Title:  Lightfoot the Deer

Author:  Thornton W. Burgess

Release Date:  November, 2003 [Etext #4670] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on February 26, 2002]

Edition:  10

Language:  English

Character set encoding:  ASCII

The Project Gutenberg Etext of Lightfoot the Deer by Thornton W. Burgess ******This file should be named lfoot10.txt or lfoot10.zip******

Corrected editions of our etexts get a new number, lfoot11.txt
versions based on separate sources get new letter, lfoot10a.txt

Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the us unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we usually do not keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.

The “legal small print” and other information about this book may now be found at the end of this file.  Please read this important information, as it gives you specific rights and tells you about restrictions in how the file may be used.

*** This etext was produced by by Kent Fielden (fielden3@aol.com).

LIGHTFOOT THE DEER

BY THORNTON W. BURGESS

CHAPTER I:  Peter Rabbit Meets Lightfoot

Peter Rabbit was on his way back from the pond of Paddy the Beaver deep in the Green Forest.  He had just seen Mr. and Mrs. Quack start toward the Big River for a brief visit before leaving on their long, difficult journey to the far-away Southland.  Farewells are always rather sad, and this particular farewell had left Peter with a lump in his throat, —­ a queer, choky feeling.

“If I were sure that they would return next spring, it wouldn’t be so bad,” he muttered.  “It’s those terrible guns.  I know what it is to have to watch out for them.  Farmer Brown’s boy used to hunt me with one of them, but he doesn’t any more.  But even when he did hunt me it wasn’t anything like what the Ducks have to go through.  If I kept my eyes and ears open, I could tell when a hunter was coming and could hide in a hole if I wanted to.  I never had to worry about my meals.  But with the Ducks it is a thousand times worse.  They’ve got to eat while making that long journey, and they can eat only where there is the right kind of food.  Hunters with terrible guns know where those places are and hide there until the Ducks come, and the Ducks have no way of knowing whether the hunters are waiting for them or not.  That isn’t hunting.  It’s —­ it’s —­”

“Well, what is it?  What are you talking to yourself about, Peter Rabbit?”

Peter looked up with a start to find the soft, beautiful eyes of Lightfoot the Deer gazing down at him over the top of a little hemlock tree.