But rest he must, and so he stood for a long time on the little sand bar in the Big River.  And little by little he felt his strength returning.

CHAPTER XXIII:  Lightfoot Finds A Friend

As Lightfoot rested, trying to recover his breath, out there on the little sand bar in the Big River, his great, soft, beautiful eyes watched first one bank and then the other.  On the bank he had left, he could see two black-and-white specks moving about, and across the water came the barking of dogs.  Those two specks were the hounds who had driven him into the Big River.  They were barking now, instead of baying.  Presently a brown form joined the black-and-white specks.  It was a hunter drawn there by the barking of the dogs.  He was too far away to be dangerous, but the mere sight of him filled Lightfoot with terror again.  He watched the hunter walk along the bank and disappear in the bushes.

Presently out of the bushes came a boat, and in it was the hunter.  He headed straight towards Lightfoot, and then Lightfoot knew that his brief rest was at an end.  He must once more swim or be shot by the hunter in the boat.  So Lightfoot again struck out for the shore.  His rest had given him new strength, but still he was very, very tired and swimming was hard work.

Slowly, oh so slowly, he drew nearer to the bank.  What new dangers might be waiting there, he did not know.  He had never been on that side of the Big River.  He knew nothing of the country on that side.  But the uncertainty was better than the certainty behind him.  He could hear the sound of the oars as the hunter in the boat did his best to get to him before he should reach the shore.

On Lightfoot struggled.  At last he felt bottom beneath his feet.  He staggered up through some bushes along the bank and then for an instant it seemed to him his heart stopped beating.  Right in front of him stood a man.  He had come out into the back yard of the home of that man.  It is doubtful which was the more surprised, Lightfoot or the man.  Right then and there Lightfoot gave up in despair.  He couldn’t run.  It was all he could do to walk.  The long chase by the hounds on the other side of the Big River and the long swim across the Big River had taken all his strength.

Not a spark of hope remained to Lightfoot.  He simply stood still and trembled, partly with fear and partly with weariness.  Then a surprising thing happened.  The man spoke softly.  He advanced, not threateningly but slowly, and in a friendly way.  He walked around back of Lightfoot and then straight towards him.  Lightfoot walked on a few steps, and the man followed, still talking softly.  Little by little he urged Lightfoot on, driving him towards an open shed in which was a pile of hay.  Without understanding just how, Lightfoot knew that he had found a friend.  So he entered the open shed and with a long sigh lay down in the soft hay.