Books: Lightfoot the Deer
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Thornton W. Burgess >> Lightfoot the Deer
Lightfoot put his nose to the footprints and sniffed of them.
Even had he not known by looking at those prints that they
had been made by a stranger, his nose would have told him this.
A great longing to find the maker of those footprints took
possession of him. He lifted his handsome head and listened for
some slight sound which might show that the stranger was near.
With his delicate nostrils he tested the wandering little Night
Breezes for a stray whiff of scent to tell him which way to go.
But there was no sound and the wandering little Night Breezes told
him nothing. Lightfoot followed the dainty footprints up the bank.
There they disappeared, for the ground was hard. Lightfoot paused,
undecided which way to go.
CHAPTER XXXII: Lightfoot Sees The Stranger
Lightfoot the Deer was unhappy. It was a strange unhappiness,
an unhappiness such as he had never known before. You see, he had
discovered that there was a stranger in the Green Forest, a
stranger of his own kind, another Deer. He knew it by dainty
footprints in the mud along the Laughing Brook and on the edge of
the pond of Paddy the Beaver. He knew it by other signs which he
ran across every now and then. But search as he would, he was
unable to find that newcomer. He had searched everywhere but
always he was just too late. The stranger had been and gone.
Now there was no anger in Lightfoot's desire to find that
stranger. Instead, there was a great longing. For the first time
in his life Lightfoot felt lonely. So he hunted and hunted and
was unhappy. He lost his appetite. He slept little. He roamed
about uneasily, looking, listening, testing every Merry Little
Breeze, but all in vain.
Then, one never-to-be-forgotten night, as he drank at the
Laughing Brook, a strange feeling swept over him. It was the
feeling of being watched. Lightfoot lifted his beautiful head and
a slight movement caught his quick eye and drew it to a thicket
not far away. The silvery light of gentle Mistress Moon fell full
on that thicket, and thrust out from it was the most beautiful
head in all the Great World. At least, that is the way it seemed
to Lightfoot, though to tell the truth it was not as beautiful as
his own, for it was uncrowned by antlers. For a long minute
Lightfoot stood gazing. A pair of wonderful, great, soft eyes
gazed back at him. Then that beautiful head disappeared.
With a mighty bound, Lightfoot cleared the Laughing Brook and
rushed over to the thicket in which that beautiful head had
disappeared. He plunged in, but there was no one there.
Frantically he searched, but that thicket was empty. Then he
tood still and listened. Not a sound reached him. It was as
still as if there were no other living things in all the Green
Forest. The beautiful stranger had slipped away as silently as
a shadow.
All the rest of that night Lightfoot searched through the Green
Forest but his search was in vain. The longing to find that
beautiful stranger had become so great that he fairly ached with it.
It seemed to him that until he found her he could know no happiness.
CHAPTER XXXIII: A Different Game Of Hide And Seek
Once more Lightfoot the Deer was playing hide and seek in the
Green Forest. But it was a very different game from the one he
had played just a short time before. ou remember that then it
had been for his life that he had played, and he was the one who
had done all the hiding. Now, he was "it", and some one else was
doing the hiding. Instead of the dreadful fear which had filled
him in that other game, he was now filled with longing, --
longing to find and make friends with the beautiful stranger of
whom he had just once caught a glimpse, but of whom every day he
found tracks.
At times Lightfoot would lose his temper. Yes, Sir, Lightfoot
would lose his temper. That was a foolish thing to do, but it
seemed to him that he just couldn't help it. He would stamp his
feet angrily and thrash the bushes with his great spreading
antlers as if they were an enemy with whom he was fighting.
More than once when he did this a pair of great, soft, gentle eyes
were watching him, though he didn't know it. If he could have
seen them and the look of admiration in them, he would have been
more eager than ever to find that beautiful stranger.
At other times Lightfoot would steal about through the Green
Forest as noiselessly as a shadow. He would peer into thickets
and behind tangles of fallen trees and brush piles, hoping to
surprise the one he sought. He would be very, very patient.
Perhaps he would come to the thicket which he knew from
the signs the stranger had left only a few moments before.
Then his patience would vanish in impatience, and he would dash ahead,
eager to catch up with the shy stranger. But always it was in vain.
He had thought himself very clever but this stranger was proving
herself more clever.
