + + + + +CHAPTER XL: Happy Days In The Green Forest + + +These were happy days in the Green Forest. At least, they were +happy for Lightfoot the Deer. They were the happiest days he had +ever known. You see, he had won beautiful, slender, young Miss +Daintyfoot, and now she was no longer Miss Daintyfoot but +Mrs. Lightfoot. Lightfoot was sure that there was no one anywhere +so beautiful as she, and Mrs. Lightfoot knew that there was no +one so handsome and brave as he. + +Wherever Lightfoot went, Mrs. Lightfoot went. He showed her all +his favorite hiding-places. He led her to his favorite +eating-places. She did not tell him that she was already +acquainted with every one of them, that she knew the Green Forest +quite as well as he did. If he had stopped to think how day after +day she had managed to keep out of his sight while he hunted for +her, he would have realized that there was little he could show +her which she did not already know. But he didn't stop to think +and proudly led her from place to place. And Mrs. Lightfoot wisely +expressed delight with all she saw quite as if it were all new. + +Of course, all the little people of the Green Forest hurried to +pay their respects to Mrs. Lightfoot and to tell Lightfoot how +glad they felt for him. And they really did feel glad. You see, +they all loved Lightfoot and they knew that now he would be +happier than ever, and that there would be no danger of his +leaving the Green Forest because of loneliness. The Green Forest +would not be the same at all without Lightfoot the Deer. + +Lightfoot told Mrs. Lightfoot all about the terrible days of the +hunting season and how glad he was that she had not been in the +Green Forest then. He told her how the hunters with terrible guns +had given him no rest and how he had had to swim the Big River to +get away from the hounds. + +"I know," replied Mrs. Lightfoot softly. "I know all about +it. You see, there were hunters on the Great Mountain. In fact, +that is how I happened to come down to the Green Forest. They +hunted me so up there that I did not dare stay, and I came down +here thinking that there might be fewer hunters. I wouldn't have +believed that I could ever be thankful to hunters for anything, +but I am, truly I am." + +There was a puzzled look on Lightfoot's face. "What for?" he +demanded. "I can't imagine anybody being thankful to hunters for +anything." + +"Oh, you stupid," cried Mrs. Lightfoot. "Don't you see that if I +hadn't been driven down from the Great Mountain, I never would +have found YOU?" + +"You mean, I never would have found YOU," retorted Lightfoot. +"I guess I owe these hunters more than you do. I owe them the +greatest happiness I have ever known, but I never would have +thought of it myself. Isn't it queer how things which seem the +very worst possible sometimes turn out to be the very best +possible?" + +Blacky the Crow is one of Lightfoot's friends, but sometimes even +friends are envious. It is so with Blacky. He insists that he is +quite as important in the Green Forest as is Lightfoot and that +his doings are quite as interesting. Therefore just to please him +the next book is to be Blacky the Crow. + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Lightfoot the Deer, by Thornton W. 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Burgess + +Release Date: November, 2003 [Etext #4670] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 26, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Lightfoot the Deer +by Thornton W. Burgess +******This file should be named lfoot10.txt or lfoot10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, lfoot11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, lfoot10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +The "legal small print" and other information about this book +may now be found at the end of this file. Please read this +important information, as it gives you specific rights and +tells you about restrictions in how the file may be used. + +*** +This etext was produced by by Kent Fielden (fielden3@aol.com). + +LIGHTFOOT THE DEER + +BY THORNTON W. BURGESS + + + +CHAPTER I: Peter Rabbit Meets Lightfoot + +Peter Rabbit was on his way back from the pond of Paddy the +Beaver deep in the Green Forest. He had just seen Mr. and +Mrs. Quack start toward the Big River for a brief visit before +leaving on their long, difficult journey to the far-away +Southland. Farewells are always rather sad, and this particular +farewell had left Peter with a lump in his throat, -- a queer, +choky feeling. + +"If I were sure that they would return next spring, it wouldn't +be so bad," he muttered. "It's those terrible guns. I know what +it is to have to watch out for them. Farmer Brown's boy used to +hunt me with one of them, but he doesn't any more. But even when +he did hunt me it wasn't anything like what the Ducks have to go +through. If I kept my eyes and ears open, I could tell when a +hunter was coming and could hide in a hole if I wanted to. I +never had to worry about my meals. But with the Ducks it is a +thousand times worse. They've got to eat while making that long +journey, and they can eat only where there is the right kind of +food. Hunters with terrible guns know where those places are and +hide there until the Ducks come, and the Ducks have no way of +knowing whether the hunters are waiting for them or not. That +isn't hunting. It's -- it's --" + +"Well, what is it? What are you talking to yourself about, +Peter Rabbit?" + +Peter looked up with a start to find the soft, beautiful eyes of +Lightfoot the Deer gazing down at him over the top of a little +hemlock tree. + +"It's awful," declared Peter. "It's worse than unfair. +It doesn't give them any chance at all." + +"I suppose it must be so if you say so," replied Lightfoot, +"but you might tell me what all this awfulness is about." + +Peter grinned. Then he began at the beginning and told Lightfoot +all about Mr. and Mrs. Quack and the many dangers they must face +on their long journey to the far-away Southland and back again in +the spring, all because of the heartless hunters with terrible +guns. Lightfoot listened and his great soft eyes were filled with +pity for the Quack family. + +"I hope they will get through all right," said he, "and I hope +they will get back in the spring. It is bad enough to be hunted +by men at one time of the year, as no one knows better than I do, +but to be hunted in the spring as well as in the fall is more +than twice as bad. Men are strange creatures. I do not +understand them at all. None of the people of the Green Forest +would think of doing such terrible things. I suppose it is quite +right to hunt others in order to get enough to eat, though I am +thankful to say that I never have had to do that, but to hunt +others just for the fun of hunting is something I cannot +understand at all. And yet that is what men seem to do it for. +I guess the trouble is they never have been hunted themselves and +don't know how it feels. Sometimes I think I'll hunt one some day +just to teach him a lesson. What are you laughing at, Peter?" + +"At the idea of you hunting a man," replied Peter. "Your heart +is all right, Lightfoot, but you are too timid and gentle to +frighten any one. Big as you are I wouldn't fear you." + +With a single swift bound Lightfoot sprang out in front of +Peter. He stamped his sharp hoofs, lowered his handsome head +until the sharp points of his antlers, which people call horns, +pointed straight at Peter, lifted the hair along the back of +his neck, and made a motion as if to plunge at him. +His eyes, which Peter had always thought so soft and gentle, +seemed to flash fire. + +"Oh!" cried Peter in a faint, frightened-sounding voice and +leaped to one side before it entered his foolish little head that +Lightfoot was just pretending. + +Lightfoot chuckled. "Did you say I couldn't frighten any one?" +he demanded. + +"I-- I didn't know you could look so terribly fierce," stammered +Peter. "Those antlers look really dangerous when you point them +that way. Why -- why -- what is that hanging to them? It looks +like bits of old fur. Have you been tearing somebody's coat, +Lightfoot?" Peter's eyes were wide with wonder and suspicion. + + + +CHAPTER II : Lightfoot's New Antlers + +Peter Rabbit was puzzled. He stared at Lightfoot the Deer a wee +bit suspiciously. "Have you been tearing somebody's coat?" he +asked again. He didn't like to think it of Lightfoot, whom he +always had believed quite as gentle, harmless, and timid as +himself. But what else could he think? + +Lightfoot slowly shook his head. "No," said he, "I haven't torn +anybody's coat." + +"Then what are those rags hanging on your antlers?" demanded +Peter. + +Lightfoot chuckled. "They are what is left of the coverings of my +new antlers," he explained. + +"What's that? What do you mean by new antlers?" Peter was sitting +up very straight, with his eyes fixed on Lightfoot's antlers as +though he never had seen them before. + +"Just what I said," retorted Lightfoot. "What do you think of +them? I think they are the finest antlers I've ever had. When I +get the rest of those rags off, they will be as handsome a set as +ever was grown in the Green Forest." + +Lightfoot rubbed his antlers against the trunk of a tree till +some of the rags hanging to them dropped off. + +Peter blinked very hard. He was trying to understand and he +couldn't. Finally he said so. + +"What kind of a story are you trying to fill me up with?" he +demanded indignantly. "Do you mean to tell me that those are not +the antlers that you have had as long as I've known you? How can +anything hard like those antlers grow? And if those are new +ones, where are the old ones? Show me the old ones, and perhaps +I'll believe that these are new ones. The idea of trying to make +me believe that antlers grow just like plants! I've seen Bossy +the Cow all summer and I know she has got the same horns she had +last summer. New antlers indeed!" + +"You are quite right, Peter, quite right about Bossy the Cow. +She never has new horns, but that isn't any reason why I shouldn't +have new antlers, is it?" replied Lightfoot patiently. "Her horns +are quite different from my antlers. I have a new pair every +year. You haven't seen me all summer, have you, Peter?" + +"No, I don't remember that I have," replied Peter, trying very +hard to remember when he had last seen Lightfoot. + +"I KNOW you haven't," retorted Lightfoot. "I know it because I +have been hiding in a place you never visit." + +"What have you been hiding for?" demanded Peter. + +"For my new antlers to grow," replied Lightfoot. "When my new +antlers are growing, I want to be away by myself. I don't like +to be seen without them or with halfgrown ones. Besides, I am +very uncomfortable while the new antlers are growing and I want +to be alone." Lightfoot spoke as if he really meant every word he +said, but still Peter couldn't, he just COULDN'T believe that +those wonderful great antlers had grown out of Lightfoot's head +in a single summer. "Where did you leave your old ones and when +did they come off?" he asked, and there was doubt in the very +tone of his voice. + +"They dropped off last spring, but I don't remember just where," +replied Lightfoot. "I was too glad to be rid of them to notice +where they dropped. You see they were loose and uncomfortable, +and I hadn't any more use for them because I knew that my new +ones would be bigger and better. I've got one more point on each +than I had last year." Lightfoot began once more to rub his +antlers against the tree to get off the queer rags hanging to +them and to polish the points. Peter watched in silence for a +few minutes. Then, all his suspicions returning, he said: + +"But you haven't told me anything about those rags hanging to +your antlers." + +"And you haven't believed what I have already told you," retorted +Lightfoot. "I don't like telling things to people who won't +believe me." + + + +CHAPTER III: Lightfoot Tells How His Antlers Grew + +It is hard to believe what seems impossible. And yet what seems +impossible to you may be a very commonplace matter to some one +else. So it does not do to say that a thing cannot be possible +just because you cannot understand how it can be. Peter Rabbit +wanted to believe what Lightfoot the Deer had just told him, but +somehow he couldn't. If he had seen those antlers growing, it +would have been another matter. But he hadn't seen Lightfoot +since the very last of winter, and then Lightfoot had worn just +such handsome antlers as he now had. So Peter really couldn't be +blamed for not being able to believe that those old ones had been +lost and in their place new ones had grown in just the few months +of spring and summer. + +But Peter didn't blame Lightfoot in the least, because he had +told Peter that he didn't like to tell things to people who +wouldn't believe what he told them when Peter had asked him about +the rags hanging to his antlers. "I'm trying to believe it," he +said, quite humbly. + +"It's all true," broke in another voice. + +Peter jumped and turned to find his big cousin, Jumper the +Hare. Unseen and unheard, he had stolen up and had overheard what +Peter and Lightfoot had said. + +"How do you know it is true?" snapped Peter a little crossly, for +Jumper had startled him. + +"Because I saw Lightfoot's old antlers after they had fallen off, +and I often saw Lightfoot while his new ones were growing," +retorted Jumper. + +"All right! I'll believe anything that Lightfoot tells me if you +say it is true," declared Peter, who greatly admires his cousin, +Jumper. "Now tell me about those rags, Lightfoot. Please do." + +Lightfoot couldn't resist that "please." "Those rags are what is +left of a kind of covering which protected the antlers while they +were growing, as I told you before," said he. "Very soon after +my old ones dropped off the new ones began to grow. They were +not hard, not at all like they are now. They were soft and very +tender, and the blood ran through them just as it does through +our bodies. They were covered with a sort of skin with hairs on +it like thin fur. The ends were not sharply pointed they now +are, but were big and rounded, like knobs. They were not like +antlers at all, and they made my head hot and were very +uncomfortable. That is why I hid away. They grew very fast, so +fast that every day I could see by looking at my reflection in +water that they were a little longer. It seemed to me sometimes +as if all my strength went into those new antlers. And I had to +be very careful not to hit them against anything. In the first +place it would have hurt, and in the second place it might have +spoiled the shape of them. + +"When they had grown to the length you now see, they began