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diff --git a/4698.txt b/4698.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9bb2e09 --- /dev/null +++ b/4698.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2421 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Whitefoot the Wood Mouse, 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: Whitefoot the Wood Mouse + +Author: Thornton W. Burgess + +Release Date: November, 2003 [EBook #4698] +Posting Date: February 17, 2010 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHITEFOOT THE WOOD MOUSE *** + + + + +Produced by Kent Fielden + + + + + +WHITEFOOT THE WOOD MOUSE + + +By Thornton W. Burgess + + + + +CHAPTER I: Whitefoot Spends A Happy Winter + +In all his short life Whitefoot the Wood Mouse never had spent such a +happy winter. Whitefoot is one of those wise little people who never +allow unpleasant things of the past to spoil their present happiness, +and who never borrow trouble from the future. Whitefoot believes in +getting the most from the present. The things which are past are past, +and that is all there is to it. There is no use in thinking about them. +As for the things of the future, it will be time enough to think about +them when they happen. + +If you and I had as many things to worry about as does Whitefoot the +Wood Mouse, we probably never would be happy at all. But Whitefoot is +happy whenever he has a chance to be, and in this he is wiser than most +human beings. You see, there is not one of all the little people in the +Green Forest who has so many enemies to watch out for as has Whitefoot. +There are ever so many who would like nothing better than to dine on +plump little Whitefoot. There are Buster Bear and Billy Mink and Shadow +the Weasel and Unc' Billy Possum and Hooty the Owl and all the members +of the Hawk family, not to mention Blacky the Crow in times when other +food is scarce. Reddy and Granny Fox and Old Man Coyote are always +looking for him. + +So you see Whitefoot never knows at what instant he may have to run for +his life. That is why he is such a timid little fellow and is always +running away at the least little unexpected sound. In spite of all this +he is a happy little chap. + +It was early in the winter that Whitefoot found a little hole in a +corner of Farmer Brown's sugar-house and crept inside to see what it was +like in there. It didn't take him long to decide that it was the most +delightful place he ever had found. He promptly decided to move in and +spend the winter. In one end of the sugar-house was a pile of wood. Down +under this Whitefoot made himself a warm, comfortable nest. It was a +regular castle to Whitefoot. He moved over to it the store of seeds he +had laid up for winter use. + +Not one of his enemies ever thought of visiting the sugar-house in +search of Whitefoot, and they wouldn't have been able to get in if they +had. When rough Brother North Wind howled outside, and sleet and +snow were making other little people shiver, Whitefoot was warm and +comfortable. There was all the room he needed or wanted in which to +run about and play. He could go outside when he chose to, but he didn't +choose to very often. For days at a time he didn't have a single fright. +Yes indeed, Whitefoot spent a happy winter. + + + +CHAPTER II: Whitefoot Sees Queer Things + +Whitefoot had spent the winter undisturbed in Farmer Brown's +sugar-house. He had almost forgotten the meaning of fear. He had come +to look on that sugar-house as belonging to him. It wasn't until Farmer +Brown's boy came over to prepare things for sugaring that Whitefoot got +a single real fright. The instant Farmer Brown's boy opened the door, +Whitefoot scampered down under the pile of wood to his snug little nest, +and there he lay, listening to the strange sounds. At last he could +stand it no longer and crept to a place where he could peep out and see +what was going on. It didn't take him long to discover that this great +two-legged creature was not looking for him, and right away he felt +better. After a while Farmer Brown's boy went away, and Whitefoot had +the little sugar-house to himself again. + +But Farmer Brown's boy had carelessly left the door wide open. Whitefoot +didn't like that open door. It made him nervous. There was nothing to +prevent those who hunt him from walking right in. So the rest of that +night Whitefoot felt uncomfortable and anxious. + +He felt still more anxious when next day Farmer Brown's boy returned and +became very busy putting things to right. Then Farmer Brown himself came +and strange things began to happen. It became as warm as in summer. +You see Farmer Brown had built a fire under the evaporator. Whitefoot's +curiosity kept him at a place where he could peep out and watch all that +was done. He saw Farmer Brown and Farmer Brown's boy pour pails of sap +into a great pan. By and by a delicious odor filled the sugar-house. +It didn't take him a great while to discover that these two-legged +creatures were so busy that he had nothing to fear from them, and so he +crept out to watch. He saw them draw the golden syrup from one end of +the evaporator and fill shining tin cans with it. Day after day they did +the same thing. At night when they had left and all was quiet inside the +sugar-house, Whitefoot stole out and found delicious crumbs where they +had eaten their lunch. He tasted that thick golden stuff and found it +sweet and good. Later he watched them make sugar and nearly made himself +sick that night when they had gone home, for they had left some of that +sugar where he could get at it. He didn't understand these queer doings +at all. But he was no longer afraid. + + + +CHAPTER III: Farmer Brown's Boy Becomes Acquainted + +It didn't take Farmer Brown's boy long to discover that Whitefoot the +Wood Mouse was living in the little sugar-house. He caught glimpses of +Whitefoot peeping out at him. Now Farmer Brown's boy is wise in the ways +of the little people of the Green Forest. Right away he made up his +mind to get acquainted with Whitefoot. He knew that not in all the +Green Forest is there a more timid little fellow than Whitefoot, and +he thought it would be a fine thing to be able to win the confidence of +such a shy little chap. + +So at first Farmer Brown's boy paid no attention whatever to Whitefoot. +He took care that Whitefoot shouldn't even know that he had been seen. +Every day when he ate his lunch, Farmer Brown's boy scattered a lot +of crumbs close to the pile of wood under which Whitefoot had made his +home. Then he and Farmer Brown would go out to collect sap. When they +returned not a crumb would be left. + +One day Farmer Brown's boy scattered some particularly delicious crumbs. +Then, instead of going out, he sat down on a bench and kept perfectly +still. Farmer Brown and Bowser the Hound went out. Of course Whitefoot +heard them go out, and right away he poked his little head out from +under the pile of wood to see if the way was clear. Farmer Brown's boy +sat there right in plain sight, but Whitefoot didn't see him. That was +because Farmer Brown's boy didn't move the least bit. Whitefoot ran out +and at once began to eat those delicious crumbs. When he had filled his +little stomach, he began to carry the remainder back to his storehouse +underneath the woodpile. While he was gone on one of these trips, Farmer +Brown's boy scattered more crumbs in a line that led right up to his +foot. Right there he placed a big piece of bread crust. + +Whitefoot was working so hard and so fast to get all those delicious +bits of food that he took no notice of anything else until he reached +that piece of crust. Then he happened to look up right into the eyes +of Farmer Brown's boy. With a frightened little squeak Whitefoot darted +back, and for a long time he was afraid to come out again. + +But Farmer Brown's boy didn't move, and at last Whitefoot could stand +the temptation no longer. He darted out halfway, scurried back, came out +again, and at last ventured right up to the crust. Then he began to drag +it back to the woodpile. Still Farmer Brown's boy did not move. + +For two or three days the same thing happened. By this time, Whitefoot +had lost all fear. He knew that Farmer Brown's boy would not harm him, +and it was not long before he ventured to take a bit of food from Farmer +Brown's boy's hand. After that Farmer Brown's boy took care that no +crumbs should be scattered on the ground. Whitefoot had to come to him +for his food, and always Farmer Brown's boy had something delicious for +him. + + + +CHAPTER IV: Whitefoot Grows Anxious + + 'Tis sad indeed to trust a friend + Then have that trust abruptly end. + --Whitefoot + +I know of nothing that is more sad than to feel that a friend is no +longer to be trusted. There came a time when Whitefoot the Wood Mouse +almost had this feeling. It was a very, very anxious time for Whitefoot. + +You see, Whitefoot and Farmer Brown's boy had become the very best +of friends there in the little sugar-house. They had become such good +friends that Whitefoot did not hesitate to take food from the hands of +Farmer Brown's boy. Never in all his life had he had so much to eat or +such good things to eat. He was getting so fat that his handsome little +coat was uncomfortably tight. He ran about fearlessly while Farmer Brown +and Farmer Brown's boy were making maple syrup and maple sugar. He had +even lost his fear of Bowser the Hound, for Bowser had paid no attention +to him whatever. + +Now you remember that Whitefoot had made his home way down beneath the +great pile of wood in the sugar-house. Of course Farmer Brown and Farmer +Brown's boy used that wood for the fire to boil the sap to make the +syrup and sugar. Whitefoot thought nothing of this until one day he +discovered that his little home was no longer as dark as it had been. +A little ray of light crept down between the sticks. Presently another +little ray of light crept down between the sticks. + +It was then that Whitefoot began to grow anxious. It was then he +realized that that pile of wood was growing smaller and smaller, and if +it kept on growing smaller, by and by there wouldn't be any pile of +wood and his little home wouldn't be hidden at all. Of course Whitefoot +didn't understand why that wood was slipping away. In spite of himself +he began to grow suspicious. He couldn't think of any reason why that +wood should be taken away, unless it was to look for his little home. +Farmer Brown's boy was just as kind and friendly as ever, but all the +time more and more light crept in, as the wood vanished. + +"Oh dear, what does it mean?" cried Whitefoot to himself. "They must be +looking for my home, yet they have been so good to me that it is hard +to believe they mean any harm. I do hope they will stop taking this wood +away. I won't have any hiding-place at all, and then I will have to +go outside back to my old home in the hollow stump. I don't want to do +that. Oh, dear! Oh, dear! I was so happy and now I am so worried! Why +can't happy times last always?" + + + +CHAPTER V: The End Of Whitefoot's Worries + + You never can tell! You never can tell! + Things going wrong will often end well. + --Whitefoot. + +The next time you meet him just ask Whitefoot if this isn't so. Things +had been going very wrong for Whitefoot. It had begun to look to +Whitefoot as if he would no longer have a snug, hidden little home in +Farmer Brown's sugar-house. The pile of wood under which he had made +that snug little home was disappearing so fast that it began to look as +if in a little while there would be no wood at all. + +Whitefoot quite lost his appetite. He no longer came out to take food +from Farmer Brown's boy's hand. He stayed right in his snug little home +and worried. + +Now Farmer Brown's boy had not once thought of the trouble he was +making. He wondered what had become of Whitefoot, and in his turn he +began to worry. He was afraid that something had happened to his little +friend. He was thinking of this as he fed the sticks of wood to the fire +for boiling the sap to make syrup and sugar. Finally, as he pulled away +two big sticks, he saw something that made him whistle with surprise. It +was Whitefoot's nest which he had so cleverly hidden way down underneath +that pile of wood when he had first moved into the sugar-house. With a +frightened little squeak, Whitefoot ran out, scurried across the little +sugar-house and out though the open door. + +Farmer Brown's boy understood. He understood perfectly that little +people like Whitefoot want their homes hidden away in the dark. "Poor +little chap," said Farmer Brown's boy."He had a regular castle here and +we have destroyed it. He's got the snuggest kind of a little nest here, +but he won't come back to it so long as it is right out in plain sight. +He probably thinks we have been hunting for this little home of his. +Hello! Here's his storehouse! I've often wondered how the little rascal +could eat so much, but now I