Of course it wasn't long before all the little people in the
Green Forest knew what was going on. They knew all about that
game of hide and seek just as they had known all about that other
game of hide and seek with the hunters. But now, instead of
trying to help Lightfoot as they did then, they gave him no help
at all. The fact is, they were enjoying that game. Mischievous
Sammy Jay even went so far as to warn the stranger several times
when Lightfoot was approaching. Of course Lightfoot knew when
Sammy did this, and each time he lost his temper. For the time
being, he quite forgot all that Sammy had done for him when he
was the one that was being hunted.
Once Lightfoot almost ran smack into Buster Bear and was so
provoked by his own carelessness that instead of bounding away he
actually threatened to fight Buster. But when Buster grinned
goodnaturedly at him, Lightfoot thought better of it and bounded
away to continue his search.
Then there were times when Lightfoot would sulk and would declare
over and over to himself, "I don't care anything about that
stranger. I won't spend another minute looking for her." And then
within five minutes he would be watching, listening and seeking
some sign that she was still in the Green Forest.
CHAPTER XXXIV: A Startling New Footprint
The game of hide and seek between Lightfoot the Deer and the
beautiful stranger whose dainty footprints had first started
Lightfoot to seeking her had been going on for several days and
nights when Lightfoot found something which gave him a shock.
He had stolen very softly clown to the Laughing Brook, hoping to
surprise the beautiful stranger drinking there. She wasn't to be
seen. Lightfoot wondered if she had been there, so looked in the
mud at the edge of the Laughing Brook to see if there were any
fresh prints of those dainty feet. Almost at once he discovered
fresh footprints. They were not the prints he was looking for.
No, Sir, they were not the dainty prints he had learned to
know so well. They were prints very near the size of his own big
ones, and they had been made only a short time before.
The finding of those prints was a dreadful shock to Lightfoot.
He understood instantly what they meant. They meant that a second
stranger had come into the Green Forest, one who had antlers like
his own. Jealousy took possession of Lightfoot the Deer; jealousy
that filled his heart with rage.
"He has come here to seek that beautiful stranger I have been
hunting for," thought Lightfoot. "He has come here to try to
steal her away from me. He has no right here in my Green
Forest. He belongs back up on the Great Mountain from which he
must have come, for there is no other place he could have come
from. That is where that beautiful stranger must have come from,
too. I want her to stay, but I must drive this fellow out.
I'll make him fight. That's what I'll do; I'll make him fight!
I'm not afraid of him, but I'll make him fear me."
Lightfoot stamped his feet and with his great antlers thrashed
the bushes as if he felt that they were the enemy he
sought. Could you have looked into his great eyes then, you
would have found nothing soft and beautiful about them.
They became almost red with anger. Lightfoot quivered all over
with rage. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. Lightfoot
the Deer looked anything but gentle.
After he had vented his spite for a few minutes on the harmless,
helpless bushes, he threw his head high in the air and whistled
angrily. Then he leaped over the Laughing Brook and once more
began to search through the Green Forest. But this time it was
not for the beautiful stranger with the dainty feet. He had no
time to think of her now. He must first find this newcomer and he
meant to waste no time in doing it.
CHAPTER XXXV: Lightfoot Is Reckless
In his search for the new stranger who had come to the Green
Forest, Lightfoot the Deer was wholly reckless. He no longer
stole like a gray shadow from thicket to thicket as he had done
when searching for the beautiful stranger with the dainty
feet. He bounded along, careless of how much noise he made.
>From time to time he would stop to whistle a challenge and to clash
his horns against the trees and stamp the ground with his feet.
After such exhibitions of anger he would pause to listen, hoping
to hear some sound which would tell him where the stranger was.
Now and then he found the stranger's tracks, and from them
he knew that this stranger was doing: just what he had been
doing, seeking to find the beautiful newcomer with the dainty
feet. Each time he found these signs Lightfoot's rage increased.
Of course it didn't take Sammy Jay long to discover what was
going on. There is little that escapes those sharp eyes of Sammy
Jay. As you know, he had early discovered the game of hide and
seek Lightfoot had been playing with the beautiful young visitor
who had come down to the Green Forest from the Great
Mountain. Then, by chance, Sammy had visited the Laughing Brook
just as the big stranger had come down there to drink. For once
Sammy had kept his tongue still. "There is going to be excitement
here when Lightfoot discovers this fellow," thought Sammy. "If
they ever meet, and I have a feeling that they will, there is
going to be a fight worth seeing. I must pass the word around."
So Sammy Jay hunted up his cousin, Blacky the Crow, and told him
what he had discovered. Then he hunted up Bobby Coon and told him.
