orgot that his stomach was empty. "Now
who can that fellow be after so early in the morning? I wonder if he is
going to the dear Old Briar-patch to look for Peter Rabbit, or if he is
going to the Old Pasture in search of Reddy Fox, or if it is Mr. and
Mrs. Grouse he hopes to kill. I think I'll sit right here and watch."

So Sammy sat in the top of the tree and watched the hunter with the
terrible gun. He saw him head straight for the Green Forest. "It's Mr.
and Mrs. Grouse after all, I guess," thought Sammy. "If I knew just
where they were I'd go over and warn them." But Sammy didn't know just
where they were and he knew that it might take him a long time to find
them, so he once more began to think of breakfast and then, right then,
another thought popped into his head. He thought of Lightfoot the Deer.

Sammy watched the hunter enter the Green Forest, then he silently
followed him. From the way the hunter moved, Sammy decided that he
wasn't thinking of Mr. and Mrs. Grouse. "It's Lightfoot the Deer, sure
as I live," muttered Sammy. "He ought to be warned. He certainly ought
to be warned. I know right where he is. I believe I'll warn him myself."

Sammy found Lightfoot right where he had expected to. "He's coming!"
cried Sammy. "A hunter with a terrible gun is coming!"

CHAPTER VI

A GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK

There was a game of hide and seek that Danny Meadow Mouse once played
with Buster Bear. It was a very dreadful game for Danny. But hard as it
was for Danny, it didn't begin to be as hard as the game Lightfoot the
Deer was playing with the hunter in the Green Forest.

In the case of Buster Bear and Danny, the latter had simply to keep out
of reach of Buster. As long as Buster didn't get his great paws on
Danny, the latter was safe. Then, too, Danny is a very small person. He
is so small that he can hide under two or three leaves. Wherever he is,
he is pretty sure to find a hiding-place of some sort. His small size
gives him advantages in a game of hide and seek. It certainly does. But
Lightfoot the Deer is big. He is one of the largest of the people who
live in the Green Forest. Being so big, it is not easy to hide.

Moreover, a hunter with a terrible gun does not have to get close in
order to kill. Lightfoot knew all this as he waited for the coming of
the hunter of whom Sammy Jay had warned him. He had learned many lessons
in the hunting season of the year before and he remembered every one of
them. H