understand. He stored away here more +than half of the good things I have given him. I am glad he did. If he +hadn't, he might not come back, but I feel sure that to-night, when +all is quiet, he will come back to take away all his food. I must do +something to keep him here." + +Farmer Brown's boy sat down to think things over. Then he got an old box +and made a little round hole in one end of it. Very carefully he took up +Whitefoot's nest and placed it under the old box in the darkest corner +of the sugar-house. Then he carried all Whitefoot's supplies over there +and put them under the box. He went outside, and got some branches of +hemlock and threw these in a little pile over the box. After this he +scattered some crumbs just outside. + +Late that night Whitefoot did come back. The crumbs led him to the old +box. He crept inside. There was his snug little home! All in a second +Whitefoot understood, and trust and happiness returned. + + + +CHAPTER VI: A Very Careless Jump + +Whitefoot once more was happy. When he found his snug little nest and +his store of food under that old box in the darkest corner of Farmer +Brown's sugar-house, he knew that Farmer Brown's boy must have placed +them there. It was better than the old place under the woodpile. It was +the best place for a home Whitefoot ever had had. It didn't take him +long to change his mind about leaving the little sugar-house. Somehow +he seemed to know right down inside that his home would not again be +disturbed. + +So he proceeded to rearrange his nest and to put all his supplies of +food in one corner of the old box. When everything was placed to suit +him he ventured out, for now that he no longer feared Farmer Brown's boy +he wanted to see all that was going on. He liked to jump up on the +bench where Farmer Brown's boy sometimes sat. He would climb up to where +Farmer Brown's boy's coat hung and explore the pockets of it. Once he +stole Farmer Brown's boy's handkerchief. He wanted it to add to the +material his nest was made of. Farmer Brown's boy discovered it just as +it was disappearing, and how he laughed as he pulled it away. + +So, what with eating and sleeping and playing about, secure in the +feeling that no harm could come to him, Whitefoot was happier than ever +before in his little life. He knew that Farmer Brown's boy and Farmer +Brown and Bowser the Hound were his friends. He knew, too, that so long +as they were about, none of his enemies would dare come near. This being +so, of course there was nothing to be afraid of. No harm could possibly +come to him. At least, that is what Whitefoot thought. + +But you know, enemies are not the only dangers to watch out for. +Accidents will happen. When they do happen, it is very likely to be when +the possibility of them is farthest from your thoughts. Almost always +they are due to heedlessness or carelessness. It was heedlessness that +got Whitefoot into one of the worst mishaps of his whole life. + +He had been running and jumping all around the inside of the little +sugar-house. He loves to run and jump, and he had been having just the +best time ever. Finally Whitefoot ran along the old bench and jumped +from the end of it for a box standing on end, which Farmer Brown's +boy sometimes used to sit on. It wasn't a very long jump, but somehow +Whitefoot misjudged it. He was heedless, and he didn't jump quite far +enough. Right beside that box was a tin pail half filled with sap. +Instead of landing on the box, Whitefoot landed with a splash in that +pail of sap. + + + +CHAPTER VII: Whitefoot Gives Up Hope + +Whitefoot had been in many tight places. Yes, indeed, Whitefoot had been +in many tight places. He had had narrow escapes of all kinds. But never +had he felt so utterly hopeless as now. The moment he landed in that +sap, Whitefoot began to swim frantically. He isn't a particularly good +swimmer, but he could swim well enough to keep afloat for a while. His +first thought was to scramble up the side of the tin pail, but when he +reached it and tried to fasten his sharp little claws into it in order +to climb, he discovered that he couldn't. Sharp as they were, his little +claws just slipped, and his struggles to get up only resulted in tiring +him out and in plunging him wholly beneath the sap. He came up choking +and gasping. Then round and round inside that pail he paddled, stopping +every two or three seconds to try to climb up that hateful, smooth, +shiny wall. + +The more he tried to climb out, the more frightened he became. + +He was in a perfect panic of fear. He quite lost his head, did +Whitefoot. The harder he struggled, the more tired he became, and the +greater was his danger of drowning. + +Whitefoot squeaked pitifully. He didn't want to drown. Of course not. He +wanted to live. But unless he could get out of that pail very soon, he +would drown. He knew it. He knew that he couldn't hold on much longer. +He knew that just as soon as he stopped paddling, he would sink. Already +he was so tired from his frantic efforts to escape that it seemed to +him that he couldn't hold out any longer. But somehow he kept his legs +moving, and so kept afloat. + +Just why he kept struggling, Whitefoot couldn't have told. It wasn't +because he had any hope. He didn't have the least bit of hope. He knew +now that he couldn't climb the sides of that pail, and there was no +other way of getting out. Still he kept on paddling. It was the only way +to keep from drowning, and though he felt sure that he had got to drown +at last, he just wouldn't until he actually had to. And all the time +Whitefoot squeaked hopelessly, despairingly, pitifully. He did it +without knowing that he did it, just as he kept paddling round and +round. + + + +CHAPTER VIII: The Rescue + +When Whitefoot made the heedless jump that landed him in a pail half +filled with sap, no one else was in the little sugar-house. Whitefoot +was quite alone. You see, Farmer Brown and Farmer Brown's boy were out +collecting sap from the trees, and Bowser the Hound was with them. + +Farmer Brown's boy was the first to return. He came in just after +Whitefoot had given up all hope. He went at once to the fire to put +more wood on. As he finished this job he heard the faintest of little +squeaks. It was a very pitiful little squeak. Farmer Brown's boy stood +perfectly still and listened. He heard it again. He knew right away that +it was the voice of Whitefoot. + +"Hello!" exclaimed Farmer Brown's boy. "That sounds as if Whitefoot is +in trouble of some kind. I wonder where the little rascal is. I wonder +what can have happened to him. I must look into this." Again Farmer +Brown's boy heard that faint little squeak. It was so faint that he +couldn't tell where it came from. Hurriedly and anxiously he looked all +over the little sugar-house, stopping every few seconds to listen +for that pitiful little squeak. It seemed to come from nowhere in +particular. Also it was growing fainter. + +At last Farmer Brown's boy happened to stand still close to that tin +pail half filled with sap. He heard the faint little squeak again and +with it a little splash. It was the sound of the little splash that led +him to look down. In a flash he understood what had happened. He +saw poor little Whitefoot struggling feebly, and even as he looked +Whitefoot's head went under. He was very nearly drowned. + +Stooping quickly, Farmer Brown's boy grabbed Whitefoot's long tail and +pulled him out. Whitefoot was so nearly drowned that he didn't have +strength enough to even kick. A great pity filled the eyes of Farmer +Brown's boy as he held Whitefoot's head down and gently shook him. He +was trying to shake some of the sap out of Whitefoot. It ran out of +Whitefoot's nose and out of his mouth. Whitefoot began to gasp. Then +Farmer Brown's boy spread his coat close by the fire, rolled Whitefoot +up in his handkerchief and gently placed him on the coat. For some time +Whitefoot lay just gasping. But presently his breath came easier, and +after a while he was breathing naturally. But he was too weak and tired +to move, so he just lay there while Farmer Brown's boy gently stroked +his head and told him how sorry he was. + +Little by little Whitefoot recovered his strength. At last he could sit +up, and finally he began to move about a little, although he was still +wobbly on his legs. Farmer Brown's boy put some bits of food where +Whitefoot could get them, and as he ate, Whitefoot's beautiful soft eyes +were filled with gratitude. + + + +CHAPTER IX: Two Timid Persons Meet + + Thus always you will meet life's test-- + To do the thing you can do best. + --Whitefoot. + +Jumper the Hare sat crouched at the foot of a tree in the Green Forest. +Had you happened along there, you would not have seen him. At least, +I doubt if you would. If you had seen him, you probably wouldn't have +known it. You see, in his white coat Jumper was so exactly the color of +the snow that he looked like nothing more than a little heap of snow. + +Just in front of Juniper was a little round hole. He gave it no +attention. It didn't interest him in the least. All through the Green +Forest were little holes in the snow. Jumper was so used to them that +he seldom noticed them. So he took no notice of this one until something +moved down in that hole. Jumper's eyes opened a little wider and he +watched. A sharp little face with very bright eyes filled that little +round hole. Jumper moved just the tiniest bit, and in a flash that +sharp little face with the bright eyes disappeared. Jumper sat still +and waited. After a long wait the sharp little face with bright eyes +appeared again. "Don't be frightened, Whitefoot," said Jumper softly. At +the first word the sharp little face disappeared, but in a moment it was +back, and the sharp little eyes were fixed on Jumper suspiciously. After +a long stare the suspicion left them, and out of the little round hole +came trim little Whitefoot in a soft brown coat with white waistcoat and +with white feet and a long, slim tail. This winter he was not living in +Farmer Brown's sugarhouse. + +"Gracious, Jumper, how you did scare me!" said he. + +Jumper chuckled. "Whitefoot, I believe you are more timid than I am," he +replied. + +"Why shouldn't I be? I'm ever so much smaller, and I have more enemies," +retorted Whitefoot. + +"It is true you are smaller, but I am not so sure that you have more +enemies," replied Jumper thoughtfully. "It sometimes seems to me that I +couldn't have more, especially in winter." + +"Name them," commanded Whitefoot. + +"Hooty the Great Horned Owl, Yowler the Bob Cat, Old Man Coyote, Reddy +Fox, Terror the Goshawk, Shadow the Weasel, Billy Mink." Jumper paused. + +"Is that all?" demanded Whitefoot. + +"Isn't that enough?" retorted Jumper rather sharply. + +"I have all of those and Blacky the Crow and Butcher the Shrike and +Sammy Jay in winter, and Buster Hear and Jimmy Skunk and several of the +Snake family in summer," replied Whitefoot. "It seems to me sometimes as +if I need eyes and ears all over me. Night and day there is always some +one hunting for poor little me. And then some folks wonder why I am so +timid. If I were not as timid as I am, I wouldn't be alive now; I would +have been caught long ago. Folks may laugh at me for being so easily +frightened, but I don't care. That is what saves my life a dozen times a +day." + +Jumper looked interested. "I hadn't thought of that," said he. "I'm a +very timid person myself, and sometimes I have been ashamed of being so +easily frightened. But come to think of it, I guess you are right; the +more timid I am, the longer I am likely to live." Whitefoot suddenly +darted into his hole. Jumper didn't move, but his eyes widened with +fear. A great white bird had just alighted on a stump a short distance +away. It was Whitey the Snowy Owl, down from the Far North. + +"There is another enemy we both forgot," thought Jumper, and tried not +to shiver. + + + +CHAPTER X: The White Watchers + + Much may be gained by sitting still + If you but have the strength of will. + --Whitefoot. + +Jumper the Hare crouched at the foot of a tree in the Green Forest, and +a little way from him on a stump sat Whitey the Snowy Owl. Had you been +there to see them, both would have appeared as white as the snow around +them unless you had looked very closely. Then you might have seen two +narrow black lines back of Jumper's head. They were the tips of his +ears, for these remain black. And near the upper part of the white mound +which was Whitey you might have seen two round yellow spots, his eyes. + +There they were for all the world like two little heaps of snow. Jumper +didn't move so much as a hair. Whitey didn't move so much as a feather. +Both were waiting and watching. Jumper didn't move because he knew that +Whitey was there. Whitey didn't move because he didn't want any one to +know he was there, and didn't know that Jumper was there. Jumper was +sitting still because he was afraid. Whitey was sitting still because he +was hungry. + +So there they sat, each in plain sight of the other but only one seeing +the other. This was because Juniper had been fortunate enough to see +Whitey alight on that stump. Jumper had been sitting still when Whitey +arrived, and so those fierce yellow eyes had not yet seen him. But had +Jumper so much as lifted one of those long ears, Whitey would have seen, +and his great claws would have been reaching for Jumper. + +Jumper didn't want to sit still. No, indeed! He wanted to run. You know +it is on those long legs of his that Jumper depends almost wholly for +safety. But there are times for running and times for sitting still, and +this was a time for sitting still. He knew that Whitey didn't know that +he was anywhere near. But just the same it was hard, very hard to sit +there with one he so greatly feared watching so near. It seemed as if +those fierce yellow eyes of Whitey must see him. They seemed to look +right through him. They made him shake inside. + +"I want to run. I want to run. I want to run," Jumper kept saying to +himself. Then he would say, "But I mustn't. I mustn't. I mustn't." And +so Jumper did the hardest thing in the world,--sat still and stared +danger in the face. He was sitting still to save his life. + +Whitey the Snowy Owl was sitting still to catch a dinner. I know that +sounds queer, but it was so. He knew that so long as he sat still, +he was not likely to be seen. It was for this purpose that Old Mother +Nature had given him that coat of white. In the Far North, which was +his real home, everything is white for months and months, and any one +dressed in a dark suit can be seen a long distance. So Whitey had been +given that white coat that he might have a better chance to catch food +enough to keep him alive. + +And he had learned how to make the best use of it. Yes, indeed, he knew +how to make the best use of it. It was by doing just what he was doing +now,--sitting perfectly still. Just before he had alighted on that stump +he had seen something move at the entrance to a little round hole in the +snow. He was sure of it. + +"A Mouse," thought Whitey, and alighted on that stump. "He saw me +flying, but he'll forget about it after a while and will come out again. +He won't see me then if I don't move. And I won't move until he is far +enough from that hole for me to catch him before he can get back to it." + +So the two watchers in white sat without moving for the longest time, +one watching for a dinner and the other watching the other watcher. + + + +CHAPTER XI: Jumper Is In Doubt + + When doubtful what course to pursue + 'Tis sometimes best to nothing do. + --Whitefoot. + +Jumper the Hare was beginning to feel easier in his mind. He was no +longer shaking inside. In fact, he was beginning to feel quite safe. +There he was in plain sight of Whitey the Snowy Owl, sitting motionless +on a stump only a short distance away, yet Whitey hadn't seen him. +Whitey had looked straight at him many times, but because Jumper had +not moved so much as a hair Whitey had mistaken him for a little heap of +snow. + +"All I have to do is to keep right on sitting perfectly still, and I'll +be as safe as if Whitey were nowhere about. Yes, sir, I will," thought +Jumper. "By and by he will become tired and fly away. I do hope he'll do +that before Whitefoot comes out again. If Whitefoot should come out, I +couldn't warn him because that would draw Whitey's attention to me, and +he wouldn't look twice at a Wood Mouse when there was a chance to get a +Hare for his dinner. + +"This is a queer world. It is so. Old Mother Nature does queer things. +Here she has given me a white coat in winter so that I may not be easily +seen when there is snow on the ground, and at the same time she has +given one of those I fear most a white coat so that he may not be easily +seen, either. It certainly is a queer world." + +Jumper forgot that Whitey was only a chance visitor from the Far North +and that it was only once in a great while that he came down there, +while up in the Far North where he belonged nearly everybody was dressed +in white. + +Jumper hadn't moved once, but once in a while Whitey turned his great +round head for a look all about in every direction. But it was done in +such a way that only eyes watching him sharply would have noticed it. +Most of the time he kept his fierce yellow eyes fixed on the little hole +in the snow in which Whitefoot had disappeared. You know Whitey can see +by day quite as well as any other bird. + +Jumper, having stopped worrying about himself, began to worry about +Whitefoot. He knew that Whitefoot had seen Whitey arrive on that stump +and that was why he had dodged back into his hole and since then had not +even poked his nose out. But that had been so long ago that by this time +Whitefoot must think that Whitey had gone on about his business, and +Jumper expected to see Whitefoot appear any moment. What Jumper didn't +know was that Whitefoot's bright little eyes had all the time been +watching Whitey from another little hole in the snow some distance away. +A tunnel led from this little hole to the first little hole. + +Suddenly off among the trees something moved. At least, Jumper thought +he saw something move. Yes, there it was, a little black spot moving +swiftly this way and that way over the snow. Jumper stared very hard. +And then his heart seemed to jump right up in his throat. It did so. He +felt as if he would choke. That black spot was the tip end of a tail, +the tail of a small, very slim fellow dressed all in white, the only +other one in all the Green Forest who dresses all in white. It was +Shadow the Weasel! In his white winter coat he is called Ermine. + +He was running this way and that way, back and forth, with his nose to +the snow. He was hunting, and Jumper knew that sooner or later Shadow +would find him. Safety from Shadow lay in making the best possible use +of those long legs of his, but to do that would bring Whitey the +Owl swooping after him. What to do Jumper didn't know. And so he did +nothing. It happened to be the wisest thing he could do. + + + +CHAPTER XII: Whitey The Owl Saves Jumper + + It often happens in the end + An enemy may prove a friend. + --Whitefoot. + +Was ever any one in a worse position than Jumper the Hare? To move would +be to give himself away to Whitey the Snowy Owl. If he remained where he +was very likely Shadow the Weasel would find him, and the result would +be the same as if he were caught by Whitey the Owl. Neither Whitey nor +Shadow knew he was there, but it would be only a few minutes before one +of them knew it. At least, that is the way it looked to Jumper. + +Whitey wouldn't know it unless he moved, but Shadow the Weasel would +find his tracks, and his nose would lead him straight there. Back and +forth, back and forth, this way, that way and the other way, just a +little distance off, Shadow was running with his nose to the snow. He +was hunting--hunting for the scent of some one whom he could kill. In a +few minutes he would be sure to find where Jumper had been, and then his +nose would lead him straight to that tree at the foot of which Jumper +was crouching. + +Nearer and nearer came Shadow. He was slim and trim and didn't look at +all terrible. Yet there was no one in all the Green Forest more feared +by the little people in fur, by Jumper, by Peter Rabbit, by Whitefoot, +even by Chatterer the Red Squirrel. + +"Perhaps," thought Jumper, "he won't find my scent after all. Perhaps +he'll go in another direction." But all the time Jumper felt in his +bones that Shadow would find that scent. "When he does, I'll run," said +Jumper to himself. "I'll have at least a chance to dodge Whitey. I am +afraid he will catch me, but I'll have a chance. I won't have any chance +at all if Shadow finds me." + +Suddenly Shadow stopped running and sat up to look about with fierce +little eyes, all the time testing the air with his nose. Jumper's heart +sank. He knew that Shadow had caught a faint scent of some one. Then +Shadow began to run back and forth once more, but more carefully than +before. And then he started straight for where Jumper was crouching! +Jumper knew then that Shadow had found his trail. + +Jumper drew a long breath and settled his long hind feet for a great +jump, hoping to so take Whitey the Owl by surprise that he might be able +to get away. And as Jumper did this, he looked over to that stump where +Whitey had been sitting so long. Whitey was just leaving it on his great +silent wings, and his fierce yellow eyes were fixed in the direction of +Shadow the Weasel. He had seen that moving black spot which was the tip +of Shadow's tail. + +Jumper didn't have time to jump before Whitey was swooping down at +Shadow. So Juniper just kept still and watched with eyes almost popping +from his head with fear and excitement. + +Shadow hadn't seen Whitey until just as Whitey was reaching for him with +his great cruel claws. Now if there is any one who can move more quickly +than Shadow the Weasel I don't know who it is. Whitey's claws closed on +nothing but snow; Shadow had dodged. Then began a game, Whitey swooping +and Shadow dodging, and all the time they were getting farther and +farther from where Jumper was. + +The instant it was safe to do so, Jumper took to his long heels and the +way he disappeared, lipperty-lipperty-lip, was worth seeing. Whitey the +Snowy Owl had saved him from Shadow the Weasel and didn't know it. An +enemy had proved to be a friend. + + + +CHAPTER XIII: Whitefoot Decides Quickly + + Your mind made up a certain way + Be swift to act; do not delay. + --Whitefoot. + +When Whitefoot had discovered Whitey the Snowy Owl, he had dodged down +in the little hole in the snow beside which he had been sitting. He had +not been badly frightened. But he was somewhat upset. Yes, sir, he was +somewhat upset. You see, he had so many enemies to watch out for, and +here was another. + +"Just as if I didn't have troubles enough without having this white +robber to add to them," grumbled Whitefoot. "Why doesn't he stay where +he belongs, way up in the Far North? It must be that food is scarce up +there. Well, now that I know he is here, he will have to be smarter than +I think he is to catch me. I hope Jumper the Hare will have sense enough +to keep perfectly still. I've sometimes envied him his long legs, but I +guess I am better off than he is, at that. Once he has been seen by an +enemy, only those long legs of his can save him, but I have a hundred +hiding-places down under the snow. Whitey is watching the hole where +I disappeared; he thinks I'll come out there again after a while. I'll +fool him." + +Whitefoot scampered along through a little tunnel and presently very +cautiously peeped out of another little round hole in the snow. Sure +enough, there was Whitey the Snowy Owl back to him on a stump, watching +the hole down which he had disappeared a few minutes before. Whitefoot +grinned. Then he looked over to where he had last seen Jumper. Jumper +was still there; it was clear that he hadn't moved, and so Whitey hadn't +seen him. Again Whitefoot grinned. Then he settled himself to watch +patiently for Whitey to become tired of watching that hole and fly away. + +So it was that Whitefoot saw all that happened. He saw Whitey suddenly +sail out on silent wings from that stump and swoop with great claws +reaching for some one. And then he saw who that some one was,--Shadow +the Weasel! He saw Shadow dodge in the very nick of time. Then he +watched Whitey swoop again and again as Shadow dodged this way and that +way. Finally both disappeared amongst the trees. Then he turned just +in time to see Jumper the Hare bounding away with all the speed of his +wonderful, long legs. + +Fear, the greatest fear he had known for a long time, took possession +of Whitefoot. "Shadow the Weasel!" he gasped and had such a thing been +possible he certainly would have turned pale. "Whitey won't catch him; +Shadow is too quick for him. And when Whitey has given up and flown +away, Shadow will come back. He probably had found the tracks of Jumper +the Hare and he will come back. I know him; he'll come back. Jumper is +safe enough from him now, because he has such a long start, but Shadow +will be sure to find one of my holes in the snow. Oh, dear! Oh, dear! +What shall I do?" + +You see Shadow the Weasel is the one enemy that can follow Whitefoot +into most of his hiding-places. + +For a minute or two Whitefoot sat there, shaking with fright. Then he +made up his mind. "I'll get away from here before he returns," thought +Whitefoot. "I've got to. I've spent a comfortable winter here so far, +but there will be no safety for me here any longer. I don't know where +to go, but anywhere will be better than here now." + +Without waiting another second, Whitefoot scampered away. And how he did +hope that his scent would have disappeared by the time Shadow returned. +If it hadn't, there would be little hope for him and he knew