to +shrink and grow hard. The knobs on the ends shrank until they +became pointed. As soon as they stopped growing the blood stopped +flowing up in them, and as they became hard they were no longer +tender. The skin which had covered them grew dry and split, and I +rubbed it off on trees and bushes. The little rags you see are +what is left, but I will soon be rid of those. Then I shall be +ready to fight if need be and will fear no one save man, and will +fear him only when he has a terrible gun with him." + +Lightfoot tossed his head proudly and rattled his wonderful +antlers against the nearest tree. "Isn't he handsome," whispered +Peter to Jumper the Hare; "and did you ever hear of anything so +wonderful as the growing of those new antlers in such a short +time? It is hard to believe, but I suppose it must be true." + +"It is," replied Jumper, "and I tell you, Peter, I would hate to +have Lightfoot try those antlers on me, even though I were big as +a man. You've always thought of Lightfoot as timid and afraid, +but you should see him when he is angry. Few people care to face +him then." + + + + + +CHAPTER IV: The Spirit Of Fear + + When the days grow cold and the nights are clear, + There stalks abroad the spirit of fear. + - Lightfoot the Deer. + +It is sad but true. Autumn is often called the sad time of the +year, and it is the sad time. But it shouldn't be. Old Mother +Nature never intended that it should be. She meant it to be the +GLAD time. It is the time when all the little people of the +Green Forest and the Green Meadows have got over the cares and +worries of bringing up families and teaching their children how +to look out for themselves. It is the season when food is +plentiful, and every one is fat and is, or ought to be, care +free. It is the season when Old Mother Nature intended all her +little people to be happy, to have nothing to worry them for the +little time before the coming of cold weather and the hard times +which cold weather always brings. + +But instead of this, a grim, dark figure goes stalking over the +Green Meadows and through the Green Forest, and it is called the +Spirit of Fear. It peers into every hiding-place and wherever it +finds one of the little people it sends little cold chills over +him, little chills which jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun cannot +chase away, though he shine his brightest. All night as well as +all day the Spirit of Fear searches out the little people of the +Green Meadows and the Green Forest. It will not let them sleep. +It will not let them eat in peace. It drives them to seek +new hiding-places and then drives them out of those. It keeps +them ever ready to fly or run at the slightest sound. + +Peter Rabbit was thinking of this as he sat at the edge of the +dear Old Briar-patch, looking over to the Green Forest. The Green +Forest was no longer just green; it was of many colors, for Old +Mother Nature had set Jack Frost to painting the leaves of the +maple-trees and the beech-trees, and the birch-trees and the +poplar-trees and the chestnut-trees, and he had done his work well. +Very, very lovely were the reds and yellows and browns against +the dark green of the pines and the spruces and the hemlocks. +The Purple Hills were more softly purple than at any +other season of the year. It was all very, very beautiful. + +But Peter had no thought for the beauty of it all, for the Spirit +of Fear had visited even the dear Old Briar-patch, and Peter was +afraid. It wasn't fear of Reddy Fox, or Redtail the Hawk, or +Hooty the Owl, or Old Man Coyote. They were forever trying to +catch him, but they did not strike terror to his heart because he +felt quite smart enough to keep out of their clutches. To be +sure, they gave him sudden frights sometimes, when they happened +to surprise him, but these frights lasted only until he reached +the nearest bramble-tangle or hollow log where they could not get +at him. But the fear that chilled his heart now never left him +even for a moment. + +And Peter knew that this same fear was clutching at the hearts of +Bob White, hiding in the brown stubble; of Mrs. Grouse, squatting +in the thickest bramble-tangle in the Green Forest; of Uncle +Billy Possum and Bobby Coon in their hollow trees; of Jerry +Muskrat in the Smiling Pool; of Happy Jack Squirrel, hiding in +the tree tops; of Lightfoot the Deer, lying in the closest +thicket he could find. It was even clutching at the hearts of +Granny and Reddy Fox and of great, big Buster Bear. It seemed to +Peter that no one was so big or so small that this terrible +Spirit of Fear had not searched him out. + + Far in the distance sounded a sudden bang. Peter jumped and + shivered. He knew that every one else who had heard that bang + had jumped and shivered just as he had. It was the season of + hunters with terrible guns. It was man who had sent this + terrible Spirit of Fear to chill the hearts of the little meadow + and forest people at this very time when Old Mother Nature had + made all things so beautiful and had intended that they should + be happiest and most free from care and worry. It was man who + had made the autumn a sad time instead of a glad time, the very + saddest time of all the year, when Old Mother Nature had done + her best to make it the most beautiful. + +"I don't understand these men creatures," said Peter to little +Mrs. Peter, as they stared fearfully out from the dear Old +Briar-patch. "They seem to find pleasure, actually find pleasure, +in trying to kill us. I don't understand them at all. They +haven't any hearts. That must be the reason; they haven't any +hearts." + + + +CHAPTER V: Sammy Jay Brings Lightfoot Word + +Sammy Jay is one of those who believe in the wisdom of the old +saying, "Early to bed and early to rise." Sammy needs no alarm +clock to get up early in the morning. He is awake as soon as it +is light enough to see and wastes no time wishing he could sleep +a little longer. His stomach wouldn't let him if he wanted +to. Sammy always wakes up hungry. In this he is no different +from all his feathered neighbors. + +So the minute Sammy gets his eyes open he makes his toilet, for +Sammy is very neat, and starts out to hunt for his breakfast. +Long ago Sammy discovered that there is no safer time of day to +visit the dooryards of those two-legged creatures called men than +very early in the morning. On this particular morning he had +planned to fly over to Farmer Brown's dooryard, but at the last +minute he changed his mind. Instead, he flew over to the +dooryard of another farm. It was so very early in the morning +that Sammy didn't expect to find anybody stirring, so you can +guess how surprised he was when, just as he came in sight of that +dooryard, he saw the door of the house open and a man step out. + +Sammy stopped on the top of the nearest tree. "Now what is that +man doing up as early as this?" muttered Sammy. Then he caught +sight of something under the man's arm. He didn't have to look +twice to know what it was. It was a gun! Yes, sir, it was a gun, +a terrible gun. + +"Ha!" exclaimed Sammy, and quite forgot that his stomach was +empty. "Now who can that fellow be after so early in the morning? +I wonder if he is going to the dear Old Briar-patch to look for +Peter Rabbit, or if he is going to the Old Pasture in search of +Reddy Fox, or if it is Mr. and Mrs. Grouse he hopes to kill. +I think I'll sit right here and watch." + +So Sammy sat in the top of the tree and watched the hunter with +the terrible gun. He saw him head straight for the Green Forest. +"It's Mr. and Mrs. Grouse after all, I guess," thought Sammy. +"If I knew just where they were I'd go over and warn them." +But Sammy didn't know just where they were and he knew that it +might take him a long time to find them, so he once more began to +think of breakfast and then, right then, another thought popped +into his head. He thought of Lightfoot the Deer. + +Sammy watched the hunter enter the Green Forest, then he silently +followed him. From the way the hunter moved, Sammy decided that +he wasn't thinking of Mr. and Mrs. Grouse. "It's Lightfoot the +Deer, sure as I live," muttered Sammy. "He ought to be warned. +He certainly ought to be warned. I know right where he is. +I believe I'll warn him myself." + +Sammy found Lightfoot right where he had expected to. "He's +coming!" cried Sammy. "A hunter with a terrible gun is coming!" + + + +CHAPTER VI: A Game Of Hide And Seek + +There was a game of hide and seek that Danny Meadow Mouse once +played with Buster Bear. It was a very dreadful game for Danny. +But hard as it was for Danny, it didn't begin to be as hard +as the game Lightfoot the Deer was playing with the hunter +in the Green Forest. + +In the case of Buster Bear and Danny, the latter had simply to +keep out of reach of Buster. As long as Buster didn't get his +great paws on Danny, the latter was safe. Then, too, Danny is a +very small person. He is so small that he can hide under two or +three leaves. Wherever he is, he is pretty sure to find a +hiding-place of some sort. His small size gives him advantages in +a game of hide and seek. It certainly does. But Lightfoot the +Deer is big. He is one of the largest of the people who live in +the Green Forest. Being so big, it is not easy to hide. + +Moreover, a hunter with a terrible gun does not have to get close +in order to kill. Lightfoot knew all this as he waited for the +coming of the hunter of whom Sammy Jay had warned him. He had +learned many lessons in the hunting season of the year before and +he remembered every one of them. He knew that to forget even one +of them might cost him his life. So, standing motionless behind a +tangle of fallen trees, Lightfoot listened and watched. + +Presently over in the distance he heard Sammy Jay screaming, +"Thief, thief, thief!" A little sigh of relief escaped +Lightfoot. He knew that that screaming of Sammy Jay's was a +warning to tell him where the hunter was. Knowing just where the +hunter was made it easier for Lightfoot to know what to do. + +A Merry Little Breeze came stealing through the Green Forest. +It came from behind Lightfoot and danced on towards the hunter with +the terrible gun. Instantly Lightfoot began to steal softly away +through the Green Forest. He took the greatest care to make no +sound. He went in a half-circle, stopping every few steps to +listen and test the air with his wonderful nose. Can you guess +what Lightfoot was trying to do? He was trying to get behind the +hunter so that the Merry Little Breezes would bring to him the +dreaded man-scent. So long as Lightfoot could get that scent, he +would know where the hunter was, though he could neither see nor +hear him. If he had remained where Sammy Jay had found him, the +hunter might have come within shooting distance before Lightfoot +could have located him. + +So the hunter with the terrible gun walked noiselessly through +the Green Forest, stepping with the greatest care to avoid +snapping a stick underfoot, searching with keen eye every thicket +and likely hiding-place for a glimpse of Lightfoot, and studying +the ground for traces to show that Lightfoot had been there. + + + +CHAPTER VII: The Merry Little Breezes Help Lightfoot + +Could you have seen the hunter with the terrible gun and +Lightfoot the Deer that morning on which the hunting season +opened you might have thought that Lightfoot was hunting the +hunter instead of the hunter hunting Lightfoot. You see, +Lightfoot was behind the hunter instead of in front of him. +He was following the hunter, so as to keep track of him. +As long as he knew just where the hunter was, he felt +reasonably safe. + +The Merry Little Breezes are Lightfoot's best friends. They +always bring to him all the different scents they find as they +wander through the Green Forest. And Lightfoot's delicate nose +is so wonderful that he can take these scents, even though they +be very faint, and tell just who or what has made them. So, +though he makes the best possible use of his big ears and his +beautiful eyes, he trusts more to his nose to warn him of danger. +For this reason, during the hunting season when he moves about, +he moves in the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes may +be blowing. He knows that they will bring to him warning of any +danger which may lie in that direction. + +Now the hunter with the terrible gun who was looking for +Lightfoot knew all this, for he was wise in the ways of Lightfoot +and of the other little people of the Green Forest. When he had +entered the Green Forest that morning he had first of all made +sure of the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes were +coming. Then he had begun to hunt in that direction, knowing +that thus his scent would be carried behind him. It is more than +likely that he would have reached the hiding-place of Lightfoot +the Deer before the latter would have known that he was in the +Green Forest, had it not been for Sammy Jay's warning. + +When he reached the tangle of fallen trees behind which Lightfoot +had been hiding, he worked around it slowly and with the greatest +care, holding his terrible gun ready to use instantly should +Lightfoot leap out. Presently he found Lightfoot's footprints in +the soft ground and studying them he knew that Lightfoot had +known of his coming. + +"It was that confounded Jay," muttered the hunter. "Lightfoot +heard him and knew what it meant. I know what he has done; he has +circled round so as to get behind me and get my scent. It is a +clever trick, a very clever trick, but two can play at that +game. I'll just try that little trick myself." + +So the hunter in his turn made a wide circle back, and presently +there was none of the dreaded man-smell among the scents which +the Merry Little Breezes brought to Lightfoot. Lightfoot had lost +track of the hunter. + + + +CHAPTER VIII: Wit Against Wit + +It was a dreadful game the hunter with the terrible gun and +Lightfoot the Deer were playing in the Green Forest. It was a +matching of wit against wit, the hunter seeking to take +Lightfoot's life, and Lightfoot seeking to save it. +The experience of other years had taught Lightfoot much of the +ways of hunters and not one of the things he had learned about +them was forgotten. But the hunter in his turn knew much of +the ways of Deer. So it was that each was trying his best to +outguess the other. + +When the hunter found the hiding-place Lightfoot had left at the +warning of Sammy Jay he followed Lightfoot's tracks for a short +distance. It was slow work, and only one whose eyes had been +trained to notice little things could have done it. You see, +there was no snow, and only now and then, when he had stepped on +a bit of soft ground, had Lightfoot left a footprint. But there +were other signs which the hunter knew how to read, -- a freshly +upturned leaf here, and here, a bit of moss lightly crushed. +These things told the hunter which way Lightfoot had gone. + +Slowly, patiently, watchfully, the hunter followed. After a while +he stopped with a satisfied grin. "I thought as much," he +muttered. "He heard that pesky Jay and circled around so as to +get my scent. I'll just cut across to my old trail and unless I +am greatly mistaken, I'll find his tracks there." + +So, swiftly but silently, the hunter cut across to his old trail, +and in a few moments he found just what he expected, -- one of +Lightfoot's footprints. Once more he grinned. + +"Well, old fellow, I've outguessed you this time," said he to +himself." I am behind you and the wind is from you to me, so that +you cannot get my scent. