ow what is that
man doing up as early as this?" muttered Sammy. Then he caught
sight of something under the man's arm. He didn't have to look
twice to know what it was. It was a gun! Yes, sir, it was a gun,
a terrible gun.

"Ha!" exclaimed Sammy, and quite forgot 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.

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