ny
did? Why, he followed Mr. Blacksnake right into the old post, but
in doing it he didn't make the least little bit of noise.

Mr. Blacksnake kept right on through the old post and out the
other end, for he was sure that that was the way Danny had gone.
He kept right on along the little path. Now Danny knew that he
wouldn't go very far before he found out that he had been fooled,
and of course he would come back. So Danny waited only long
enough to get his breath and then ran back along the path to
where another little path branched off. For just a minute he
paused.

"If Mr. Blacksnake follows me, he will be sure to think that of
course I have taken this other little path," thought Danny, "so I
won't do it."

Then he ran harder than ever, until he came to a place where two
little paths branched off, one to the right and one to the left.
He took the latter and scampered on, sure that by this time Mr.
Blacksnake would be so badly fooled that he would give up the
chase. And Danny was right.

"_Brains are better far than speed
As wise men long ago agreed,_"

said Danny, as he trotted on his way for the grass seed he liked
so well. "I felt it in my bones that this would be an exciting
day. I wonder what next."

XXII

What Happened Next to Danny Meadow Mouse

Danny is so used to narrow escapes that he doesn't waste any time
thinking about them. He didn't this time. "He who tries to look
two ways at once is pretty sure to see nothing," says Danny, and
he knew that if he thought too much about the things that had
already happened, he couldn't keep a sharp watch for the things
that might happen.

Nothing more happened as he hurried along his private little path
to the edge of a great patch of grass so short that he couldn't
hide under it. He had to cross this, and all the way he would be
in plain sight of anyone who happened to be near. Very cautiously
he peeped out and looked this way and looked that way, not
forgetting to look up in the sky. He could see no one anywhere.
Drawing a long breath, Danny started across the open place as
fast as his short legs could take him.

Now all the time, Redtail the Hawk had been sitting in a tree
some distance away, sitting so still that he looked like a part
of the tree itself. That is why Danny hadn't seen him. But
Redtail saw Danny the instant he started across the open place,
for Redtail's eyes are very keen, and he