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.