it. + + + +CHAPTER XIV: Shadows Return + + He little gains and has no pride + Who from his purpose turns aside. + --Whitefoot. + +Shadow the Weasel believes in persistence. When he sets out to do a +thing, he keeps at it until it is done or he knows for a certainty it +cannot be done. He is not easily discouraged. This is one reason he is +so feared by the little people he delights to hunt. They know that once +he gets on their trail, they will be fortunate indeed if they escape +him. + +When Whitey the Snowy Owl swooped at him and so nearly caught him, he +was not afraid as he dodged this way and that way. Any other of the +little people with the exception of his cousin, Billy Mink, would have +been frightened half to death. But Shadow was simply angry. He was angry +that any one should try to catch him. He was still more angry because +his hunt for Jumper the Hare was interfered with. You see, he had just +found Jumper's trail when Whitey swooped at him. + +So Shadow's little eyes grew red with rage as he dodged this way and +that and was gradually driven away from the place where he had found the +trail of Jumper the Hare. At last he saw a hole in an old log and into +this he darted. Whitey couldn't get him there. Whitey knew this and he +knew, too, that waiting for Shadow to come out again would be a waste of +time. So Whitey promptly flew away. + +Hardly had he disappeared when Shadow popped out of that hole, for he +had been peeping out and watching Whitey. Without a moment's pause +he turned straight back for the place where he had found the trail of +Jumper the Hare. He had no intention of giving up that hunt just because +he had been driven away. Straight to the very spot where Whitey had +first swooped at him he ran, and there once more his keen little nose +took up the trail of Jumper. It led him straight to the foot of the tree +where Jumper had crouched so long. + +But, as you know, Jumper wasn't there then. Shadow ran in a circle and +presently he found where Jumper had landed on the snow at the end +of that first bound. Shadow snarled. He understood exactly what had +happened. + +"Jumper was under that tree when that white robber from the Far North +tried to catch me, and he took that chance to leave in a hurry. I can +tell that by the length of this jump. Probably he is still going. It is +useless to follow him because he has too long a start," said Shadow, and +he snarled again in rage and disappointment. + +Then, for such is his way, he wasted no more time or thought on Jumper +the Hare. Instead he began to look for other trails. So it was that he +found one of the little holes of Whitefoot the Wood Mouse. + +"Ha! So this is where Whitefoot has been living this winter!" he +exclaimed. Once more his eyes glowed red, but this time with eagerness +and the joy of the hunt. He plunged down into that little hole in the +snow. Down there the scent of Whitefoot was strong. Shadow followed it +until it led out of another little hole in the snow. But there he lost +it. You see, it was so long since Whitefoot had hurriedly left that the +scent on the surface had disappeared. + +Shadow ran swiftly this way and that way in a big circle, but he +couldn't find Whitefoot's trail again. Snarling with anger and +disappointment, he returned to the little hole in the snow and vanished. +Then he followed all Whitefoot's little tunnels. He found Whitefoot's +nest. He found his store of seeds. But he didn't find Whitefoot. + +"He'll come back," muttered Shadow, and curled up in Whitefoot's nest to +wait. + + + +CHAPTER XV: Whitefoots Dreadful Journey + + Danger may be anywhere, + So I expect it everywhere. + --Whitefoot. + +Whitefoot the Wood Mouse was terribly frightened. Yes, sir, he was +terribly frightened. It was a long, long time since he had been as +frightened as he now was. He is used to frights, is Whitefoot. He has +them every day and every night, but usually they are sudden frights, +quickly over and as quickly forgotten. + +This fright was different. You see Whitefoot had caught a glimpse of +Shadow the Weasel. And he knew that if Shadow returned he would be sure +to find the little round holes in the snow that led down to Whitefoot's +private little tunnels underneath. + +The only thing for Whitefoot to do was to get just as far from that +place as he could before Shadow should return. And so poor little +Whitefoot started out on a journey that was to take him he knew not +where. All he could do was to go and go and go until he could find a +safe hiding-place. + +My, my, but that was a dreadful journey! Every time a twig snapped, +Whitefoot's heart seemed to jump right up in his throat. Every time he +saw a moving shadow, and the branches of the trees moving in the wind +were constantly making moving shadows on the snow, he dodged behind +a tree trunk or under a piece of bark or wherever he could find a +hiding-place. + +You see, Whitefoot has so many enemies always looking for him that he +hides whenever he sees anything moving. When at home, he is forever +dodging in and out of his hiding-places. So, because everything was +strange to him, and because of the great fear of Shadow the Weasel, he +suspected everything that moved and every sound he heard. For a long way +no one saw him, for no one was about. Yet all that way Whitefoot +twisted and dodged and darted from place to place and was just as badly +frightened as if there had been enemies all about. + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear me!" he kept saying over and over to himself. +"Wherever shall I go? Whatever shall I do? However shall I get enough to +eat? I won't dare go back to get food from my little storehouses, and I +shall have to live in a strange place where I won't know where to look +for food. I am getting tired. My legs ache. I 'm getting hungry. I want +my nice, warm, soft bed. Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Oh, dear me!" + +But in spite of his frights, Whitefoot kept on. You see, he was more +afraid to stop than he was to go on. He just had to get as far from +Shadow the Weasel as he could. Being such a little fellow, what would be +a short distance for you or me is a long distance for Whitefoot. + +And so that journey was to him very long indeed. Of course, it seemed +longer because of the constant frights which came one right after +another. It really was a terrible journey. Yet if he had only known it, +there wasn't a thing along the whole way to be afraid of. You know it +often happens that people are frightened more by what they don't know +than by what they do know. + + + +CHAPTER XVI: Whitefoot Climbs A Tree + + I'd rather be frightened With no cause for fear + Than fearful of nothing When danger is near. + --Whitefoot. + +Whitefoot kept on going and going. Every time he thought that he was so +tired he must stop, he would think of Shadow the Weasel and then go on +again. By and by he became so tired that not even the thought of Shadow +the Weasel could make him go much farther. So he began to look about for +a safe hiding-place in which to rest. + +Now the home which he had left had been a snug little room beneath the +roots of a certain old stump. There he had lived for a long time in the +greatest comfort. Little tunnels led to his storehouses and up to the +surface of the snow. It had been a splendid place and one in which he +had felt perfectly safe until Shadow the Weasel had appeared. Had you +seen him playing about there, you would have thought him one of the +little people of the ground, like his cousin Danny Meadow Mouse. + +But Whitefoot is quite as much at home in trees as on the ground. In +fact, he is quite as much at home in trees as is Chatterer the Red +Squirrel, and a lot more at home in trees than is Striped Chipmunk, +although Striped Chipmunk belongs to the Squirrel family. So now that +he must find a hiding-place, Whitefoot decided that he would feel much +safer in a tree than on the ground. + +"If only I can find a hollow tree," whimpered Whitefoot. "I will feel +ever so much safer in a tree than hiding in or near the ground in a +strange place." + +So Whitefoot began to look for a dead tree. You see, he knew that there +was more likely to be a hollow in a dead tree than in a living tree. By +and by he came to a tall, dead tree. He knew it was a dead tree, because +there was no bark on it. But, of course, he couldn't tell whether or not +that tree was hollow. I mean he couldn't tell from the ground. + +"Oh, dear!" he whimpered again. "Oh, dear! I suppose I will have to +climb this, and I am so tired. It ought to be hollow. There ought to +be splendid holes in it. It is just the kind of a tree that Drummer the +Woodpecker likes to make his house in. I shall be terribly disappointed +if I don't find one of his houses somewhere in it, but I wish I hadn't +got to climb it to find out. Well, here goes." + +He looked anxiously this way. He looked anxiously that way. He looked +anxiously the other way. In fact, he looked anxiously every way. + +But he saw no one and nothing to be afraid of, and so he started up the +tree. + +He was half-way up when, glancing down, he saw a shadow moving across +the snow. Once more Whitefoot's heart seemed to jump right up in his +throat. That shadow was the shadow of some one flying. There couldn't be +the least bit of doubt about it. Whitefoot flattened himself against the +side of the tree and peeked around it. He was just in time to see a gray +and black and white bird almost the size of Sammy Jay alight in the very +next tree. He had come along near the ground and then risen sharply into +the tree. His bill was black, and there was just a tiny hook on the end +of it. Whitefoot knew who it was. It was Butcher the Shrike. Whitefoot +shivered. + + + +CHAPTER XVII: Whitefoot Finds A Hole Just In Time + + Just in time, not just too late, + Will make you master of your fate. + --Whitefoot. + +Whitefoot, half-way up that dead tree, flattened himself against the +trunk and, with his heart going pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat with fright, peered +around the tree at an enemy he had not seen for so long that he had +quite forgotten there was such a one. It was Butcher the Shrike. Often +he is called just Butcher Bird. He did not look at all terrible. He was +not quite as big as Sammy Jay. He had no terrible claws like the Hawks +and Owls. There was a tiny hook at the end of his black bill, but it +wasn't big enough to look very dreadful. But you can not always judge a +person by looks, and Whitefoot knew that Butcher was one to be feared. + +So his heart went pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat as he wondered if Butcher had +seen him. He didn't have to wait long to find out. Butcher flew to a +tree back of Whitefoot and then straight at him. Whitefoot dodged around +to the other side of the tree. Then began a dreadful game. At least, +it was dreadful to Whitefoot. This way and that way around the trunk of +that tree he dodged, while Butcher did his best to catch him. + +Whitefoot would not have minded this so much, had he not been so tired, +and had he known of a hiding-place close at hand. But he was tired, very +tired, for you remember he had had what was a very long and terrible +journey to him. He had felt almost too tired to climb that tree in the +first place to see if it had any holes in it higher up. Now he didn't +know whether to keep on going up or to go down. Two or three times he +dodged around the tree without doing either. Then he decided to go up. + +Now Butcher was enjoying this game of dodge. If he should catch +Whitefoot, he would have a good dinner. If he didn't catch Whitefoot, he +would simply go hungry a little longer. So you see, there was a very big +difference in the feelings of Whitefoot and Butcher. Whitefoot had his +life to lose, while Butcher had only a dinner to lose. + +Dodging this way and dodging that way, Whitefoot climbed higher and +higher. Twice he whisked around that tree trunk barely in time. All the +time he was growing more and more tired, and more and more discouraged. +Supposing he should find no hole in that tree! + +"There must be one. There must be one," he kept saying over and over to +himself, to keep his courage up. "I can't keep dodging much longer. If +I don't find a hole pretty soon, Butcher will surely catch me. Oh, dear! +Oh, dear!" + +Just above Whitefoot was a broken branch. Only the stub of it remained. +The next time he dodged around the trunk he found himself just below +that stub. Oh, joy! There, close under that stub, was a round hole. +Whitefoot didn't hesitate a second. He didn't wait to find out whether +or not any one was in that hole. He didn't even think that there might +be some one in there. With a tiny little squeak of relief he darted in. +He was just in time. He was just in the nick of time. Butcher struck at +him and just missed him as he disappeared in that hole. Whitefoot had +saved his life and Butcher had missed a dinner. