A little spot of black moving against the white snow caught his sharp
eyes. What was it? He leaned forward and held his breath, as he tried to
make sure. Ah, now he could see! Just ahead of that black thing was a
long, slim fellow all in white, and that black spot was his tail. If it
hadn't been for that, Happy Jack very likely wouldn't have seen him at
all. It was Shadow the Weasel! He was running swiftly, first to one side
and then to the other, with his nose to the snow. He was hunting. There
was no doubt about that. He was hunting for his breakfast.
Happy Jack's eyes grew wide with fear. Would Shadow find his tracks? It
looked very much as if Shadow was heading for Happy Jack's house, and
Happy Jack was glad, very glad, that that bad dream had waked him and
made him so uneasy that he had come out. Otherwise he might have been
caught right in his own bed. Shadow was almost at Happy Jack's house
when he stopped abruptly with his nose to the snow and sniffed eagerly.
Then he turned, and with his nose to the snow, started straight toward
the tree where Happy Jack was. Happy Jack waited to see no more. He knew
now that Shadow had found his trail and that it was to be a case of run
for his life.
"My dream has come true!" he sobbed as he ran. "My dream has come true,
and I don't know what to do!" But all the time he kept on running as
fast as ever he could, which really was the only thing to do.
CHAPTER XXV
HAPPY JACK HAS A HAPPY THOUGHT
Who runs when danger comes his way
Will live to run some other day.
_Happy Jack._
Frightened and breathless, running with all his might from Shadow the
Weasel, Happy Jack Squirrel was in despair. He didn't know what to do or
where to go. The last time he had run from Shadow he had run to Farmer
Brown's boy, who had just happened to be near, and Farmer Brown's boy
had chased Shadow the Weasel away. But now it was too early in the
morning for him to expect to meet Farmer Brown's boy. In fact, jolly,
round, red Mr. Sun had hardly kicked his bedclothes off yet, and Happy
Jack was very sure that Farmer Brown's boy was still asleep.
Now most of us are creatures of habit. We do the thing that we have been
in the habit of doing, and do it without thinking anything about it.
That is why good habits are such a blessing. Happy Jack Squirrel is just
like the rest of us. He has habits, both good and bad. Of late, he had
been in the habit of getting his breakfast at Farmer Brown's house every
morning, so now when he began to run from Shadow the Weasel he just
naturally ran in the direction of Farmer Brown's house from force of
habit. In fact, he was halfway there before he realized in which
direction he was running.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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