ound for Lightfoot's tracks, because the ground was so hard and
dry down there that Lightfoot had left no tracks. He was simply
hunting in the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes were
blowing because he knew that Lightfoot had gone in that direction,
and he also knew that if Lightfoot were still ahead of him,
his scent could not be carried to Lightfoot. He was doing
what is called "hunting up-wind."

Lightfoot kept perfectly still and watched the hunter disappear
among the trees. Then he silently got to his feet, shook himself
lightly, and noiselessly stole away over the hilltop towards
another part of the Green Forest. He felt sure that that hunter
would not find him again that day.

CHAPTER XII: Lightfoot Visits Paddy The Beaver

Deep in the Green Forest is the pond where lives Paddy the
Beaver. It is Paddy's own pond, for he made it himself. He made
it by building a dam across the Laughing Brook. When Lightfoot
bounded away through the Green Forest, after watching the hunter
pass through the hollow below him, he remembered Paddy's pond.
"That's where I'll go," thought Lightfoot. "It is such a
lonesome part of the Green Forest that I do not believe that
hunter will come there. I'll just run over and make Paddy a
friendly call."

So Lightfoot bounded along deeper and deeper into the Green
Forest. Presently through the trees he caught the gleam of water.
It was Paddy's pond. Lightfoot approached it cautiously.
He felt sure he was rid of the hunter who had followed him so
far that day, but he knew that there might be other hunters in the
Green Forest. He knew that he couldn't afford to be careless for
even one little minute. Lightfoot had lived long enough to know
that most of the sad things and dreadful things that happen in
the Green Forest and on the Green Meadows are due to carelessness.
No one who is hunted, be he big or little, can afford ever to
be careless.

Now Lightfoot had known of hunters hiding near water, hoping to
shoot him when he came to drink. That always seemed to Lightfoot
a dreadful thing, an unfair thing. But hunters had done it
before and they might do it again. So Lightfoot was careful to
approach Paddy's pond upwind. That is, he approached the side of
the pond from which the Merry Little Breezes were blowing toward
him, and all the time he kept his nose working. He knew that if
any hunters were hidden there, the Merry Little Breezes would
bring him the