Whitefoot the Wood Mouse | Page 7

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