He saw Unc' Billy Possum sitting in the doorway of his hollow
tree and told him. He discovered Jumper the Hare sitting
under a little hemlock-tree and told him. Then he flew over to
the dear Old Briar-patch to tell Peter Rabbit. Of course he told
Drummer the Woodpecker, Tommy Tit the Chickadee, and Yank Yank
the Nuthatch, who were over in the Old Orchard, and they at once
hurried to the Green Forest, for they couldn't think of missing
anything so exciting as would be the meeting between Lightfoot
and the big stranger from the Great Mountain.
Sammy didn't forget to tell Paddy the Beaver, but it was no news
to Paddy. Paddy had seen the big stranger on the edge of his pond
early the night before.
Of course, Lightfoot knew nothing about all this. His one thought
was to find that big stranger and drive him from the Green Forest,
and so he continued his search tirelessly.
CHAPTER XXXVI: Sammy Jay Takes A Hand
Sammy Jay was bubbling over with excitement as he flew about through
the Green Forest, following Lightfoot the Deer. He was so excited
he wanted to scream. But he didn't. He kept his tongue still.
You see, he didn't want Lightfoot to know that he was being followed.
Under that pointed cap of Sammy Jay's are quick wits. It didn't
take him long to discover that the big stranger whom Lightfoot
was seeking was doing his best to keep out ofLightfoot's way and
that he was having no difficulty in doing so because of the reckless
way in which Lightfoot was searching for him. Lightfoot made so
much noise that it was quite easy to know just where he was and
so keep out of his sight.
"That stranger is nearly as big as Lightfoot, but it is very
plain that he doesn't want to fight," thought Sammy. "He must be
a coward."
Now the truth is, the stranger was not a coward. He was ready and
willing to fight if he had to, but if he could avoid fighting he
meant to. You see, big as he was, he wasn't quite so big as
Lightfoot, and he knew it. He had seen Lightfoot's big
footprints, and from their size he knew that Lightfoot must be
bigger and heavier than he. Then, too, he knew that he really
had no right to be there in the Green Forest. That was
Lightfoot's home and so he was an intruder. He knew that
Lightfoot would feel this way about it and that this would make
him fight all the harder. So the big stranger wanted to avoid a
fight if possible. But he wanted still more to find that
beautiful young visitor with the dainty feet for whom Lightfoot
had been looking. He wanted to find her just as Lightfoot wanted
to find her, and he hoped that if he did find her, he could take
her away with him back to the Great Mountain. If he had to, he
would fight for her, but until he had to he would keep out of the
fight. So he dodged Lightfoot and at the same time looked for the
beautiful stranger.
All this Sammy Jay guessed, and after a while he grew tired of
following Lightfoot for nothing. "I'll have to take a hand in
this thing myself," muttered Sammy. "At this rate, Lightfoot
never will find that big stranger!"
So Sammy stopped following Lightfoot and began to search through
the Green Forest for the big stranger. It didn't take very long
to find him. He was over near the pond of Paddy the Beaver.
As soon as he saw him, Sammy began to scream at the top of his
lungs. At once he heard the sound of snapping twigs at the top of
a little ridge back of Paddy's pond and knew that Lightfoot had
heard and understood.
CHAPTER XXXVII: The Great Fight
Down from the top of the ridge back of the pond of Paddy the
Beaver plunged Lightfoot the Deer, his eyes blazing with rage.
He had understood the screaming of Sammy Jay. He knew that somewhere
down there was the big stranger he had been looking for.
The big stranger had understood Sammy's screaming quite as well
as Lightfoot. He knew that to run away now would be to prove
himself a coward and forever disgrace himself in the eyes of Miss
Daintyfoot, for that was the name of the beautiful stranger he
had been seeking. He MUST fight. There was no way out of it, he
MUST fight. The hair on the back of his neck stood up with anger
just as did the hair on the neck of Lightfoot. His eyes also
blazed. He bounded out into a little open place by the pond of
Paddy the Beaver and there he waited.
Meanwhile Sammy Jay was flying about in the greatest excitement,
screaming at the top of his lungs, "A fight! A fight! A fight!"
Blacky the Crow, over in another part of the Green Forest, heard
him and took up the cry and at once hurried over to Paddy's pond.
