XXXVIII AN UNSEEN WATCHER 190 XXXIX LIGHTFOOT DISCOVERS LOVE 195 XL HAPPY DAYS IN THE GREEN FOREST 200 ILLUSTRATIONS Wonderfully handsome was Lightfoot the Deer. Frontispiece FACING PAGE "I don't understand these men creatures," said Peter to little Mrs. Peter. 28 "My, but that's a beautiful set of antlers you have!" 71 "I tell you what it is," said Sammy Jay to Bobby Coon, "something has happened to Lightfoot." 143 LIGHTFOOT THE DEER CHAPTER I PETER RABBIT MEETS LIGHTFOOT Peter Rabbit was on his way back from the pond of Paddy the Beaver deep in the Green Forest. He had just seen Mr. and Mrs. Quack start toward the Big River for a brief visit before leaving on their long, difficult journey to the far-away Southland. Farewells are always rather sad, and this particular farewell had left Peter with a lump in his throat,--a queer, choky feeling. "If I were sure that they would return next spring, it wouldn't be so bad," he muttered. "It's those terrible guns. I know what it is to have to watch out for them. Farmer Brown's boy used to hunt me with one of them, but he doesn't any more. But even when he did hunt me it wasn't anything like what the Ducks have to go through. If I kept my eyes and ears open, I could tell when a hunter was coming and could hide in a hole if I wanted to. I never had to worry about my meals. But with the Ducks it is a thousand times worse. They've got to eat while making that long journey, and they can eat only where there is the right kind of food. Hunters with terrible guns know where those places are and hide there until the Ducks come, and the Ducks have no way of knowing whether the hunters are waiting for them or not. That isn't hunting. It's--it's--" "Well, what is it? What are you talking to yourself about, Peter Rabbit?" Peter looked up with a start to find the soft, beautiful eyes of Lightfoot the Deer gazing down at him over the top of a little hemlock tree. "It's awful," declared Peter. "It's worse than unfair. It doesn't give them any chance at all." "I suppose it must be so if you say so," replied Lightfoot, "but you might tell me what all this awfulness is about." Peter grinned. Then he began at the beginning and told Lightfoot all about Mr. and Mrs. Quack and the many dangers they must face on their long journey to the far-away Southland and back again in the spring, all because of the heartless hunters with terrible guns. Lightfoot listened and his great soft eyes were filled with pity for the Quack family.