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII: An Unpleasant Surprise + + Be careful never to be rude + Enough to thoughtlessly intrude. + --Whitefoot. + +If ever anybody in the Great World felt relief and thankfulness, it was +Whitefoot when he dodged into that hole in the dead tree just as Butcher +the Shrike all but caught him. For a few minutes he did nothing but +pant, for he was quite out of breath. + +"I was right," he said over and over to himself, "I was right. I was +sure there must be a hole in this tree. It is one of the old houses of +Drummer the Woodpecker. Now I am safe." + +Presently he peeped out. He wanted to see if Butcher was watching +outside. He was just in time to see Butcher's gray and black and white +coat disappearing among the trees. Butcher was not foolish enough to +waste time watching for Whitefoot to come out. Whitefoot sighed happily. +For the first time since he had started on his dreadful journey he felt +safe. Nothing else mattered. He was hungry, but he didn't mind that. He +was willing to go hungry for the sake of being safe. + +Whitefoot watched until Butcher was out of sight. Then he turned to +see what that house was like. Right away he discovered that there was a +soft, warm bed in it. It was made of leaves, grass, moss, and the lining +of bark. It was a very fine bed indeed. + +"My, my, my, but I am lucky," said Whitefoot to himself. "I wonder who +could have made this fine bed. I certainly shall sleep comfortably here. +Goodness knows, I need a rest. If I can find food enough near here, I'll +make this my home. I couldn't ask for a better one." + +Chuckling happily, Whitefoot began to pull away the top of that bed so +as to get to the middle of it. And then he got a surprise. It was an +unpleasant surprise. It was a most unpleasant surprise. There was some +one in that bed! Yes, sir, there was some one curled up in a little +round ball in the middle of that fine bed. It was some one with a coat +of the softest, finest fur. Can you guess who it was? It was Timmy the +Flying Squirrel. + +It seemed to Whitefoot as if his heart flopped right over. You see at +first he didn't recognize Timmy. Whitefoot is himself so very timid that +his thought was to run; to get out of there as quickly as possible. But +he had no place to run to, so he hesitated. Never in all his life had +Whitefoot had a greater disappointment. He knew now that this splendid +house was not for him. + +Timmy the Flying Squirrel didn't move. He remained curled up in a soft +little ball. He was asleep. Whitefoot remembered that Timmy sleeps +during the day and seldom comes out until the Black Shadows come +creeping out from the Purple Hills at the close of day. Whitefoot felt +easier in his mind then. Timmy was so sound asleep that he knew nothing +of his visitor. And so Whitefoot felt safe in staying long enough to get +rested. Then he would go out and hunt for another home. + +So down in the middle of that soft, warm bed Timmy the Flying Squirrel, +curled up in a little round ball with his flat tail wrapped around him, +slept peacefully, and on top of that soft bed Whitefoot the Wood Mouse +rested and wondered what he should do next. Not in all the Green Forest +could two more timid little people be found than the two in that old +home of Drummer the Woodpecker. + + + +CHAPTER XIX: Whitefoot Finds A Home At Last + + True independence he has known + Whose home has been his very own. + --Whitefoot. + +Curled up in his splendid warm bed, Timmy the Flying Squirrel slept +peacefully. He didn't know he had a visitor. He didn't know that on top +of that same bed lay Whitefoot the Wood Mouse. Whitefoot wasn't asleep. +No, indeed! Whitefoot was too worried to sleep. He knew he couldn't stay +in that fine house because it belonged to Timmy. He knew that as soon as +Timmy awoke, he, Whitefoot, would have to get out. Where should he go? +He wished he knew. How he did long for the old home he had left. But +when he thought of that, he remembered Shadow the Weasel. It was better +to be homeless than to feel that at any minute Shadow the Weasel might +appear. + +It was getting late in the afternoon. Before long, jolly, round, red Mr. +Sun would go to bed behind the Purple Hills, and the Black Shadows would +come creeping through the Green Forest. Then Timmy the Flying Squirrel +would awake. "It won't do for me to be here then," said Whitefoot to +himself. "I must find some other place before he wakes. If only I knew +this part of the Green Forest I might know where to go. As it is, I +shall have to go hunt for a new home and trust to luck. Did ever a poor +little Mouse have so much trouble?" + +After awhile Whitefoot felt rested and peeped out of the doorway. No +enemy was to be seen anywhere. Whitefoot crept out and climbed a little +higher up in the tree. Presently he found another hole. He peeped inside +and listened long and carefully. He didn't intend to make the mistake of +going into another house where some one might be living. + +At last, sure that there was no one in there, he crept in. Then he made +a discovery. There were beech nuts in there and there were seeds. + +It was a storehouse! Whitefoot knew at once that it must be Timmy's +storehouse. Right away he realized how very, very hungry he was. Of +course, he had no right to any of those seeds or nuts. Certainly not! +That is, he wouldn't have had any right had he been a boy or girl. But +it is the law of the Green Forest that whatever any one finds he may +help himself to if he can. + +So Whitefoot began to fill his empty little stomach with some of those +seeds. He ate and ate and ate and quite forgot all his troubles. Just +as he felt that he hadn't room for another seed, he heard the sound of +claws outside on the trunk of the tree. In a flash he knew that Timmy +the Flying Squirrel was awake, and that it wouldn't do to be found in +there by him. In a jiffy Whitefoot was outside. He was just in time. +Timmy was almost up to the entrance. + +"Hi, there!" cried Timmy. "What were you doing in my storehouse?" + +"I--I--I was looking for a new home," stammered Whitefoot. + +"You mean you were stealing some of my food," snapped Timmy +suspiciously. + +"I--I--I did take a few seeds because I was almost starved. But truly I +was looking for a new home," replied Whitefoot. + +"What was the matter with your old home?" demanded Timmy. + +Then Whitefoot told Timmy all about how he had been obliged to leave his +old home because of Shadow the Weasel, of the terrible journey he had +had, and how he didn't know where to go or what to do. Timmy listened +suspiciously at first, but soon he made up his mind that Whitefoot was +telling the truth. The mere mention of Shadow the Weasel made him very +sober. + +He scratched his nose thoughtfully. "Over in that tall, dead stub you +can see from here is an old home of mine," said he. "No one lives in it +now. I guess you can live there until you can find a better home. But +remember to keep away from my storehouse." + +So it was that Whitefoot found a new home. + + + +CHAPTER XX: Whitefoot Makes Himself At Home + + Look not too much on that behind + Lest to the future you be blind. + --Whitefoot. + +Whitefoot didn't wait to be told twice of that empty house. He thanked +Timmy and then scampered over to that stub as fast as his legs would +take him. Up the stub he climbed, and near the top he found a little +round hole. Timmy had said no one was living there now, and so Whitefoot +didn't hesitate to pop inside. + +There was even a bed in there. It was an old bed, but it was dry and +soft. It was quite clear that no one had been in there for a long time. +With a little sigh of pure happiness, Whitefoot curled up in that bed +for the sleep he so much needed. His stomach was full, and once more he +felt safe. The very fact that this was an old house in which no one had +lived for a long time made it safer. Whitefoot knew that those who lived +in that part of the Green Forest probably knew that no one lived in that +old stub, and so no one was likely to visit it. + +He was so tired that he slept all night. Whitefoot is one of those who +sleeps when he feels sleepy, whether it be by day or night. He prefers +the night to be out and about in, because he feels safer then, but +he often comes out by day. So when he awoke in the early morning, he +promptly went out for a look about and to get acquainted with his new +surroundings. + +Just a little way off was the tall, dead tree in which Timmy the Flying +Squirrel had his home. Timmy was nowhere to be seen. You see, he had +been out most of the night and had gone to bed to sleep through the day. +Whitefoot thought longingly of the good things in Timmy's storehouse in +that same tree, but decided that it would be wisest to keep away from +there. So he scurried about to see what he could find for a breakfast. +It didn't take him long to find some pine cones in which a few seeds +were still clinging. These would do nicely. Whitefoot ate what he wanted +and then carried some of them back to his new home in the tall stub. + +Then he went to work to tear to pieces the old bed in there and make it +over to suit himself. It was an old bed of Timmy the Flying Squirrel, +for you know this was Timmy's old house. + +Whitefoot soon had the bed made over to suit him. And when this was done +he felt quite at home. Then he started out to explore all about within +a short distance of the old stub. He wanted to know every hole and every +possible hiding-place all around, for it is on such knowledge that his +life depends. + +When at last he returned home he was very well satisfied. "It is going +to be a good place to live," said he to himself. "There are plenty of +hiding-places and I am going to be able to find enough to eat. It will +be very nice to have Timmy the Flying Squirrel for a neighbor. I am sure +he and I will get along together very nicely. I don't believe Shadow +the Weasel, even if he should come around here, would bother to climb +up this old stub. He probably would expect to find me living down in the +ground or close to it, anyway. I certainly am glad that I am such a good +climber. Now if Buster Bear doesn't come along in the spring and pull +this old stub over, I'll have as fine a home as any one could ask for." + +And then, because happily it is the way with the little people of the +Green Forest and the Green Meadows, Whitefoot forgot all about his +terrible journey and the dreadful time he had had in finding his new +home. + + + +CHAPTER XXI: Whitefoot Envies Timmy + + A useless thing is envy; + A foolish thing to boot. + Why should a Fox who has a bark + Want like an Owl to hoot? + +Whitefoot was beginning to feel quite at home. He would have been wholly +contented but for one thing,--he had no well-filled storehouse. This +meant that each day he must hunt for his food. + +It wasn't that Whitefoot minded hunting for food. He would have done +that anyway, even though he had had close at hand a store-house with +plenty in it. But he would have felt easier in his mind. He would have +had the comfortable feeling that if the weather turned so bad that he +could not easily get out and about, he would not have to go hungry. + +But Whitefoot is a happy little fellow and wisely made the best of +things. At first he came out very little by day. He knew that there were +many sharp eyes watching for him, and that he was more likely to be seen +in the light of day than when the Black Shadows had crept all through +the Green Forest. + +He would peek out of his doorway and watch for chance visitors in the +daytime. Twice he saw Butcher the Shrike alight a short distance from +the tree in which Timmy lived. He knew Butcher had not forgotten that +he had chased a badly frightened Mouse into a hole in that tree. Once he +saw Whitey the Snowy Owl and so knew that Whitey had not yet returned to +the Far North. Once Reddy Fox trotted along right past the foot of the +old stub in which Whitefoot lived, and didn't even suspect that he +was anywhere near. Twice he saw Old Man Coyote trotting past, and once +Terror the Goshawk alighted on that very stub, and sat there for half an +hour. + +So Whitefoot formed the habit of doing just what Timmy the Flying +Squirrel did; he remained in his house for most of the day and came out +when the Black Shadows began to creep in among the trees. Timmy came out +about the same time, and they had become the best of friends. + +Now Whitefoot is not much given to envying others, but as night after +night he watched Timmy a little envy crept into his heart in spite of +all he could do. Timmy would nimbly climb to the top of a tree and then +jump. Down he would come in a long beautiful glide, for all the world as +if he were sliding on the air. + +The first time Whitefoot saw him do it he held his breath. He really +didn't know what to make of it. The nearest tree to the one from which +Timmy had jumped was so far away that it didn't seem possible any one +without wings could reach it