The Adventures of Fleetfoot and Her Fawns

ll the truth, the old fellow was proud of his wits; and though he knew he could not hope to catc

nd a stamp of her little fore-hoof, and led them back to Lone Lake, where they all waded out after their supper of lily pads. Every minute of the time Fath

med her, she always ran straight away from the sound, without once stopping to see what made it. No sooner

an Lynx, at least, or perhaps a big black bear, as nothing

ollow, she swam straight across the Lake, never once stop

uldn't see him. And the instant the tired little family planted their hoofs on dry ground, Red Fox, hiding behi

ine of shore. But Father Red Fox was there before her and cracked

t had to make them swim back across the Lake to the fourth bank, where she hoped to get into the woods before the three bears could catch her. She was quite worn out, herself

be an easy matter to corner them. In fact, that wicked fellow had one of the meanest plan

ll her flanks dripped foam and her legs felt weak and wobbly-which was just what the ol

trembling legs together for the leap that would carry her over in safety. But there was not quite enough spring left

because she could strike him with her sharp fore-hoofs, and punish him severely. In fact

d gone around it, hiding-when their mother fell-by crawling under a juniper bush. And there they waited,

they were hungry. Besides, what was Fleet Foot to

they heard

must have found a broken place in the pasture fence, and

Straining his ears to catch the sound, he decided he must cr

eering and sniffing and studying the situation. Softly, silently, creeping through the hazel copse, came Frisky, the fox pup, as curious as his nose was long. Then came Bobby, Madame Lynx's kitten, to whose nostrils

d see all that was going on. He, too, watched curiously as the Jersey wandered from one huckleb

ours for the familiar stamp of their mother's foot that should call them to her, and for the warm m

er their worms. Then the sun had grown large and red in the west, and the crickets had begun to chirp, and the white-footed deer mice to scuttle through the leaves in s

her udders of their creamy burden. And when the Boy finally peered through the bushes beyond

her," he told himself. "I wonder if I coul

He was ever a coward where human beings were concerned.) The next

error, as she listened, hour after hour, for the coming of stealthy padd

gle, he searched until he found a cedar sapling very nearly the size of the leg that was broken. With his jack-knife he made two length-wise slits and remo

e would be of a person. Next he tore his shirt, which was an old one, into bandages the width of his wrist, k

e, Fleet Foot struggled so that

ve hurt! But his practised fingers pulled the two pieces of bone in opposite directions till he got them end to end! Fleet Foot tried hard to struggle free, for of course she did not understand. But she was helpless. Then the Boy worked the bones, ever so gently, till a slight thud announced

ee why a few weeks of rest and good feeding ought not to set her o