So Mr. and Mrs. Quack waited and watched. In a few minutes the
thing that looked like the branch of a tree came out of the Black
Shadows into the moonlight, and then the mystery was solved.
It was a mystery no longer. They saw that they had mistaken the
antlers of Lightfoot the Deer for the branch of a tree. Lightfoot
was swimming across the Big River on his way back to his home in
the Green Forest. At once Mr. and Mrs. Quack swam out to meet him
and to tell him how glad they were that he was alive and safe.



CHAPTER XXXI: A Surprising Discovery

Probably there was no happier Thanksgiving in all the Great World
than the Thanksgiving of Lightfoot the Deer, when the dreadful
hunting season ended and he was once more back in his beloved
Green Forest with nothing to fear. All his neighbors called on
him to tell him how glad they were that he had escaped and how
the Green Forest would not have been the same if he had not
returned. So Lightfoot roamed about without fear and was
happy. It seemed to him that he could not be happier. There was
plenty to eat and that blessed feeling of nothing to fear.
What more could any one ask? He began to grow sleek and fat and
handsomer than ever. The days were growing colder and the frosty
air made him feel good.

Just at dusk one evening he went down to his favorite drinking
place at the Laughing Brook. As he put down his head to drink he
saw something which so surprised him that he quite forgot he was
thirsty. What do you think it was he saw? It was a footprint in