still. You see, he didn't
want Lightfoot to know that he was being followed. Under that pointed
cap of Sammy Jay's are quick wits. It didn't take him long to discover
that the big stranger whom Lightfoot was seeking was doing his best to
keep out of Lightfoot's way and that he was having no difficulty in
doing so because of the reckless way in which Lightfoot was searching
for him. Lightfoot made so much noise that it was quite easy to know
just where he was and to keep out of his sight.

"That stranger is nearly as big as Lightfoot, but it is very plain that
he doesn't want to fight," thought Sammy. "He must be a coward."

Now the truth is, the stranger was not a coward. He was ready and
willing to fight if he had to, but if he could avoid fighting he meant
to. You see, big as he was, he wasn't quite so big as Lightfoot, and he
knew it. He had seen Lightfoot's big footprints, and from their size he
knew that Lightfoot must be bigger and heavier than he. Then, too, he
knew that he really had no right to be there in the Green Forest. That
was Lightfoot's home and so he was an intruder. He knew that Lightfoot
would feel this way about it and that this would make him fight all the
harder. So the big stranger wanted to avoid a fight if possible. But he
wanted still more to find that beautiful young visitor with the dainty
feet for whom Lightfoot had been looking. He wanted to find her just as
Lightfoot wanted to find her, and he hoped that if he did find her, he
could take her away with him back to the Great Mountain. If he had to,
he would fight for her, but until he had to he would keep out of the
fight. So he dodged Lightfoot and at the same time looked for the
beautiful stranger.

All this Sammy Jay guessed, and after a while he grew tired of following
Lightfoot for nothing. "I'll have to take a hand in this thing myself,"
muttered Sammy. "At this rate, Lightfoot never will find that big
stranger!"

So Sammy stopped following Lightfoot and began to search through the
Green Forest for the big stranger. It didn't take very long to find him.
He was over near the pond of Paddy the Beaver. As soon as he saw him,
Sammy began to scream at the top of his lungs. At once he heard the
sound of snapping twigs at the top of a little ridge back of Paddy's
pond and knew that Lightfoot had heard and understood.

CHAPTER XXXVII

THE GREAT FIGHT

Down from the top of the ridge back of the pond of Paddy the Beaver
plunged