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if you're +back right where you started from, behind that old windfall." +He at once began to move forward silently and cautiously, with +eyes and ears alert and his terrible gun ready for instant use. + +Now when Lightfoot, following behind the hunter, had lost the +scent of the latter, he guessed right away that the latter had +found his tracks and had started to follow them. Lightfoot stood +still and listened with all his might for some little sound to +tell him where the hunter was. But there was no sound and after a +little Lightfoot began to move on. He didn't dare remain still, +lest the hunter should creep up within shooting distance. There +was only one direction in which it was safe for Lightfoot to +move, and that was the direction from which the Merry Little +Breezes were blowing. So long as they brought him none of the +dreaded man-smell, he knew that he was safe. The hunter might be +behind him -- probably he was -- but ahead of him, so long as the +Merry Little Breezes were blowing in his face and brought no +man-smell, was safety. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX: Lightfoot Becomes Uncertain + +Lightfoot the Deer traveled on through the Green Forest, straight +ahead in the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes were +blowing. Every few steps he would raise his delicate nose and +test all the scents that the Merry Little Breezes were bringing. +So long as he kept the Merry Little Breezes blowing in his face, +he could be sure whether or not there was danger ahead of him. + +Lightfoot uses his nose very much as you and I use our eyes. It +tells him the things he wants to know. He knew that Reddy Fox had +been along ahead of him, although he didn't get so much as a +glimpse of Reddy's red coat. Once he caught just the faintest of +scents which caused him to stop abruptly and test the air more +carefully than ever. It was the scent of Buster Bear. But it +was so very faint that Lightfoot knew Buster was not near, so he +went ahead again, but even more carefully than before. After a +little he couldn't smell Buster at all, so he knew then that +Buster had merely passed that way when he was going to some other +part of the Green Forest. + +Lightfoot knew that he had nothing to fear in that direction so +long as the Merry Little Breezes brought him none of the dreaded +man-scent, and he knew that he could trust the Merry Little +Breezes to bring him that scent if there should be a man +anywhere in front of him. You know the Merry Little Breezes are +Lightfoot's best friends. But Lightfoot didn't want to keep +going in that direction all day. + +It would take him far away from that part of the Green Forest +with which he was familiar and which he called home. It might in +time take him out of the Green Forest and that wouldn't do at +all. So after a while Lightfoot became uncertain. He didn't know +just what to do. You see, he couldn't tell whether or not that +hunter with the terrible gun was still following him. + +Every once in a while he would stop in a thicket of young trees +or behind a tangle of fallen trees uprooted by the wind. There +he would stand, facing the direction from which he had come, and +watch and listen for some sign that the hunter was still +following. But after a few minutes of this he would grow uneasy +and then bound away in the direction from which the Merry Little +Breezes were blowing, so as to be sure of not running into danger. + +"If only I could know if that hunter is still following, I would +know better what to do," thought Lightfoot. "I've got to find out." + + + +CHAPTER X: Lightfoot's Clever Trick + +Lightfoot the Deer is smart. Yes, Sir, Lightfoot the Deer is +smart. He has to be, especially in the hunting season, to save +his life. If he were not smart he would have been killed long +ago. He never makes the foolish mistake of thinking that other +people are not smart. He knew that the hunter who had started out +to follow him early that morning was not one to be easily +discouraged or to be fooled by simple tricks. He had a very great +respect for the smartness of that hunter. He knew that he +couldn't afford to be careless for one little minute. + +The certainty of danger is sometimes easier to bear than the +uncertainty of not knowing whether or not there really is any +danger. Lightfoot felt that if he could know just where the +hunter was, he himself would know better what to do. The +hunter might have become discouraged and given up following him. +In that case he could rest and stop worrying. It would be better +to know that he was being followed than not to know. But how was +he to find out? Lightfoot kept turning this over and over in his +mind as he traveled through the Green Forest. Then an idea came +to him. + +"I know what I'll do. I know just what I'll do," said Lightfoot +to himself. "I'll find out whether or not that hunter is still +following me and I'll get a little rest. Goodness knows, I need +a rest." + +Lightfoot bounded away swiftly and ran for some distance, then he +turned and quickly, but very, very quietly, returned in the +direction from which he had just come but a little to one side of +his old trail. After a while he saw what he was looking for, a +pile of branches which woodchoppers had left when they had +trimmed the trees they had cut down. This was near the top of a +little hill. Lightfoot went up the hill and stopped behind the +pile of brush. For a few moments he stood there perfectly still, +looking and listening. Then, with a little sigh of relief, he lay +down, where, without being in any danger of being seen himself, +he could watch his old trail through the hollow at the bottom of +the hill. If the hunter were still following him, he would pass +through that hollow in plain sight. + +For a long tune Lightfoot rested comfortably behind the pile of +brush. There was not a suspicious movement or a suspicious sound +to show that danger was abroad in the Green Forest. He saw +Mr. and Mrs. Grouse fly down across the hollow and disappear +among the trees on the other side. He saw Unc' Billy Possum +looking over a hollow tree and guessed that Unc' Billy was +getting ready to go into winter quarters. He saw Jumper the Hare +squat down under a low-hanging branch of a hemlock-tree and +prepare to take a nap. He heard Drummer the Woodpecker at work +drilling after worms in a tree not far away. Little by little +Lightfoot grew easy in his mind. It must be that that hunter had +become discouraged and was no longer following him. + + + +CHAPTER XI: The Hunted Watches The Hunter + +It was so quiet and peaceful and altogether lovely there in the +Green Forest, where Lightfoot the Deer lay resting behind a pile +of brush near the top of a little hill, that it didn't seem +possible such a thing as sudden death could be anywhere near. +It didn't seem possible that there could be any need for +watchfulness. But Lightfoot long ago had learned that often +danger is nearest when it seems least to be expected. So, +though he would have liked very much to have taken a nap, +Lightfoot was too wise to do anything so foolish. He kept his +beautiful, great, soft eyes fixed in the direction from which +the hunter with the terrible gun would come if he were still +following that trail. He kept his great ears gently moving to +catch every little sound. + +Lightfoot had about decided that the hunter had given up hunting +for that day, but he didn't let this keep him from being any the +less watchful. It was better to be overwatchful than the least +bit careless. By and by, Lightfoot's keen ears caught the sound +of the snapping of a little stick in the distance. It was so +faint a sound that you or I would have missed it altogether. +But Lightfoot heard it and instantly he was doubly alert, +watching in the direction from which that faint sound had come. +After what seemed a long, long time he saw something moving, and +a moment later a man came into view. It was the hunter and across +one arm he carried the terrible gun. + +Lightfoot knew now that this hunter had patience and perseverance +and had not yet given up hope of getting near enough to shoot +Lightfoot. He moved forward slowly, setting each foot down with +the greatest care, so as not to snap a stick or rustle the +leaves. He was watching sharply ahead, ready to shoot should he +catch a glimpse of Lightfoot within range. + +Right along through the hollow at the foot of the little hill +below Lightfoot the hunter passed. He was no longer studying the +ground for Lightfoot's tracks, because the ground was so hard and +dry down there that Lightfoot had left no tracks. He was simply +hunting in the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes were +blowing because he knew that Lightfoot had gone in that direction, +and he also knew that if Lightfoot were still ahead of him, +his scent could not be carried to Lightfoot. He was doing +what is called "hunting up-wind." + +Lightfoot kept perfectly still and watched the hunter disappear +among the trees. Then he silently got to his feet, shook himself +lightly, and noiselessly stole away over the hilltop towards +another part of the Green Forest. He felt sure that that hunter +would not find him again that day. + + + +CHAPTER XII: Lightfoot Visits Paddy The Beaver + +Deep in the Green Forest is the pond where lives Paddy the +Beaver. It is Paddy's own pond, for he made it himself. He made +it by building a dam across the Laughing Brook. When Lightfoot +bounded away through the Green Forest, after watching the hunter +pass through the hollow below him, he remembered Paddy's pond. +"That's where I'll go," thought Lightfoot. "It is such a +lonesome part of the Green Forest that I do not believe that +hunter will come there. I'll just run over and make Paddy a +friendly call." + +So Lightfoot bounded along deeper and deeper into the Green +Forest. Presently through the trees he caught the gleam of water. +It was Paddy's pond. Lightfoot approached it cautiously. +He felt sure he was rid of the hunter who had followed him so +far that day, but he knew that there might be other hunters in the +Green Forest. He knew that he couldn't afford to be careless for +even one little minute. Lightfoot had lived long enough to know +that most of the sad things and dreadful things that happen in +the Green Forest and on the Green Meadows are due to carelessness. +No one who is hunted, be he big or little, can afford ever to +be careless. + +Now Lightfoot had known of hunters hiding near water, hoping to +shoot him when he came to drink. That always seemed to Lightfoot +a dreadful thing, an unfair thing. But hunters had done it +before and they might do it again. So Lightfoot was careful to +approach Paddy's pond upwind. That is, he approached the side of +the pond from which the Merry Little Breezes were blowing toward +him, and all the time he kept his nose working. He knew that if +any hunters were hidden there, the Merry Little Breezes would +bring him their scent and thus warn him. + +He had almost reached the edge of Paddy's pond when from the +farther shore there came a sudden crash. It startled Lightfoot +terribly for just an instant. Then he guessed what it meant. +That crash was the falling of a tree. There wasn't enough wind to +blow over even the most shaky dead tree. There had been no sound +of axes, so he knew it could not have been chopped down by men. +It must be that Paddy the Beaver had cut it, and if Paddy had been +working in daylight, it was certain that no one had been around +that pond for a long time. + +So Lightfoot hurried forward eagerly, cautiously. When he reached +the bank he looked across towards where the sound of that falling +tree had come from; a branch of a tree was moving along in the +water and half hidden by it was a brown head. It was Paddy the +Beaver taking the branch to his food pile. + + + +CHAPTER XIII: Lightfoot And Paddy Become Partners + +The instant Lightfoot saw Paddy the Beaver he knew that for the +time being, at least, there was no danger. He knew that Paddy is +one of the shyest of all the little people of the Green Forest +and that when he is found working in the daytime it means that he +has been undisturbed for a long time; otherwise he would work +only at night. + +Paddy saw Lightfoot almost as soon as he stepped out on the +bank. He kept right on swimming with the branch of a poplar-tree +until he reached his food pile, which, you know, is in the +water. There he forced the branch down until it was held by other +branches already sunken in the pond. This done, he swam over to +where Lightfoot was watching. "Hello, Lightfoot!" he exclaimed. +"You are looking handsomer than ever. How are you feeling +these fine autumn days?" + +"Anxious," replied Lightfoot. "I am feeling terribly anxious. +Do you know what day this is?" + +"No," replied Paddy, "I don't know what day it is, and I don't +particularly care. It is enough for me that it is one of the +finest days we've had for a long time." + +"I wish I could feel that way," said Lightfoot wistfully. "I wish +I could feel that way, Paddy, but I can't. No, Sir, I can't. +You see, this is the first of the most dreadful days in all the year +for me. The hunters started looking for me before Mr. Sun was +really out of bed. At least one hunter did, and I don't doubt +there are others. I fooled that one, but from now to the end of +the hunting season there will not be a single moment of daylight +when I will feel absolutely safe." + +Paddy crept out on the bank and chewed a little twig of poplar +thoughtfully. Paddy says he can always think better if he is +chewing something. "That's bad news, Lightfoot. I'm sorry to hear +it. I certainly am sorry to hear it," said Paddy. "Why anybody +wants to hunt such a handsome fellow as you are, I cannot +understand. My, but that's a beautiful set of antlers you have!" + +"They