Everybody who was near enough hurried there. Bobby Coon and
Unc' Billy Possum climbed trees from which they could see and at
the same time be safe. Billy Mink hurried to a safe place on the
dam of Paddy the Beaver. Paddy himself climbed up on the roof of
his house out in the pond. Peter Rabbit and Jumper the Hare, who
happened to be not far away, hurried over where they could peep
out from under some young hemlock-trees. Buster Bear shuffled
down the hill and watched from the other side of the pond.
Reddy and Granny Fox were both there.
For what seemed like the longest time, but which was for only a
minute, Lightfoot and the big stranger stood still, glaring at
each other. Then, snorting with rage, they lowered their heads
and plunged together. Their antlers clashed with a noise that
rang through the Green Forest, and both fell to their knees.
There they pushed and struggled. Then they separated and backed
away, to repeat the movement over again. It was a terrible fight.
Everybody said so. If they had not known before, everybody
knew now what those great antlers were for. Once the big stranger
managed to reach Lightfoot's right shoulder with one of the sharp
points of his antlers and made a long tear in Lightfoot's gray
coat. It only made Lightfoot fight harder.
Sometimes they would rear up and strike with their sharp
hoofs. Back and forth they plunged, and the ground was torn up by
their feet. Both were getting out of breath, and from time to
time they had to stop for a moment's rest. Then they would come
together again more fiercely than ever. Never had such a fight
been seen in the Green Forest.
CHAPTER XXXVIII: An Unseen Watcher
As Lightfoot the Deer and the big stranger from the Great
Mountain fought in the little opening near the pond of Paddy the
Beaver, neither knew or cared who saw them. Each was filled fully
with rage and determined to drive the other from the Green Forest.
Each was fighting for the right to win the love of Miss Daintyfoot.
Neither of them knew that Miss Daintyfoot herself was watching
them. But she was. She had heard the clash of their great antlers
as they had come together the first time, and she had known
exactly what it meant. Timidly she had stolen forward to a
thicket where, safely hidden, she could watch that terrible
fight. She knew that they were fighting for her. Of course.
She knew it just as she had known how both had been hunting for her.
What she didn't know for some time was which one she wantedto win
that fight.
Both Lightfoot and the big stranger were handsome. Yes, indeed,
they were very handsome. Lightfoot was just a little bit the
bigger and it seemed to her just a little bit the handsomer.
She almost wanted him to win. Then, when she saw how bravely the
big stranger was fighting and how well he was holding his own, even
though he was a little smaller than Lightfoot, she almost hoped
he would win.
That great fight lasted a long time. To pretty Miss Daintyfoot
it seemed that it never would end. But after a while Lightfoot's
greater size and strength began to tell. Little by little the big
stranger was forced back towards the edge of the open place.
Now he would be thrown to his knees when Lightfoot wasn't.
As Lightfoot saw this, he seemed to gain new strength. At last
he caught the stranger in such a way that he threw him over.
While the stranger struggled to get to his feet again, Lightfoot's
sharp antlers made long tears in his gray coat. The stranger was
beaten and he knew it. The instant he succeeded in getting to his
feet he turned tail and plunged for the shelter of the Green
Forest. With a snort of triumph, Lightfoot plunged after him.
But now that he was beaten, fear took possession of the
stranger. All desire to fight left him. His one thought was to
get away, and fear gave him speed. Straight back towards the
Great Mountain from which he had come the stranger headed.
Lightfoot followed only a short distance. He knew that
that stranger was going for good and would not come back.
Then Lightfoot turned back to the open place where they had
fought. There he threw up his beautiful head, crowned by its
great antlers, and whistled a challenge to all the Green Forest.
As she looked at him, Miss Daintyfoot knew that she had
wanted him to win. She knew that there simply couldn't be anybody
else so handsome and strong and brave in all the Great World.
CHAPTER XXXIX: Lightfoot Discovers Love
Wonderfully handsome was Lightfoot the Deer as he stood in the
little opening by the pond of Paddy the Beaver, his head thrown
back proudly, as he received the congratulations of his neighbors
of the Green Forest who had seen him win the great fight with
the big stranger who had come down from the Great Mountain.
To beautiful Miss Daintyfoot, peeping out from the thicket where
she had hidden to watch the great fight, Lightfoot was the most
wonderful person in all the Great World. She adored him, which
means that she loved him just as much as it was possible for her
to love.
