d back towards the edge of the open place.
Now he would be thrown to his knees when Lightfoot wasn't.
As Lightfoot saw this, he seemed to gain new strength. At last
he caught the stranger in such a way that he threw him over.
While the stranger struggled to get to his feet again, Lightfoot's
sharp antlers made long tears in his gray coat. The stranger was
beaten and he knew it. The instant he succeeded in getting to his
feet he turned tail and plunged for the shelter of the Green
Forest. With a snort of triumph, Lightfoot plunged after him.
But now that he was beaten, fear took possession of the
stranger. All desire to fight left him. His one thought was to
get away, and fear gave him speed. Straight back towards the
Great Mountain from which he had come the stranger headed.
Lightfoot followed only a short distance. He knew that
that stranger was going for good and would not come back.
Then Lightfoot turned back to the open place where they had
fought. There he threw up his beautiful head, crowned by its
great antlers, and whistled a challenge to all the Green Forest.
As she looked at him, Miss Daintyfoot knew that she had
wanted him to win. She knew that there simply couldn't be anybody
else so handsome and strong and brave in all the Great World.
CHAPTER XXXIX: Lightfoot Discovers Love
Wonderfully handsome was Lightfoot the Deer as he stood in the
little opening by the pond of Paddy the Beaver, his head thrown
back proudly, as he received the congratulations of his neighbors
of the Green Forest who had seen him win the great fight with
the big stranger who had come down from the Great Mountain.
To beautiful Miss Daintyfoot, peeping out from the thicket where
she had hidden to watch the great fight, Lightfoot was the most
wonderful person in all the Great World. She adored him, which
means that she loved him just as much as it was possible for her
to love.
But Lightfoot didn't know this. In fact, he didn't know that Miss
Daintyfoot was there. His one thought had been to drive out of
the Green Forest the big stranger who had come down from the
Great Mountain. He had been jealous of that big stranger,
though he hadn't known that he was jealous. The real cause of his
anger and desire to fight had been the fear that the big stranger
would find Miss Daintyfoot and take her away. Of course this was
nothing but jealousy.
Now that the great fight was over, and he knew that the big
stranger w
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