are the best I've ever had; but do you know, Paddy, I +suspect that they may be one of the reasons I am hunted so," +replied Lightfoot a little sadly." Good looks are not always to +be desired. Have you seen any hunters around here lately?" + +Paddy shook his Lead. "Not a single hunter," he replied. "I tell +you what it is, Lightfoot, let's be partners for a while. +You stay right around my pond. If I see or hear or smell anything +suspicious, I'll warn you. You do the same for me. Two sets of +eyes, ears and noses are better than one. What do you say, +Lightfoot?" + +"I'll do it," replied Lightfoot. + + + +CHAPTER XIV: How Paddy Warned Lightfoot + +It was a queer partnership, that partnership between Lightfoot +and Paddy, but it was a good partnership. They had been the best +of friends for a long time. Paddy had always been glad to have +Lightfoot visit his pond. To tell the truth, he was rather fond +of handsome Lightfoot. You know Paddy is himself not at all +handsome. On land he is a rather clumsy-looking fellow and +really homely. So he admired Lightfoot greatly. That is one +reason why he proposed that they be partners. + +Lightfoot himself thought the idea a splendid one. He spent that +night browsing not far from Paddy's pond. With the coming of +daylight he lay down in a thicket of young hemlock-trees near the +upper end of the pond. It was a quiet, peaceful day. It was so +quiet and peaceful and beautiful it was hard to believe that +hunters with terrible guns were searching the Green Forest for +beautiful Lightfoot. But they were, and Lightfoot knew that +sooner or later one of them would be sure to visit Paddy's pond. +So, though he rested and took short naps all through that +beautiful day, he was anxious. He couldn't help but be. + +The next morning found Lightfoot back in the same place. But this +morning he took no naps. He rested, but all the time he was +watchful and alert. A feeling of uneasiness possessed him. +He felt in his bones that danger in the shape of a hunter with a +terrible gun was not far distant. + +But the hours slipped away, and little by little he grew less uneasy. +He began to hope that that day would prove as peaceful as the +previous day had been. Then suddenly there was a sharp report from +the farther end of Paddy's pond. It was almost like a pistol shot. +However, it wasn't a pistol shot. It wasn't a shot at all. +It was the slap of Paddy's broad tail on the surface of the water. +Instantly Lightfoot was on his feet. He knew just what that meant. +He knew that Paddy had seen or heard or smelled a hunter. + +It was even so. Paddy had heard a dry stick snap. It was a very +tiny snap, but it was enough to warn Paddy. With only his head +above water he had watched in the direction from which that sound +had come. Presently, stealing quietly along towards the pond, a +hunter had come in view. Instantly Paddy had brought his broad +tail down on the water with all his force. He knew thatLightfoot +would know that that meant danger. Then Paddy had dived, +and swimming under water, had sought the safety of his house. +He had done his part, and there was nothing more he could do. + + + +CHAPTER XV: The Three Watchers + +When Paddy the Beaver slapped the water with his broad tail, +making a noise like a pistol shot, Lightfoot understood that this +was meant as a warning of danger. He was on his feet instantly, +with eyes, ears and nose seeking the cause of Paddy's warning. +After a moment or two he stole softly up to the top of a +little ridge some distance back from Paddy's pond, but from the +top of which he could see the whole of the pond. There he hid +among some close-growing young hemlock-trees. It wasn't long +before he saw a hunter with a terrible gun come down to the shore +of the pond. + +Now the hunter had heard Paddy slap the water with his broad +tail. Of course. There would have been something very wrong with +his ears had he failed to hear it. + +"Confound that Beaver!" muttered the hunter crossly. "If there +was a Deer anywhere around this pond, he probably is on his way now. +I'll have a look around and see if there are any signs." + +So the hunter went on to the edge of Paddy's pond and then began +to walk around it, studying the ground as he walked. Presently he +found the footprints of Lightfoot in the mud where Lightfoot had +gone down to the pond to drink. + +"I thought as much," muttered the hunter. "Those tracks were made +last night. That Deer probably was lying down somewhere near +here, and I might have had a shot but for that pesky Beaver. +I'll just look the land over, and then I think I'll wait here +awhile. If that Deer isn't too badly scared, he may come back." + +So the hunter went quite around the pond, looking into all likely +hiding-places. He found where Lightfoot had been lying, and he +knew that in all probability Lightfoot had been there when Paddy +gave the danger signal. + +"It's of no use for me to try to follow him," thought the +hunter. "It is too dry for me to track him. He may not be so +badly scared, after all. I'll just find a good place and wait." + +So the hunter found an old log behind some small trees and there +sat down. He could see all around Paddy's pond. He sat +perfectly still. He was a clever hunter and he knew that so long +as he did not move he was not likely to be noticed by any sharp +eyes that might come that way. What he didn't know was that +Lightfoot had been watching him all the time and was even then +standing where he could see him. And another thing he didn't +know was that Paddy the Beaver had come out of his house and, +swimming under water, had reached a hiding-place on the opposite +shore from which he too had seen the hunter sit down on the log. +So the hunter watched for Lightfoot, and Lightfoot and Paddy +watched the hunter. + + + +CHAPTER XVI: Visitors To Paddy's Pond + +That hunter was a man of patience. Also he was a man who +understood the little people of the Green Forest and the Green +Meadows. He knew that if he would not be seen he must not move. +So he didn't move. He kept as motionless as if he were a part of +the very log on which he was sitting. + +For some time there was no sign of any living thing. Then, from +over the tree tops in the direction of the Big River, came the +whistle of swift wings, and Mr. and Mrs. Quack alighted with a +splash in the pond. For a few moments they sat on the water, a +picture of watchful suspicion. They were looking and listening +to make sure that no danger was near. Satisfied at last, they +began to clean their feathers. It was plain that they felt safe. +Paddy the Beaver was tempted to warn them that they were not as +safe as they thought, but as long as the hunter did not move +Paddy decided to wait. + +Now the hunter was sorely tempted to shoot these Ducks, but he +knew that if he did he would have no chance that day to get +Lightfoot the Deer, and it was Lightfoot he wanted. So Mr. and +Mrs. Quack swam about within easy range of that terrible gun +without once suspecting that danger was anywhere near. + +By and by the hunter's keen eyes caught a movement at one end of +Paddy's dam. An instant later Bobby Coon appeared. It was clear +that Bobby was quite unsuspicious. He carried something, but just +what the hunter could not make out. He took it down to the edge +of the water and there carefully washed it. Then he climbed up on +Paddy's dam and began to eat. You know Bobby Coon is very +particular about his food. Whenever there is water near, Bobby +washes his food before eating. Once more the hunter was tempted, +but did not yield to the temptation, which was a very good thing +for Bobby Coon. + +All this Lightfoot saw as he stood among the little hemlock-trees +at the top of the ridge behind the hunter. He saw and he +understood. "It is because he wants to kill me that he doesn't +shoot at Mr. and Mrs. Quack or Bobby Coon," thought Lightfoot a +little bitterly. "What have I ever done that he should be so +anxious to kill me?" + +Still the hunter sat without moving. Mr. and Mrs. Quack +contentedly hunted for food in the mud at the bottom of Paddy's +pond. Bobby Coon finished his meal, crossed the dam and +disappeared in the Green Forest. He had gone off to take a nap +somewhere. Time slipped away. The hunter continued to watch +patiently for Lightfoot, and Lightfoot and Paddy the Beaver +watched the hunter. Finally, another visitor appeared at the +upper end of the pond -- a visitor in a wonderful coat of red. +It was Reddy Fox. + + + +CHAPTER XVII: Sammy Jay Arrives + +When Reddy Fox arrived at the pond of Paddy the Beaver, the +hunter who was hiding there saw him instantly. So did Lightfoot. +But no one else did. He approached in that cautious, careful way +that he always uses when he is hunting. The instant he reached +a place where he could see all over Paddy's pond, he stopped +as suddenly as if he had been turned to stone. He stopped +with one foot lifted in the act of taking a step. He had +seen Mr. and Mrs. Quack. + +Now you know there is nothing Reddy Fox likes better for a dinner +than a Duck. The instant he saw Mr. and Mrs. Quack, a gleam of +longing crept into his eyes and his mouth began to water. +He stood motionless until both Mr. and Mrs. Quack had their heads +under water as they searched for food in the mud in the bottom of +the pond. Then like a red flash he bounded out of sight behind +the dam of Paddy the Beaver. + +Presently the hunter saw Reddy's black nose at the end of the dam +as Reddy peeped around it to watch Mr. and Mrs. Quack. The latter +were slowly moving along in that direction as they fed. Reddy was +quick to see this. If he remained right where he was, and Mr. And +Mrs. Quack kept on feeding in that direction, the chances were +that he would have a dinner of fat Duck. All he need do was to be +patient and wait. So, with his eyes fixed fast on Mr. and +Mrs. Quack, Reddy Fox crouched behind Paddy's dam and waited. + +Watching Reddy and the Ducks, the hunter almost forgot Lightfoot +the Deer. Mr. and Mrs. Quack were getting very near to where +Reddy was waiting for them. The hunter was tempted to get up and +frighten those Ducks. He didn't want Reddy Fox to have them, +because he hoped some day to get them himself. + +" I suppose," thought he, "I was foolish not to shoot them when I +had the chance. They are too far away now, and it looks very much +as if that red rascal will get one of them. I believe I'll spoil +that red scamp's plans by frightening them away. I don't believe +that Deer will be back here to-day anyway, so I may as well save +those Ducks." + +But the hunter did nothing of the kind. You see, just as he was +getting ready to step out from his hiding-place, Sammy Jay +arrived. He perched in a tree close to the end of Paddy's dam and +at once he spied Reddy Fox. It didn't take him a second to +discover what Reddy was hiding there for. "Thief, thief, thief!" +screamed Sammy, and then looked down at Reddy with a mischievous +look in his sharp eyes. There is nothing Sammy Jay delights in +more than in upsetting the plans of Reddy Fox. At the sound of +Sammy's voice, Mr. and Mrs. Quack swam hurriedly towards the +middle of the pond. They knew exactly what that warning +meant. Reddy Fox looked up at Sammy Jay and snarled angrily. +Then, knowing it was useless to hide longer, he bounded away +through the Green Forest to hunt elsewhere. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII: The Hunter Loses His Temper + +The hunter, hidden near the pond of Paddy the Beaver, chuckled +silently. That is to say, he laughed without making any +sound. The hunter thought the warning of Mr. and Mrs. Quack by +Sammy Jay was a great joke on Reddy. To tell the truth, he was +very much pleased. As you know, he wanted those Ducks himself. +He suspected that they would stay in that little pond for some days, +and he planned to return there and shoot them after he had got +Lightfoot the Deer. He wanted to get Lightfoot first, and he knew +that to shoot at anything else might spoil his chance of getting +a shot at Lightfoot. + +"Sammy Jay did me a good turn," thought the hunter, "although he +doesn't know it. Reddy Fox certainly would have caught one of +those Ducks had Sammy not come along just when he did. It would +have been a shame to have had one of them caught by that Fox. +I mean to get one, and I hope both of them, myself." + +Now when you come to think of it, it would have been a far +greater shame for the hunter to have killed Mr. and Mrs. Quack +than for Reddy Fox to have done so. Reddy was hunting them +because he was hungry. The hunter would have shot them for +sport. He didn't need them. He had plenty of other food. +Reddy Fox doesn't kill just for the pleasure of killing. + +So the hunter continued to sit in his hiding-place with very +friendly feelings for Sammy Jay. Sammy watched Reddy Fox +disappear and then flew over to that side of the pond where the +hunter was. Mr. and Mrs. Quack called their thanks to Sammy, to +which he replied, that he had done no more for them than he would +do for anybody, or than they would have done for him. + +For some time Sammy sat quietly in the top of the tree, but all +the time his sharp eyes were very busy. By and by he spied the +hunter sitting on the log. At first he couldn't make out just +what it was he was looking at. It didn't move, but nevertheless +Sammy was suspicious. Presently he flew over to a tree where he +could see better. Right away he spied the terrible gun, and he +knew just what that was. Once more he began to yell, "Thief! +thief! thief!" at the top of his lungs. It was then that the +hunter lost his temper. He knew that now he had been discovered +by Sammy Jay, and it was useless to remain there longer. He was +angry clear through. + + + +CHAPTER XIX: Sammy Jay Is Modest + +As soon as the angry hunter with the terrible gun had disappeared +among the trees of the Green Forest, and Lightfoot was sure that +he had gone for good, Lightfoot came out from his hiding-place on +top of the ridge and walked down to the pond of Paddy the Beaver +for a drink. He knew that it was quite safe to do so, for Sammy +Jay had followed the hunter, all the time screaming, "Thief! +thief! thief!" Every one within hearing could tell just where +that hunter was by Sammy's voice. It kept growing fainter and +fainter, and by that Lightfoot knew that the hunter was getting +farther and farther away. + +Paddy the Beaver swam out from his hiding-place and climbed out +on the bank near Lightfoot. There was a twinkle in his +eyes. "That blue-coated mischief-maker isn't such a bad fellow at +heart, after all, is he?" said he. + +Lightfoot lifted his beautiful head and set his ears forward to +catch the sound of Sammy's voice in the distance. + +"Sammy