without first going to the ground. + +"Oh!" squeaked Whitefoot. "Oh! he'll kill himself! He surely will kill +himself! He'll break his neck!" But Timmy did nothing of the kind. He +sailed down, down, down and alighted on that distant tree a foot or two +from the bottom; and without stopping a second scampered up to the top +of that tree and once more jumped. Whitefoot had hard work to believe +his own eyes. Timmy seemed to be jumping just for the pleasure of it. As +a matter of fact, he was. He was getting his evening exercise. + +Whitefoot sighed. "I wish I could jump like that," said he to himself. +"I wouldn't ever be afraid of anybody if I could jump like that. I envy +Timmy. I do so." + + + +CHAPTER XXII: Timmy Proves To Be A True Neighbor + + He proves himself a neighbor true + Who seeks a kindly deed to do. + --Whitefoot. + +Occasionally Timmy the Flying Squirrel came over to visit Whitefoot. If +Whitefoot was in his house he always knew when Timmy arrived. He would +hear a soft thump down near the bottom of the tall stub. He would know +instantly that thump was made by Timmy striking the foot of the stub +after a long jump from the top of a tree. Whitefoot would poke his head +out of his doorway and there, sure enough, would be Timmy scrambling up +towards him. + +Whitefoot had grown to admire Timmy with all his might. It seemed to +him that Timmy was the most wonderful of all the people he knew. You see +there was none of the others who could jump as Timmy could. Timmy on his +part enjoyed having Whitefoot for a neighbor. Few of the little people +of the Green Forest are more timid than Timmy the Flying Squirrel, but +here was one beside whom Timmy actually felt bold. It was such a new +feeling that Timmy enjoyed it. + +So it was that in the dusk of early evening, just after the Black +Shadows had come creeping out from the Purple Hills across the Green +Meadows and through the Green Forest, these two little neighbors would +start out to hunt for food. Whitefoot never went far from the tall, +dead stub in which he was now living. He didn't dare to. He wanted to be +where at the first sign of danger he could scamper back there to safety. +Timmy would go some distance, but he was seldom gone long. He liked to +be where he could watch and talk with Whitefoot. You see Timmy is very +much like other people,--he likes to gossip a little. + +One evening Whitefoot had found it hard work to find enough food to fill +his stomach. He had kept going a little farther and a little farther +from home. Finally he was farther from it than he had ever been before. +Timmy had filled his stomach and from near the top of a tree was +watching Whitefoot. Suddenly what seemed like a great Black Shadow +floated right over the tree in which Timmy was sitting, and stopped on +the top of a tall, dead tree. It was Hooty the Owl, and it was simply +good fortune that Timmy happened to see him. Timmy did not move. He knew +that he was safe so long as he kept perfectly still. He knew that Hooty +didn't know he was there. Unless he moved, those great eyes of Hooty's, +wonderful as they were, would not see him. + +Timmy looked over to where he had last seen Whitefoot. There he was +picking out seeds from a pine cone on the ground. The trunk of a tree +was between him and Hooty. But Timmy knew that Whitefoot hadn't seen +Hooty, and that any minute he might run out from behind that tree. If he +did Hooty would see him, and silently as a shadow would swoop down and +catch him. What was to be done? + +"It's no business of mine," said Timmy to himself. "Whitefoot must look +out for himself. It is no business of mine at all. Perhaps Hooty will +fly away before Whitefoot moves. I don't want anything to happen to +Whitefoot, but if something does, it will be his own fault; he should +keep better watch." + +For a few minutes nothing happened. Then Whitefoot finished the last +seed in that cone and started to look for more. Timmy knew that in +a moment Hooty would see Whitefoot. What do you think Timmy did? He +jumped. Yes, sir, he jumped. Down, down, down, straight past the tree +on which sat Hooty the Owl, Timmy sailed. Hooty saw him. Of course. He +couldn't help but see him. He spread his great wings and was after Timmy +in an instant. Timmy struck near the foot of a tree and without wasting +a second darted around to the other side. He was just in time. Hooty was +already reaching for him. Up the tree ran Timmy and jumped again. Again +Hooty was too late. And so Timmy led Hooty the Owl away from Whitefoot +the Wood Mouse. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII: Whitefoot Spends A Dreadful Night + + Pity those who suffer fright + In the dark and stilly night. + --Whitefoot. + +One night of his life Whitefoot will never forget so long as he lives. +Even now it makes him shiver just to think of it. Yes, sir, he shivers +even now whenever he thinks of that night. The Black Shadows had come +early that evening, so that it was quite dusk when Whitefoot crept out +of his snug little bed and climbed up to the round hole which was the +doorway of his home. He had just poked his nose out that little round +doorway when there was the most terrible sound. It seemed to him as if +it was in his very ears, so loud and terrible was it. It frightened him +so that he simply let go and tumbled backward down inside his house. Of +course it didn't hurt him any, for he landed on his soft bed. + +"Whooo-hoo-hoo, whooo-hoo!" came that terrible sound again, and +Whitefoot shook until his little teeth rattled. At least, that is the +way it seemed to him. It was the voice of Hooty the Owl, and Whitefoot +knew that Hooty was sitting on the top of that very stub. He was, so to +speak, on the roof of Whitefoot's house. + +Now in all the Green Forest there is no sound that strikes terror to +the hearts of the little people of feathers and fur equal to the hunting +call of Hooty the Owl. Hooty knows this. No one knows it better than he +does. That is why he uses it. He knows that many of the little people +are asleep, safely hidden away. He knows that it would be quite useless +for him to simply look for them. He would starve before he could find +a dinner in that way. But he knows that any one wakened from sleep +in great fright is sure to move, and if they do this they are almost +equally sure to make some little sound. His ears are so wonderful that +they can catch the faintest sound and tell exactly where it comes from. +So he uses that terrible hunting cry to frighten the little people and +make them move. + +Now Whitefoot knew that he was safe. Hooty couldn't possibly get at him, +even should he find out that he was in there. There was nothing to fear, +but just the same, Whitefoot shivered and shook and jumped almost out of +his skin every time that Hooty hooted. He just couldn't help it. + +"He can't get me. I know he can't get me. I'm perfectly safe. I'm just +as safe as if he were miles away. There's nothing to be afraid of. It is +silly to be afraid. Probably Hooty doesn't even know I am inside here. +Even if he does, it doesn't really matter." Whitefoot said these things +to himself over and over again. Then Hooty would send out that fierce, +terrible hunting call and Whitefoot would jump and shake just as before. + +After awhile all was still. Gradually Whitefoot stopped trembling. He +guessed that Hooty had flown away. Still he remained right where he was +for a very long time. He didn't intend to foolishly take any chances. So +he waited and waited and waited. + +At last he was sure that Hooty had left. Once more he climbed up to his +little round doorway and there he waited some time before poking even +his nose outside. Then, just as he had made up his mind to go out, that +terrible sound rang out again, and just as before he tumbled heels over +head down on his bed. + +Whitefoot didn't go out that night at all. It was a moonlight night and +just the kind of a night to be out. Instead Whitefoot lay in his little +bed and shivered and shook, for all through that long night every once +in a while Hooty the Owl would hoot from the top of that stub. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV: Whitefoot The Wood Mouse Is Unhappy + + Unhappiness without a cause you never, never find; + It may be in the stomach, or it may be in the mind. + --Whitefoot. + +Whitefoot the Wood Mouse should have been happy, but he wasn't. Winter +had gone and sweet Mistress Spring had brought joy to all the Green +Forest. Every one was happy, Whitefoot no less so than his neighbors at +first. Up from the Sunny South came the feathered friends and at once +began planning new homes. Twitterings and songs filled the air. Joy was +everywhere. Food became plentiful, and Whitefoot became sleek and fat. +That is, he became as fat as a lively Wood Mouse ever does become. None +of his enemies had discovered his new home, and he had little to worry +about. + +But by and by Whitefoot began to feel less joyous. Day by day he grew +more and more unhappy. He no longer took pleasure in his fine home. He +began to wander about for no particular reason. He wandered much farther +from home than he had ever been in the habit of doing. At times he would +sit and listen, but what he was listening for he didn't know. "There +is something the matter with me, and I don't know what it is," said +Whitefoot to himself forlornly. "It can't be anything I have eaten. I +have nothing to worry about. Yet there is something wrong with me. I'm +losing my appetite. Nothing tastes good any more. I want something, but +I don't know what it is I want." + +He tried to tell his troubles to his nearest neighbor, Timmy the Flying +Squirrel, but Timmy was too busy to listen. When Peter Rabbit happened +along, Whitefoot tried to tell him. But Peter himself was too happy and +too eager to learn all the news in the Green Forest to listen. No one +had any interest in Whitefoot's troubles. Every one was too busy with +his own affairs. + +So day by day Whitefoot the Wood Mouse grew more and more unhappy, and +when the dusk of early evening came creeping through the Green Forest, +he sat about and moped instead of running about and playing as he had +been in the habit of doing. The beautiful song of Melody the Wood Thrush +somehow filled him with sadness instead of with the joy he had always +felt before. The very happiness of those about him seemed to make him +more unhappy. + +Once he almost decided to go hunt for another home, but somehow he +couldn't get interested even in this. He did start out, but he had not +gone far before he had forgotten all about what he had started for. +Always he had loved to run about and climb and jump for the pure +pleasure of it, but now he no longer did these things. He was unhappy, +was Whitefoot. Yes, sir, he was unhappy; and for no cause at all so far +as he could see. + + + +CHAPTER XXV: Whitefoot Finds Out What The Matter Was + + Pity the lonely, for deep in the heart + Is an ache that no doctor can heal by his art. + --Whitefoot. + +Of all the little people of the Green Forest Whitefoot seemed to be the +only one who was unhappy. And because he didn't know why he felt so he +became day by day more unhappy. Perhaps I should say that night by night +he became more unhappy, for during the brightness of the day he slept +most of the time. + +"There is something wrong, something wrong," he would say over and over +to himself. + +"It must be with me, because everybody else is happy, and this is the +happiest time of all the year. I wish some one would tell me what ails +me. I want to be happy, but somehow I just can't be." + +One evening he wandered a little farther from home than usual. He wasn't +going anywhere in particular. He had nothing in particular to do. He was +just wandering about because somehow he couldn't remain at home. Not far +away Melody the Wood Thrush was pouring out his beautiful evening song. +Whitefoot stopped to listen. Somehow it made him more unhappy than +ever. Melody stopped singing for a few moments. It was just then that +Whitefoot heard a faint sound. It was a gentle drumming. Whitefoot +pricked up his ears and listened. There it was again. He knew instantly +how that sound was made. It was made by dainty little feet beating very +fast on an old log. Whitefoot had drummed that way himself many times. +It was soft, but clear, and it lasted only a moment. + +Right then something very strange happened to Whitefoot. Yes, sir, +something very strange happened to Whitefoot. All in a flash he felt +better. At first he didn't know why. He just did, that was all. Without +thinking what he was doing, he began to drum himself. Then he listened. +At first he heard nothing. Then, soft and low, came that drumming sound +again. Whitefoot replied to it. All the time he kept feeling better. He +ran a little nearer to the place from which that drumming sound had come +and then once more drummed. At first he got no reply. + +Then in a few minutes he heard it again, only this time it came from +a different place. Whitefoot became quite excited. He knew that that +drumming was done by another Wood Mouse, and all in a flash it came over +him what had been the matter with him. + +"I have been lonely!" exclaimed Whitefoot. "That is all that has been +the trouble with me. I have been lonely and didn't know it. I wonder if +that other Wood Mouse has felt the same way." + +Again he drummed and again came that soft reply. Once more Whitefoot +hurried in the direction of it, and once more he was disappointed when +the next reply came from a different place. By now he was getting quite +excited. He was bound to find that other Wood Mouse. Every time he heard +that drumming, funny little thrills ran all over him. He didn't know +why. They just did, that was all. He simply must find that other Wood +Mouse. He forgot everything else. He didn't even notice where he was +going. He would drum, then wait for a reply. As soon as he heard it, +he would scamper in the direction of it, and then pause to drum again. +Sometimes the reply would be very near, then again it would be so far +away that a great fear would fill Whitefoot's heart that the stranger +was running away. