Suddenly off among the trees something moved. At least, Jumper thought
he saw something move. Yes, there it was, a little black spot moving
swiftly this way and that way over the snow. Jumper stared very hard.
And then his heart seemed to jump right up in his throat. It did so. He
felt as if he would choke. That black spot was the tip end of a tail,
the tail of a small, very slim fellow dressed all in white, the only
other one in all the Green Forest who dresses all in white. It was
Shadow the Weasel! In his white winter coat he is called Ermine.
He was running this way and that way, back and forth, with his nose to
the snow. He was hunting, and Jumper knew that sooner or later Shadow
would find him. Safety from Shadow lay in making the best possible use
of those long legs of his, but to do that would bring Whitey the
Owl swooping after him. What to do Jumper didn't know. And so he did
nothing. It happened to be the wisest thing he could do.
CHAPTER XII: Whitey The Owl Saves Jumper
It often happens in the end
An enemy may prove a friend.
--Whitefoot.
Was ever any one in a worse position than Jumper the Hare? To move would
be to give himself away to Whitey the Snowy Owl. If he remained where he
was very likely Shadow the Weasel would find him, and the result would
be the same as if he were caught by Whitey the Owl. Neither Whitey nor
Shadow knew he was there, but it would be only a few minutes before one
of them knew it. At least, that is the way it looked to Jumper.
Whitey wouldn't know it unless he moved, but Shadow the Weasel would
find his tracks, and his nose would lead him straight there. Back and
forth, back and forth, this way, that way and the other way, just a
little distance off, Shadow was running with his nose to the snow. He
was hunting--hunting for the scent of some one whom he could kill. In a
few minutes he would be sure to find where Jumper had been, and then his
nose would lead him straight to that tree at the foot of which Jumper
was crouching.
Nearer and nearer came Shadow. He was slim and trim and didn't look at
all terrible. Yet there was no one in all the Green Forest more feared
by the little people in fur, by Jumper, by Peter Rabbit, by Whitefoot,
even by Chatterer the Red Squirrel.
“Perhaps,” thought Jumper, “he won't find my scent after all. Perhaps
he'll go in another direction.” But all the time Jumper felt in his
bones that Shadow would find that scent. “When he does, I'll run,” said
Jumper to himself. “I'll have at least a chance to dodge Whitey. I am
afraid he will catch me, but I'll have a chance. I won't have any chance
at all if Shadow finds me.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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