“I tell you what it is,” said Sammy Jay to Bobby Coon, “something has happened to Lightfoot.  Either those hounds caught him and killed him, or he was shot by one of those hunters.  The Green Forest will never be the same without him.  I don’t think I shall want to come over here very much.  There isn’t one of all the other people who live in the Green Forest who would be missed as Lightfoot will be.”

Bobby Coon nodded.  “That’s true, Sammy,” said he.  “Without Lightfoot, the Green Forest will never be the same.  He never harmed anybody.  Why those hunters should have been so anxious to kill one so beautiful is something I can’t understand.  For that matter, I don’t understand why they want to kill any of us.  If they really needed us for food, it would be a different matter, but they don’t.  Have you been up in the Old Pasture and asked Old Man Coyote if he has seen anything of Lightfoot?”

Sammy nodded.  “I’ve been up there twice,” said he.  “Old Man Coyote has been lying very low during the days, but nights he has done a lot of traveling.  You know Old Man Coyote has a mighty good nose, but not once since the day those hounds chased Lightfoot has he found so much as a tiny whiff of Lightfoot’s scent.  I thought he might have found the place where Lightfoot was killed, but he hasn’t, although he has looked for it.  Well, the hunting season for Lightfoot is over, but I am afraid it has ended too late.”

CHAPTER XXIX:  Mr. And Mrs. Quack Are Startled

It was the evening of the day after the closing of the hunting season for Lightfoot the Deer.  Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had gone to bed behind the Purple Hills, and the Black Shadows had crept out across the Big River.  Mr. and Mrs. Quack were getting their evening meal among the brown stalks of the wild rice along the edge of the Big River.  They took turns in searching for the rice grains in the mud.  While Mrs. Quack tipped up and seemed to stand on her head as she searched in the mud for rice, Mr. Quack kept watch for possible danger.  Then Mrs. Quack took her turn at keeping watch, while Mr. Quack stood on his head and hunted for rice.

It was wonderfully quiet and peaceful.  There was not even a ripple on the Big River.  It was so quiet that they could hear the barking of a dog at a farmhouse a mile away.  They were far enough out from the bank to have nothing to fear from Reddy Fox or Old Man Coyote.  So they had nothing to fear from any one save Hooty the Owl.  It was for Hooty that they took turns in watching.  It was just the hour when Hooty likes best to hunt.

By and by they heard Booty’s hunting call.  It was far away in the Green Forest, Then Mr. and Mrs. Quack felt easier, and they talked in low, contented voices.  They felt that for a while at least there was nothing to fear.