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI: Love Fills The Heart Of Whitefoot + + Joyous all the winds that blow + To the heart with love aglow. + --Whitefoot. + +It was a wonderful game of hide-and-seek that Whitefoot the Wood Mouse +was playing in the dusk of early evening. Whitefoot was "it" all the +time. That is, he was the one who had to do all the hunting. Just who he +was hunting for he didn't know. He knew it was another Wood Mouse, but +it was a stranger, and do what he would, he couldn't get so much as a +glimpse of this little stranger. He would drum with his feet and after a +slight pause there would be an answering drum. Then Whitefoot would run +as fast as he could in that direction only to find no one at all. Then +he would drum again and the reply would come from another direction. + +Every moment Whitefoot became more excited. He forgot everything, even +danger, in his desire to see that little drummer. Once or twice he +actually lost his temper in his disappointment. But this was only for +a moment. He was too eager to find that little drummer to be angry very +long. + +At last there came a time when there was no reply to his drumming. He +drummed and listened, then drummed again and listened. Nothing was to be +heard. There was no reply. Whitefoot's heart sank. + +All the old lonesomeness crept over him again. He didn't know which +way to turn to look for that stranger. When he had drummed until he +was tired, he sat on the end of an old log, a perfect picture of +disappointment. He was so disappointed that he could have cried if it +would have done any good. + +Just as he had about made up his mind that there was nothing to do but +to try to find his way home, his keen little ears caught the faintest +rustle of dry leaves. Instantly Whitefoot was alert and watchful. Long +ago he had learned to be suspicious of rustling leaves. They might have +been rustled by the feet of an enemy stealing up on him. No Wood Mouse +who wants to live long is ever heedless of rustling leaves. As still as +if he couldn't move, Whitefoot sat staring at the place from which that +faint sound had seemed to come. For two or three minutes he heard +and saw nothing. Then another leaf rustled a little bit to one side. +Whitefoot turned like a flash, his feet gathered under him ready for a +long jump for safety. + +At first he saw nothing. Then he became aware of two bright, soft little +eyes watching him. He stared at them very hard and then all over him +crept those funny thrills he had felt when he had first heard the +drumming of the stranger. He knew without being told that those eyes +belonged to the little drummer with whom he had been playing hide and +seek so long. + +Whitefoot held his breath, he was so afraid that those eyes would +vanish. Finally he rather timidly jumped down from the log and started +toward those two soft eyes. They vanished. Whitefoot's heart sank. He +was tempted to rush forward, but he didn't. He sat still. There was a +slight rustle off to the right. A little ray of moonlight made its way +down through the branches of the trees just there, and in the middle of +the light spot it made sat a timid little person. It seemed to Whitefoot +that he was looking at the most beautiful Wood Mouse in all the Great +World. Suddenly he felt very shy and timid himself. + +"Who--who--who are you?" he stammered. + +"I am little Miss Dainty," replied the stranger bashfully. + +Right then and there Whitefoot's heart was filled so full of something +that it seemed as if it would burst. It was love. All in that instant he +knew that he had found the most wonderful thing in all the Great World, +which of course is love. He knew that he just couldn't live without +little Miss Dainty. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII: Mr. And Mrs. Whitefoot + + When all is said and all is done + 'Tis only love of two makes one. + --Whitefoot. + +Little Miss Dainty, the most beautiful and wonderful Wood Mouse in all +the Great World, according to Whitefoot, was very shy and very timid. It +took Whitefoot a long time to make her believe that he really couldn't +live without her. At least, she pretended not to believe it. If the +truth were known, little Miss Dainty felt just the same way about +Whitefoot. But Whitefoot didn't know this, and I am afraid she teased +him a great deal before she told him that she loved him just as he loved +her. + +But at last little Miss Dainty shyly admitted that she loved Whitefoot +just as much as he loved her and was willing to become Mrs. Whitefoot. +Secretly she thought Whitefoot the most wonderful Wood Mouse in the +Great World, but she didn't tell him so. The truth is, she made him feel +as if she were doing him a great favor. + +As for Whitefoot, he was so happy that he actually tried to sing. Yes, +sir, Whitefoot tried to sing, and he really did very well for a Mouse. +He was ready and eager to do anything that Mrs. Whitefoot wanted to do. +Together they scampered about in the moonlight, hunting for good things +to eat, and poking their inquisitive little noses into every little +place they could find. Whitefoot forgot that he had ever been sad and +lonely. He raced about and did all sorts of funny things from pure joy, +but he never once forgot to watch out for danger. In fact he was more +watchful than ever, for now he was watching for Mrs. Whitefoot as well +as for himself. + +At last Whitefoot rather timidly suggested that they should go see his +fine home in a certain hollow stub. Mrs. Whitefoot insisted that they +should go to her home. Whitefoot agreed on condition that she +would afterwards visit his home. So together they went back to Mrs. +Whitefoot's home. Whitefoot pretended that he liked it very much, but +in his heart he thought his own home was very much better, and he felt +quite sure that Mrs. Whitefoot would agree with him once she had seen +it. + +But Mrs. Whitefoot was very well satisfied with her old home and not +at all anxious to leave it. It was in an old hollow stump close to the +ground. It was just such a place as Shadow the Weasel would be sure to +visit should he happen along that way. It didn't seem at all safe to +Whitefoot. In fact it worried him. Then, too, it was not in such a +pleasant place as was his own home. Of course he didn't say this, but +pretended to admire everything. + +Two days and nights they spent there. Then Whitefoot suggested that they +should visit his home. "Of course, my dear, we will not have to live +there unless you want to, but I want you to see it," said he. + +Mrs. Whitefoot didn't appear at all anxious to go. She began to make +excuses for staying right where they were. You see, she had a great love +for that old home. They were sitting just outside the doorway talking +about the matter when Whitefoot caught a glimpse of a swiftly moving +form not far off. It was Shadow the Weasel. Neither of them breathed. +Shadow passed without looking in their direction. When he was out of +sight, Mrs. Whitefoot shivered. + +"Let's go over to your home right away," she whispered. "I've never seen +Shadow about here before, but now that he has been here once, he may +come again." + +"We'll start at once," replied Whitefoot, and for once he was glad that +Shadow the Weasel was about. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII: Mrs. Whitefoot Decides On A Home + + When Mrs. Mouse makes up her mind + Then Mr. Mouse best get behind. + --Whitefoot. + +Whitefoot the Wood Mouse was very proud of his home. He showed it as he +led Mrs. Whitefoot there. He felt sure that she would say at once that +that would be the place for them to live. You remember that it was high +up in a tall, dead stub and had once been the home of Timmy the Flying +Squirrel. + +"There, my dear, what do you think of that?" said Whitefoot proudly as +they reached the little round doorway. + +Mrs. Whitefoot said nothing, but at once went inside. She was gone what +seemed a long time to Whitefoot, anxiously waiting outside. You see, +Mrs. Whitefoot is a very thorough small person, and she was examining +the inside of that house from top to bottom. At last she appeared at the +doorway. + +"Don't you think this is a splendid house?" asked Whitefoot rather +timidly. + +"It is very good of its kind," replied Mrs. Whitefoot. + +Whitefoot's heart sank. He didn't like the tone in which Mrs. Whitefoot +had said that. + +"Just what do you mean, my dear?" Whitefoot asked. + +"I mean," replied Mrs. Whitefoot, in a most decided way, "that it is a +very good house for winter, but it won't do at all for summer. That +is, it won't do for me. In the first place it is so high up that if we +should have babies, I would worry all the time for fear the darlings +would have a bad fall. Besides, I don't like an inside house for summer. +I think, Whitefoot, we must look around and find a new home." + +As she spoke Mrs. Whitefoot was already starting down the stub. +Whitefoot followed. + +"All right, my dear, all right," said he meekly. "You know best. This +seems to me like a very fine home, but of course, if you don't like it +we'll look for another." + +Mrs. Whitefoot said nothing, but led the way down the tree with +Whitefoot meekly following. Then began a patient search all about. Mrs. +Whitefoot appeared to know just what she wanted and turned up her nose +at several places Whitefoot thought would make fine homes. She hardly +glanced at a fine hollow log Whitefoot found. She merely poked her nose +in at a splendid hole beneath the roots of an old stump. Whitefoot +began to grow tired from running about and climbing stumps and trees and +bushes. + +He stopped to rest and lost sight of Mrs. Whitefoot. A moment later he +heard her calling excitedly. When he found her, she was up in a small +tree, sitting on the edge of an old nest a few feet above the ground. +It was a nest that had once belonged to Melody the Wood Thrush. Mrs. +Whitefoot was sitting on the edge of it, and her bright eyes snapped +with excitement and pleasure. + +"I've found it!" she cried. "I've found it! It is just what I have been +looking for." + +"Found what?" Whitefoot asked. "I don't see anything but an old nest of +Melody's." + +"I've found the home we've been looking for, stupid," retorted Mrs. +Whitefoot. + +Still Whitefoot stared. "I don't see any house," said he. + +Mrs. Whitefoot stamped her feet impatiently. "Right here, stupid," said +she. "This old nest will make us the finest and safest home that ever +was. No one will ever think of looking for us here. We must get busy at +once and fix it up." + +Even then Whitefoot didn't understand. Always he had lived either in a +hole in the ground, or in a hollow stump or tree. How they were to live +in that old nest he couldn't see at all. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX: Making Over An Old House + + A home is always what you make it. + With love there you will ne'er forsake it. + --Whitefoot. + +Whitefoot climbed up to the old nest of Melody the Wood Thrush over the +edge of which little Mrs. Whitefoot was looking down at him. It took +Whitefoot hardly a moment to get up there, for the nest was only a few +feet above the ground in a young tree, and you know Whitefoot is a very +good climber. + +He found Mrs. Whitefoot very much excited. She was delighted with +that old nest and she showed it. For his part, Whitefoot couldn't see +anything but a deserted old house of no use to any one. To be sure, it +had been a very good home in its time. It had been made of tiny twigs, +stalks of old weeds, leaves, little fine roots and mud. It was still +quite solid, and was firmly fixed in a crotch of the young tree. But +Whitefoot couldn't see how it could be turned into a home for a Mouse. +He said as much. + +Little Mrs. Whitefoot became more excited than ever. "You dear old +stupid," said she, "whatever is the matter with you? Don't you see that +all we need do is to put a roof on, make an entrance on the under side, +and make a soft comfortable bed inside to make it a delightful home?" + +"I don't see why we don't make a new home altogether," protested +Whitefoot. "It seems to me that hollow stub of mine is ever so much +better than this. That has good solid walls, and we won't have to do a +thing to it." + +"I told you once before that it doesn't suit me for summer," replied +little Mrs. Whitefoot rather sharply, because she was beginning to lose +patience. "It will be all right for winter, but winter is a long way +off. It may suit you for summer, but it doesn't suit me, and this place +does. So this is where we are going to live." + +"Certainly, my dear. Certainly," replied Whitefoot very meekly. "If you +want to live here, here we will live. But I must confess it isn't clear +to me yet how we are going to make a decent home out of this old nest." + +"Don't you worry about that," replied Mrs. Whitefoot. "You can get the +material, and I'll attend to the rest. Let us waste no time about it. I +am anxious to get our home finished and to feel a little bit settled. I +have already planned just what has got to be done and how we will do it. +Now you go look for some nice soft, dry weed stalks and strips of soft +bark, and moss and any other soft, tough material that you can find. +Just get busy and don't stop to talk." + +Of course Whitefoot did as he was told. He ran down to the ground +and began to hunt for the things Mrs. Whitefoot wanted. He was very +particular about it. He still didn't think much of her idea of making +over that old home of Melody's, but if she would do it, he meant that +she should have the very best of materials to do it with. + +So back and forth from the ground to the old nest in the tree Whitefoot +hurried, and presently there was quite a pile of weed stalks and +soft grass and strips of bark in the old nest. Mrs. Whitefoot joined +Whitefoot in hunting for just the right things, but she spent more time +in arranging the material. Over that old nest she made a fine high roof. +Down through the lower side she cut a little round doorway just big +enough for them to pass through. Unless you happened to be underneath +looking up, you never would have guessed there was an entrance at all. +Inside was a snug, round room, and in this she made the softest and +most comfortable of beds. As it began to look more and more like a home, +Whitefoot himself became as excited and eager as Mrs. Whitefoot had +been from the beginning. "It certainly is going to be a fine home," said +Whitefoot. + +"Didn't I tell you it would be?" retorted Mrs. Whitefoot. + + + +CHAPTER XXX: The Whitefoots Enjoy Their New Home + + No home is ever mean or poor + Where love awaits you at the door. + --Whitefoot. + +"There," said Mrs. Whitefoot, as she worked a strip of white birch bark +into the roof of the new home she and Whitefoot had been building out of +the old home of Melody the Wood Thrush, "this finishes the roof. I don't +think any water will get through it even in the hardest rain." + +"It is wonderful," declared Whitefoot admiringly. "Wherever did you +learn to build such a house as this?" + +"From my mother," replied Mrs. Whitefoot. "I was born in just such a +home. It makes the finest kind of a home for Wood Mouse babies." + +"You don't think there is danger that the wind will blow it down, do +you?" ventured Whitefoot. + +"Of course I don't," retorted little Mrs. Whitefoot scornfully. "Hasn't +this old nest remained right where it is for over a year? Do you suppose +that if I had thought there was the least bit of danger that it would +blow down, I would have used it? Do credit me with a little sense, my +dear." + +"Yes'm, I do," replied Whitefoot meekly. "You are the most sensible +person in all the Great World. I wasn't finding fault. You see, I have +always lived in a hole in the ground or a hollow stump, or a hole in +a tree, and I have not yet become used to a home that moves about and +rocks as this one does when the wind blows. But if you say it is all +right, why of course it is all right. Probably I will get used to it +after awhile." + +Whitefoot did get used to it. After living in it for a few days, it no +longer seemed strange, and he no longer minded its swaying when the wind +blew. The fact is, he rather enjoyed it. So Whitefoot and Mrs. Whitefoot +settled down to enjoy their new home. Now and then they added a bit to +it here and there. + +Somehow Whitefoot felt unusually safe, safer than he had ever felt in +any of his other homes. You see, he had seen several feathered folk +alight close to it and not give it a second look. He knew that they +had seen that home, but had mistaken it for what it had once been, the +deserted home of one of their own number. + +Whitefoot had chuckled. He had chuckled long and heartily. "If they make +that mistake," said he to himself, "everybody else is likely to make it. +That home of ours is right in plain sight, yet I do believe it is safer +than the best hidden home I ever had before. Shadow the Weasel never +will think of climbing up this little tree to look at an old nest, and +Shadow is the one I am most afraid of." + +It was only a day or two later that Buster Bear happened along that way. +Now Buster is very fond of tender Wood Mouse. More than once Whitefoot +had had a narrow escape from Buster's big claws as they tore open an old +stump or dug into the ground after him. He saw Buster glance up at the +new home without the slightest interest in those shrewd little eyes of +his. Then Buster shuffled on to roll over an old log and lick up the +ants he found under it. Again Whitefoot chuckled. "Yes, sir," said he. +"It is the safest home I 've ever had." + +So Whitefoot and little Mrs. Whitefoot were very happy in the home +which they had built, and for once in his life Whitefoot did very little +worrying. Life seemed more beautiful than it had ever been before. And +he almost forgot that there was such a thing as a hungry enemy. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI: Whitefoot Is Hurt + + The hurts that hardest are to bear + Come from those for whom we care. + --Whitefoot. + +Whitefoot was hurt. Yes, sir, Whitefoot was hurt. He was very much hurt. +It wasn't a bodily hurt; it was an inside hurt. It was a hurt that made +his heart ache. And to make it worse, he couldn't understand it at all. +One evening he had been met at the little round doorway by little Mrs. +Whitefoot. + +"You can't come in," said she. + +"Why can't I?" demanded Whitefoot, in the greatest surprise. + +"Never mind why. You can't, and that is all there is to it," replied +Mrs. Whitefoot. + +"You mean I can't ever come in any more?" asked Whitefoot. + +"I don't know about that," replied Mrs. Whitefoot, "but you can't come +in now, nor for some time. I think the best thing you can do is to go +back to your old home in the hollow stub." + +Whitefoot stared at little Mrs. Whitefoot quite as if he thought she +had gone crazy. Then he lost his temper. "I guess I'll come in if I want +to," said he. "This home is quite as much my home as it is yours. You +have no right to keep me out of it. Just you get out of my way." + +But little Mrs. Whitefoot didn't get out of his way, and do what he +would, Whitefoot couldn't get in. You see she quite filled that little +round doorway. Finally, he had to give up trying. Three times he came +back and each time he found little Mrs. Whitefoot in the doorway. And +each time she drove him away. Finally, for lack of any other place to +go to, he returned to his old home in the old stub. Once he had thought +this the finest home possible, but now somehow it didn't suit him at +all. The truth is he missed little Mrs. Whitefoot, and so what had once +been a home was now only a place in which to hide and sleep. + +Whitefoot's anger did not last long. It was replaced by that hurt +feeling. He felt that he must have done something little Mrs. Whitefoot +did not like, but though he thought and thought he couldn't remember a +single thing. Several times he went back to see if Mrs. Whitefoot felt +any differently, but found she didn't. Finally she told him rather +sharply to go away and stay away. After that Whitefoot didn't venture +over to the new home. He would sometimes sit a short distance away +and gaze at it longingly. All the joy had gone out of the beautiful +springtime for him. He was quite as unhappy as he had been before he met +little Mrs. Whitefoot. You see, he was even more lonely than he had been +then. And added to this loneliness was that hurt feeling, which made it +ever and ever so much worse. It was very hard to bear. + +"If I could understand it, it wouldn't be so bad," he kept saying +over and over again to himself, "but I don't understand it. I don't +understand why Mrs. Whitefoot doesn't love me any more." + + + +CHAPTER XXXII: The Surprise + + Surprises sometimes are so great + You're tempted to believe in fate. + --Whitefoot. + +One never-to-be forgotten evening Whitefoot met Mrs. Whitefoot and +she invited him to come back to their home. Of course Whitefoot was +delighted. + +"Sh-h-h," said little Mrs. Whitefoot, as Whitefoot entered the snug +little room of the house they had built in the old nest of Melody the +Wood Thrush. Whitefoot hesitated. In the first place, it was dark in +there. In the second place, he had the feeling that somehow that little +bedroom seemed crowded. It hadn't been that way the last time he was +there. Mrs. Whitefoot was right in front of him, and she seemed very +much excited about something. + +Presently she crowded to one side. "Come here and look," said she. + +Whitefoot looked. In the middle of a soft bed of moss was a squirming +mass of legs and funny little heads. At first that was all Whitefoot +could make out. + +"Don't you think this is the most wonderful surprise that ever was?" +whispered little Mrs. Whitefoot. "Aren't they darlings? Aren't you proud +of them?" + +By this time Whitefoot had made out that that squirming mass of legs +and heads was composed of baby Mice. He counted them. There were four. +"Whose are they, and what are they doing here?" Whitefoot asked in a +queer voice. + +"Why, you old stupid, they are yours,--yours and mine," declared little +Mrs. Whitefoot. "Did you ever, ever see such beautiful babies? Now I +guess you understand why I kept you away from here." + +Whitefoot shook his head. "No," said he, "I don't understand at all. I +don't see yet what you drove me away for." + +"Why, you blessed old dear, there wasn't room for you when those babies +came; I had to have all the room there was. It wouldn't have done to +have had you running in and out and disturbing them when they were so +tiny. I had to be alone with them, and that is why I made you go off and +live by yourself. I am so proud of them, I don't know what to do. Aren't +you proud, Whitefoot? Aren't you the proudest Wood Mouse in all the +Green Forest?" + +Of course Whitefoot should have promptly said that he was, but the truth +is, Whitefoot wasn't proud at all. You see, he was so surprised that +he hadn't yet had time to feel that they were really his. In fact, just +then he felt a wee bit jealous of them. It came over him that they would +take all the time and attention of little Mrs. Whitefoot. So Whitefoot +didn't answer that question. He simply sat and stared at those four +squirming babies. + +Finally little Mrs. Whitefoot gently pushed him out and followed him. +"Of course," said she, "there isn't room for you to stay here now. You +will have to sleep in your old home because there isn't room in here for +both of us and the babies too." + +Whitefoot's heart sank. He had thought that he was to stay and that +everything would be just as it had been before. "Can't I come over here +any more?" he asked rather timidly. + +"What a foolish question!" cried little Mrs. Whitefoot. "Of course you +can. You will have to help take care of these babies. Just as soon as +they are big enough, you will have to help teach them how to hunt for +food and how to watch out for danger, and all the things that a wise +Wood Mouse knows. Why, they couldn't get along without you. Neither +could I," she added softly. + +At that Whitefoot felt better. And suddenly there was a queer swelling +in his heart. It was the beginning of pride, pride in those wonderful +babies. + +"You have given me the best surprise that ever was, my dear," said +Whitefoot softly. "Now I think I will go and look for some supper." + +So now we will leave Whitefoot and his family. You see there are two +very lively little people of the Green Forest who demand attention and +insist on having it. They are Buster Bear's Twins, and this is to be the +title of the next book. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Whitefoot the Wood Mouse, by Thornton W. 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