Jay may be a mischief-maker, as some people say," said he, +"but you can always count on him to prove a true friend in time +of danger. He brought me warning of the coming of the hunter the +other morning. You saw him save Mr. and Mrs. Quack a little while +ago, and then he actually drove that hunter away. I suppose Sammy +Jay has saved more lives than any one I know of. I wish he would +come back here and let me thank him." + +Some time later Sammy Jay did come back. "Well," said he, as he +smoothed his feathers, "I chased that fellow clear to the edge of +the Green Forest, so I guess there will be nothing more to fear +from him today. I'm glad to see he hasn't got you yet, +Lightfoot. I've been a bit worried about you." + +"Sammy," said Lightfoot, "you are one of the best friends I +have. I don't know how I can ever thank you for what you have +done for me." + +"Don't try," replied Sammy shortly. "I haven't done anything but +what anybody else would have done. Old Mother Nature gave me a +pair of good eyes and a strong voice. I simply make the best use +of them I can. Just to see a hunter with a terrible gun makes me +angry clear through. I 'd rather spoil his hunting than eat." + +"You want to watch out, Sammy. One of these days a hunter will +lose his temper and shoot you, just to get even with you," +warned Paddy the Beaver. + +"Don't worry about me," replied Sammy. "I know just how far +those terrible guns can shoot, and I don't take any chances. +By the way, Lightfoot, the Green Forest is full of hunters looking +for you. I 've seen a lot of them, and I know they are looking +for you because they do not shoot at anybody else even when they +have a chance." + + + +CHAPTER XX: Lightfoot Hears A Dreadful Sound + +Day after day, Lightfoot the Deer played hide and seek for his +life with the hunters who were seeking to kill him. He saw them +many times, though not one of them saw him. More than once a +hunter passed close to Lightfoot's hiding-place without once +suspecting it. + +But poor Lightfoot was feeling the strain. He was growing thin, +and he was so nervous that the falling of a dead leaf from a tree +would startle him. There is nothing quite so terrible as being +continually hunted. It was getting so that Lightfoot half +expected a hunter to step out from behind every tree. Only when +the Black Shadows wrapped the Green Forest in darkness did he +know a moment of peace. And those hours of safety were filled +with dread of what the next day might bring. + +Early one morning a terrible sound rang through the Green Forest +and brought Lightfoot to his feet with a startled jump. It was +the baying of hounds following a trail. At first it did not sound +so terrible. Lightfoot had often heard it before. Many times he +had listened to the baying of Bowser the Hound, as he followed +Reddy Fox. It had not sounded so terrible then because it meant +no danger to Lightfoot. + +At first, as he listened early that morning, he took it for +granted that those hounds were after Reddy, and so, though +startled, he was not worried. But suddenly a dreadful suspicion +came to him and he grew more and more anxious as he listened. +In a few minutes there was no longer any doubt in his mind. +Those hounds were following his trail. It was then that the sound +of that baying became terrible. He must run for his life! +Those hounds would give him no rest. And he knew that in running +from them, he would no longer be able to watch so closely for the +hunters with terrible guns. He would no longer be able to hide +in thickets. At any time he might be driven right past one of +those hunters. + +Lightfoot bounded away with such leaps as only Lightfoot can make. +In a little while the voices of the hounds grew fainter. +Lightfoot stopped to get his breath and stood trembling +as he listened. The baying of the hounds again grew louder and +louder. Those wonderful noses of theirs were following his trail +without the least difficulty. In a panic of fear, Lightfoot +bounded away again. As he crossed an old road, the Green Forest +rang with the roar of a terrible gun. Something tore a strip of +bark from the trunk of a tree just above Lightfoot's back. It was +a bullet and it had just missed Lightfoot. It added to his terror +and this in turn added to his speed. + +So Lightfoot ran and ran, and behind him the voices of the hounds +continued to ring through the Green Forest. + + + +CHAPTER XXI: How Lightfoot Got Rid Of The Hounds + +Poor Lightfoot! It seemed to him that there were no such things +as justice and fair play. Had it been just one hunter at a time +against whom he had to match his wits it would not have been so +bad. But there were many hunters with terrible guns looking for +him, and in dodging one he was likely at any time to meet +another. This in itself seemed terribly unfair and unjust. +But now, added to this was the greater unfairness of being trailed +by hounds. + +Do you wonder that Lightfoot thought of men as utterly heartless? +You see, he could not know that those hounds had not been put on +his trail, but had left home to hunt for their own pleasure. +He could not know that it was against the law to hunt him with dogs. +But though none of those hunters looking for him were guilty +of having put the hounds on his trail, each one of them +was willing and eager to take advantage of the fact that the +hounds were on his trail. Already he had been shot at once and he +knew that he would be shot at again if he should be driven where +a hunter was hidden. + +The ground was damp and scent always lies best on damp ground. +This made it easy for the hounds to follow him with their +wonderful noses. Lightfoot tried every trick he could think of to +make those hounds lose the scent. + +"If only I could make them lose it long enough for me to get a +little rest, it would help," panted Lightfoot, as he paused for +just an instant to listen to the baying of the hounds. + +But he couldn't. They allowed him no rest. He was becoming very, +very tired. He could no longer bound lightly over fallen logs or +brush, as he had done at first. His lungs ached as he panted for +breath. He realized that even though he should escape the hunters +he would meet an even more terrible death unless he could get rid +of those hounds. There would come a time when he would have to stop. +Then those hounds would catch up with him and tear him to pieces. + +It was then that he remembered the Big River. He turned towards it. +It was his only chance and he knew it. Straight through the +Green Forest, out across the Green Meadows to the bank of the Big +River, Lightfoot ran. For just a second he paused to look behind. +The hounds were almost at his heels. Lightfoot hesitated +no longer but plunged into the Big River and began to swim. +On the banks the hounds stopped and bayed their disappointment, +for they did not dare follow Lightfoot out into the Big River. + + + +CHAPTER XXII: Lightfoot's Long Swim + +The Big River was very wide. It would have been a long swim for +Lightfoot had he been fresh and at his best. Strange as it may +seem, Lightfoot is a splendid swimmer, despite his small, +delicate feet. He enjoys swimming. + +But now Lightfoot was terribly tired from his long run ahead of +the hounds. For a time he swam rapidly, but those weary muscles +grew still more weary, and by the time he reached the middle of +the Big River it seemed to him that he was not getting ahead at all. +At first he had tried to swim towards a clump of trees he +could see on the opposite bank above the point where he had +entered the water, but to do this he had to swim against the +current and he soon found that he hadn't the strength to do this. +Then he turned and headed for a point down the Big River. +This made the swimming easier, for the current helped him +instead of hindering him. + +Even then he could feel his strength leaving him. Had he escaped +those hounds and the terrible hunters only to be drowned in the +Big River? This new fear gave him more strength for a little while. +But it did not last long. He was three fourths of the way +across the Big River but still that other shore seemed a long +distance away. Little by little hope died in the heart of +Lightfoot the Deer. He would keep on just as long as he could and +then, -- well, it was better to drown than to be torn to pieces +by dogs. + +Just as Lightfoot felt that he could not take another stroke and +that the end was at hand, one foot touched something. Then, all +four feet touched. A second later he had found solid footing and +was standing with the water only up to his knees. He had found a +little sand bar out in the Big River. With a little gasp of +returning hope, Lightfoot waded along until the water began to +grow deeper again. He had hoped that he would be able to wade +ashore, but he saw now that he would have to swim again. + +So for a long time he remained right where he was. He was so +tired that he trembled all over, and he was as frightened as he +was tired. He knew that standing out there in the water he could +be seen for a long distance, and that made him nervous and +fearful. Supposing a hunter on the shore he was trying to reach +should see him. Then he would have no chance at all, for the +hunter would simply wait for him and shoot him as he came out of +the water. + +But rest he must, and so he stood for a long time on the little +sand bar in the Big River. And little by little he felt his +strength returning. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII: Lightfoot Finds A Friend + +As Lightfoot rested, trying to recover his breath, out there on +the little sand bar in the Big River, his great, soft, beautiful +eyes watched first one bank and then the other. On the bank he +had left, he could see two black-and-white specks moving about, +and across the water came the barking of dogs. Those two specks +were the hounds who had driven him into the Big River. They were +barking now, instead of baying. Presently a brown form joined the +black-and-white specks. It was a hunter drawn there by the +barking of the dogs. He was too far away to be dangerous, but the +mere sight of him filled Lightfoot with terror again. He watched +the hunter walk along the bank and disappear in the bushes. + +Presently out of the bushes came a boat, and in it was the +hunter. He headed straight towards Lightfoot, and then Lightfoot +knew that his brief rest was at an end. He must once more swim or +be shot by the hunter in the boat. So Lightfoot again struck out +for the shore. His rest had given him new strength, but still he +was very, very tired and swimming was hard work. + +Slowly, oh so slowly, he drew nearer to the bank. What new +dangers might be waiting there, he did not know. He had never +been on that side of the Big River. He knew nothing of the +country on that side. But the uncertainty was better than the +certainty behind him. He could hear the sound of the oars as the +hunter in the boat did his best to get to him before he should +reach the shore. + +On Lightfoot struggled. At last he felt bottom beneath his +feet. He staggered up through some bushes along the bank and then +for an instant it seemed to him his heart stopped beating. Right +in front of him stood a man. He had come out into the back yard +of the home of that man. It is doubtful which was the more +surprised, Lightfoot or the man. Right then and there Lightfoot +gave up in despair. He couldn't run. It was all he could do to +walk. The long chase by the hounds on the other side of the Big +River and the long swim across the Big River had taken all his +strength. + +Not a spark of hope remained to Lightfoot. He simply stood still +and trembled, partly with fear and partly with weariness. Then a +surprising thing happened. The man spoke softly. He advanced, not +threateningly but slowly, and in a friendly way. He walked around +back of Lightfoot and then straight towards him. Lightfoot walked +on a few steps, and the man followed, still talking softly. +Little by little he urged Lightfoot on, driving him towards an +open shed in which was a pile of hay. Without understanding just how, +Lightfoot knew that he had found a friend. So he entered +the open shed and with a long sigh lay down in the soft hay. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV: The Hunter Is Disappointed + +How he knew he was safe, Lightfoot the Deer Couldn't have told you. +He just knew it, that was all. He couldn't understand a word +said by the man in whose yard he found himself when he climbed +the bank after his long swim across the Big River. But he didn't +have to understand words to know that he had found a friend. +So he allowed the man to drive him gently over to an open shed where +there was a pile of soft hay and there he lay down, so tired that +it seemed to him he couldn't move another step. + +It was only a few minutes later that the hunter who had followed +Lightfoot across the River reached the bank and scrambled out of +his boat. Lightfoot's friend was waiting just at the top of the +bank. Of course the hunter saw him at once. + +"Hello, Friend!" cried the hunter. "Did you see a Deer pass this +way a few minutes ago? He swam across the river, and if I know +anything about it he's too tired to travel far now. I've been +hunting that fellow for several days, and if I have any luck at +all I ought to get him this time." "I'm afraid you won't have any +luck at all," said Lightfoot's friend. "You see, I don't allow +any hunting on my land." + +The hunter looked surprised, and then his surprise gave way to +anger. "You mean," said he, "that you intend to get that Deer +yourself." + +Lightfoot's friend shook his head. "No," said he, "I don't mean +anything of the kind. I mean that that Deer is not to be killed +if I can prevent it, and while it is on my land, I think I can. +The best thing for you to do, my friend, is to get into your +boat and row back where you came from. Are those your hounds +barking over there?" + +"No," replied the hunter promptly. "I know the law just as well +as you do, and it is against the law to hunt Deer with dogs. +I don't even know who owns those two hounds over there," + +"That may be true," replied Lightfoot's friend. "I don't doubt +it is true. But you are willing to take advantage of the fact +that the dogs of some one else have broken the law. You knew +that those dogs had driven that Deer into the Big River and you +promptly took advantage of the fact to try to reach that Deer +before he could get across. You are not hunting for the pleasure +of hunting but just to kill. You don't know the meaning of +justice or fairness. Now get off my land. Get back into your +boat and off my land as quick as you can. That Deer is not very +far from here and so tired that