Lightfoot the DeerBurgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
General
Lightfoot the Deer
Burgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
Deer -- Fiction; Forest animals -- Fiction
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 wanted to win
that fight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account