But Lightfoot didn't know this. In fact, he didn't know that Miss
Daintyfoot was there. His one thought had been to drive out of
the Green Forest the big stranger who had come down from the
Great Mountain. He had been jealous of that big stranger,
though he hadn't known that he was jealous. The real cause of his
anger and desire to fight had been the fear that the big stranger
would find Miss Daintyfoot and take her away. Of course this was
nothing but jealousy.
Now that the great fight was over, and he knew that the big
stranger was hurrying back to the Great Mountain, all Lightfoot's
anger melted away. In its place was a great longing to find Miss
Daintyfoot. His great eyes became once more soft and
beautiful. In them was a look of wistfulness. Lightfoot walked
down to the edge of the water and drank, for he was very, very
thirsty. Then he turned, intending to take up once more his
search for beautiful Miss Daintyfoot.
When he turned he faced the thicket in which Miss Daintyfoot was
hiding. His keen eyes caught a little movement of the branches. A
beautiful head was slowly thrust out, and Lightfoot gazed again
into a pair of soft eyes which he was sure were the most
beautiful eyes in all the Great World. He wondered if she would
disappear and run away as she had the last time he saw her.
He took a step or two forward. The beautiful head was
withdrawn. Lightfoot's heart sank. Then he bounded forward into
that thicket. He more than half expected to find no one there,
but when he entered that thicket he received the most wonderful
surprise in all his life. There stood Miss Daintyfoot, timid,
bashful, but with a look in her eyes which Lightfoot could not
mistake. In that instant Light-foot understood the meaning of
that longing which had kept him hunting for her and of the rage
which had filled him when he had discovered the presence of the
big stranger from the Great Mountain. It was love. Lightfoot knew
that he loved Miss Daintyfoot and, looking into her soft, gentle
eyes, he knew that Miss Daintyfoot loved him.
CHAPTER XL: Happy Days In The Green Forest
These were happy days in the Green Forest. At least, they were
happy for Lightfoot the Deer. They were the happiest days he had
ever known. You see, he had won beautiful, slender, young Miss
Daintyfoot, and now she was no longer Miss Daintyfoot but
Mrs. Lightfoot. Lightfoot was sure that there was no one anywhere
so beautiful as she, and Mrs. Lightfoot knew that there was no
one so handsome and brave as he.
Wherever Lightfoot went, Mrs. Lightfoot went. He showed her all
his favorite hiding-places. He led her to his favorite
eating-places. She did not tell him that she was already
acquainted with every one of them, that she knew the Green Forest
quite as well as he did. If he had stopped to think how day after
day she had managed to keep out of his sight while he hunted for
her, he would have realized that there was little he could show
her which she did not already know. But he didn't stop to think
and proudly led her from place to place. And Mrs. Lightfoot wisely
expressed delight with all she saw quite as if it were all new.
Of course, all the little people of the Green Forest hurried to
pay their respects to Mrs. Lightfoot and to tell Lightfoot how
glad they felt for him. And they really did feel glad. You see,
they all loved Lightfoot and they knew that now he would be
happier than ever, and that there would be no danger of his
leaving the Green Forest because of loneliness. The Green Forest
would not be the same at all without Lightfoot the Deer.
Lightfoot told Mrs. Lightfoot all about the terrible days of the
hunting season and how glad he was that she had not been in the
Green Forest then. He told her how the hunters with terrible guns
had given him no rest and how he had had to swim the Big River to
get away from the hounds.
"I know," replied Mrs. Lightfoot softly. "I know all about
it. You see, there were hunters on the Great Mountain. In fact,
that is how I happened to come down to the Green Forest. They
hunted me so up there that I did not dare stay, and I came down
here thinking that there might be fewer hunters. I wouldn't have
believed that I could ever be thankful to hunters for anything,
but I am, truly I am."
There was a puzzled look on Lightfoot's face. "What for?" he
demanded. "I can't imagine anybody being thankful to hunters for
anything."
"Oh, you stupid," cried Mrs. Lightfoot. "Don't you see that if I
hadn't been driven down from the Great Mountain, I never would
have found YOU?"
"You mean, I never would have found YOU," retorted Lightfoot.
"I guess I owe these hunters more than you do. I owe them the
greatest happiness I have ever known, but I never would have
thought of it myself. Isn't it queer how things which seem the
very worst possible sometimes turn out to be the very best
possible?"
Blacky the Crow is one of Lightfoot's friends, but sometimes even
friends are envious. It is so with Blacky. He insists that he is
quite as important in the Green Forest as is Lightfoot and that
his doings are quite as interesting. Therefore just to please him
the next book is to be Blacky the Crow.