he cannot move. Just as long as +he will stay here, he will be safe, and I hope he will stay until +this miserable hunting season is ended. Now go." + +Muttering angrily, the hunter got back into his boat and pushed +off, but he didn't row back across the river. + + + +CHAPTER XXV: The Hunter Lies In Wait + +If ever there was an angry hunter, it was the one who had +followed Lightfoot the Deer across the Big River. When he was +ordered to get off the land where Lightfoot had climbed out, he +got back into his boat, but he didn't row back to the other side. +Instead, he rowed down the river, finally landing on the +same side but on land which Lightfoot's friend did not own. + +"When that Deer has become rested he'll become uneasy," thought +the hunter. "He won't stay on that man's land. He'll start for +the nearest woods. I'll go up there and wait for him. I'll get +that Deer if only to spite that fellow back there who drove me off. +Had it not been for him, I'd have that Deer right now. He was +too tired to have gone far. He's got the handsomest pair of +antlers I've seen for years. I can sell that head of his for a +good price." + +So the hunter tied his boat to a tree and once more climbed +out. He climbed up the bank and studied the land. Across a wide +meadow he could see a brushy old pasture and back of that some +thick woods. He grinned. + +"That's where that Deer will head for," he decided. "There isn't +any other place for him to go. All I've got to do is be patient +and wait." + +So the hunter took his terrible gun and tramped across the meadow +to the brush-grown pasture. There he hid among the bushes where +he could peep out and watch the land of Lightfoot's friend. +He was still angry because he had been prevented from shooting +Lightfoot. At the same time he chuckled, because he thought +himself very smart. Lightfoot couldn't possibly reach the shelter +of the woods without giving him a shot, and he hadn't the least +doubt that Lightfoot would start for the woods just as soon as he +felt able to travel. So he made himself comfortable and prepared +to wait the rest of the day, if necessary. + +Now Lightfoot's friend who had driven the hunter off had seen him +row down the river and he had guessed just what was in that +hunter's mind. "We'll fool him," said he, chuckling to himself, +as he walked back towards the shed where poor Lightfoot was +resting. + +He did not go too near Lightfoot, for he did not want to alarm him. +He just kept within sight of Lightfoot, paying no attention +to him but going about his work. You see, this man loved and +understood the little people of the Green Forest and the Green +Meadows, and he knew that there was no surer way of winning +Lightfoot's confidence and trust than by appearing to take no +notice of him. Lightfoot, watching him, understood. He knew that +this man was a friend and would do him no harm. Little by little, +the wonderful, blessed feeling of safety crept over Lightfoot. +No hunter could harm him here. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI: Lightfoot Does The Wise Thing + +All the rest of that day the hunter with the terrible gun lay +hidden in the bushes of the pasture where he could watch for +Lightfoot the Deer to leave the place of safety he had found. +It required a lot of patience on the part of the hunter, but the +hunter had plenty of patience. It sometimes seems as if hunters +have more patience than any other people. + +But this hunter waited in vain. Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun sank +down in the west to his bed behind the Purple Hills. The Black +Shadows crept out and grew blacker. One by one the stars began to +twinkle. Still the hunter waited, and still there was no sign of +Lightfoot. At last it became so dark that it was useless for the +hunter to remain longer. Disappointed and once more becoming +angry, he tramped back to the Big River, climbed into his boat +and rowed across to the other side. Then he tramped home and his +thoughts were very bitter. He knew that he could have shot +Lightfoot had it not been for the man who had protected the +Deer. He even began to suspect that this man had himself killed +Lightfoot, for he had been sure that as soon as he had become +rested Lightfoot would start for the woods, and Lightfoot had +done nothing of the kind. In fact, the hunter had not had so much +as another glimpse of Lightfoot. + +The reason that the hunter had been so disappointed was that +Lightfoot was smart. He was smart enough to understand that the +man who was saving him from the hunter had done it because he was +a true friend. All the afternoon Lightfoot had rested on a bed of +soft hay in an open shed and had watched this man going about his +work and taking the utmost care to do nothing to frighten Lightfoot. + +"He not only will let no one else harm me, but he himself will not +harm me," thought Lightfoot. "As long as he is near, I am safe. +I'll stay right around here until the hunting season is over, then +I'll swim back across the Big River to my home in the dear Green Forest." + +So all afternoon Lightfoot rested and did not so much as put his +nose outside that open shed. That is why the hunter got no glimpse +of him. When it became dark, so dark that he knew there was no +longer danger, Lightfoot got up and stepped out under the stars. +He was feeling quite himself again. His splendid strength had returned. +He bounded lightly across the meadow and up into the brushy +pasture where the hunter had been hidden. There and in the woods +back of the pasture he browsed, but at the first hint of the coming +of another day, Lightfoot turned back, and when his friend, the farmer, +came out early in the morning to milk the cows, there was Lightfoot +back in the open shed. The farmer smiled. "You are as wise as you +are handsome, old fellow," said he. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII: Sammy Jay Worries + +It isn't often Sammy Jay worries about anybody but himself. +Truth to tell, he doesn't worry about himself very often. You see, +Sammy is smart, and he knows he is smart. Under that pointed cap +of his are some of the cleverest wits in all the Green +Forest. Sammy seldom worries about himself because he feels quite +able to take care of himself. + +But Sammy Jay was worrying now. He was worrying about Lightfoot +the Deer. Yes, Sir, Sammy Jay was worrying about Lightfoot the +Deer. For two days he had been unable to find Lightfoot or any +trace of Lightfoot. But he did find plenty of hunters with +terrible guns. It seemed to him that they were everywhere in the +Green Forest. Sammy began to suspect that one of them must have +succeeded in killing Lightfoot the Deer. + +Sammy knew all of Lightfoot's hiding-places. He visited every one +of them. Lightfoot wasn't to be found, and no one whom Sammy met +had seen Lightfoot for two days. + +Sammy felt badly. You see, he was very fond of Lightfoot. +You remember it was Sammy who warned Lightfoot of the coming of +the hunter on the morning when the dreadful hunting season began. +Ever since the hunting season had opened, Sammy had done his +best to make trouble for the hunters. Whenever he had found +one of them he had screamed at the top of his voice to warn every +one within hearing just where that hunter was. Once a hunter had +lost his temper and shot at Sammy, but Sammy had suspected that +something of the kind might happen, and he had taken care to keep +just out of reach. Sammy had known all about the chasing of +Lightfoot by the hounds. Everybody in the Green Forest had known +about it. You see, everybody had heard the voices of those +hounds. Once, Lightfoot had passed right under the tree in which +Sammy was sitting, and a few moments later the two hounds had +passed with their noses to the ground as they followed Lightfoot's trail. +That was the last Sammy had seen of Lightfoot. He had been able to save +Lightfoot from the hunters, but he couldn't save him from the hounds. + +The more Sammy thought things over, the more he worried. "I am +afraid those hounds drove him out where a hunter could get a shot +and kill him, or else that they tired him out and killed him +themselves," thought Sammy. "If he were alive, somebody certainly +would have seen him and nobody has, since the day those hounds +chased him. I declare, I have quite lost my appetite worrying +about him. If Lightfoot is dead, and I am almost sure he is, the +Green Forest will never seem the same." + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII: The Hunting Season Ends + +The very worst things come to an end at last. No matter how bad a +thing is, it cannot last forever. So it was with the hunting +season for Lightfoot the Deer. There came a day when the law +protected all Deer, -- a day when the hunters could no longer go +searching for Lightfoot. + +Usually there was great rejoicing among the little people of the +Green Forest and the Green Meadows when the hunting season ended +and they knew that Lightfoot would be in no more danger until the +next hunting season. But this year there was no rejoicing. You +see, no one could find Lightfoot. The last seen of him was when +he was running for his life with two hounds baying on his trail +and the Green Forest filled with hunters watching for a chance to +shoot him. + +Sammy Jay had hunted everywhere through the Green Forest. Blacky +the Crow, whose eyes are quite as sharp as those of Sammy Jay, +had joined in the search. They had found no trace of Lightfoot. +Paddy the Beaver said that for three days Lightfoot +had not visited his pond for a drink. Billy Mink, who travels up +and down the Laughing Brook, had looked for Lightfoot's +footprints in the soft earth along the banks and had found only +old ones. Jumper the Hare had visited Lightfoot's favorite eating +places at night, but Lightfoot had not been in any of them. + +"I tell you what it is," said Sammy Jay to Bobby Coon, "something +has happened to Lightfoot. Either those hounds caught him and +killed him, or he was shot by one of those hunters. The Green +Forest will never be the same without him. I don't think I shall +want to come over here very much. There isn't one of all the +other people who live in the Green Forest who would be missed as +Lightfoot will be." + +Bobby Coon nodded. "That's true, Sammy," said he. "Without +Lightfoot, the Green Forest will never be the same. He never +harmed anybody. Why those hunters should have been so anxious to +kill one so beautiful is something I can't understand. For that +matter, I don't understand why they want to kill any of us. +If they really needed us for food, it would be a different matter, +but they don't. Have you been up in the Old Pasture and asked +Old Man Coyote if he has seen anything of Lightfoot?" + +Sammy nodded. "I've been up there twice," said he. "Old Man +Coyote has been lying very low during the days, but nights he has +done a lot of traveling. You know Old Man Coyote has a mighty +good nose, but not once since the day those hounds chased +Lightfoot has he found so much as a tiny whiff of Lightfoot's +scent. I thought he might have found the place where Lightfoot +was killed, but he hasn't, although he has looked for it. Well, +the hunting season for Lightfoot is over, but I am afraid it has +ended too late." + + + +CHAPTER XXIX: Mr. And Mrs. Quack Are Startled + +It was the evening of the day after the closing of the hunting +season for Lightfoot the Deer. Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had gone +to bed behind the Purple Hills, and the Black Shadows had crept +out across the Big River. Mr. and Mrs. Quack were getting their +evening meal among the brown stalks of the wild rice along the +edge of the Big River. They took turns in searching for the rice +grains in the mud. While Mrs. Quack tipped up and seemed to stand +on her head as she searched in the mud for rice, Mr. Quack kept +watch for possible danger. Then Mrs. Quack took her turn at +keeping watch, while Mr. Quack stood on his head and hunted for +rice. + +It was wonderfully quiet and peaceful. There was not even a +ripple on the Big River. It was so quiet that they could hear the +barking of a dog at a farmhouse a mile away. They were far enough +out from the bank to have nothing to fear from Reddy Fox or Old +Man Coyote. So they had nothing to fear from any one save Hooty +the Owl. It was for Hooty that they took turns in watching. +It was just the hour when Hooty likes best to hunt. + +By and by they heard Booty's hunting call. It was far away in the +Green Forest, Then Mr. and Mrs. Quack felt easier, and they +talked in low, contented voices. They felt that for a while at +least there was nothing to fear. + +Suddenly a little splash out in the Big River caught Mr. Quack's +quick ear. As Mrs. Quack brought her head up out of the water, +Mr. Quack warned her to keep quiet. Noiselessly they swam among +the brown stalks until they could see out across the Big River. +There was another little splash out there in the middle. It +wasn't the splash made by a fish; it was a splash made by +something much bigger than any fish. Presently they made out a +silver line moving towards them from the Black Shadows. They knew +exactly what it meant. It meant that some one was out there in +the Big River moving towards them. Could it be a boat containing +a hunter? + +With their necks stretched high, Mr. and Mrs. Quack watched. +They were ready to take to their strong wings the instant they +discovered danger. But they did not want to fly until they were +sure that it WAS danger approaching. They were startled, very +much startled. + +Presently they made out what looked like the branch of a tree +moving over the water towards them. That was queer, very +queer. Mr. Quack said so. Mrs. Quack said so. Both were growing +more and more suspicious. They couldn't understand it at all, and +it is always best to be suspicious of things you cannot +understand. Mr. and Mrs. Quack half lifted their wings to fly. + + + +CHAPTER XXX: The Mystery Is Solved + +It was very mysterious. Yes, Sir, it was very mysterious. +Mr. Quack thought so. Mrs. Quack thought so. There, +out in the Big River, in the midst of the Black Shadows, was +something which looked like the branch of a tree. But instead of +moving down the river, as the branch of a tree would if it were +floating, this was coming straight across the river as if it were +swimming. But how could the branch of a tree swim? That was too +much for Mr. Quack. It was too much for Mrs. Quack. + +So they sat perfectly still among the brown stalks of the wild +rice along the edge of the Big River, and not for a second did +they take their eyes from that strange thing moving towards +them. They were ready to spring into the air and trust to their +swift wings the instant they should detect danger. But they did +not want to fly unless they had to. Besides, they were +curious. They were very curious indeed. They wanted to find out +what that mysterious thing moving through the water towards them +was. + +So Mr. and Mrs. Quack watched that thing that looked like a +swimming branch draw nearer and nearer, and the nearer it drew +the more they were puzzled, and the more curious they felt. If it +had been the pond of Paddy the Beaver instead of the Big River, +they would have thought it was Paddy swimming with a branch for +his winter food pile. But Paddy the Beaver was way back in his +own pond, deep in the Green Forest, and they knew it. So this +thing became more and more of a mystery. The nearer it came, the +more nervous and anxious they grew, and at the same time the +greater became their curiosity. + +At last Mr. Quack felt that not even to gratify his curiosity +would it be safe to wait longer. He prepared to spring into the +air, knowing that Mrs. Quack would follow him. It was just then +that a funny little sound reached him. It was half snort, half +cough, as if some one had sniffed some water up his nose. There +was something familiar about that sound. Mr. Quack decided to +wait a few minutes longer. + +"I'll wait," thought Mr. Quack," until that thing, whatever it +is, comes out of those Black Shadows into the moonlight. +Somehow I have a feeling that we are in no danger." + +So Mr. and Mrs. Quack waited and watched. In a few minutes the +thing that looked like the branch of a tree came out of the Black +Shadows into the moonlight, and then the mystery was solved. +It was a mystery no longer. They saw that they had mistaken the +antlers of Lightfoot the Deer for the branch of a tree. Lightfoot +was swimming across the Big River on his way back to his home in +the Green Forest. At once Mr. and Mrs. Quack swam out to meet him +and to tell him how glad they were that he was alive and safe. