one of those I fear most a white coat so that he may not be easily
seen, either. It certainly is a queer world."

Jumper forgot that Whitey was only a chance visitor from the Far North
and that it was only once in a great while that he came down there,
while up in the Far North where he belonged nearly everybody was dressed
in white.

Jumper hadn't moved once, but once in a while Whitey turned his great
round head for a look all about in every direction. But it was done in
such a way that only eyes watching him sharply would have noticed it.
Most of the time he kept his fierce yellow eyes fixed on the little hole
in the snow in which Whitefoot had disappeared. You know Whitey can see
by day quite as well as any other bird.

Jumper, having stopped worrying about himself, began to worry about
Whitefoot. He knew that Whitefoot had seen Whitey arrive on that stump
and that was why he had dodged back into his hole and since then had not
even poked his nose out. But that had been so long ago that by this time
Whitefoot must think that Whitey had gone on about his business, and
Jumper expected to see Whitefoot appear any moment. What Jumper didn't
know was that Whitefoot's bright little eyes had all the time been
watching Whitey from another little hole in the snow some distance away.
A tunnel led from this little hole to the first little hole.

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.

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