Lightfoot the Deer | Page 5

terrible
Spirit of Fear had not searched him out.
Far in the distance sounded a sudden bang. Peter jumped and shivered.
He knew that every one else who had heard that bang had jumped and
shivered just as he had. It was the season of hunters with terrible guns.
It was man who had sent this terrible Spirit of Fear to chill the hearts of
the little meadow and forest people at this very time when Old Mother
Nature had made all things so beautiful and had intended that they
should be happiest and most free from care and worry. It was man who
had made the autumn a sad time instead of a glad time, the very saddest
time of all the year, when Old Mother Nature had done her best to
make it the most beautiful.
"I don't understand these men creatures," said Peter to little Mrs. Peter,

as they stared fearfully out from the dear Old Briar-patch. "They seem
to find pleasure, actually find pleasure, in trying to kill us. I don't
understand them at all. They haven't any hearts. That must be the
reason; they haven't any hearts."

CHAPTER V
: Sammy Jay Brings Lightfoot Word
Sammy Jay is one of those who believe in the wisdom of the old saying,
"Early to bed and early to rise." Sammy needs no alarm clock to get up
early in the morning. He is awake as soon as it is light enough to see
and wastes no time wishing he could sleep a little longer. His stomach
wouldn't let him if he wanted to. Sammy always wakes up hungry. In
this he is no different from all his feathered neighbors.
So the minute Sammy gets his eyes open he makes his toilet, for
Sammy is very neat, and starts out to hunt for his breakfast. Long ago
Sammy discovered that there is no safer time of day to visit the
dooryards of those two-legged creatures called men than very early in
the morning. On this particular morning he had planned to fly over to
Farmer Brown's dooryard, but at the last minute he changed his mind.
Instead, he flew over to the dooryard of another farm. It was so very
early in the morning that Sammy didn't expect to find anybody stirring,
so you can guess how surprised he was when, just as he came in sight
of that dooryard, he saw the door of the house open and a man step out.
Sammy stopped on the top of the nearest tree. "Now what is that man
doing up as early as this?" muttered Sammy. Then he caught sight of
something under the man's arm. He didn't have to look twice to know
what it was. It was a gun! Yes, sir, it was a gun, a terrible gun.
"Ha!" exclaimed Sammy, and quite forgot that his stomach was empty.
"Now who can that fellow be after so early in the morning? I wonder if
he is going to the dear Old Briar-patch to look for Peter Rabbit, or if he
is going to the Old Pasture in search of Reddy Fox, or if it is Mr. and
Mrs. Grouse he hopes to kill. I think I'll sit right here and watch."
So Sammy sat in the top of the tree and watched the hunter with the
terrible gun. He saw him head straight for the Green Forest. "It's Mr.
and Mrs. Grouse after all, I guess," thought Sammy. "If I knew just
where they were I'd go over and warn them." But Sammy didn't know

just where they were and he knew that it might take him a long time to
find them, so he once more began to think of breakfast and then, right
then, another thought popped into his head. He thought of Lightfoot the
Deer.
Sammy watched the hunter enter the Green Forest, then he silently
followed him. From the way the hunter moved, Sammy decided that he
wasn't thinking of Mr. and Mrs. Grouse. "It's Lightfoot the Deer, sure
as I live," muttered Sammy. "He ought to be warned. He certainly
ought to be warned. I know right where he is. I believe I'll warn him
myself."
Sammy found Lightfoot right where he had expected to. "He's
coming!" cried Sammy. "A hunter with a terrible gun is coming!"

CHAPTER VI
: A Game Of Hide And Seek
There was a game of hide and seek that Danny Meadow Mouse once
played with Buster Bear. It was a very dreadful game for Danny. But
hard as it was for Danny, it didn't begin to be as hard as the game
Lightfoot the Deer was playing with the hunter in the Green Forest.
In the case of Buster Bear and Danny, the latter had simply