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI: A Surprising Discovery + +Probably there was no happier Thanksgiving in all the Great World +than the Thanksgiving of Lightfoot the Deer, when the dreadful +hunting season ended and he was once more back in his beloved +Green Forest with nothing to fear. All his neighbors called on +him to tell him how glad they were that he had escaped and how +the Green Forest would not have been the same if he had not +returned. So Lightfoot roamed about without fear and was +happy. It seemed to him that he could not be happier. There was +plenty to eat and that blessed feeling of nothing to fear. +What more could any one ask? He began to grow sleek and fat and +handsomer than ever. The days were growing colder and the frosty +air made him feel good. + +Just at dusk one evening he went down to his favorite drinking +place at the Laughing Brook. As he put down his head to drink he +saw something which so surprised him that he quite forgot he was +thirsty. What do you think it was he saw? It was a footprint in +the soft mud. Yes, Sir, it was a footprint. + +For a long time Lightfoot stood staring at that footprint. In his +great, soft eyes was a look of wonder and surprise. You see, that +footprint was exactly like one of his own, only smaller. +To Lightfoot it was a very wonderful footprint. He was quite sure +that never had he seen such a dainty footprint. He forgot to drink. +Instead, he began to search for other footprints, and presently +he found them. Each was as dainty as that first one. + +Who could have made them? That is what Lightfoot wanted to know +and what he meant to find out. It was clear to him that there was +a stranger in the Green Forest, and somehow he didn't resent it +in the least. In fact, he was glad. He couldn't have told why, +but it was true. + +Lightfoot put his nose to the footprints and sniffed of them. +Even had he not known by looking at those prints that they +had been made by a stranger, his nose would have told him this. +A great longing to find the maker of those footprints took +possession of him. He lifted his handsome head and listened for +some slight sound which might show that the stranger was near. +With his delicate nostrils he tested the wandering little Night +Breezes for a stray whiff of scent to tell him which way to go. +But there was no sound and the wandering little Night Breezes told +him nothing. Lightfoot followed the dainty footprints up the bank. +There they disappeared, for the ground was hard. Lightfoot paused, +undecided which way to go. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII: Lightfoot Sees The Stranger + +Lightfoot the Deer was unhappy. It was a strange unhappiness, +an unhappiness such as he had never known before. You see, he had +discovered that there was a stranger in the Green Forest, a +stranger of his own kind, another Deer. He knew it by dainty +footprints in the mud along the Laughing Brook and on the edge of +the pond of Paddy the Beaver. He knew it by other signs which he +ran across every now and then. But search as he would, he was +unable to find that newcomer. He had searched everywhere but +always he was just too late. The stranger had been and gone. + +Now there was no anger in Lightfoot's desire to find that +stranger. Instead, there was a great longing. For the first time +in his life Lightfoot felt lonely. So he hunted and hunted and +was unhappy. He lost his appetite. He slept little. He roamed +about uneasily, looking, listening, testing every Merry Little +Breeze, but all in vain. + +Then, one never-to-be-forgotten night, as he drank at the +Laughing Brook, a strange feeling swept over him. It was the +feeling of being watched. Lightfoot lifted his beautiful head and +a slight movement caught his quick eye and drew it to a thicket +not far away. The silvery light of gentle Mistress Moon fell full +on that thicket, and thrust out from it was the most beautiful +head in all the Great World. At least, that is the way it seemed +to Lightfoot, though to tell the truth it was not as beautiful as +his own, for it was uncrowned by antlers. For a long minute +Lightfoot stood gazing. A pair of wonderful, great, soft eyes +gazed back at him. Then that beautiful head disappeared. + +With a mighty bound, Lightfoot cleared the Laughing Brook and +rushed over to the thicket in which that beautiful head had +disappeared. He plunged in, but there was no one there. +Frantically he searched, but that thicket was empty. Then he +tood still and listened. Not a sound reached him. It was as +still as if there were no other living things in all the Green +Forest. The beautiful stranger had slipped away as silently as +a shadow. + +All the rest of that night Lightfoot searched through the Green +Forest but his search was in vain. The longing to find that +beautiful stranger had become so great that he fairly ached with it. +It seemed to him that until he found her he could know no happiness. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII: A Different Game Of Hide And Seek + +Once more Lightfoot the Deer was playing hide and seek in the +Green Forest. But it was a very different game from the one he +had played just a short time before. ou remember that then it +had been for his life that he had played, and he was the one who +had done all the hiding. Now, he was "it", and some one else was +doing the hiding. Instead of the dreadful fear which had filled +him in that other game, he was now filled with longing, -- +longing to find and make friends with the beautiful stranger of +whom he had just once caught a glimpse, but of whom every day he +found tracks. + +At times Lightfoot would lose his temper. Yes, Sir, Lightfoot +would lose his temper. That was a foolish thing to do, but it +seemed to him that he just couldn't help it. He would stamp his +feet angrily and thrash the bushes with his great spreading +antlers as if they were an enemy with whom he was fighting. +More than once when he did this a pair of great, soft, gentle eyes +were watching him, though he didn't know it. If he could have +seen them and the look of admiration in them, he would have been +more eager than ever to find that beautiful stranger. + +At other times Lightfoot would steal about through the Green +Forest as noiselessly as a shadow. He would peer into thickets +and behind tangles of fallen trees and brush piles, hoping to +surprise the one he sought. He would be very, very patient. +Perhaps he would come to the thicket which he knew from +the signs the stranger had left only a few moments before. +Then his patience would vanish in impatience, and he would dash ahead, +eager to catch up with the shy stranger. But always it was in vain. +He had thought himself very clever but this stranger was proving +herself more clever. + +Of course it wasn't long before all the little people in the +Green Forest knew what was going on. They knew all about that +game of hide and seek just as they had known all about that other +game of hide and seek with the hunters. But now, instead of +trying to help Lightfoot as they did then, they gave him no help +at all. The fact is, they were enjoying that game. Mischievous +Sammy Jay even went so far as to warn the stranger several times +when Lightfoot was approaching. Of course Lightfoot knew when +Sammy did this, and each time he lost his temper. For the time +being, he quite forgot all that Sammy had done for him when he +was the one that was being hunted. + +Once Lightfoot almost ran smack into Buster Bear and was so +provoked by his own carelessness that instead of bounding away he +actually threatened to fight Buster. But when Buster grinned +goodnaturedly at him, Lightfoot thought better of it and bounded +away to continue his search. + +Then there were times when Lightfoot would sulk and would declare +over and over to himself, "I don't care anything about that +stranger. I won't spend another minute looking for her." And then +within five minutes he would be watching, listening and seeking +some sign that she was still in the Green Forest. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV: A Startling New Footprint + +The game of hide and seek between Lightfoot the Deer and the +beautiful stranger whose dainty footprints had first started +Lightfoot to seeking her had been going on for several days and +nights when Lightfoot found something which gave him a shock. +He had stolen very softly clown to the Laughing Brook, hoping to +surprise the beautiful stranger drinking there. She wasn't to be +seen. Lightfoot wondered if she had been there, so looked in the +mud at the edge of the Laughing Brook to see if there were any +fresh prints of those dainty feet. Almost at once he discovered +fresh footprints. They were not the prints he was looking for. +No, Sir, they were not the dainty prints he had learned to +know so well. They were prints very near the size of his own big +ones, and they had been made only a short time before. + +The finding of those prints was a dreadful shock to Lightfoot. +He understood instantly what they meant. They meant that a second +stranger had come into the Green Forest, one who had antlers like +his own. Jealousy took possession of Lightfoot the Deer; jealousy +that filled his heart with rage. + +"He has come here to seek that beautiful stranger I have been +hunting for," thought Lightfoot. "He has come here to try to +steal her away from me. He has no right here in my Green +Forest. He belongs back up on the Great Mountain from which he +must have come, for there is no other place he could have come +from. That is where that beautiful stranger must have come from, +too. I want her to stay, but I must drive this fellow out. +I'll make him fight. That's what I'll do; I'll make him fight! +I'm not afraid of him, but I'll make him fear me." + +Lightfoot stamped his feet and with his great antlers thrashed +the bushes as if he felt that they were the enemy he +sought. Could you have looked into his great eyes then, you +would have found nothing soft and beautiful about them. +They became almost red with anger. Lightfoot quivered all over +with rage. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. Lightfoot +the Deer looked anything but gentle. + +After he had vented his spite for a few minutes on the harmless, +helpless bushes, he threw his head high in the air and whistled +angrily. Then he leaped over the Laughing Brook and once more +began to search through the Green Forest. But this time it was +not for the beautiful stranger with the dainty feet. He had no +time to think of her now. He must first find this newcomer and he +meant to waste no time in doing it. + + + +CHAPTER XXXV: Lightfoot Is Reckless + +In his search for the new stranger who had come to the Green +Forest, Lightfoot the Deer was wholly reckless. He no longer +stole like a gray shadow from thicket to thicket as he had done +when searching for the beautiful stranger with the dainty +feet. He bounded along, careless of how much noise he made. +>From time to time he would stop to whistle a challenge and to clash +his horns against the trees and stamp the ground with his feet. + +After such exhibitions of anger he would pause to listen, hoping +to hear some sound which would tell him where the stranger was. +Now and then he found the stranger's tracks, and from them +he knew that this stranger was doing: just what he had been +doing, seeking to find the beautiful newcomer with the dainty +feet. Each time he found these signs Lightfoot's rage increased. + +Of course it didn't take Sammy Jay long to discover what was +going on. There is little that escapes those sharp eyes of Sammy +Jay. As you know, he had early discovered the game of hide and +seek Lightfoot had been playing with the beautiful young visitor +who had come down to the Green Forest from the Great +Mountain. Then, by chance, Sammy had visited the Laughing Brook +just as the big stranger had come down there to drink. For once +Sammy had kept his tongue still. "There is going to be excitement +here when Lightfoot discovers this fellow," thought Sammy. "If +they ever meet, and I have a feeling that they will, there is +going to be a fight worth seeing. I must pass the word around." + +So Sammy Jay hunted up his cousin, Blacky the Crow, and told him +what he had discovered. Then he hunted up Bobby Coon and told him. +He saw Unc' Billy Possum sitting in the doorway of his hollow +tree and told him. He discovered Jumper the Hare sitting +under a little hemlock-tree and told him. Then he flew over to +the dear Old Briar-patch to tell Peter Rabbit. Of course he told +Drummer the Woodpecker, Tommy Tit the Chickadee, and Yank Yank +the Nuthatch, who were over in the Old Orchard, and they at once +hurried to the Green Forest, for they couldn't think of missing +anything so exciting as would be the meeting between Lightfoot +and the big stranger from the Great Mountain. + +Sammy didn't forget to tell Paddy the Beaver, but it was no news +to Paddy. Paddy had seen the big stranger on the edge of his pond +early the night before. + +Of course, Lightfoot knew nothing about all this. His one thought +was to find that big stranger and drive him from the Green Forest, +and so he continued his search tirelessly. