“I’ll fly up and take a look ’round,” said Laghupatin; and off he went to explore, coming back soon, to say he had seen the hunters disappearing a long distance off, going in quite another direction from the river. Gradually the deer was reassured, and lay still where he had fallen; whilst the three friends chatted away to him, telling him of their adventures. “What you had better do,” said the tortoise, “is to join us. When you have had a good meal, and a drink from the river, you will feel a different creature. My old friend Laghupatin will be the one to keep watch for us all, and warn us of any danger approaching; I will give you the benefit of my long experience; and little Hiranya, though he is not likely to be of any use to you, will certainly never do you any harm.” 9. Is it a good thing to make friends easily? 10. What was the bond of union between the crow, the mouse, the tortoise and the deer? CHAPTER VI The deer was so touched by the kind way in which he had been received, that he agreed to stop with the three friends; and for some weeks after his arrival all went well. Each member of the party went his own way during the day-time, but all four met together in the evening, and took it in turns to tell their adventures. The crow always had the most to say, and was very useful to the deer in warning him of the presence of hunters in the forest. One beautiful moonlight night the deer did not come back as usual, and the other three became very anxious about him. The crow flew up to the highest tree near and eagerly sought for some sign of his lost friend, of whom he had grown very fond. Presently he noticed a dark mass by the river-side, just where the deer used to go down to drink every evening. “That must be he,” thought the crow; and very soon he was hovering above the deer, who had been caught in a net and was struggling in vain to get free. The poor deer was very glad indeed to see the crow, and cried to him in a piteous voice: “Be quick, be quick, and help me, before the terrible hunters find me and kill me.” “I can do nothing for you myself,” said the crow, “but I know who can. Remember who saved the pigeons!” And away he flew to fetch little Hiranya, who with the tortoise was anxiously awaiting his return. Very soon Laghupatin was back by the river-side with the little mouse in his beak; and it did not take long for Hiranya, who had been despised by the deer and the tortoise as a feeble little thing, to nibble through the cords and save the life of the animal a hundred times as big as himself. How happy the deer was when the cruel cords were loosed and he could stretch out his limbs again! He bounded up, but took great care not to crush the mouse, who had done him such a service. “Never, never, never,” he said, “shall I forget what you have done for me. Ask anything in my power, and I will do it.” “I want nothing,” said Hiranya, “except the joyful thought of having saved you.”