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.



CHAPTER XXIV: The Hunter Is Disappointed

How he knew he was safe, Lightfoot the Deer Couldn't have told you.
He just knew it, that was all. He couldn't understand a word
said by the man in whose yard he found himself when he climbed
the bank after his long swim across the Big River. But he didn't
have to understand words to know that he had found a friend.
So he allowed the man to drive him gently over to an open shed where
there was a pile of soft hay and there he lay down, so tired that
it seemed to him he couldn't move another step.