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI: Sammy Jay Takes A Hand + +Sammy Jay was bubbling over with excitement as he flew about through +the Green Forest, following Lightfoot the Deer. He was so excited +he wanted to scream. But he didn't. He kept his tongue still. +You see, he didn't want Lightfoot to know that he was being followed. +Under that pointed cap of Sammy Jay's are quick wits. It didn't +take him long to discover that the big stranger whom Lightfoot +was seeking was doing his best to keep out ofLightfoot's way and +that he was having no difficulty in doing so because of the reckless +way in which Lightfoot was searching for him. Lightfoot made so +much noise that it was quite easy to know just where he was and +so keep out of his sight. + +"That stranger is nearly as big as Lightfoot, but it is very +plain that he doesn't want to fight," thought Sammy. "He must be +a coward." + +Now the truth is, the stranger was not a coward. He was ready and +willing to fight if he had to, but if he could avoid fighting he +meant to. You see, big as he was, he wasn't quite so big as +Lightfoot, and he knew it. He had seen Lightfoot's big +footprints, and from their size he knew that Lightfoot must be +bigger and heavier than he. Then, too, he knew that he really +had no right to be there in the Green Forest. That was +Lightfoot's home and so he was an intruder. He knew that +Lightfoot would feel this way about it and that this would make +him fight all the harder. So the big stranger wanted to avoid a +fight if possible. But he wanted still more to find that +beautiful young visitor with the dainty feet for whom Lightfoot +had been looking. He wanted to find her just as Lightfoot wanted +to find her, and he hoped that if he did find her, he could take +her away with him back to the Great Mountain. If he had to, he +would fight for her, but until he had to he would keep out of the +fight. So he dodged Lightfoot and at the same time looked for the +beautiful stranger. + +All this Sammy Jay guessed, and after a while he grew tired of +following Lightfoot for nothing. "I'll have to take a hand in +this thing myself," muttered Sammy. "At this rate, Lightfoot +never will find that big stranger!" + +So Sammy stopped following Lightfoot and began to search through +the Green Forest for the big stranger. It didn't take very long +to find him. He was over near the pond of Paddy the Beaver. +As soon as he saw him, Sammy began to scream at the top of his +lungs. At once he heard the sound of snapping twigs at the top of +a little ridge back of Paddy's pond and knew that Lightfoot had +heard and understood. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII: The Great Fight + +Down from the top of the ridge back of the pond of Paddy the +Beaver plunged Lightfoot the Deer, his eyes blazing with rage. +He had understood the screaming of Sammy Jay. He knew that somewhere +down there was the big stranger he had been looking for. + +The big stranger had understood Sammy's screaming quite as well +as Lightfoot. He knew that to run away now would be to prove +himself a coward and forever disgrace himself in the eyes of Miss +Daintyfoot, for that was the name of the beautiful stranger he +had been seeking. He MUST fight. There was no way out of it, he +MUST fight. The hair on the back of his neck stood up with anger +just as did the hair on the neck of Lightfoot. His eyes also +blazed. He bounded out into a little open place by the pond of +Paddy the Beaver and there he waited. + +Meanwhile Sammy Jay was flying about in the greatest excitement, +screaming at the top of his lungs, "A fight! A fight! A fight!" +Blacky the Crow, over in another part of the Green Forest, heard +him and took up the cry and at once hurried over to Paddy's pond. +Everybody who was near enough hurried there. Bobby Coon and +Unc' Billy Possum climbed trees from which they could see and at +the same time be safe. Billy Mink hurried to a safe place on the +dam of Paddy the Beaver. Paddy himself climbed up on the roof of +his house out in the pond. Peter Rabbit and Jumper the Hare, who +happened to be not far away, hurried over where they could peep +out from under some young hemlock-trees. Buster Bear shuffled +down the hill and watched from the other side of the pond. +Reddy and Granny Fox were both there. + +For what seemed like the longest time, but which was for only a +minute, Lightfoot and the big stranger stood still, glaring at +each other. Then, snorting with rage, they lowered their heads +and plunged together. Their antlers clashed with a noise that +rang through the Green Forest, and both fell to their knees. +There they pushed and struggled. Then they separated and backed +away, to repeat the movement over again. It was a terrible fight. +Everybody said so. If they had not known before, everybody +knew now what those great antlers were for. Once the big stranger +managed to reach Lightfoot's right shoulder with one of the sharp +points of his antlers and made a long tear in Lightfoot's gray +coat. It only made Lightfoot fight harder. + +Sometimes they would rear up and strike with their sharp +hoofs. Back and forth they plunged, and the ground was torn up by +their feet. Both were getting out of breath, and from time to +time they had to stop for a moment's rest. Then they would come +together again more fiercely than ever. Never had such a fight +been seen in the Green Forest. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII: An Unseen Watcher + +As Lightfoot the Deer and the big stranger from the Great +Mountain fought in the little opening near the pond of Paddy the +Beaver, neither knew or cared who saw them. Each was filled fully +with rage and determined to drive the other from the Green Forest. +Each was fighting for the right to win the love of Miss Daintyfoot. + +Neither of them knew that Miss Daintyfoot herself was watching +them. But she was. She had heard the clash of their great antlers +as they had come together the first time, and she had known +exactly what it meant. Timidly she had stolen forward to a +thicket where, safely hidden, she could watch that terrible +fight. She knew that they were fighting for her. Of course. +She knew it just as she had known how both had been hunting for her. +What she didn't know for some time was which one she wantedto win +that fight. + +Both Lightfoot and the big stranger were handsome. Yes, indeed, +they were very handsome. Lightfoot was just a little bit the +bigger and it seemed to her just a little bit the handsomer. +She almost wanted him to win. Then, when she saw how bravely the +big stranger was fighting and how well he was holding his own, even +though he was a little smaller than Lightfoot, she almost hoped +he would win. + +That great fight lasted a long time. To pretty Miss Daintyfoot +it seemed that it never would end. But after a while Lightfoot's +greater size and strength began to tell. Little by little the big +stranger was forced back towards the edge of the open place. +Now he would be thrown to his knees when Lightfoot wasn't. +As Lightfoot saw this, he seemed to gain new strength. At last +he caught the stranger in such a way that he threw him over. +While the stranger struggled to get to his feet again, Lightfoot's +sharp antlers made long tears in his gray coat. The stranger was +beaten and he knew it. The instant he succeeded in getting to his +feet he turned tail and plunged for the shelter of the Green +Forest. With a snort of triumph, Lightfoot plunged after him. + +But now that he was beaten, fear took possession of the +stranger. All desire to fight left him. His one thought was to +get away, and fear gave him speed. Straight back towards the +Great Mountain from which he had come the stranger headed. +Lightfoot followed only a short distance. He knew that +that stranger was going for good and would not come back. +Then Lightfoot turned back to the open place where they had +fought. There he threw up his beautiful head, crowned by its +great antlers, and whistled a challenge to all the Green Forest. +As she looked at him, Miss Daintyfoot knew that she had +wanted him to win. She knew that there simply couldn't be anybody +else so handsome and strong and brave in all the Great World. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX: Lightfoot Discovers Love + +Wonderfully handsome was Lightfoot the Deer as he stood in the +little opening by the pond of Paddy the Beaver, his head thrown +back proudly, as he received the congratulations of his neighbors +of the Green Forest who had seen him win the great fight with +the big stranger who had come down from the Great Mountain. +To beautiful Miss Daintyfoot, peeping out from the thicket where +she had hidden to watch the great fight, Lightfoot was the most +wonderful person in all the Great World. She adored him, which +means that she loved him just as much as it was possible for her +to love. + +But Lightfoot didn't know this. In fact, he didn't know that Miss +Daintyfoot was there. His one thought had been to drive out of +the Green Forest the big stranger who had come down from the +Great Mountain. He had been jealous of that big stranger, +though he hadn't known that he was jealous. The real cause of his +anger and desire to fight had been the fear that the big stranger +would find Miss Daintyfoot and take her away. Of course this was +nothing but jealousy. + +Now that the great fight was over, and he knew that the big +stranger was hurrying back to the Great Mountain, all Lightfoot's +anger melted away. In its place was a great longing to find Miss +Daintyfoot. His great eyes became once more soft and +beautiful. In them was a look of wistfulness. Lightfoot walked +down to the edge of the water and drank, for he was very, very +thirsty. Then he turned, intending to take up once more his +search for beautiful Miss Daintyfoot. + +When he turned he faced the thicket in which Miss Daintyfoot was +hiding. His keen eyes caught a little movement of the branches. A +beautiful head was slowly thrust out, and Lightfoot gazed again +into a pair of soft eyes which he was sure were the most +beautiful eyes in all the Great World. He wondered if she would +disappear and run away as she had the last time he saw her. + +He took a step or two forward. The beautiful head was +withdrawn. Lightfoot's heart sank. Then he bounded forward into +that thicket. He more than half expected to find no one there, +but when he entered that thicket he received the most wonderful +surprise in all his life. There stood Miss Daintyfoot, timid, +bashful, but with a look in her eyes which Lightfoot could not +mistake. In that instant Light-foot understood the meaning of +that longing which had kept him hunting for her and of the rage +which had filled him when he had discovered the presence of the +big stranger from the Great Mountain. It was love. Lightfoot knew +that he loved Miss Daintyfoot and, looking into her soft, gentle +eyes, he knew that Miss Daintyfoot loved him. + + + +CHAPTER XL: Happy Days In The Green Forest + +These were happy days in the Green Forest. At least, they were +happy for Lightfoot the Deer. They were the happiest days he had +ever known. You see, he had won beautiful, slender, young Miss +Daintyfoot, and now she was no longer Miss Daintyfoot but +Mrs. Lightfoot. Lightfoot was sure that there was no one anywhere +so beautiful as she, and Mrs. Lightfoot knew that there was no +one so handsome and brave as he. + +Wherever Lightfoot went, Mrs. Lightfoot went. He showed her all +his favorite hiding-places. He led her to his favorite +eating-places. She did not tell him that she was already +acquainted with every one of them, that she knew the Green Forest +quite as well as he did. If he had stopped to think how day after +day she had managed to keep out of his sight while he hunted for +her, he would have realized that there was little he could show +her which she did not already know. But he didn't stop to think +and proudly led her from place to place. And Mrs. Lightfoot wisely +expressed delight with all she saw quite as if it were all new. + +Of course, all the little people of the Green Forest hurried to +pay their respects to Mrs. Lightfoot and to tell Lightfoot how +glad they felt for him. And they really did feel glad. You see, +they all loved Lightfoot and they knew that now he would be +happier than ever, and that there would be no danger of his +leaving the Green Forest because of loneliness. The Green Forest +would not be the same at all without Lightfoot the Deer. + +Lightfoot told Mrs. Lightfoot all about the terrible days of the +hunting season and how glad he was that she had not been in the +Green Forest then. He told her how the hunters with terrible guns +had given him no rest and how he had had to swim the Big River to +get away from the hounds. + +"I know," replied Mrs. Lightfoot softly. "I know all about +it. You see, there were hunters on the Great Mountain. In fact, +that is how I happened to come down to the Green Forest. They +hunted me so up there that I did not dare stay, and I came down +here thinking that there might be fewer hunters. I wouldn't have +believed that I could ever be thankful to hunters for anything, +but I am, truly I am." + +There was a puzzled look on Lightfoot's face. "What for?" he +demanded. "I can't imagine anybody being thankful to hunters for +anything." + +"Oh, you stupid," cried Mrs. Lightfoot. "Don't you see that if I +hadn't been driven down from the Great Mountain, I never would +have found YOU?" + +"You mean, I never would have found YOU," retorted Lightfoot. +"I guess I owe these hunters more than you do. I owe them the +greatest happiness I have ever known, but I never would have +thought of it myself. Isn't it queer how things which seem the +very worst possible sometimes turn out to be the very best +possible?" + +Blacky the Crow is one of Lightfoot's friends, but sometimes even +friends are envious. It is so with Blacky. He insists that he is +quite as important in the Green Forest as is Lightfoot and that +his doings are quite as interesting. Therefore just to please him +the next book is to be Blacky the Crow. + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Lightfoot the Deer +by Thornton W. 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