A GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK
There was a game of hide and seek that Danny Meadow Mouse once played
with Buster Bear. It was a very dreadful game for Danny. But hard as it
was for Danny, it didn't begin to be as hard as the game Lightfoot the
Deer was playing with the hunter in the Green Forest.
In the case of Buster Bear and Danny, the latter had simply to keep out
of reach of Buster. As long as Buster didn't get his great paws on
Danny, the latter was safe. Then, too, Danny is a very small person. He
is so small that he can hide under two or three leaves. Wherever he is,
he is pretty sure to find a hiding-place of some sort. His small size
gives him advantages in a game of hide and seek. It certainly does. But
Lightfoot the Deer is big. He is one of the largest of the people who
live in the Green Forest. Being so big, it is not easy to hide.
Moreover, a hunter with a terrible gun does not have to get close in
order to kill. Lightfoot knew all this as he waited for the coming of
the hunter of whom Sammy Jay had warned him. He had learned many lessons
in the hunting season of the year before and he remembered every one of
them. He knew that to forget even one of them might cost him his life.
So, standing motionless behind a tangle of fallen trees, Lightfoot
listened and watched.
Presently over in the distance he heard Sammy Jay screaming, "Thief,
thief, thief!" A little sigh of relief escaped Lightfoot. He knew that
that screaming of Sammy Jay's was a warning to tell him where the hunter
was. Knowing just where the hunter was made it easier for Lightfoot to
know what to do.
A Merry Little Breeze came stealing through the Green Forest. It came
from behind Lightfoot and danced on towards the hunter with the terrible
gun. Instantly Lightfoot began to steal softly away through the Green
Forest. He took the greatest care to make no sound. He went in a
half-circle, stopping every few steps to listen and test the air with
his wonderful nose. Can you guess what Lightfoot was trying to do? He
was trying to get behind the hunter so that the Merry Little Breezes
would bring to him the dreaded man-scent. So long as Lightfoot could get
that scent, he would know where the hunter was, though he could neither
see nor hear him. If he had remained where Sammy Jay had found him, the
hunter might have come within shooting distance before Lightfoot could
have located him.
So the hunter with the terrible gun walked noiselessly through the Green
Forest, stepping with the greatest care to avoid snapping a stick
underfoot, searching with keen eye every thicket and likely hiding-place
for a glimpse of Lightfoot, and studying the ground for traces to show
that Lightfoot had been there.